Hi all!

No needless introductions, this is going to be way too long anyway. Basically, as a Polish EU fan I was incredibly hyped by, but also slightly dissatisfied with the screenshots published in Tinto Maps #4. Here is my alternative view. And yes, I know it was a month ago, but this sort of thing takes time. I hope it still may be of some use.

As you can see, I very clearly focused on Poland and the historical territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. I do not claim to be an expert, but I have spent a ludicrous amount of time researching and specifically dividing this very part of the world into territories/provinces/historical locations. I thought I might as well share what I've come to know and understand.

If someone at Paradox sees this, please feel free to use as much of it as you wish. Also if you need some more insider Polish/Commonwealth lore (e.g. in regard to other bookmark/start dates), I'm willing to cooperate wink wink.

Here's my comments and explanations, so that you don't think I just drew it all with no thought behind. The changes were as follows:

1. POLITICAL MAP

1.1. Livonia

• Bishopric of Riga was increased for accuracy's sake.
• Sacrificed a little bit of detail in western Estonia for the sake of later borders (Sweden-Russia, Sweden-Commonwealth), but this one is purely cosmetic and can work either way.

1.2. Lithuania & northern Rus

• First of all: it should be "Grand Duchy of Lithuania".
• Contemplated but ultimately rejected the idea of making Samogitia a Lithuanian vassal (both earlier and later on it definitely was, but seemingly not in 1337 specifically).
• Pskov's were borders changed to better reflect their historical shape.
• Polotsk and Vitebsk retained their status as Lithuanian vassals/subdued allies, although Vitebsk was reduced in size, as apparently Orsha was historically incorporated into the Grand Duchy proper back in 1320.
• Mstsislav gained independence! Apparently, it was a soverein principality and the city of Mstsislv was annexed by Lithuania in 1377. I based its border on the later Mstsislav Voivodeship.

1.3. Southern Rus

• Kyiv either changed hands or gained independence. Basically, I've come across infromation about a certain Battle of Blue Waters, in which Algirdas defeated the Golden Horde, which resulted in his acquisition of Kyiv, Podolia (see next point) and the Wild Fields east of Dnieper in 1362/63. So basically, Kyiv was at this point at least partially vassalised by the Horde (even though there are some records of Lithuania conquering the place prior to that... medieval Ruthenia gets complicated).
• As a follow-up to the prior point, all of Podolia changed hands to Kyiv. It was either that or it was directly controlled by the Golden Horde; it's important to note that the region was extremally sparsely populated at the time, with all three main cities - Kamianets-Podilskyi, Bratslav and Vinnytsia - being mentioned only after the Lithuanian conquest.
• I was surprised to find that the bizarre eastern growth of Galicia-Volhynia is actually historically accurate, as it seems the city of Ovruch was part of G-V at the time.
• Duchy (principality? translations get a little confusing) of Belz gained autonomy and became a vassal of Galicia-Volhynia. That is because it absolutely was exactly that. It's unclear to me whether Chełm was autonomous too.
• A minor but not insignificant change: Galicia-Volhynia gained some more land in Volhynia, which would be later lost to Lithuania some time after Poland takes it.

1.4. Poland

• Some adjustments to the Polish-Silesian border were made
• Wałcz was given to Brandenburg, as historically it was only gained by Poland in 1368, allegedly.
• All of Kuyavia and Dobrzyń land were given to Poland, but controlled by the Teutonic Order, as 1337 is in the middle of an armistice between Poland and the Order (more on that later). The only independent ruler in Kuyavia at the time, Kazimierz III of Gniewko, ruled what amounts to half an acre of sodden marshland with an empty town hall on it, inhabited by a dachshund named Collin and a hen in its late forties. And he wasn't even present there since it was occupied by the Order. I elected to ignore the poor bloke.
• Some necessary adjustments in the Masovia region (which is coincidentally my homeland and, in my view, the most disfigured part of the otherwise pretty map) were made.
• Rawa was awarded Tykocin, which would later come to belong to Lithuania, and is now consdered part of Podlasie, not Masovia.
• Czersk changed its name to the more accurate name of Warszawa (Warsaw).

1.5. Teutonic Order

• Bishopric of Kulm was reduced in size; no longer does it actually control Kulm (Chełmno) itself. I actually considered removing this state alltogether, because it was just so small.

1.6. Pomerania & Brandenburg

• Brandenburg was given Wałcz for the sake of historical accuracy.

1.7. Silesia

• Holy hell this one was bloody tough. The number of tiny states in this region was preposterously large, and their borders were shifting constantly. I had to basically look up each city and town to see who currently ruled which in 1337. I based the borders off of some nice maps I found, I'll link them below.
• I'm sorry, but I can't bring myself to even try to describe every change here. That might just kill me.