Okoliczności powstania i przydatność wojskowa mapy Descriptio Ducatus Polocensis Stanisława Pachołowieckiego (1580)
The Origins and Military Usefulness of the Map Descriptio Ducatus Polocensis of Stanisław Pachołowiecki (1580)

Summary/Abstract: The paper analyses a cartographic work of Stanisław Pachołowiecki printed in Rome in 1580 entitled Descriptio Ducatus Polocensis. The author focuses on the origins of the manuscript version of the map and its usefulness in military operations. The analysis indicates that the map was created on the basis of previously gathered cartographic draft s, itineraries, and knowledge possessed by the commanders active on the territory of the Principality of Polotsk. Stanisław Pachołowiecki developed the map as early as in the 1st half of 1579 and it became the basis for strategic and operational activities undertaken during the military council in Svir. The map of the Principality of Polotsk depicts changes that may be described as the “early-modern cartographic turn”. In the second half of the 16th century, Polish and Lithuanian commanders began to plan and prepare military operations using a map. Thus the management of space on a strategic level commenced, which affected the development of operational planning.

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