Who Is Lying About Where “Russia” Lies? Some Notes on 16th-century Polish Ghostmapping of Muscovy

This paper focuses on one particular aspect of the way in which 16th-century Polish authors ghostmapped the European East: the semantics assumed by the choronym “Russia” in Renaissance cartography which reflected the long‑lasting rivalry between Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Muscovy for the possession of the territories of the former Kievan Rus’. After a brief sketch of the theoretical and historical framework, I provide an overview of European cartographical texts, from Beneventano to Waldseemüller and Mercator, influenced by the Polish ghostmappers of Muscovy – Wapowski, Miechowita, and Strubicz – who tried to narrow the toponym “Russia” to the lands controlled by Poland and Lithuania.