Mercator's Lithuanian-Russian Borderlands : "Russiae pars amplificata" (1595) and Its Polish sources

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Gerardas Merkatorius; Gerardus Mercator; Jan Kochanowski; Janas Kochanowskis; Jodokas Hondijus; Karinis kartografavimas; Karo kartografija; Kristupas Radvila; Kristupas Radvila Perkūnas; Lenkijos - Lietuvos Respublika; Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė (LDK; Grand Duchy of Lithuania; GDL); Livonijos karas, 1558-1583 (Livonian War); Maciej Strubicz; Maskvos valstybė (Maskvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė; Muscovite state; Grand Duchy of Moscow); Moscovia; Moskovija; Motiejus Strubiczius; Propaganda; Propagandiniai žemėlapiai; Propagandinė literatūra; Renesanso kartografija; Rusija su pasienio sritimis; Russia cum confiniis; Stanisław Sarnicki; Vietovardžiai; Vytautas Didysis, 1350-1430 (Vytautas the Great); Žygis prieš Maskvą; „Žygis į Maskvą“(„Jezda do Moskwy“); Gerardus Mercator; Ghostmapping; Jan Kochanowski; Jodocus Hondius; Krzysztof Radziwill; Krzysztof Radziwill the Thunder; Livonian War; Maciej Strubicz; Military cartography; Military mapping; Moscovia; Muscovy; Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth; Propaganda; Propaganda literature; Propaganda maps; Raid on Muscovy (Jezda do Moskwy); Renaissance cartography; Russia cum confiniis; Stanislaw Sarnicki; The Raid on Muscovy (Jezda do Moskwy); Toponyms; Vytautas the Great.

ENThis article focuses on the inset on Gerardus Mercator's large map of Russia cum confiniis [Russia with surrounding lands] that was published in his Atlas (1595), and the map Moscovia [Muscovy] published by Jodocus Hondius in the Atlas minor (1607). Comparison of the contents of Mercator's inset map, titled Russiae pars amplificata [Part of Russia enlarged] and Hondius's Moscovia map with the Polish propaganda poem Raid on Muscovy by Jan Kochanowski that had appeared in 1583 - just after the war between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Muscovy - led to the suggestion that both Mercator’s and Hondius’s maps were based on Polish–Lithuanian narrative sources as well as on a map drawn by the Polish royal cartographer Maciej Strubicz. To test the hypothesis, a historical-linguistic analysis of the orthography of the map’s toponyms and hydronyms was employed to distinguish their Polish, German and Latin characteristics. The result confirms that the two maps were indeed based on a Polish military map containing a hidden Polish propaganda message. [From the publication]