Unpublished document of Jan of Tarnów of 1397 on demarcation of royal and noble estates in interfluve of Kamianka and Bug rivers

Abstract

Purpose of the study. To introduce into scientific circulation a previously unpublished document of 1397 on the demarcation of royal and noble estates located in the Lviv Volost in the interfluve of the Kamyanka and Buh Rivers. To consider the process of border litigation, to establish its participants and to determine the locations subject to demarcation. Methodology. Methods for studying diplomatic sources were applied, namely: paleographic, textological, descriptive, chronological. A biographical method was used to identify the circle of persons outlined in the source. An attempt to localize toponyms was made using the historical and geographical research methods. Scientific novelty. A new document on the history of land relations in Rus at the end of the 14th century has been published, describing the procedure for demarcation of royal and noble estates. The source provides the earliest mentions of the city of Kamyanka and the village of Batiatychi, and also contains information about the origins of the village of Derniv. Conclusions. In 1397, in the village of Batiatychi, Jan of Tarnów, the starosta (governor) of Rus land, issued a document on the settlement of the territorial dispute between Stanislav of Pechykhvostyi and the royal village of Batiatychi, demarcating the possessions of Ostashko of Davydiv and Mikołaj Kinsky. The publication of the document lays the groundwork for further research into the history of late medieval society of the Rus land allowing us to trace the outlines of the structure of noble land ownership, the causes of border conflicts and ways of resolving them, and the involvement of underprivileged social strata in legal proceedings. The mentions of toponymic objects and spatial landmarks contained in the document significantly enrich our knowledge of the historical geography of the north-eastern part of the Lviv Volost at the turn of the 14th century.