On the first day of spring in the art space Vitebsk4Me Belarusian philologist and philosopher, and educator in fact, Valery Bulgakov presented posthumous monograph Victor Temushev "On the eastern border of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania."
The monograph was the fruit of a long work of a team and a tribute to the Belarusian cartographers, who left this world prematurely in 2011. Therefore, next to the joy of the book was to Valery sounded sorrow and bitterness over the death of young and talented scientists.
First, the speaker told the prehistory of the release of this book. As he pointed out, Victor Temushev had a unique talent cartographer and in this he saw his calling. The Belarusian historical geography is a very new area of knowledge, because it so happens that for ideological reasons, it is still the case during the council has been delegated the appropriate Moscow Center. In general, mapping skills required very high academic quality, as the researcher had a relationship not only with the narrative sources, but also had to handle the existing array of cards. Although the mapping of the Moscow-Lithuanian border region started relatively early (14-15 cc.), In present-day Belarus, the topic was rather poorly developed.
After the release of the first monograph in the Belarusian historiography for anyone interested in the opportunity to trace the transformation of the eastern border of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the 14th to the first half of the 16th centuries (the author prepared 31 historical map). And, most importantly, this boundary is considered by scientists in connection with the development of relations of Lithuania and the Grand Duchy of Moscow. It should be added that an entire section devoted to the fate of Gomey (Homiel) parish, which for a long time occupied a borderline position between ON and VCR.
Chance to publish this book in some state publishing house actually was not, so she saw the light at the cost of private initiative.
During the life of Victor Temushev had good relations with Moscow publishers, in which he published his book. Naturally the question arises: "This is the same that were published in Moscow?" This question Bulgakov says that the book has not been previously published, and appends the author in the last months of his life.
On the very eastern border of a very long, so it happened that the most extensively covered in the book of Gomel and Mogilev partially border. The book is quite unique at least because our neighbors Lithuanians is nothing like that, but the Poles did it somewhere a hundred years ago, when explored the eastern border of the Commonwealth. In this regard, Victor Temusheva can be considered a pioneer. It was a hell of a job with a variety of documented sources, cartographic material ... Almost all of the available mapping in this region was created five or six centuries ago, and Victor had very much terrify. Systematically, regularly, purposefully nobody except him was not engaged.
Hopefully, at some extent published book will help us not only to trace the changes of borders, but also to understand why the 14-15 centuries Muscovy, which was then about the size of the modern Republic of Belarus, by violence, aggression and military force suddenly began to grow so rapidly. Actually, in some degree is a certain historical mystery.
This monograph is not only about the border. It's about the centuries-long episode of relations between the two states differ infinite number of wars between them. The book contains many photographs that capture what remained of the former earthen and stone fortifications on the Lithuanian border Old Belarusian State, the Grand Duchy of Moscow.
It was interesting to learn about why today's border with Russia, five hundred years: thanks to our rivers Dvina and Dnieper, the ancestors of modern times Belarusians managed to contain the invasion and save the Moscow State in the currently known each range.
