Toichkin D. klinkovoe obuzhenie kazatskoi starshiny XVI-pervoi poloviny XIX v.: problemy attributsii i klassifikatsii [Bladed weapons of the Cossack foreman of the XVI-first half of the XIX century: problems of attribution and classification].

The multi-faceted palette of the modern historiographical process in Ukraine has been enriched by an extraordinary study in the field of weapons science, which is devoted to a comprehensive analysis of the process of the emergence and evolution of bladed weapons of the Cossack foreman, the problems of their attribution and classification. The author of the monograph-Denis Toichkin-is well known not only to a wide range of military historians, researchers in the field of special historical disciplines, but also to museum experts and collectors. His long-term work on the search and identification of weapons monuments, the implementation of their comprehensive source analysis, attribution and study has gained credibility among the scientific community.

It should be noted that such weapons studios in Ukraine appear extremely rarely. To date, this is the only synthetic historical weapon. research of long-bladed weapons of the Cossack era. It is a logical continuation of the previous monographic work of the scientist, devoted to the source study of the Cossack saber of the XVII-XVIII centuries. ¹ the main attention here is focused on the study of material sources, for the first time numerous questions on their attribution are solved, in particular, the phenomenon of the "Cossack saber"is explained.

The importance and scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that until recently the problem raised in it was not in the field of view of historians in general and historians in particular, who focused mainly on general historical processes, interpretation of facts and events, basing their conclusions primarily on the interpretation of data drawn from written sources.

The author demonstrates a deep knowledge of the material-both primary sources and domestic and foreign research not only in the field of weapons studies, but also in other special historical disciplines, socio-political and military history of the period under study, museum studies, and so on. D. Toichkin drew on a representative set of sources and a powerful historiography with an emphasis on modern research by leading historians weapons with a worldwide reputation. The multilingual historiographic palette of research is presented by studios of Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, Belarusian, Czech, English, German, French, and Turkish authors. The author also made extensive use of data gathered from scientific search information systems - museum catalogues, descriptions, electronic resources, and databases.

¹ see: Toichkin D. kazatskaya sablya XVII-XVIII vv.: istoriko-oruzheynoe issledovanie [Cossack saber of the XVII-XVIII centuries: historical and weapons research]. - K., 2007. - 368 p.

Consequently, the undoubted advantage of the work is that it is written on the basis of a synthesis of a large number of different sources - material, iconographic, written. To achieve this goal, D. Toychkin has conducted significant heuristic work in state museums, archives, and private collections in Ukraine, the Russian Federation, and Poland. In total, materials from a number of state and private collections of edged weapons in our country were used in the research process (in particular, the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Kiev, the V. Tarnovsky Chernihiv Regional Historical Museum, the Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky State Historical Museum, the D. Yavornytsky State Historical Museum in Dnepropetrovsk, the Poltava Regional Museum of Local Lore, the Mirgorod Regional Museum of Local Lore). Museum, Lviv Historical Museum, Kharkiv State Historical Museum, private collection of A. Feldman), as well as abroad( the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the State Historical Museum in Moscow, the Royal Palace Museum in Wawel (Krakow) , the Museum of the Princes Czartoryski Foundation of the National Museum in Krakow, the Museum of the Polish Army in Warsaw).

In the process of attribution of personal bladed weapons, pictorial sources were widely involved in the analysis, in particular, ornamentation on weapons, as well as iconographic monuments - first of all, Ukrainian portrait painting of the XVII-XVIII centuries. (Moreover, the author used both original paintings from museum collections in Ukraine and Russia, as well as numerous reproductions from albums and art history works).

An important place in the original research base was occupied by the data of blade epigraphy, as well as information obtained as a result of the analysis of documentary and narrative sources stored in the archives of Ukraine and the Russian Federation (Central State Archive of the Highest Authorities of Ukraine, Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine in Kiev, Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine in Kiev. Lviv, State Archive of the Poltava region, Russian State Military-Historical Archive). Such a multi-faceted and diverse Source material gave the author the opportunity to comprehensively explore the existence of bladed weapons of the Cossack foreman against the background of events and processes of the historical era.

A separate place in the structure of the book is occupied by the division devoted to the methodology and terminological apparatus of research. Moreover, for the first time in specialized historiography, an in-depth, comprehensive analysis of material sources was carried out using original author's methods. It should be noted that the proposed method of weapons research consists of sequential procedures that allow us to comprehensively solve a number of problems of both technical and historical nature. First of all, the researcher provides a general description of the weapon samples, determines the place and date of their production, and then proceeds to establish various parameters of the weapon, testing the materials from which it is made. At the same time, the metals and minerals used in the manufacture of weapons samples, as well as the types of leather and fabrics, are analyzed in detail. In the future, in the course of research, craft techniques used in the production of weapons (casting, engraving, chasing, inlay, embossing, gilding) are established, and technical parameters are determined in detail using modern equipment (see

tab. with a description of measuring and testing equipment on p. 24 of the monograph).

The implementation of such a deep and comprehensive analysis required from the author not only knowledge of historical processes, but also a wide application of interdisciplinary approaches, textual, art history, chemical and physical research methods, which led to the involvement of qualified specialists in the humanities and natural sciences. when studying each sample, its morphological and mechanical-kinematic characteristics were given, the state of conservation was assessed, and information about conservation and restoration work was indicated. The methods of symbolism, emblematics, heraldry, and paleography were used in the analysis of symbols. The description of each individual attraction was accompanied by detailed explanations, drawings and diagrams.

The applied research methodology was generalized in the scheme developed by the author, which reflects the main stages of studying bladed weapons as a material source (p. 37) and is of great importance and practical value, since it can serve as a certain guide for other scientists during attribution and study of weapons monuments.

Considerable attention is also paid to the evolution of the terminology system. By the way, D. Toichkin examines in detail the etymology of the names of weapons samples, identifies and traces the existence of terms in written sources, compares Ukrainian names with their foreign-language counterparts. And, most importantly, it provides its own definitions of the main terms ("sword", "saber", " broadsword ", etc.), which are based on the generalization of the research of its predecessors and the author's observations and conclusions. Thus, the author's undoubted merit is to expand and clarify the definitions of a number of historical terms related to Cossack bladed weapons.

Long-blade weapons are considered in the monograph as an important component of the military culture of early modern times. Moreover, the importance of personal bladed weapons (swords, broadswords and piabels) is emphasized not only as means of armed struggle, but also as signs of a noble class and a certain social status, an integral part of a solemn costume, a symbol of family and personal dignity, a sign of material prosperity. The author departs from traditional approaches to the analysis of weapons as material sources, and conducts a synthetic study based on identifying and verifying all the historical information accompanying each sample.

An extremely difficult task of attribution is to establish and confirm the personal identity of weapons. To this end, D. Toichkin analyzes portrait images, property descriptions and other historical documents, blade symbols and epigraphy. The study of samples of long-blade weapons, which, according to historical and family legends, belonged to hetmans and representatives of the Cossack foreman, is based on initial information of various origins. The author makes extensive use of modern source research methods based on cross-verification of multi-faceted information obtained in the analysis of sources of various types. The research involves data from genealogy, heraldry, symbolism, paleography, biographistics, military anthropology, and so on.

The first section of the monograph examines the origins and process of the formation of long-length weapons in Ukraine in the context of the development of weapons business in Europe and the East. Covering the history of the emergence and development of long-bladed varieties of edged weapons, D. Toichkin emphasizes the importance of the sword, emphasizing that throughout the Middle Ages it occupied such an important place in the equipment of the professional military elite that its comprehensive study can provide a key to understanding the emergence and further evolution of the entire complex of medieval weapons and, moreover, the the phenomenon of military cultures in Europe and the East (p. 55). The author examines the evolution of swords in close connection with the peculiarities of regional history, the development of military affairs and practices of armed struggle, forms of armor, distinguishing between "knight's" swords, bows, falchions, straight Persian and Mameluke swords, scimitars, etc. Special attention is drawn to the process of emergence and evolution of broadswords, which became widespread in the Ottoman Empire from the XVI century and had an impact on the formation of the modern European broadsword. The author's generalizing analysis of the hypotheses about the time of origin and distribution area of such an important variety of bladed weapons as the saber (p.72-78), as well as a synthetic description of the process of formation and tracing the historical path of morphological types of piabels in Central and Eastern Europe (p. 78-115), is of interest. In our opinion, the wide use of illustrative material - images of various types of weapons from museum catalogues, books, engravings, and paintings-has become particularly important for readers ' full perception of the multi-faceted spring information provided in the book.

In general, it is extremely interesting and important in the study that the author refers to the source analysis of works of art in order to identify additional information about the weapons of the studied era (in particular, the analysis of the subjects of the famous paintings "The Battle of Grunwald" by Ya. Mateyk, "The Cossacks write a Letter to the Turkish Sultan" by I. Repin, "the battle of Maxim Krivonos with Yarema Vishnevetsky" and "the battle of Ivan Bohun with Czarnecki near the Monastery in 1653" by M. Samokish, fragments of the painting of the main altar of the Church of the Virgin Mary in Krakow, iconographic images of Ukrainian hetmans and other representatives of the Cossack elders, etc.).

Of particular interest, in our opinion, are the materials of the second section of the monograph, devoted to the existence of knightly bladed weapons in the Ukrainian open spaces and the attribution of samples belonging to the hetmans of the Zaporozhye Army. As the author notes, there are some swords with a confirmed documentary history in Ukraine, and among them is the "golden" sword of P. Konashevich-Sagaidachny (p. 133), which his legendary Cossack regientar received (according to separate testimonies) after the Battle of Khotyn from the Polish king's son Vladislav Vaza. Currently, the sword is kept in Wawel Castle in Krakow, along with Polish coronation swords. The first intelligence report dedicated to this weapon was published in 2002 and was written by the famous Ukrainian historian T. Chukhlib. ² Later,

^{Rusina O., Gorobets V.,} neizvestnaya Klio: tyny, kazusy i kuryezy ukrainskoi istorii: Kazatskaia epokha [The fate of the golden sword of Sagaidachny].

the image of the sword, accompanied by a brief attribution, appeared in the catalog "Ukraine-Cossack state" (2007), and in 2011 the historical analysis of the blade epigraphy was carried out by researchers of the Battle of Khotyn in Sas and Kirkenes. However, it is on the pages of D. Toichkin's monograph that for the first time in historiography, all the characteristics of the sword of P. Konashevich-Sagaidachny are synthesized and analyzed in detail - the material from which it is made, technical parameters, morphological data, symbolism, ornamentation, epigraphy, etc. (pp. 135-140). A detailed source analysis gave the author grounds to confirm the dating of the sword and come to interesting conclusions about its blade epigraphy (p. 140).

The comparative analysis of the broadsword, which is kept in the museum of the Princes Czartoryski Foundation of the National Museum in Krakow and Chablis, which is now in the collection of the Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky State Historical Museum, is extremely interesting. Noting the significant contribution to the study of kleinods and bladed weapons of Hetman B. Khmelnitsky, a well-known Ukrainian historian, heraldist and Vekselologist Yu. Savchuk ³, d. Toychkin, based on a detailed analysis of weapons rarities from the two collections mentioned above, discovered new important spring information. Thus, according to the author, according to the totality of features, the blade of the Krakow broadsword is "an extremely valuable, rare example that represents the Ukrainian memorial weapon of the XVII century", as evidenced by its documentary history, morphological characteristics, applied craft techniques, and the content of blade epigraphy (p.149). As for the sample, which was first mentioned as " Khmelnitsky's saber "in the catalog of the collection of Ukrainian antiquities by V. Tarnovsky in 1898 and is now kept in the Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky State Historical Museum, D. Toichkin carefully analyzes the history of the origin of the saber, its interpretation by various researchers and, ultimately, its transformation into a"historical myth". At the same time, the author carries out a thorough weapons study of the sample according to all the necessary parameters, consults with paleographers on the analysis of inscriptions on weapons and concludes that there are no good reasons to "consider the Pereyaslavsky exhibit as a personal weapon of Bohdan Khmelnitsky" (p. 158). According to D. Toichkin, both rarities should be considered as sabers with memorial inscriptions in memory of the Battle of Berestetsky. Moreover, "if the Cracow broadsword could well have belonged to B. Khmelnitsky himself or a wealthy official from the Hetman's entourage, then the owner of the Pereyaslav saber (which is already a simplified and cheap imitation), obviously, could have been a representative of the smaller Ukrainian gentry, but a direct participant in the turbulent events of the liberation war" (p.158). The author rightly notes that the study of "Bohdan Khmelnitsky's sabers" opens a new page in the history of Ukrainian weapons, since it gives grounds to assert the existence of a national tradition of memorial inscriptions on bladed weapons.

Undoubtedly, the attention of both specialists and a wide range of readers will be attracted by the author's interpretation of a mysterious, almost "detective" story with the existence of

³ see: Savchuk Yu. Hetman's kleinodes and personal belongings of Bohdan Khmelnitsky in the collections of European museums (search, finds, attribution). - K., 2006. - 96 p.

and attribution in the scientific literature and museum catalogues of "Mazeppa's sabers" (pp. 159-193). It is known that for the first time among Ukrainian historians, a scientific description of the monument in the 1880s was carried out by an outstanding researcher of Cossack antiquity A. Lazarevsky, ⁴ who suggested that this weapon belonged to Hetman Ivan Mazepa. However, after it entered the collection of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (at the beginning of the 20th century), the chief curator of weapons of the museum, a well-known expert in the field of historical weapons studies, E. Lenz, expressed the opinion that the inscriptions on the sample are not authentic (p.162). In turn, already at the beginning of the XXI century, D. Toichkin, considering this undoubtedly important historical artifact from the point of view of a modern specialist, conducted his own thorough research and attempted to determine what the famous "Mazepa's saber" is (pp. 163-173). After analyzing in detail the materials and techniques used in the production of the sample, its technical parameters, mechanical-kinematic and morphological characteristics, ornamentation, symbolism and epigraphy according to the author's method, the researcher paid special attention to the inscriptions made in italics on the outer and inner side planes of the blade (pp. 168-169). Their detailed palaeographic and textual analysis gave grounds for D. Toychkin to come to a number of important conclusions: according to the manner of writing letters and stylistic features, the inscription was created later than the Mazepa era; similar inscriptions in content became widespread only in the XVIII century. and, finally, that the application of inscriptions on both sides of the blade along its entire length is extremely rare in the European weapon practice of this period. Having proved later the origin of the sample, D. Toichkin nevertheless noted that the issue of" Mazepa's saber " cannot be considered finally resolved, and that the legendary fate of the saber fully corresponds to the spirit of the controversial figure of I. Mazepa, becoming an integral part of all modern mazepiana (p. 171).

The following sections of the monograph are devoted to the analysis of sabers of representatives of the foreman of the lower and city Cossacks (including Alexey Apostol, Sich kurenny ataman Vovka, Pavel Nezhinets, etc.) and bladed weapons of the atamans of the Trans - Danube Cossacks, among which our special interest was aroused by the author's study of the saber of the last koshevy ataman of the Trans-Danube Sich, Joseph Gladkiy (pp. 256-267). D. Toichkin carefully traced the history of the saber from the first mention of it in the works of D. Yavornytsky, who discovered it during one of his ethnographic expeditions, published a description and image in his monograph ⁵ and, in the end, managed to transfer it for storage to the historical Museum headed by him in Yekaterinoslav (now the Dnepropetrovsk National Historical Museum D. Yavornytsky). Unfortunately, the traces of the saber were subsequently lost. Presumably, she shared the fate of many museum exhibits that were subjected to numerous movements during the Second World War. However, it is extremely interesting that D. Toychkin identified and studied in the collections of the Kharkiv Historical Museum a saber with a blade, guard, scabbard and decor almost identical to the sample given above.

^{A. L. [Lazarevsky A.] .4} Mazepa's Saber / / Kievskaya starina. - 1883. - Vol. 5. - N 1. - P. 213.

^{Zvarnitsky D. I.} 5 Zaporizhia in the remnants of antiquity and traditions of the people. - St. Petersburg, 1888. - Part 1. - p. 141-145; Part 2. - p. 211-214.

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