Dzmitry Huletski

The study of medieval artefacts of Ancient Rus’ has significantly intensified in the last decade, having acquired a previously inaccessible technical instrumentary. Purely humanitarian, general (no matter how erudite) reflection on certain specimens known to researchers is no longer enough. Numismatics and sigillography are acquiring features of more «strict sciences», using scrupulous graphical reconstruction of stamps, restoring technological processes, studying the metrology of artefacts that are becoming available for research in increasing quantities, and applying mathematical models. Compared to coins, the study of medieval seals requires much greater intellectual and organizational effort from their researchers, which leads to a superficial level of our understanding of their functioning as a system. The authors of this article are aiming to start filling the gap. The type depicting St. Theodore (the Martyr), selected for the research, belongs to rather early examples of ancient Russian sigillography. In 1970, V.L. Yanin clarified the opinion of N.P. Likhachev, who first dated them, as a first approximation, to the 11th century. In the early 2010s, a hypothesis appeared that the seals with the image of St. Theodore the Martyr belong to Vseslav Bryachislavich of Połack (1044–1101) (Valeri V. Nechitaylo in 2012; Igor A. Zhukov in 2013). In the second half of the decade, several Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian authors published numerous, previously unknown specimens of this type, primarily small monetary seals. In two articles, one of the authors of this publication formulated additional arguments in favour of attributing this type to Vseslav. In this work, authors collected all known stamp varieties of the described type, identified technological connections between them, and performed their graphic reconstruction.

The study of monuments of monetary circulation of the Russian Middle Ages has significantly intensified in the last decade, having acquired a previously inaccessible technical base. Numismatics is acquiring the features of a more exact science, using the tools of scrupulous graphical reconstruction of stamps, restoring technological connections, studying the metrology of coins that are becoming available for research in increasing quantities, and applying mathematical models to the technical characteristics of ancient monuments. The article deals with the methodology of studying the monuments of numismatics and «small» sphragistics of Ancient Rus’.

The article introduces 47 lead blanks from the Ancient Rus period found in Druck (currently in the Viciebsk region, Belarus). Small seals were produced of these blanks in the 11–12th centuries to fasten fur valuables into bundles, presumably circulating as a monetary unit (analogous to coins) there at that time.
New data triples the statistical base of such artefacts unearthed in Druck. The author distinguishes four groups of blanks according to their technological features and weight, considers contemporary analogies from other locations, and analyzes the genesis of the kind and technology development of the blanks. A hypothesis about what type of the Ancient Rus’ lead seals could have been produced in Druck was substantiated based on the mathematical analysis of the artefacts’ weight.

Речь в статье идет о свинцовых пломбах XII в., обнаруженных в ходе археологических рас- копок около Нового замка в Гродно и впоследствии переданных на хранение в фонды Гродненского государственного историко-археологического музея. В общей сложности было найдено 85 пломб, их анализу и атрибуции и посвящена данная работа.

Тринадцатый том серии «Русь, Литва, Орда в памятниках нумизматики и сфрагистики» является специальным выпуском, посвященным начальному периоду истории Древней Руси. Он включает в себя две научные статьи, в которых рассматривается обращение куфических дирхемов, а также три статьи по древнерусской сфрагистике. Сборник предназначен для историков, археологов, нумизматов, сфрагистов, музейных работников и коллекционеров, а также широкого круга читателей, интересующихся памятниками истории Восточной Европы в Средние века.

Двенадцатый выпуск сборника серии «Русь, Литва, Орда в памятниках нумизматики и сфрагистики» включает научные статьи, посвященные изучению монетного дела и денежного обращения трех крупных государств периода Средневековья, а также исследованию печатей и пломб XII—XVII вв. Публикуются клады монет и платежных слитков, редкие и неизданные типы монет и денежных клейм, а также работы, посвященные метрологическим и физико-химическим исследованиям нумизматических предметов.
Сборник предназначен для историков и археологов, нумизматов и сфрагистов, музейных работников и коллекционеров, а также для широкого круга читателей, интересующихся историческими памятниками периода Средневековья.

The article is devoted to a set of 31 ancient Russian lead seals dated the second half of the 11th — mid-12 century. The collection was found in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation. All of the described artifacts of “small sphragistics” except for one specimen bear princely symbols of two generic groups:
• Images of the holy patrons of the princes and their fathers;
• Images of princely signs that were used to mark the property of the princes, including such seals.
In addition to the description and analysis of the set, the author also analyzes the criteria for dividing the artifacts of ancient Russian sigillography into two categories: documental seals and commercial seals.

Сборник открывает статья В.П. Лебедева, Д.В. Гулецкого и Н.А. Дорошкевича о редком в своем топографическом контексте кладе куфических монет из Гродненской области Республики Беларусь. Находки кладов и отдельных экземпляров дирхемов VIII – начала ХI в. на территории Беларуси фиксируются с XIX в. Всего в четырех белорусских губерниях за это время было учтено 24 находки, из которых три – в Гродненской губернии, в том числе один клад, от которого сохранилась лишь одна монета Саманидов. В ХХ в. количество зафиксированных в печати и разных сводках белорусских кладов куфических монет составило 30 находок, среди них – три гродненских клада. В первое двадцатилетие XXI в. публикаций новых гродненских кладов куфических дирхемов пока не было, и предлагаемый депозит как раз таки открывает статистику их находок.

В одиннадцатый выпуск сборника серии «Русь, Литва, Орда в памятниках нумизматики и сфрагистики» (спецвыпуск «Русь Домонгольская») включены исследования в области прикладных исторических дисциплин, касающиеся обращения куфического дирхема в Восточной Европе; освещаются также малоизвестные факты о выпуске в отдельных областях Древней Руси местных монет и подражаний. Авторами серии продолжается фиксация материала для свода памятников «малой сфрагистики» – свинцовых пломб, служивших для скрепления меховых ценностей в XI–XII в. Сборник предназначен для историков, археологов, нумизматов, сфрагистов, а также прочих лиц, интересующихся вопросами геральдики, денежного обращения и права государств Восточной Европы в Средние века.

Written sources of Ancient Rus’ record the developed monetary system of Pre-Mongol Rus’, consisting of a clearly defined circle of ‘denominations’. At first, it’s grivna (гривна), nogata (ногата), kuna (куна), and veksha (векша). In documents of northern origin, rezana is also present. In the 12th century, when, according to the scholars, the development of commodity-money relations in Kievan Rus’ reached its highest peak, various types of grivnas — ‘of silver’, ‘of kunas’, ‘of sables’, and even ‘of dranitsy’ (драницы) (torn and worn skins) appeared.

Авторами анализируются данные, позволяющие сделать вывод о первом случае уверенной идентификации материальных свидетельств существования родоначальника династии полоцких князей — летописного варяга Рогволода, пребывавшего примерно с 962 до 978 года в Полоцке, где он был убит по приказу Владимира Святославича. Атрибутируемые Рогволоду I печати свидетельствуют о том, что князь был крещен под именем Василия.

In the spring of 2021, one of the authors of this article received information about the discovery of a small deposit of the Grand Prince of Lithuania Vitovt’s coins near the village of Rognedin, Bryansk region of Russia. They were struck in Smolensk shortly after this city became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the early 15th century. It consisted of 16 pennies with the image of the princely sign of Vitovt.
The local duke Yuri Svyatoslavich started the Smolenskian coinage about 1401, which was then continued by Vitovt after he captured the city. The weight of the Smolensk money was chosen according to the situation at the beginning of the 15th century – it almost exactly corresponded to the weight of coins of its powerful neighbors – the Vilna pennies of Jagiello and the Moscow half-dengas of Vasiliy Dmitrievitch.
Vitovt replaced the initials of Yuri Svyatoslavich with his own princely sign – Pillars. Coin masters who worked in Smolensk were noted for one of the highest levels of artistic quality in Rus’. The authors have compiled a die catalog of Smolensk coinage of Yuri Svyatoslavich and Vitovt, which includes 117 coins that form 36 die combinations.

Basic principles of the monetary lead seals circulation in the first century of their existence in Kievan Rus’ – from ca 1050 to the time of Abu Hamid al-Gharnati's visit to Rus’ – have already been studied. The article introduces the new information about large finds of the monetary seals dated back to the late 12th century in two opposite parts of the former Połackian land – Losk and Druck. These sites are located approximately 250 km at the same latitude, both on the borders of Połackian land - one in the west, the other in the east. Our knowledge has been replenished with more than five hundred specimens.
Many finds of small seals from Druck have already been known and published before, but this finding is unique because an unprecedentedly large number of the sphragistic artifacts – 509 specimens – were recorded on a compact plot of land no larger than 1.5 by 1.5 meters during construction work within a private estate near the Druck settlement (at a distance of about 150-200 meters from it).
The pile of sphragistic artifacts has shown homogeneity: in contrast to the previously described local finds, the seals of the deposit have identical patina, degree of chemical preservation, and also a homogeneous typological composition. 84% belong to only four main groups of Połackian and Smolenskian seals of the second half of the 12th century – with two variants of the Połackian princely signs, with two close variants of bell-shaped signs of Monomakh heirs, and also with the Cyrillic legend on which the name “Volodar” is read on the best samples. We were lucky to encounter a kind of "sphragistic treasure" – a large warehouse of seals and objects that were once attached to them, within a single manor house. Probably, the treasure represented an instant slice of money circulation (storage of fur valuables) of the region in the second half of the 12th century or in the beginning of the 13th century. If all 509 seals once fastened the money bundles of the worn squirrel belts (the fiat kunas), the metal equivalent of the treasure was about 600 grams of silver.
In Losk, local historians were noting the findings of small seals discovered during agricultural work for several years in the late 2010-ies. They recorded these finds within the ancient "house spots" in the fields on both sides of the castle site. The total number of recorded items was 88 pieces. The composition of the Losk finds even more clearly points exclusively to the second half of the 12th/beginning of the 13th centuries. The information obtained will help to build a more accurate model of financial and trade relations in the Połackian principality at that time. So far, we can conclude that money circulation had a fairly similar structure in the two opposite parts of the economy.

В шестой выпуск сборника статей «Русь, Литва, Орда в памятниках нумизматики и сфрагистики» вошли материалы, посвященные денежному обращению указанных государств периода Средневековья, а также древнерусским актовым печатям и товарным пломбам. Освещаются проблемные вопросы атрибуции монет и печатей, публикуются монетные клады, исследуются группы и единичные экземпляры монет Руси, Золотой Орды и Великого княжества Литовского. Сборник предназначен для нумизматов, сфрагистов, историков, а также лиц, интересующихся вопросами нумизматики и сфрагистики IX-XVII вв.

Настоящая заметка посвящена публикации четырнадцати европейских суконных пломб XIV–XVIII вв., обнаруженных случайно в ряде районов средневековой Руси, расположенных на территории современной западной Украины, а также в центре и на востоке Республики Беларусь. В большинстве своём эти пломбы – польские, но встречены также немецкие и фламандские экземпляры; происхождение части памятников не установлено. Любопытно, что, несмотря на тесную интеграцию западнорусских земель в состав Речи Посполитой, пока нет свидетельств выпуска подобных изделий на территории Великого княжества Литовского.

А.К. Богуш и Д.В. Гулецкий вводят в научный оборот более 600 новых находок древнерусских свинцовых пломб. Скрупулезный учет находок, важность которого не раз подчеркивалась в нашем издании, делает возможным открытие фактов экономической и политической истории древнего Полоцка, которые навсегда остались бы неизвестными при опоре лишь на скудные письменные источники. В первой из статей авторы анализируют состав находок локального региона Полоцкой земли, находившегося на ее юге, – Логойской волости. Древнерусские свинцовые пломбы в полной мере иллюстрируют ослабление экономических связей Логойщины с Полоцком во второй половине XII века за счет усиления связей с соседней Черниговской землей.

SEIBT (Vienna)-Dzmitry HULETSKI (Minsk)-Yury TIGUNTSEV (Klintsy) Nikolaos Zounaras / Zonaras served at the end of the eleventh century in the capacity of judge (κριτής) of the united themata of Thrake and Makedonia. There exist fi ve of his seals found in the Byzantine territory to guarantee the exact transcription of his seal's legend. He was, from 1088 onward, protovestarches and grand chartoularios and later became droungarios tes viglas in the fi rst quarter of the twelfth century. It was an extraordinary surprise to fi nd extant (up to this point) some 15 (sic!) seal fragments of this seal type in the Old Rus', especially in the knjažestvo of Chernigov / Chernihiv. The authors propose that Nikolaos was offi cially sent there by the Byzantine emperor to assist a fair division of Chernigov between the two brothers David and Oleg-Michael according to the agreement of the council of Liubech (1097). Zounaras's activity throws new light on the Byzantine Rus'ian relations during the reign of Alexios I Komnenos.

Dzmitry Huletski, Werner Seibt – Byzantine Seals from the Territory of Polotsk Duchy of Michael from Daulia (XI/XII c.)
During the last years at least three Byzantine seals (of one and the same type) of Michael from Daulia were found in Senno (District of Vitebsk) in Belarus’, some 100 km south of Polotsk. On the obverse appears a standing figure of the archangel Michael, vested like a Byzantine emperor (in the type usual since Michael VII Doukas).
The reverse legend reads: Γραφὰς σφραγίζω Μιχαὴλ Δαβλίτου. The demonstrative omission of the article in front of the second name (with the article it would be a correct dodekasyllable) points to the fact that Davlites is not a normal family name but indicates the origin of Michael from Daulia (Δαύλια, Δάβλια, Δαυλεία, Διαύλια), a town in Greece, a suffragan bishopric of the metropolis of Athens, northeast of Delphi, today integrated into the town of Levadeia. The seals stem probably from the last third of the XI or early XII century.
The vita of St. Evfrosinija of Polotsk († 1173) mentions a certain Michael, “servant” of the saint, who was (after 1155) her delegate to the Byzantine emperor and patriarch to achieve a highly venerated icon of the Theotokos. But he is too late to become a candidate for the person who had emitted the seals. Near Michael’s seals there was found a synchronous Byzantine seal of a monk called Eustratios (with a bust of the Theotokos Episkepsis / Znamenie on the obverse).

Авторам настоящей публикации представилась возможность паспортизировать большой объём русских средневековых пломб, несущих на себе изображения святых, крестов, букв, княжеских знаков и пр., происходящих из юго-западных районов современной Брянской области Российской Федерации. Поскольку масса однотипного сфрагистического материала велика, мы посчитали необходимым разбить её на группы и типы для дальнейшего поэтапного введения в научный оборот. В данной публикации вниманию читателей представлен комплекс свинцовых пломб XI – XII веков с изображениями святых и креста различных типов.

Оборвавшаяся в конце 1010-х гг. чеканка киевских «сребреников» должна была ребром поставить вопрос об обеспечении мелкорозничного денежного обращения, прежде всего, в Южной Руси уже в начале правления Ярослава. Иностранная серебряная монета в Поднепровье почти не поступала с середины X столетия, а возникшие здесь позднее стандартизированные денежные слитки по своей природе не могли обеспечить нужд ежедневного мелкого оборота, который не только не прекратился в XI–XII вв., но и неуклонно расширялся за счет роста производительности труда ремесленников и умножения участвовавших в обороте социальных групп. И в самом деле, письменные источники фиксируют развитую денежную систему домонгольской Руси, состоящую из значительного количества «номиналов»: гривны серебра, гривны кун, ногаты, куны, резаны, векши, белы. Своего наивысшего пика товарно-денежные отношения Киевской Руси закономерно достигли в XII в.

This book is devoted to the early coinage of the Ulus of Jochi, often referred to in literature as the Golden Horde. Jochi was the eldest son of the well-known Chingiz (Genghis) Khan, creator of one of the greatest medieval empires. The possessions of Jochi’s descendants spread thousands of kilometres to the west of the ancestral Mongol homeland and were later given the appellation Golden Horde. It is this name that is most familiar to the modern reader. Jochi’s khanate endured for more than
two centuries. This book considers Jochid numismatics during the time that they were under the authority of the Great Khan in Karakorum (1224-1266).

The practice of counterstamping one side of a coin with a small die was used infrequently in the West but was quite widespread in the East. This fact is often explained by more oppressive traditions of power, since counterstamped currency is usually associated with increased seigniorage, or issuing ruler profit.
Indeed, the cost of counterstamping an old, void-of-guarantee coinage is significantly below the cost of producing a new currency. However, the countermarks do not contribute to the political prestige of the issuer, as their owned issued money would have done, and, perhaps more importantly, such money cannot be used in international trade, since their exchange rate is guaranteed only within the state issuing them. Lithuanian countermarks circulated exclusively in areas of the Lithuanian-Horde frontier, almost without any penetration into the interior of the state.

Чатырнаццаты том серыі «Русь, Літва, Арда ў помніках нумізматыкі і сфрагістыкі»-спецыяльны выпуск, засяроджаны на гістарычным кантэксце Заходняй Русі ў перыяд Сярэднявечча. У выпуск увайшлі матэрыялы па валынскай, тураўскай, чарнігаўскай, полацкай сфрагістыцы XI-XIII стст., а таксама па нумізматыцы земляў былой Кіеўскай Русі па мангольскім заборы, што пазней увайшлі ў склад Вялікага княства Літоўскага, і тых, што знаходзіліся пад безпасярэднім уплывам Джучыдаў. Выпуск складзены па-беларуску і па-украінску і прызначаны для гісторыкаў, археолагаў, нумізматаў і сфрагістаў, музейных работнiкаў і калекцыянераў, а таксама для шырокага кола чытачоў, што цікавяцца гістарычнымі крыніцамі перыяду Сярэднявечча.

The first coins of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania are generally anonymous. This fact led to the difficulty of their perception by researchers for many years. Many types received the correct attribution in the last decade only; their metrological studies were virtually not carried out yet. However, it has now become obvious that coinage in the GDL began no later than in the 1370s, possibly even earlier. Stylistically and technologically, the first coins all carry an Eastern appearance, the legends are Cyrillic.

Книга рассчитана на любителей отечественной истории и нуимзматики эпохи Средневековья и раннего Нового времени. Подробно описываются все известные науке монеты литовских князей, начиная с самых первых эмиссий разменных монет в разных уголках государства и заканчивая выпуском первой крупной монеты-литовского гроша Жигимонта Казимировича.

Данный выпуск сборника мы посвящаем памяти Валентина Наумовича Рябцевича — родоначальника белорусской советской нумизматики послевоенного времени, практически в одиночку сформировавшего белорусскую нумизматическую школу. В.Н. Рябцевич — автор 4 монографий, более 100 научных и 300 энциклопедических статей. Первая книга молодого в те годы специалиста «О чем рассказывают монеты» (1968 г.) стала настоящим откровением для жителей послевоенной БССР, пока еще несмело интересовавшихся древней историей. На протяжении нескольких последующих десятилетий книгаоставалась единственным источником популяризации нумизматических знаний в обществе. Она была переиздана, а впоследствии легла в основу другого труда Валентина Наумовича — «Нумизматика Беларуси» (1995 г.). В настоящее время в альма матер ученого — Белорусском Государственном Университете — проводятся регулярные научные конференции, посвященные его памяти.

The practice of counterstamping one side of a coin with a small die was used infrequently in the West but was quite widespread in the East. This fact is often explained by more oppressive traditions of power, since counterstamped currency is usually associated with increased seigniorage, or issuing ruler profit.
Indeed, the cost of counterstamping an old, void-of-guarantee coinage is significantly below the cost of producing a new currency. However, the countermarks do not contribute to the political prestige of the issuer, as their owned issued money would have done, and, perhaps more importantly, such money cannot become be used in international trade, since their exchange rate is guaranteed only within the state issuing them. Lithuanian countermarks circulated exclusively in areas of the
Lithuanian-Horde frontier, almost without any penetration into the interior of the state.

Издание «Русские средневековые монеты» посвящено всему княжескому периоду средневековой истории Руси от первых киевских монет до венчания Ивана Васильевича Грозного на царство (X в. - 1547).

В книгу вошёл значительный массив платёжных слитков, игравших ключевую роль в русском денежном обращении XII-XV столетий. До настоящего времени информация об этих необычных памятниках нумизматики была разобщена и труднодоступна массовому читателю. Заметно расширена классификация подражаний и надчеканов, выпускавшихся в русских княжествах, исследованы их основы.

Переработана компоновка страниц для повышения удобства читателя, изображения монет размещены над описанием. Значительная часть прорисовок и черно-белых изображений заменена цветными фотографиями. В научный оборот вводится большое количество новых монет.

Формат А4, твердая обложка, 660 страниц, Москва, 2017 г. Тираж: 500 экз.

Cпецвыпуск «Русь домонгольская». Третий выпуск сборника «Русь, Литва, Орда в памятниках нумизматики и сфрагистики» по-
свящён домонгольскому периоду истории Руси и её соседей (X – начало XIII вв.) В том традиционно включены статьи по нумизматике и сфрагистике, а также по геральдике и архитектуре.

This is an extract from the book.
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The end of the first millennium was marked in Kievan Rus’ by the beginning of abundant coinage. “Srebreniks” and “zlatniks” of Vladimir Svyatoslavich were considered for a long time to be the first Russian currency. Confidence in this fact was recently shaken by new investigations of peculiar Russian Kufic dirham imitations that first appeared in the middle of the 10th century. After the death of Vladimir in Kiev (1015), silver coins continued to be issued by his successor Svyatopolk (who ruled until 1019). This duke was soon defeated and expelled from the throne by his brother Yaroslav, who did not resume the mintage of “srebreniks”.
What replaced these coins? How was small-scale trade carried out in the lands that never used “srebreniks” (for example, Polotsk)? Was it satisfied only with natural exchange? Insufficient knowledge of Russian monetary circulation in the 11th through the beginning of the 13th centuries is primarily due to the scarcity of historical sources.
The book is written in a mixed genre. It is based on the research of Dzmitry Huletski, located at the junction of two auxiliary historical disciplines – numismatics and sigillography. Several years ago he started his research of unusual ancient artifacts – small medieval Russian lead seals. In spite of the fact that more than one and a half centuries have passed since their first recognition by Count K.P. Tyszkiewicz, no one has been able to explain their phenomenon sufficiently.
In the first part of the book we worked with medieval Russian written sources, comparing them with data from archeology and numismatics, studied the historiography of monetary systems of the pre-Mongol period of Russian history and developed our own vision of this problem. Monuments of the legal thought of Ancient Rus’ – the “Rus’ Justice”, princely statutes, international treaties – do not shed enough light on money circulation in ancient Rus’. They allow us to trace its features only in general outlines and in the individual territories of Novgorod and Smolensk. The Novgorod monetary system can be characterized somewhat more fully because of the significant number of contemporary birchbark letters found there. We can only use analogies to talk about how the markets of the remaining lands functioned.
As the majority of modern researchers, we adopt the idea of circulation of fur money in the 11th-13th centuries in Rus’. It would be impossible to prove this without reliance on the testimonies of outstanding foreigners who visited Russia in the Middle Ages or heard about its customs from eyewitnesses. A second part of the book is devoted to a review of their rather sparse allusions. Roger Bacon directly compared Russian fur money with contemporary Chinese paper notes. It forced us to pay attention to the latter and learn the circumstances of their emergence and functioning. The third section is devoted to the financial side of the issue of fur valuables, after which the history of the appearance of small seals from lead is briefly considered.
The interrelation between the “kuna” of written sources (one of two main currency units of this time in Rus’) and medieval Russian lead seals, which now seems obvious to us, has determined the subject of the voluminous fourth section. It is dedicated to the historiography of the Russian “small sigillography”. Here all important studies, beginning from 1864, are mentioned.
Finally, the fifth part is a catalog of small medieval Russian l lead seals containing 69 types and a number of their subtypes. It was compiled on the basis of eight publications of Dzmitry Huletski with co-authors and collaborators published from 2016-2018, in which he introduced more than 1,000 new finds of small seals. This catalog is far from being complete yet. The publication of many more thousands of seals will probably be required to complete the study of their emission in the pre-Mongol period. We hope this work will be an intermediate milestone that sums up our three-year study, but we don’t plan to stop here. In the sixth section we discuss several topics that, in our opinion, stand among the most promising directions for the research in Russian sigillography in the immediate future.
While preserving a scientific style in the main text of the book, we also devoted additional efforts to a selection of illustrative series, as well as to the creation of a reference tool that would help an inexperienced reader to navigate through the “pantheon” of medieval Russian historical personalities. Thus, the choice was made in favor of the popular scientific format of the publication. Images of the coins and seals are presented in this book in a 1.5x magnification.
In conclusion, we would like to thank the following people for the help we received during the preparation of this book: Igor Zhukov, Yury Tiguntsev, Sergey Polekhov, Sergey Goglov, Vyacheslav Kuleshov, Maxim Vorontsov, Petr Gaydukov, Vasily Zaitsev, Sergey Sidorovich, Andrey Shkapov (Russia), Alexander Krivoruchko, Igor Pilatovich (Belarus), Nikolay Yaroshevski, Volodymyr Mukhin (Ukraine), Werner Seibt (Austria), Dirk Faltin (Switzerland), Marcin Piotrowski (Poland), Alistair McKay (Great Britain) and James Farr (USA). The book would be much less comprehensive without your expertise and a keen interest in medieval history.