Perspectives of researches in the bipartite relations between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Ottoman empire

Abstract

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) in the 14th–16th centuries was a broad territorial unit which reached the Black Sea coast. Territorial contacts between the GDL and the Ottoman Empire were conditioned by the geopolitical situation in the 15th century. In spite of the obvious political and trade contacts of these two countries, in historiography this topic is still generally unknown. The aim of this article is to analyse the GDL and Turkey historical relations and to highlight a potential research perspective in this field. Relations of the GDL with other countries – Moldavia, Crimean Khanate, and Muscovy – are densely involved with this particular topic. Obviously, this research will cover a wide sphere of other urgent historical problems.
The historiographical heritage in this particular research field is analysed firstly with the main authors and their work. It has become clear that the GDL is usually mentioned in the common historical context when international contacts among Poland, Turkey, Moldova and other countries are reviewed. There are no clear researches of the GDL policy in the Black Sea region; this is why this political unit is usually mentioned fragmentarily in common analyses. With this article, the author is trying to stimulate the rise of new historical researches in the field.
Secondly, the main historical documents are reviewed. There is no wide document base, indeed, especially in the field of published sources. On the other hand, there is information about unpublished documents in different archives.
To sum up all the above, the GDL and Turkey historical relations are an actual and promising historical research field, and it still is waiting for the attention of scholars.