Guest at home, God at home

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When the Jagiellonians began to sit on the Polish throne, when the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth began to form, the eastern part of the Commonwealth opened up for the Poles and many Polish families headed east to seek better fortune. Often these were poor noble families from Polish villages, such as Mazowsze, where they lived in poor houses. It was reminiscent of the wanderings of American settlers to the American west. And just as there was a Wild West in America, there was a Wild East (called Wild Fields) in the Polish Republic. However, the Polish Wild East was different from the American Wild West. In the Wild East there were areas that were really wild, no one knew by whom they were inhabited, they were invaded once by the Tartars, once by the Turks, wild places where fugitives hid from different lands, speaking different languages, with different customs, usually with no customs at all.

What resembles only the Indian tribes from the Wild West is the people settled in the lower reaches of the Dniester (behind the Porohs on that river), who, although of different ethnic origins, like the refugees from different places, but settled in one place, with time, probably around the 15th century, became a community. However, the Cossacks, as they are referred to here, did not build cities, but rather settlements called sicze and villages, because these areas were also still uncertain, and they still had to reckon with the need to flee from foreign forces, be they armies or bands of robbers. When the settlers and the army of the Republic of Poland approached the area, building military settlements called stanitsas, just like the American army in the Wild West, the idea of a political union between the Cossacks and the Republic of Poland arose. This was not a particularly successful marriage, as the difference in customs, religion, and origin did not provide a basis for a real and lasting union. Nevertheless, unlike the American army dealt with the Indians, who were slaughtered or enslaved, the Republic tried to establish some kind of political union with the Cossacks. The Polish military stations in the area provided some kind of defense for the Cossacks against the Tatars or Turks, but the Cossacks also sought alliances with the Tatars or Turks, as if they did not know with whom to stick, and they themselves often engaged in brigandish activities, as if they were constantly permeated by the cruelty and savagery of the Wild Fields. Finally, the Moscow state came to power and gradually advanced on the territory inhabited by the Cossacks and from the end of the 17th century the Cossack territory began to disappear.

Before this happened, the Wild East was ruled by Poland. Not only Lviv was on Polish territory, but also Kiev and the areas east of Kiev, up to the areas inhabited by the Zaporozhian Cossacks (beyond the porohs on the Dniester). These were areas where the land was no man's land and whoever settled there took the land into his possession, similar to the Wild West in America. However, this was an uncertain investment, because at any time the Tartar or Turkish hordes, or even Cossacks, not to mention robber bands, could invade. Polish military units patrolled the area, which, however, did not provide a sure security, because the terrain was simply huge.

The distances between Polish settlements were very large, so a visitor was rare, but when it happened and it turned out that it was not a robber barge, but a visit of a distant neighbor, it was a joyful moment. The visits lasted a long time, because even the journey to the neighbor could take several days, and the host tried to show his gratitude for the visit. Such a guest was treated with unusual cordiality, like someone special. A guest at home - God at home.

There are people who think that it is a great feature, the "Polish style", but there are also those who think that it is a seed of submissiveness towards... guests.

(Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator)

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