Who Is Lying About Where “Russia” Lies? Some Notes on 16th-century Polish Ghostmapping of Muscovy
Who Is Lying About Where “Russia” Lies? Some Notes on 16th-century Polish Ghostmapping of Muscovy
Author(s): Grzegorz FranczakSubject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Maps / Cartography, 16th Century
Published by: Associazione Italiana Polonisti (AIP)
Keywords: Renaissance cartography; ghostmapping; Muscovy; Maciej Miechowita; Bernard Wapowski;
Summary/Abstract: This paper focuses on one particular aspect of the way in which 16th-century Polish authors ghostmapped the European East: the semantics assumed by the choronym “Russia” in Renaissance cartography which reflected the long‐lasting rivalry between Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Muscovy for the possession of the territories of the former Kievan Rus’. After a brief sketch of the theoretical and historical framework, I provide an overview of European cartographical texts, from Beneventano to Waldseemüller and Mercator, influenced by the Polish ghostmappers of Muscovy – Wapowski, Miechowita, and Strubicz – who tried to narrow the toponym “Russia” to the lands controlled by Poland and Lithuania.
Journal: pl.it – rassegna italiana di argomenti polacchi
- Issue Year: 2021
- Issue No: 12
- Page Range: 133-162
- Page Count: 30
- Language: English