Pointwise, linear, zonal, or otherwise? Delimitation of the political space in the Ruthenian lands of Poland and Lithuania in the 14th century
Territorial boundaries are just one way of designating any kind of space, even political space, i.e. the scope of exercising power. However, the repertoire of means used in the late Middle Ages to mark and describe space was much richer, going beyond the view derived from this particular Cartesian idea of space, which maps impose on us through the visualization used in them, especially in the form of linear boundaries. Different forms of defining political space will be presented with reference to the lands of the Halych-Volhynian principality, which was partitioned between Poland and Lithuania in the mid-14th century. The clash of the expansion of these two states caused the divisions of the territory of the fallen principality. Sources documenting the new political organization of this region of Central and Eastern Europe can allow an analysis of the various manifestations of how the space of power was constructed and perceived at that time.
