Keliais po viduramžių Lietuvą

LTStraipsnyje tiriama XIII–XV a. pirmosios pusės Lietuvos sausumos kelių samprata ir pobūdis. To meto traktai skirstyti į „mažus keliukus“, „didelius kelius“ ir „vieškelius“. Analizuojama įvairiakalbiuose šaltiniuose aptinkamų bendrinių „kelio“ definicijų turinio problema. XIII–XV a. pirmosios pusės dokumentuose minimi archajiniai baltiški „keliai“ savo samprata skyrėsi nuo kelių, išryškėjusių Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės politinės organizacijos formavimosi laikais. [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Kelias; Vieškeliai; Vokiečių Ordinas (Teutonic Order; Kryžiuočių ordinas); Istorinė geografija; Roads; Routs; Feat of arms; Bridges; Lithuania.

ENArticle discusses circumstances and conception of the feats of arms in Lithuania in the 13th – the first half of the 15th centuries. It focuses on the practical side of routing – the travelling facilities. This article realizes triple tasks: to disclose the climate and geographical conditions of feats of arms; to overlook readiness conditions to take the field, pointing out the importance of the military guides; to restore the feat of arms and all difficulties it faced. The Lithuanian and Baltic landscape in the 13th – the first half of the 15th century could be characterized as wooded and swampy, what affected the feats of arms mostly. It was very uncomfortable to take the field on the wet season. Only a small part of the settlements could be reached by the main roads. In long distances, troops had to wander through the wasteland and swamps or cross the rivers. Therefore both Lithuanians and Teutonic knights used to take the fields in the wintertime when the earth was frozen. However, the roads were clogged with heavy snow. Routes for the feat of arms were prepared in advance, and some of them were marked. Special military guides led troops through the unfamiliar territory. They were prisoners of war or traitors mostly. Routing by the wasteland, peculiarly in the summertime, required to wander through the forests and clear the tracks and the swamp passing needed to be battened. Such battens of trees and branches sometimes lasted for miles. River fords were important elements during the feat. It was like a “crossroad” used by local inhabitants. Usually river fords were fortified and protected. Sometimes bridges were built. Teutonic Order war roads descriptions (Lithauische Wegebericht) often document this condition. For example, in the 1384 knight route, even nine bridges were built in the section between the Neris and Nevėžis rivers. In 1313 near the Bisenė Castle by the Nemunas River, knights made a bridge of boats.Bridge builders likely used to travel together with the troops. 14th–15th century documents testify that the Bartians who moved to the Great Duchy of Lithuania from Livonia were some war men, “specialized” in the bridge building and road fortifying. [From the publication]