DID THE EUROPEAN border run through Podillya in the fifteenth century? Was it the edge of European civilization in the East? Were the contested territories at the border an inhabited space for local Ruthenians and those who arrived here, from both the eastern and western sides of the border, seeking fortune? What positions did the newly arrived noblemen occupy in a distant Podillya? Answers to these questions constitute the history of western Podillya or the Podolian Voivodeship in the fifteenth century. Freshly arrived noblemen demanded new law, which was introduced in the newly established Ruthenian and Podolian Voivodeships in 1434. The implementation of new law brought new officials, who, on behalf of the king and the local community, represented the will of their overlord and the people, which at that time meant the will of the nobility.

From district offices and land titles, which Podolian rulers used to grant to noblemen during the fifteenth century, one can learn about the main actors of local history. In most cases, these officials consisted of new people, who had nothing in common with Podillya before the fifteenth century. Rich and not so rich, they were linked together by a network of various kinds of relationships: family, neighbour, friend, service, and clientele. These links formed a system of coordinates they used to function at the turbulent borderland. Hardly would a late medieval local community survive in a border area without these links, especially the service and clientele relationships. The king and court were very distant, and sometimes a ruler might as well have been completely absent from the state, as was the case from 1440 to 1444, when Władysław III left his Polish possessions forever after being elected as Hungarian king. From the king's perspective, there were more critical affairs in the Polish Kingdom, such as the long-drawn-out election of a king from 1445 to 1447, the thirteen-year war with the Teutonic Order between 1453 and 1466, and King Casimir IV's attempts to ensure the throne of the Czech Kingdom for his son. The son of Władysław II Jagiełło, Casimir IV, visited Podillya only once during his long reign, in 1448, which implied that he was not interested in the region.