The History of the West. Through the Eyes of Bears and Balalaikas. Konstantin Khait

terrible unpaved roads but also inns and taverns that were too rare and expensive to rely on as the main travel refuge. They had to seek out acquaintances, ask strangers for lodging, and rely on churches and monasteries where available. Spending the night under an oak tree was also not particularly uncommon.

      Let’s add to this the general lack of safety – a stranger became easy prey for the crime of that time, there was no one to stand up for him, and to the nearest help – it was a long walk, as well as the absence of thermoses and refrigerators, which did not allow taking anything tastier and healthier than rusks… traveling in the times of Lomonosov, not to mention even earlier times, was an activity for enthusiasts.

      All this led to what is most appropriately called “local patriotism.” A Saxon or a Holsteiner could not feel like a German – many days of inconvenient and useless travel separated them from other German lands, which for most were inaccessible and undesirable. A Norman did not want to have anything in common with a Gascon. The Italian principalities were continuously at odds with each other, and a Milanese would rather let a snake into their home than a Florentine. The world was not only monstrously vast but also monstrously fragmented.