Teslenko I. The Ostrih district 1565-1608: Territory formation, land ownership structures and mechanisms of adminstration.

Thesis for the degree of Candidate of Science in History with a major 07.00.01 - History of Ukraine. - National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy. - Kyiv, 2006. The dissertation is dedicated to the history of Ostrih district - a unit of administration which included the lands situated on the both banks of Horyn' river near its middle stream and which were subordinate to Ostrih castle. In this research the author studies the circumstances of transition of the district from one owner's possession to another during the second part of the sixteenth and the beginning of seventeenth centuries. The author establishes that the estate enlargement was due to the incorporation of neighbouring territories or colonization of sparsely populated areas; he also defines the borders and calculates the area and population of Ostrozhchyna. Using official records, the author reconstructs the system of castle administration, which consisted of a headman ("starosta"), his deputy ("namisnyk") and clerk ("pysar"); and establishes the functions of castle and district officials. The author analyses the main forms of land ownership in the district (castle demesne, church and nobles' estates), he also examines the social and ethnic structure of the "Ostrih nobility", its life priorities and inner hierarchy.