THE EMERGENCE OF a new region in a territory that had never belonged to a principality was a result of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania's endeavour to extend its influence to the southwest in the middle of the fourteenth century. Originating from the West, this historical vision legitimizes itself through the necessity to fight Tatars and an assumption that Lithuania was the centre that amassed Ruthenian lands. Yet how was the situation perceived from the opposite side, from the Tatar perspective? This was probably the best time to expand power over the lands between the two rivers, the Dnieper and the Dniester. The last peak of the Golden Horde's activity in this region, in the middle of the fourteenth century, turned into a lasting race for power in the steppe empire. The decline of the Golden Horde coincided with the spread of the Black Death— a plague that weakened the domains in Eastern Europe from both demographic and economic points of view. To describe it in simple terms, the West wanted to come here, but was scared; the East wanted to stay here, but was not capable; therefore, the North, represented by Lithuania, came— and won.

What kind of lands will I be discussing in this chapter, and why are they worth our consideration? The chapter focuses on the territory that lies between the cities of Kamyanets in the west, Cherkasy in the east, and Medzhybizh in the north, and the Black Sea coast in the south. One should be cautious in defining the last border: the new and contested territory in the fourteenth century cannot be reduced to a set of rigid borderlines. However, there were two clearly fixed boundaries: the Dniester River in the south, the divide between the new region and the future Moldavian Principality; and the Dnieper River in the east. This vast territory, crossed by several vital routes linking the Black Sea coast and Crimea with Central Europe, will be the protagonist of this chapter. The gradual rediscovery of the area in historical sources— annals, chronicles, and land-granting documents— will show the main centres and routes of this sizable historical region on the European frontier.