Late Medieval Hammer Axes and Axes from the Border of Lesser Poland and Red Ruthenia in the 14th and 15th Centuries

In the Middle Ages, the area of the present-day Lublin region, neighbouring with the Ukraine and Belarus, constituted borderlands between the historical Lesser Poland and Red Ruthenia, for which the then rulers of Poland, Hungary and Lithuania competed. Complicated family and dynastic relations were the cause of disputes and wars. The rulers, referring to blood ties and inheritance rights, made claims to the territory of Red Ruthenia. Military expeditions were organized, more important castles were besieged, and alliances were made. The political plotting and conflicts concerned the heirs of the Ruthenian rulers of the Romanowicz family: the Hungarian Arpads and Anjou, the Polish Piasts and the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. After the final annexation of Ruthenia to the Polish Crown by Queen Jadwiga in 1387, intensive colonization and romanization of these lands began. All these events contributed to the fact that a significant number of military finds are nowadays obtained in this area, including pickaxes and battle axes. They are found along former communication and trade routes, river crossings, and in areas affected by armed conflicts. These artefacts represent many types distinguished by the experts in arms. Numerous copies have blacksmith's marks and decorations stamped. The pickaxes and battle axes described above are kept in the collections of museums in Lublin, Zamosc, Hrubieszow, Krasnystaw, Krasnik and Tomaszow Lubelski.