The pledging policy by the grand dukes of Lithuania in the sixteenth century has not been practically under research; historians have not given the geographical and cartographical aspects of this problem any attention. This article aims to research the geography of the pledges of the grand-ducal demesne from the 1500s to mid-1520s. This article discusses the concept of the demesne of Lithuanian sovereigns, its size and limits, and we analyse the geographical and statistical information about its composition. We have created a map of pledged estates and properties using the data collected and characterised the most important pledge deeds and pledgees.
The article analyzes the 17th -18th century steppe territory problem from the point of view of historical geography and historical cartography. Steppes are considered to be complex, multifaceted natural phenomena that determine the specific social and political development of their territories. The aim of this research is to recognise the territorial visualization of the steppe in 17th -18th c. maps intended for Eastern and Central Eastern Europe, Asia, and Ukraine in particular. The research centers on the works of French (Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan, Nicolas Sanson d'Abbeville, Joseph-Nicolas Delisle, Guillaume Delisle), Italian (Giovanni-Antonio Rizzi-Zannoni), German (Johann Baptist Homann), and Austrian (Franz Johann Joseph von Reilly) cartographers. Their investigation discloses that in the maps of the period under consideration the steppes had already been mapped out not only as natural systems, but as socio-geographic and socio-economical structures as well. The main elements of the map contents, showing the steppe's territorial absorptive direction, development, and rates, were the cartography of the land road net, the defense systems as well as bridges, banks/ mounds, trenches, single fortified villages, and other minor-scale objects. These objects best reflect the links that tied the inhabitants and the whole state to the colonized space and also allow the consideration of human mobility in a particular territory, and of the possibilities of movement in general. The totality of natural, socio-economic, and military defensive attributes featured in the maps supports the idea that primacy was accorded to the military colonization aspect: the establishment of territorial structures was primarily based on the formation of a network of fortified villages/settlements and fort systems.
The article analyzes the 17th -18th century steppe territory problem from the point of view of historical geography and historical cartography. Steppes are considered to be complex, multifaceted natural phenomena that determine the specific social and political development of their territories. The aim of this research is to recognise the territorial visualization of the steppe in 17th -18th c. maps intended for Eastern and Central Eastern Europe, Asia, and Ukraine in particular. The research centers on the works of French (Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan, Nicolas Sanson d'Abbeville, Joseph-Nicolas Delisle, Guillaume Delisle), Italian (Giovanni-Antonio Rizzi-Zannoni), German (Johann Baptist Homann), and Austrian (Franz Johann Joseph von Reilly) cartographers. Their investigation discloses that in the maps of the period under consideration the steppes had already been mapped out not only as natural systems, but as socio-geographic and socio-economical structures as well. The main elements of the map contents, showing the steppe's territorial absorptive direction, development, and rates, were the cartography of the land road net, the defense systems as well as bridges, banks/ mounds, trenches, single fortified villages, and other minor-scale objects. These objects best reflect the links that tied the inhabitants and the whole state to the colonized space and also allow the consideration of human mobility in a particular territory, and of the possibilities of movement in general. The totality of natural, socio-economic, and military defensive attributes featured in the maps supports the idea that primacy was accorded to the military colonization aspect: the establishment of territorial structures was primarily based on the formation of a network of fortified villages/settlements and fort systems.
The article analyzes the 17th -18th century steppe territory problem from the point of view of historical geography and historical cartography. Steppes are considered to be complex, multifaceted natural phenomena that determine the specific social and political development of their territories. The aim of this research is to recognise the territorial visualization of the steppe in 17th -18th c. maps intended for Eastern and Central Eastern Europe, Asia, and Ukraine in particular. The research centers on the works of French (Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan, Nicolas Sanson d'Abbeville, Joseph-Nicolas Delisle, Guillaume Delisle), Italian (Giovanni-Antonio Rizzi-Zannoni), German (Johann Baptist Homann), and Austrian (Franz Johann Joseph von Reilly) cartographers. Their investigation discloses that in the maps of the period under consideration the steppes had already been mapped out not only as natural systems, but as socio-geographic and socio-economical structures as well. The main elements of the map contents, showing the steppe's territorial absorptive direction, development, and rates, were the cartography of the land road net, the defense systems as well as bridges, banks/ mounds, trenches, single fortified villages, and other minor-scale objects. These objects best reflect the links that tied the inhabitants and the whole state to the colonized space and also allow the consideration of human mobility in a particular territory, and of the possibilities of movement in general. The totality of natural, socio-economic, and military defensive attributes featured in the maps supports the idea that primacy was accorded to the military colonization aspect: the establishment of territorial structures was primarily based on the formation of a network of fortified villages/settlements and fort systems.
