Communication in the borderlands: Lithuanian-Livonian road in the XVI century based on the personal archive of the Prussian duke Albrecht of Brandenburg

This article is devoted to a brief historical story about forbidden road leading from Livonia to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 16 century. This story is very indicative to assess the political importance of the communication paths between neighboring countries in the context of the series of events that took place in Livonia in the 16 century and eventually led to the loss of its independence. The Case of the Lithuanian road as a clear example of the crisis will be considered through the archive materials of the Prussian Duke Albrecht von Brandenburg (1490-1568), which was the elder brother of the Archbishop of Riga Wilhelm. In addition, in the case of the Lithuanian road shown concernment King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund II Augustus, who taking advantage of the internal weakening of Livonia, was looking for the best way to incorporate the Livonian land in his state. History of roads in general, is very little known part of history, despite the quite obvious high economic and political importance of communication paths. This article is aimed to illustrate the high value of one particular road in the political life of the Diocese of Riga. Contradictions, tearing apart Livonia prior to its imminent crash, clearly manifested themselves in the case of forbidden Lithuanian road. Unfortunately, in modern historical science history of the road and related historical subjects do not stand out as independent subjects, and are taken for granted, that puts roads on the periphery of the study, which, of course, is unacceptable for the researcher.