Encyclopedia
The
Novgorod Feudal Republic was a powerful medieval
Russian state which stretched from the
Baltic Sea to the
Ural Mountains between the
12th and
15th century.
Novgorod’s tendencies towards isolation from
Kiev manifested themselves as early as the beginning of the
11th century. The Novgorod
boyars were the exponents of these tendencies with the support from the
urban population, which had had to pay tribute to Kiev and supply it with soldiers for its military campaigns. In the early 12th century, Novgorod began inviting different knyazs to rule the city without prior consultations with the grand prince of Kiev. In 1136, the boyars and leading merchants gained political independence. Cities like
Staraya Russa,
Ladoga,
Torzhok and
Oreshek, which had been home to influential posads, enjoyed political independence and were considered the suburbs of Novgorod the Great. The city of
Pskov was a part of the Novgorod Feudal Republic in the 12th–
13th century, but it began to isolate itself in the mid-13th century. Pskov’s de jure independence was acknowledged by the Treaty of Bolotovo in 1348 . In the 12th–15th century, the NFR was expanding towards
east and
northeast. The Novgorodians were exploring the areas around
Lake Onega, along the
Northern Dvina, and coastlines of the
White Sea. In the beginning of 14th century the Novgorodians crossed Arctic Ocean, Barents sea and Kara sea, explored the West-Siberian river Ob.
The Ugric tribes, which inhabited the Northern
Urals, had to pay tribute to Novgorod the Great. The lands to the north of the city, rich with
furs, sea
fauna,
salt etc., were of great economic importance to the NFR.
Internal organization
The
veche was the highest authority in the NFR, which could comprise urban population, as well as free
rural population. This governmental body had the power to elect posadniks, tys'atskys , and even
archbishops from among the boyars. Archbishop was the head of the executive branch of the government and the richest feudal lord of Novgorod, who possessed most of the lands and sources of income, transferred to him from the Kievan prince. The archbishop was in charge of the republican treasury and foreign relations and even had the right to prosecute. Regular tradespeople and craftsmen also participated in the political affairs of Novgorod the Great. They had their own "unions" and were divided into
konchans ,
ulichans , and
sotnyas . Starting from the 12th century, the heads of these unions began to exercise their right to ratify the most important republican documents. A ruler of Novgorod was invited by the veche from other principalities, which would then sign a contract with him, called
ryad . This contract protected the interests of the Novgorodian boyars. The duties of the ruler of the NFR were limited. First and foremost, he was a military leader. He couldn’t exercise the right to prosecute. The city life was governed by electable posadnik, who was the mediator between the public and the Novgorodian prince . The latter's residence was moved from the city
kremlin to the outskirts of Novgorod . Starting with
Alexander Nevsky, the rulers of Novgorod had been chosen from among the princes of
Vladimir since the mid-13th century.
Economy
The economy of the NFR was mainly based on
farming and
cattle breeding.
Hunting,
beekeeping, and
fishing were also widely spread. In most of the regions of the republic, these different "industries" were combined with farming.
Iron was mined on the coast of the
Gulf of Finland. Staraya Russa and other localities of the NFR were known for their saltworks.
Flax and hop cultivation were also of significant importance. Countryside products, such as furs,
beeswax,
honey,
fish,
lard, flax, and hop, were sold on the market and exported to other Russian cities or abroad. The Novgorodian merchants traded with
Swedish,
German, and
Danish cities. However the Hanseatic League did not allow to the Novgorod merchants to carry out sea trade independently and to deliver cargoes in the West-European ports by own ships.
More than a half of all Novgorodian privately owned lands had been concentrated in the hands of some 30–40 noble boyar families by the
14th–15th century. These vast estates served as material resources, which secured political supremacy of the boyars. The House of
St. Sophia of Novgorod — the main ecclesiastic establishment of Novgorod — was their chief rival in terms of landownership. Its votchinas were located in the most economically developed regions of the NFR. Yuriev Monastery, Arkazhsky Monastery, Antoniev Monastery and some other privileged monasteries are known to have been big landowners. There were also the so-called
zhityi lyudi , who owned less land than the boyars, and unprivileged small votchina owners called
svoyezemtsy . The most common form of labor exploitation — the system of
metayage — was typical for the afore-mentioned categories of landowners. Their household economies were mostly serviced by the kholops, whose number had been constantly decreasing. Along with the metayage, monetary payments also gained significant importance by the 2nd half of the 15th century.
The feudal lords tried to legally tie down the
peasants to their land. Certain categories of feudally dependent peasants, such as
davniye lyudi ,
polovniki ,
poruchniki ,
dolzhniki , were deprived of the right to leave their masters. The boyars and monasteries also tried to restrict other categories of peasants from switching their feudal lords. Such state of affairs in the NFR was often accompanied by relentless "class" struggle. There have been around 80 major citizen uprisings in the republic, which often turned into armed rebellions. Most notable among these took place in 1136, 1207, 1228–29, 1270, 1418, and 1446–47 and involved peasantry, as well. Escapes, refusal to pay dues, separate local revolts and other forms of anti-feudal protest were a frequent phenomenon in the NFR in the 12th–15th century. Novgorod is considered to be the birthplace of the first heresies in Russia.
Foreign relations
The NFR struggled against the
aggression of the
Swedish and then German
feudalism. During the
Swedish-Novgorodian Wars, the
Swedes had been invading the
Finnish lands where some of the population had on previous occasions paid tribute to Novgorod. The Germans had been trying to conquer the
Baltic region since the late 12th century. Novgorod had to go to war 26 times with
Sweden and 11 times with the
Livonian Brothers of the Sword. Taking advantage of the Mongol invasion, the German
knights along with the
Danish and Swedish feudal lords increased their military activity in 1240-1242, transferring their operations to the Novgorod territories. Their campaigns, however, failed after the
Battle of the Neva and
Battle on the Ice . On August 12, 1323, the
Treaty of Nöteborg, a treaty between Sweden and Novgorod regulating their border, was signed. This was the first time the border between what was to become
Russia and
Sweden-Finland was regulated.
The army of Novgorod successfully repelled their subsequent attacks, as well. The NFR managed to escape the horrors of the Mongol invasion, but though it declared its independence from the
Golden Horde, the Republic began to pay tribute to its
khans. In the
14th century, the raids of Novgorod's
pirates , who sowed fear as far as
Kazan and
Astrakhan, would contribute to the economic stagnation and downfall of the Horde.
The Fall of the Republic
Tver,
Moscow, and
Lithuania had been trying to subjugate the NFR since the 14th century. Upon becoming the Grand Prince of Vladimir,
Mikhail Yaroslavich of
Tver sent his governors to Novgorod without prior consultations with its citizens. This incident pushed Novgorod towards developing closer ties with Moscow during the reign of Grand Prince George.
As
Muscovy grew in strength,
Ivan Kalita, Simeon Gordiy and other Muscovite monarchs sought to limit NFR’s independence. In 1397, a critical conflict took place between Muscovy and the NFR, when Moscow annexed the lands along the course of the Northern Dvina. This territory was returned to Novgorod the following year.
Resisting the Muscovite oppression, the government of Novgorod sought alliance with Lithuania and became an obstacle in Moscow’s campaign for elimination of feudal division in
Russia. Most Novgorodian boyars, wishing to keep the republic afloat, steered the
veche towards an alliance with the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The proponent of this move was a group of boyars called the Lithuanian party and led by
Marfa Boretskaya.
At the initiative of this party, Boretskaya invited the Lithuanian princeling Mikhail Olelkovich and asked him to become her husband and the ruler of Novgorod. She also concluded an alliance with
Casimir, Grand Duke of Lithuania. The prospects of changing allegiance in favor of the allied Kingdom of
Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania caused major commotion among the commoners.
Muscovite authorities took advantage of the civil turmoil and, repudiating the Treaty of Yazhelbitsy, went to war with the NFR. The army of Moscow won a victory in the Battle of Shelon in 1471, which would predetermine the subsequent elimination of Novgorod’s political isolation. In 1478,
Ivan III sent his army to besiege Novgorod and finally annexed the whole NFR in favor of the centralized Russian state. The NFR ceased to exist.
See also
External links
