The earliest memories of Divin:
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Divin is considered one of the oldest Belarusian villages.
In the far and deep past, more than seven centuries ago –and maybe even earlier– our village of Divin came to be. Unfortunately, there are no historic documents which indicate the date that our village first appeared.
However, there are some dates, which allow us to at least approximate the time of our village’s foundation.
The region of Upper Pripyat, where our village is located, is not very suitable for agricultural life. This is an expansive, low-lying plain with infertile soil. Around these plains are many wetlands, grasses, shrubs, surrounded by a thick, impenetrable forest.
significantly determined its future. Recently, following World War II, land reclamation projects have removed many of the former constraints of this landscape.
Divin was on the crossroads of Euro-Asian history:
From the tales of our grandfathers and great grandfathers, passed down from generation to generation, to know the time, it is known that: in the years from 1240 – 1241, Mongolian hordes would attack our Divin. They robbed people’s homes and captured and enslaved people.
Not far from Divin, three kilometers from the center, in the town of Ratno (Ukraine) there is a place, which to this day is called
Tatarskoye. This is an elevated region, surrounded by a thick forest of pine. During the time of the
Tatar invasions, this was the place of their camp.
The people kept the memory of those hard times in the form of song. These songs are sung to this day:
Oh, came the Turks and Tatars,
They took bride and the Boyars,
Oh, but aren’t you my dear Boyars,
Cut my braid and
Let her down the Danube.
Let it float to our parts,
My mother will come out to collect water,
She will recognize my braid.
Oh, and the braid of my daughter,
My daughter little Alona, the same
Kozak voice rings also in
What turned out to be Tatar captivity.
The next major development came in the 14th century, when Divin became part of the major power of the region:
In the year 1320, the lands of Western Belarus were captured by
Lithuania. Our town, Divin also turned out to be in Lithuania.
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4} In historical books, Divin is chronicled in the years 1441 – 1446 as the center for the large Poleski municipality. And in the year 1566 – Divin is becoming the center of the Poleski parish. It consisted of the villages of: Divin, Starosel, Doropeyev, Lyahovetz, Oltush, and Gvoznitz.
In its early chronicles, Divin is known as a town, not a village.
Then it became to be known as a city. City rights confirmed the privilege to the
Magdeburg Law. The city had its own coat of arms (the appearance of which is unknown). Residents paid so-called dues [a tax] in the form of natural products or money. But people were not farm laborers.
Divin was composed of a church and several streets: Рынок [Rynek: Market], Ратенская [Ratenskaya], Берестейская [Beresteyskaya], кобрынская [Kobrynskaya], Повицкая [Povitskaya], and Кривая [Curved].
Restrictions on peasants-residents of the town were added in the 16th century:
In the same year, 1566, the so-called Volochnaya land measure was conducted for all residents of Divin. This land was assigned to each resident of Divin.
In time, a Jewish population appeared in Divin, and grew to the point of legal recognition:
In 1634, the Jews of Divin received the right to build their synagogues, cemeteries, and trade and own land. They received rights that were equal to those of other residents. The received the right to file law suits, and the right to appeal to the king, if necessary.
A 17th century Polish monarch expanded the rights of the citizens of Divin:
In 1642, the Polish King Wladyslaw IV gave the citizens of Divin the so-called Magdeburg law. In that time there were two churches in Divin, a Catholic church, two water mills, and a tavern. The water mills were built: one – on the Divinetz River, on one wheel, the other mill – on the Or River also on one wheel, and nearby a tavern.
About family life in old Divin:
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5} In olden times, families in Divin were large. Up until the present, the family names of those families living in those times have been preserved. These following families are the indigenous residents of Divin:
• Gapanovitch, [that of the authors]
• Mishevitch,
• Zhukovich,
• Kutsevich,
• Lutsevich, and
• Arivanovich.
In those times, there existed a rent payment for the use of the mill and tavern. This was a requirement for all residents of Divin. The rent payment consisted of 500 złoty a year. Later, this amount was lowered to 300 złoty in light of the fact that poor people could not pay.
The villages of Osa and Borisovka and their lands were included in Divin.
These resources were, at some historical point, denied to the Jewish Diviners, a serious problem which was put right by the king:
The Diviner Jews held a specific role. The local Divin burghers infringed upon the rights of the local Jews. They did not allow them to pay the rent for the mill and tavern. This means that they were not allowed to use these facilities. The Diviner Jews turned to the king with a complaint about the local burghers. In this time, the former Vilna governor Sapieha already kept a preferential list, the privilege of Wladislaw IV and other documents were already granted to the Jews, giving them rights. The commissioners led this investigation. But the Diviner burghers announced that endowment papers gave them, the peasants, the benefit over the Jews.
Following this, they collected 50 złoty each from the Jews, and found an opportunity to remove them from the aforementioned leases. The commissioners decided: the Jews were allowed to participate in the leases in a third role.
This meant: for every two Christian peasants, one Jew is allowed, for four Christians – two Jews, especially because Christians are capable of leasing without the Jews and do not inspire about themselves as much trust, as do the Jews.
The town appears in historical law books:
The village of Divin – an ancient settlement – is mentioned in Volumes 1 – 4 of Lithuanian court cases. One of the referencing volumes is under the name: Diviner Prechistinskaya Church, Diviner Royal Court, Divin Magdeburg Voitovstvo. The text is written in Polish. Divin was the center of the Poleski parish. It was included in the Brestei eldership. A dirt road ran between them.
The road was called the Gostintsev. This is an old name from the word “guests”, in other words: arriving merchants. This road connected Divin with Brest. The road ran through the villages Novoselki, Ozyati, Rakitnitza, Bulkov, Sherbin, Trishin – into Brest.
Polish kings established basic rights and institutions:
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6} The Polish King Augustus III gave an order which confirmed the Magdebourg law privilege in the town of Divin. There exists in Polish an original copy of this order. This privilege was later confirmed by his successors Jan Kazimir and Augustus IV. This original copy states that the purpose of giving the Privilege to Divin is to encourage the development of industry there. It is also stated there that entrants must be typical gentlemen, and the rest of the people in the governance are required to be Roman-Catholic.
A trade day was established in Divin: every week on Thursday. Also: two annual fairs. Townspeople had to pay out all taxes and duties, as well as excise taxes to the king.
In 1717, King Casmir the Great issued an order which limited the rights of our Divin people. This order was intended for our oppression. It included the following points:
1) The Russian nobility is not allowed to govern.
2) Groups or companies of people are to move away from Russians.
3) No friendship is to be had with Russian neighbors.
4) In the presence of Russians, they are to be made fun of at every opportunity.
5) Rich Russians are to be chased out of the cities to the suburbs and their income is to be taken away from them.
Latin bishops had to accept Russian priests under their leadership. Russian priests were kept in poverty and ignorance by any means possible. Everything was done so that they would be uneducated, unaware of anything, and could not teach people. Their children had to become serfs. The building of churches was restricted. Existing churches were assessed overwhelming, oppressive taxes.
In the archeological collection of documents of the story of North-West Russia, there is a reference to Divin from our ancestors. There it is written:
...the lake and river is called Divin. A village, with the location near to this lake and along the river is called Divin. Document No. 31.
Urbanization did not occur in Divin, to the disadvantage of its population.
Despite the fact that Divin was declared and named a city, its population did not become urban. The well-being of the citizens did not improve. The main occupation of the inhabitants was agricultural work. As in many similar, small cities, Divin became poorer with every passing year. This led to a declaration of the Polish Senate in 1776 depriving the city of Divin of its city rights. The residents of the village received certain duties. Even in the beginning of the 18th century, following historical events, the Russian people were split into three tribes: the Vielikorosov, Malorusov, and Bielorusov [the Great Russians, the Little Russians, and the Belarusians].
Western Belarus, having been captured by the Kingdom of Lithuania, was issued their money. These were called Lithuanian groshen. Their worth was as follows: a working bull, 60 groshen; a milk-producing cow, 40 groshen; pigs, 8 groshen; sheep, 4 groshen; geese, 1 grosh.
Starting in 1570, the accounting and payment system of Polish złoty was brought about.
| Notes: Upper Pripyat: the area of western Belarus north of the Pripyat River, which runs generally from east-to-west. Tatarskoye: literally, the Tatar’s place. 1320: The year Władysław I was crowned, marking an important unification. Lithuania: the ancient Lithuanian Commonwealth, not the modern country. A Town, not a village: traditionally, and down to this day, finer distinctions are made in in classifications of urban areas than are generally familiar to Westerners. |
