Editing White Ruthenia (section)

== History ==
[[Vasily Tatishchev]] believed that for the first time the term "White Rus'" is found in the Rostov chronicles in the year [[1135]], where the lands of [[Vladimir-Suzdal|Rostov-Suzdal Principality]] were mentioned.<ref>V. N. [[Vasily Tatishchev|Tatishchev]], [https://runivers.ru/bookreader/book451096/#page/476/mode/1up Russian History, book II, 1773, p. 476]</ref> Referring to the publications of the Pole [[Maciej Stryjkowski]], Persian and other Eastern peoples who called the Russian princes "ak-padishah"(white tsar), and the state "Ak-Urus" (White Rus), the historian in his narrative extends this name to all Vladimir-Rostov princes, starting with [[Yuri Dolgorukiy]], and [[Andrei Bogolyubsky]]. He also calls the lands controlled by them "White Rus'", and calls the princes "White Russians" or "grand dukes of White Russia".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://runivers.ru/bookreader/book451093/#page/339/mode/1up|title=История Российская с самых древнейших времен неусыпными трудами через тридцать лет собранная и описанная покойным тайным советником и астраханским губернатором, Василием Никитичем Татищевым. Книга первая. Часть вторая|website=runivers.ru}}</ref>

The praiseworthy songs composed in the second half of the [[14th century]] by the Austrian poet Peter Suchenwirt tell how in [[1349]], in the battle of [[Izborsk]] ("Eysenburk" in the poem), German knights faced "Weizzen Reuzzen" ("White Russians"). However, it is known that it was a squad of [[Pskov]] and [[Izborsk]] people, led by Georgy Viktorovich, [[voivode]] of the Grand Duke of Lithuania [[Algirdas]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=B5wFAQAAIAAJ Peter Suchenwirt's Werke aus dem vierzehnten Jahrhunderte. 1827], p. 46</ref>

[[File:Rossia Fra Mauro.png|thumb|On [[Fra Mauro map|Fra Mauro's map]] (1459), oriented south, White Rus' (Rossia Biancha) is located near the White Sea (El mar bianco)]]

On the world [[Fra Mauro map]] (1459), the territory of [[Novgorod]]-[[Moscow]] Rus' between [[Volga]] and [[White Sea]] is called White Russia (Rossia Biancha). This map gives the following explanation:<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160910005907/http://geoweb.venezia.sbn.it/cms/images/stories/Testi_HSL/FM_iscr.pdf Website of the National Library of St. Mark in Venice]. Accessed: March 27, 2016.</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=This distinction, which is made between White, Black and Red Rus' has no other reason than that that part of Russia that is near the White Sea is called White; that which is near the Black River is called Black; and that which is near the Red River is called Red.
(''Questa distinction che si fata de rossia biancha, negra e rossa non ha altra cason cha questa, çoè quela parte de rossia che é de qua dal mar biancho se chiama biancha, quela ch'ê de là dal fiume negro se chiama negra e quela ch'ê de là dal fiume rosso se chiama rossa'').}}

Many other variations of this name appeared on ancient maps; for instance, ''Russia Alba, Russija Alba, Wit Rusland, Weiß Reußen (Weißreußen), White Russia, Hviterussland, Hvíta Rússland, Weiß Russland (Weißrussland), Ruthenia Alba, Ruthénie Blanche'' and ''Weiß Ruthenien'' ''(Weißruthenien)''. The name was also assigned to various territories, often quite distant from that of present Belarus.{{Clarify|date=August 2013}}<!-- What does 'ancient' mean? BC; medieval; late medieval? Approximately when were these terms applied? -->

According to [[Alfred Nicolas Rambaud]]:<blockquote>The name of ''White ({{Langx|lt|Balta}}) Russia'' is given to the provinces conquered from the 13th to the 14th century by the [[Grand Dukes of Lithuania]]. These were the ancient territories of the [[Krivichs|Krivitches]], [[Polochans|Polotchans]], [[Dregoviches|Dregovitches]], [[Drevlians]], [[Dulebes|Doulebes]], now forming the governments of [[Vitebsk Governorate|Vitepsk]], [[Mogilev Governorate|Mohilef]], and [[Minsk Governorate|Minsk]]. The Lithuanian territories of Grodno, Novogrodek and Belostok were sometimes called [[Black Ruthenia|Black Russia]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rambaud|first=Alfred|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/History_of_Russia/Chapter_2|title=History of Russia|year=1898|chapter=2|author-link=Alfred Nicolas Rambaud|access-date=2021-08-31|archive-date=2021-08-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831224711/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/History_of_Russia/Chapter_2|url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote>

An ethno-religious theory suggests that the name used to describe the part of old [[Ruthenia]]n lands within the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] that had been populated mostly by [[Slavs]] who had been Christianized early, as opposed to [[Black Ruthenia]], which was predominantly inhabited by pagan [[Balts]].<ref>Аб паходжанні назваў Белая і Чорная Русь (Eng. "About the Origins of the Names of White and Black Ruthenia"), Язэп Юхо (Joseph Juho), 1956.</ref>

As stated by historian [[Andrej Kotljarchuk]], the first person who called himself "Belarusian" was Calvinist writer [[Salomon Rysinski]] (Solomo Pantherus Leucorussus, ca 1569-1626). According to his words, he was born "in richly endowed with forests and animals Ruthenia near the border to frigid Muscovy" and doctorated at the [[University of Altdorf]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Orthodoxy in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Protestants of Belarus |url=https://belreform.org/eng/katlarchuk_prat_i_pravasl_eng.php |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=www.belreform.org |language=en |archive-date= |archive-url= |url-status= }}</ref>

[[File:Biełaruś._Беларусь_(1918)_(3).jpg|thumb|1918 map of the "White Ruthenian Democratic Republic" in French]]

On the 1712 map of French cartographer Henri Chatelain "Russie noire" (Black Ruthenia) is placed in region of [[Eastern Galicia]] (today [[Western Ukraine]]), which traditionally known as "Russie rouge" ([[Red Ruthenia]]).

[[File:1712. Russie noire, Russie blanche ou polonoise, Volhinie, Podolie.png|left|thumb|White Russia ({{Langx|fr|Russie Blanche}}) in white on a map by French cartographer Henri Chatelain in 1712. [[Black Ruthenia]] in black, [[Volhynia]] in red, and [[Podolia]] in yellow.]]

Vasmer's dictionary mentions the dichotomy of "white" land and "taxed" land in [[Domostroy]] and speculates that "white" [[Rus' people|Rus']] may have referred to the parts of [[Kievan Rus']] that were not conquered by [[Golden Horde]]. Another speculation in Vasmer is that the color of the clothes of the White Ruthenians (perhaps as well as the color of their hair) may have contributed to the name. [[Oleg Trubachyov]] calls both theories "complete fantasies".{{citation needed|date=June 2016}}

Also, the 16th century chronicler [[Alexander Guagnini]]'s book ''Sarmatiae Europeae descriptio'' wrote that [[Names of Rus', Russia and Ruthenia|Rus']] was divided in three parts. The first part, under the rule of the Muscovite Grand Duke, was called ''White Ruthenia''. The second one, under the rule of [[Polish king]], was called ''[[Black Ruthenia]]''. And the rest was ''[[Red Ruthenia]]''. He also said Moscow was the center of White Rus' and the Russian [[metropolitanate]], and that the [[Grand Duke of Moscow]] was called the ''White [[Czar]]'', especially by his subjects.

According to the late 19th-century ''[[Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland]]'', White Ruthenia (Ruś Biała) constituted the [[Minsk Voivodeship|Minsk]], [[Mścisław Voivodeship|Mścisław]], [[Połock Voivodeship|Połock]], [[Smolensk Voivodeship|Smolensk]] and [[Witebsk Voivodeship|Witebsk]] voivodeships of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] (before the [[Partitions of Poland]]), or the [[Mogilev Governorate]], eastern parts of the [[Minsk Governorate|Minsk]] and [[Vitebsk Governorate|Vitebsk]] Governorates, the western half of the [[Smolensk Governorate]], and the northern part of the [[Chernihiv Governorate]], i.e. the central, northern and eastern parts of modern Belarus, and the western outskirts of modern Russia with [[Smolensk]] and [[Starodub]].<ref>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom I|year=1880|language=pl|location=Warszawa|page=193}}</ref> The largest cities in the region so defined today are [[Minsk]], [[Gomel]], [[Vitebsk]], [[Mogilev]], [[Smolensk]] and [[Babruysk]].