• THE POLOTSK LAND BEFORE ITS ENTRY INTO THE GRAND DUCHY OF LITHUANIA (LAST QUARTER OF THE ХІІ – FIRST HALF OF THE ХІІІ CENTURY)
Duk D. V.
УДК 94(476.5=21 Полоцк)”11/12”
АВТОРЫ
• D. V. Duk
The period of the last quarter of the 12th century– the first half of the 13th century – is one of the most important in the history of the Polotsk land. At that time the Rogvolodovich dynasty faded away and Polotsk lost control over the Lower Dvina. A new center of power was created in the Lower Dvina– the city of Riga, a German outpost in Livonia. At that time the political struggle with the Smolensk princes intensified and a new system of relations with Gotland, Riga and Smolensk was formed. At the same time, the territory of the Polotsk and Vitebsk lands was finally formed as independent geopoliticalentities. The key event in the history of Polotsk of that period, and one that is very underestimated in historiography, is the campaign of the Smolensk princes to Polotsk and its capture in 1222–1223. The consequences of this campaign led to changes in the socio-topographic structure of Polotsk. The permanentthreat from the Germans, Lithuania, Mongols and Smolensk princes predetermined the inclusion of Polotsk into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
THE_POLOTSK_LAND_BEFORE_ITS_ENTRY_INTO_THE_GRAND_DUCHY_OF_LITHUANIA.pdf