The relations between Georgia and Western Europe and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1453–1783

The article presents the history of contacts between Georgia and Western Europe as well as Georgia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth between the mid-15th and the end of the 18th centuries. In the article, the role of the Georgian diplomatic missions is emphasized in the process of forging anti-Osman coalitions.

The paper offers a portray of the Polish state poised in the mid-twelfth century between the East and the West, i.e., Rus, fragmented into principalities, and two mighty powers of medieval Europe, the Holy Roman Empire and the papacy, respectively.

The policy of the Holy See in Central Europe and the Balkans during the activities of Constantine and Methodius in the Moravian state and the Latin missionaries in Bulgaria

The subject of the article is the policy of the Holy See during the pontificates of Nicholas I, Hadrian II and John VIII with regard to countries in Central Europe and the Balkans. It was the result of the complex relations between the papacy and the Carolingians, the Byzantine Empire as well as the Slavic states. The Moravian rulers (Rostislav and Sviatopluk) and, Boris-Michael, the Khan of Bulgaria, used the interest of the Holy Sees diplomacy in these regions to implement their own ecclesiastical and political plans. An analysis of mutual diplomatic contacts shows more interest in Boris-Michaels state in the diplomatic activity of the papacy than in the Moravian state. The change in the policy of the Holy See took place after the fiasco of making the Bulgarian state dependent on the Church, as well as with the deterioration of relations with the East Frankish monarchy (in ecclesiastical and political matters). This contributed to the growing importance of the Moravian state in the diplomatic activities of Rome in Central Europe (the Gloria in excelsis Deo papal bull).