The Polish-Ruthenian Borderland in 1340 and the Fall of the „Zamczysko” Hillfort in Sanok-Biała Góra

Abstract

The Polish-RuThenian boRdeRland in 1340 and the fall of the "ZamcZysko" hillfort in sanok-Biała Góra the1 1 year 1340 was very important for the political situation in the ruthenian Duchy of Galicia. in early spring, its last ruler Bolesław Jerzy II was poisoned by boyars and the Polish King Casimir III the Great succeeded to his throne 1. in April 1340, the ruler of the Kingdom of Poland passed the Ruthenian-Polish border with his troops andas recent research indicates-he incorporated the western part of the Duchy, that is, the future region of Sanok 2. According to the "Annals of traska", King Casimir, having gathered an army of 20,000, entered Ruthenia again, where, destroying several fortified towns and strongholds, he took control of them to his advantage 3. Among these strongholds there was probably Sanok. in the 12 th-first half of the 13 th century, Sanok-now situated in southeastern Poland (Sanok District, Podkarpackie Voivodeship)-was one of the most important centres of the Duchy of Galicia-Volhynia in the southwestern border with Poland and Hungary 4. It was located on a communication and trade route which goes through the valley of the River San from the Carpathian Passes to Przemyśl (Figs. 1-2) 5. the main part of the whole settlement complex was a mighty stronghold * Historical Museum in Sanok,

Fantastic Flails and Where to Find Them: The Body of Evidence for the Existence of Flails in the Early and High Medieval Eras in Western, Central, and Southern Europe

“…War flails (known commonly as kistens-a word with either a Slavic or Turkic root (Kotowicz 2006))-were prevalent between the 5th and 10th centuries in the Asian Steppe (Bulgars, Avars, Khazars, Altai, etc. ), primarily as a secondary weapon for cavalrymen who, during their contact with the Kyivan Rus and other Eastern European peoples, adopted these weapons during the 8th through 11th centuries, when their use by infantry also expanded (Taavistainen 2004;Shpakovsky and Nicolle 2013;Kotowicz 2008;Zhirohov and Nicolle 2019;Kotowicz 2006). The cultural contact between West and East in the 11th to 13th centuries meant that certain Western technologies and concepts were passed Eastwards while Eastern ones, such as flails, were passed Westwards (Kirpičnikov 1968).…”

“…The cultural contact between West and East in the 11th to 13th centuries meant that certain Western technologies and concepts were passed Eastwards while Eastern ones, such as flails, were passed Westwards (Kirpičnikov 1968). Use of flails in Central Europe (Poland primarily, but also parts of the former Holy Roman Empire-modern-day Germany) was prevalent from the 10th to the mid-14th centuries (Puziuk and Tyniec 2013), when "Westernisation" of arms and armour became ever-more common (this development is discussed later) (Kotowicz and Skowroński 2020;Kotowicz 2008), though use in modern-day Russia and Ukraine (Novgorod, etc.) continued well beyond this (Drob and Vasilache 2022).…”

“…Eastern European flail heads come in a wide range of designs and degree of decoration, and were initially made of bone, horn, antler, or stone, or perhaps wood, up to the 11th century (Rabovyanov 2021;Kotowicz and Michalak 2007;Grotowski 2010;Michalak and Zamelska-Monczak 2016), from which construction began to transition to metal (brass, bronze, iron, and lead) (Taavistainen 2004;Shpakovsky and Nicolle 2013;Kotowicz 2008). Composite heads consisting of organic material (bone/horn) with an iron insert have also been found and described (Zhirohov and Nicolle 2019).…”

“…Composite heads consisting of organic material (bone/horn) with an iron insert have also been found and described (Zhirohov and Nicolle 2019). Kisten heads are either constructed with a central hole or an attached loop through which the flexible portion of the weapon (rope, chain, or leather thonging) can be attached, but given the perishable nature of organic materials, these are rarely found with their associated heads, as these components have decayed with centuries of exposure to the elements (Kotowicz 2008;Michalak and Wolanin 2008). In Eastern European use, kistens typically had a 40-50 cm wooden handle, to which was attached the flexible component of the weapon and ultimately the head were attached, although the thong or rope could be looped around the hand alone in lieu of this (Kotowicz 2006).…”

“…Despite the relative lack of illustrations or textual sources referring to kistens in Eastern Europe (compared to the rest of the continent), hundreds of physical finds have been discovered dating from the 10th to 13th centuries, extending from modern-day Russia and Ukraine into the Baltic states, the Balkans (as far West as Slovenia and Croatia) (Culic 2016;Rabovyanov 2021;Grotowski 2010;Popov and Aladjov 2016;Tihle 2017;Svetec 2023), Finland, and Poland (Kotowicz and Michalak 2007), where direct trade and contact occurred with the Rus and the Norse, given the fluidity and porosity of medieval borders (Taavistainen 2004). The extent of flail head finds in Eastern Europe has been extensively documented, particularly in more classical literature dating from the Soviet period (Kirpičnikov 1966), with maps of the finds produced and catalogued (Osypenko 2019), and typologies of the style of head developed, though these do have their limitations (Kotowicz 2008;Osypenko 2019Osypenko , 2020, the discussion of which is beyond the scope of this work. Please see the many excellent Eastern European references for a summary of these.…”