Viktor Ciemušau. The Battle of Trostna and the South-Eastern Border of the Grand Duchy of Muscovy in 1368.
Historical and geographical circumstances of the earliest clash between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Moscow (1368) haven’t been clarified yet. The range of geographical references left by the old chronicles is extremely poor — just three place-names. Nevertheless, even they give a good space for speculations. The problem of establishing of the southwestern Moscow borderline arises from mentioning of Kholkhol volasc. Record of Abalensk reveals the problem of determination of the situation and lot of buffer princedoms between Lithuanian and Moscow states. At last, the note of the Trostna itself poses a problem of the important fourteenth century battle place retrieval. A number of particular questions must be added: what was the route Alherd kept to while going to Moscow borderlands or were there any common frontages between the two states? All these ambiguities both make the research rather complicated and open certain possibilities before a scholar. While some of the problems are being solved (for example, clarification of Moscow borderline) the others remain as speculative presuppositions (Alherd’s route or the place of the battle of Trostna).