Significance of the Pledges of Tovste оf 1427 and 1444 in Politics of Gediminids and Jagiellonians

Abstract

The Tovste urban-type settlement is currently located in Chortkiv district of Ternopil region. This publication discusses the content of the relevant documents of 1427 and 1444 on donations of 100 marks in coins of that time each from Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas the Great and King of Poland Wladislaus III of Varna to members of the family of Hinkovyches. Both documents are stored in the Archive of the Radziwiłły family at the Main Archive of Ancient Acts in Warsaw. The grant of Duke Vytautas the Great was first published, obviously, by the medievalist, Prof Władysław Semkowicz. The latest generalizations about these donations belong to Dr. Janusz Kurtyka and Prof. Vitaliy Mykhaylovskiy. The document of 1427, given to Ivanko Hinkovych in Horodło, was apparently issued on October 2. The Grand Ducal seal is preserved. The provision was made in “grosses of Podolia”. But in fact, due to the fact that this is the common name of coins in circulation in Podolia at that time, it is difficult to determine the specific coin. The Lithuanian Duke did not directly indicate the merits for which the grant was awarded, so definition of the purpose of the donation is also based on assumptions. Apparently, in this way Duke Vytautas the Great sought to strengthen himself throughout Podolia, and perhaps this was part of his policy of establishing control even over all of Rus' and the Golden Horde. Simultaneously, the Lithuanian ruler had an obligation to establish the Church Union with Rome. The document of 1444, given to Bohdan Hinkovych in Orșova, was apparently issued on September 24. The royal seal is also preserved. The grant was probably made in the amount of 100 marks of Cracow, which was divided into 48 grosses. It was at that time that the anti-Ottoman Crusade was already underway under the general supervision of the Holy See in the person of the legate Julian Cesarini. Therefore, it makes sense to assume that the grant to Bohdan was made in the context of its organization. He could even be the direct participant of the campaign. The сrusaders felt an urgent need for recruits. In this case, the royal grants of this kind in Western Podolia and the royal domain of the Jagiellonians were important not only for Central and Eastern Europe, but for all Christians in general in the context of the rescue of Constantinople on the eve of 1453.