The Galician-Volhynian Chronicle (The Romanovych Chronicle) on bridges and river-crossings

Abstract

In the Old East Slavic language the term мость meant: ‘bridge’, ‘beam-covered roadway’, ‘covering’, ‘pier’, ‘floor’. This article is concerned only with bridges, i.e. constructions used to cross water obstacles. Data on such structures can be found in various mediaeval Ruthenian sources, both narrative (e.g. in The Primary Chronicle, which includes the earliest mention of such a structure in Ruthenia under the year 6485) and normative, but they are scarce. This may explain why mediaeval Ruthenian bridges have not been of much interest to historians so far. The Galician-Volhynian Chronicle (The Romanovych Chronicle) mentions five bridges: two in Poland and three in the territory of the Romanovych dynasty state: one was located on the Dniester near Halych, two on the Styr River near Luck and Peremysl. This source also contains the earliest mention of a drawbridge in mediaeval Poland, operated with a crane, which was located at the gate of Kalisz. The Chronicle mentions those constructions only in passim, when relating military actions, but they were extremely important as they made it possible to cross rivers. In practice rivers were also crossed with various boats, or swam across, but those options were often limited, especially due to weather conditionsIt is quite likely that the source analysed did not mention all the bridges in the state ruled by the Romanovych dynasty but it can be reasonably assumed that there were only a few of them.