White Ruthenia

White Ruthenia ( cu, Бѣла Роусь, Bela Rous'; be, Белая Русь, Biełaja Ruś; pl, Ruś Biała; russian: Белая Русь, Belaya Rus'; ukr, Біла Русь, Bila Rus') alternatively known as Russia Alba, White Rus' or White Russia, is an archaism for the eastern part of present-day Belarus, including the cities of Polotsk, Vitebsk and Mogilev.

History

Many other variations of this name appeared on ancient maps; for instance, ''Russia Alba, Russija Alba, Wit Rusland, Weiß Reußen (Weißreußen), White Russia, Hviterussland, Hvíta Rússland, Weiß Russland (Weißrussland), Ruthenia Alba, Ruthénie Blanche'' and ''Weiß Ruthenien'' ''(Weißruthenien)''. The name was also assigned to various territories, often quite distant from that of present Belarus. For example, at one time the term was applied to Novgorod.

The 16th century chronicler Alexander Guagnini's book ''Sarmatiae Europeae descriptio'' wrote that Rus' was divided in three parts. The first part, under the rule of the Muscovite Grand Duke, was called ''White Russia''. The second one, under the rule of Polish king, was called ''Black Russia''. And the rest was ''Red Ruthenia''. He also said Moscow was the center of White Russia and the Russian metropolitanate, and that the Grand Duke of Moscow was called the ''White Czar'', especially by his subjects.

Only by the late 19th century, the name was associated with the area of present Belarus. The origins of the name, which is attested from the 14th century, are unclear. Vasmer's dictionary mentions the dichotomy of "white" land and "taxed" land in Domostroy and speculates that "white" Russia may have referred to the parts of Russia that were not subject to Tatar rule. Another speculation in Vasmer is that the color of the clothes of the White Russians (perhaps as well as the color of their hair) may have contributed to the name. Oleg Trubachyov calls both theories "complete fantasies".

According to Alfred Nicolas Rambaud:

The name of ''White Russia'' is given to the provinces conquered from the 13th to the 14th century by the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. These were the ancient territories of the Krivitches, Polotchans, Dregovitches, Drevlians, Doulebes, now forming the governments of Vitepsk, Mohilef, and Minsk.

See also

* Black Ruthenia
* Red Ruthenia
* Little Russia
* Great Russia
* New Russia

References

Sources

* Akta Aleksandra, króla polskiego, wielkiego księcia litewskiego i t.d. (1501—1506). Wyd. F. Papee. Kraków, 1927
* Alexandrowicz S. Rozwój kartografii Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego od XV do połowy XVIII w. Poznań, 1989
* Anonymi Dvbnicensis. Liber de rebus Lvdovici R. H.. Analecta Monumentorum Hungariae historicum literarorium maximum inedita. Budapestini, 1986
* I.V. Bellum Prutenum. Smereka E. Zbiór pisarzy polsko–lacińskich. Leopoli, 3, 1933
* Colker M. L. America rediscovered in thirteenth century?. Speculum. A journal of medieval studies. Cambridge. Vol. 54. No. 4. October 1979
* Cosmographey oder beschreibung aller Laender, Herrschaften, fürnemsten Stetten... Beschriben durch Sebastianum Münsterum... Basel, 1550; Ulrichs von Richental Chronik des Constanzer Concils 1414 bis 1418. Herausgegeben von M. R. Buck. Tübingen, 1882
* Cromer M. Polonia sive de situ, populis, moribus, magistratibus et republica regni Poloni libri duo. Cracoviae, 1901. (паўтоp выданьня 1578 г.)
* Der Weiss Kunig. Eine Erzählung von den Thaten Kaiser Maximilian der Ersten. Wien, 1775
* Historica Russiae monumenta ex antiquis exterarum gentium arcivis et bibliothecis deprompta ab A. I. Turgenevio. V. I. Petropoli, 1841 (Акты исторические, относящиеся к России, извлечённые из иностранных архивов и библиотек А. И. Тургеневым)
* Historiae Ruthenicae Scriptores exteri saeculi XVI. V. I—II. Berolini et Petropoli, 1841—42
* Kronika Jana z Czarnkowa (Joannis de Czarnkow. Chronicon Polonorum). Оprac. J. Szlachtowski. Monumenta Poloniae Historica Lwów, T. II. 1872
* Nordenskiöld, Adolf Erik ''Facsimile-Atlas to the Early History of Cartography with Reproductions of the Most Important Maps Printed in the XV and XVI Centuries''. Stockholm, 1889. Замысловский Е. Е. Геpбеpштейн и его истоpико–геогpафические известия о России. СПб., 1884
* Il Mappamondo di Fra Mauro. A cura di Tullio Gasparini Leporace. Presentazione di Roberto Almagia. Venezia, 1956
* Ioannes Stobnicensis. Introductio in Ptolomei Cosmographiam. Cracoviae, 1512
* Ostrowski W. About the origin of the name «White Russia». London, 1975
* Peter Suchenwirt’s Werke aus dem vierzehnten Jahrhundert. Hrsg. von Alois Primisser. Wien, 1827
* Prisschuch Th. Des conzilis grundveste. Die historischen Volkslieder der Deutschen vom 13. bis 6. Jahrhundert. Bd. 1. Leipzig, 1865
* Prochaska A. Codex epistolaris Vitoldi. Cracoviae, 1882
* Rude & barbarous kingdom. Russia in the accounts of sixteenth-century English voyagers. Ed. by Lloyd E. Berry and Robert O. Crummey. Madison—London, 1968
* Sarmatiae Europeae descriptio. Ab Alexandro Guagnino Veronensi. Poloniae Historiae Corpus. Ex bibliotheca Ioan. Pistorii Nidani. Per Sebastiani Henric Petri. V. I. Basileae, 1588
* Scriptores Rerum Hungaricarum tempore ducum regumque stirpis Arpadianae gestarum. Vol. II. Budapest, 1938
* Starowolski Sz. Polska albo opisanie położenia królestwa Polskiego. Kraków, 1976
* Stryikowski M. Kronika Polska, Litewska, Żmódzka i wszystkiej Rusi. T. I-II. Warszawa, 1846
* Witkowska M. H. S. Vita sanctae Kyngae ducissae Cracoviensis. Roczniki Humanistyczne. T. X, z. 2. Lublin, 1961.
* Імя тваё «Белая Русь». Мн., 1991
* Опись архива Посольского приказа 1626 г. Ч. 1. М., 1977
* Порецкий Я. И. Соломон Рысинский * Solomo Pantherus Leucorussus. Мн., 1983
* ПСРЛ. Т. 2. СПб., 1843; Т. 25. М.—Л., 1949
* Рыбаков Б. А. Русские карты Московии XV — начала XVI в. М., 1974
* Савельева Е. А. Hовгоpод и Hовгоpодская земля в западноевропейской каpтогpафии XV—XVI вв.. Геогpафия России XV—XVIII вв. (по сведениям иностpанцев). Л., 1984
* Слово избpанное от святых писаний еже на латыню. Попов А. Н. Историко–литературный обзор дpевнеpусских полемических сочинений пpотив латинян. М., 1875

External links

Why is the Russia White?

{{DEFAULTSORT:White Rus
Ruthenians in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Historical regions in Belarus
Anti-Belarusian sentiment
Russian irredentism