The territory of the Novgorod land took shape gradually. Its center was the ancient region of the settlement of the Slavs, located in the basin of Lake Ilmen and the rivers - Volkhov, Lovat, Msta and Mologa. The extreme northern point was the city of Ladoga - a strong fortress at the mouth of the Volkhov.
In the future, this ancient region was overgrown with new territories, some of which organically merged with the original core of the Novgorod land, others constituted a kind of colony of Novgorod.
B XII - XIII centuries. Novgorod owned lands in the north along Lake Onega, the basin of Lake Ladoga and the northern shores of the Gulf of Finland. In the west, Novgorod fortified itself in the Peipsi land, where the city of Yuryev (Tartu), founded by Yaroslav the Wise, became its stronghold. But the growth of Novgorod's possessions was especially rapid in the northeast direction, where Novgorod owned a strip of land stretching to the Urals and beyond the Urals.
The Novgorod lands proper were divided into five large areas of pyatins, corresponding to the five ends (districts) of Novgorod. Ha northwest of Novgorod, towards the Gulf of Finland was the Vodskaya pyatina, it covered the lands of the Finnish
C [C () GO of the Vod tribe; to the south-west, on both sides of the Shedon River - the Shelon Pyatina; to the southeast, between the rivers Dostoyu and Lovatio - Derevskaya pyatina; to the north-east to the White Sea but both sides of Lake Onega - Onega Pyatina; behind the Derevskaya and Onega pyatins, to the southeast, there was the Bezhetskaya pyatina.
In addition to the pyatins, a huge space was occupied by Novgorod volosts - Zavolochye, or Dvina land - in the area of the Northern Dvina. Perm land - along the Vychegda and its tributaries, on both sides of the Pechora - the Pechora region, to the east of the Northern Urals - ІOgra, to the north, within the Onega and Ladoga lakes - Korela, finally, on the Kola Peninsula - the so-called Tersky coast.
The population of the Novgorod land was mainly engaged in agriculture, primarily agriculture, which formed the basis of the Novgorod economy. The Novgorod boyars and the clergy had extensive estates. Merchant land ownership was also developed here.
In the agriculture of the Novgorod patches, the arable system prevailed, the undercut was preserved only in the extreme northern regions. In view of unfavorable soil and climatic conditions, the yields were not high, therefore, despite the widespread use of agriculture, it still did not cover the needs of the Novgorod population in bread. Part of the grain had to be imported from other Russian lands, mainly from Rostov-Suzdal and Ryazan. In lean years, which were not uncommon in the life of the Novgorod land, the import of grain acquired decisive importance.
Along with agriculture and cattle breeding, the population of Novgorod land was engaged in various crafts: hunting for fur and sea animals, fishing, beekeeping, salt mining in Staraya Pycce and Vychegda, iron ore mining in Votskaya Pyatina. In the center of the Novgorod land - Novgorod and its suburbs - Pskov Craft and trade flourished. Novgorod has long been famous for its artisans, carpenters, potters, blacksmiths, gunsmiths, and besides, shoemakers, felters, bridgers and many other craftsmen of various specialties lived in it. Novgorod carpenters V Shisysy to work in Kiev and became so famous for their ІSK Usstvom that the term "Novgorod" often meant - "Carpenter".
Domestic and foreign trade was of great importance in the economy of Novgorod. The most important trade routes of that time passed through Novgorod from Northern Europe to the Black Sea basin and from the countries of the West to the countries of Eastern Europe. This has long contributed to the development of crafts and trade in it.
Entrepreneurial Novgorod merchants already in the 10th century. sailed in their fragile boats on the way "from the Varangians to the Greeks", reaching the shores of Byzantium. A wide exchange existed between Novgorod and the European states. At first, Novgorod was connected with the island of Gotland, a major trading center of North-Western Europe. "In Novgorod itself there was a Gothic court - a trading colony surrounded by a high wall, with barns and houses for living foreign merchants. Close trade ties were established in the second half of the 12th century. Novgorod with the union of North German cities (Hanse). A new German trading yard was built in Novgorod, a new trading colony grew. Foreign merchants were inviolable on the territory of these trading colonies. A special charter "Skra" regulated the life of the trading colony.
Cloth, metals, weapons and other goods were sent to Novgorod from abroad. Linen, hemp, linen, lard, wax, etc. were brought from Novgorod to different countries. The role of Novgorod as an intermediary in the exchange between the West and the East was significant. Eastern goods for Europe went along the Volga to Novgorod, and then to Western countries. Only the Tatar-Mongol yoke and the rule of the Golden Horde undermined this intermediary significance of Novgorod.
An equally important role for Novgorod was played by trade within the Novgorod Republic itself and with North-Eastern Russia, from where it received the bread it needed. The need for bread always made Novgorod cherish its relations with the Vladimir-Suzdal princes.
Numerous and strong Novgorod merchants had their own organizations similar to Western European merchant guilds. The most powerful of them was the so-called "Ivanovo Sto" which had great privileges. It elected five elders from its midst, who, together with the thousandth, were in charge of all commercial affairs and the merchant court in Novgorod, established weights, measures of length and observed the correctness of the trade itself.
The structure of the Novgorodian economy determined its social and political system. The ruling class in Novgorod were secular and spiritual feudal lords, landowners and wealthy Novgorod merchants. In the hands of the Novgorod boyars and the church were extensive land holdings.
One of the foreign travelers - JIa-nua - testifies that in Novgorod there were such lords who owned lands for hundreds of miles. An example is the boyar surname Boretsky, who owned vast territories along the White Sea and the Northern Dvina.
"Golden Gate" in Vladimir-on-Klyazma. HP in.
In addition to the boyars and the church, there were also large landowners in Novgorod who were engaged in various trades. These are the so-called "living people".
The owners of estates exploited the labor of feudal dependent people - “ladles”, “guarantors”,
"old people". The main form of exploitation of the feudal-dependent population in the Novgorod land was the collection of dues. The feudal lord's own household here did not reach large sizes, and it was mainly serfs who worked in it.
Large feudal lords were masters of the situation not only in their estates, but also in the city. Together with the merchant elite, they formed an urban patriciate, in whose hands was the economic and political life of Novgorod.
The features of the socio-economic development of Novgorod led to the establishment in it of a special political system, different from other Russian lands. Initially, the governor-princes, sent by the unidentified Kievan princes, sat in Novgorod. They appointed posadniks and tysyatskys. But the strong Novgorod boyars and wealthy townspeople were more and more reluctant to submit to the henchmen of the Kiev prince. In 1136, the Novgorodians revolted against Prince Vce- in the lod and, says the chronicler, “planting Prince Vsevolod in the episcopal court with his wife and children, mother-in-law and guards, day and night. 30 husband for a day with weapons. Then
Vsevolod was sent to Pskov. Since that time, a new political order has been established in Novgorod.
Veche, the people's assembly, became the supreme body in Novgorod. The veche was usually convened by a posadnik or a thousand. It was convened on the trading side of the Yaroslavl courtyard by the ringing of a veche bell. B the ends were sent biryuchi and podvoisky to call the people to the veche gathering. All free people, men, could participate in the veche. Veche had great powers. It elected the posadnik, the tysyatsky, who had previously been appointed prince, the bishop of Novgorod, declared war, made peace, discussed and approved legislative acts, tried the posadniks, tysyatsky, sotsky, for the crimes, concluded agreements with foreign powers. The veche, finally, invited the prince, and sometimes expelled him (“showed him the way”), replacing him with a new one.
Executive power in Novgorod was concentrated in the hands of the posadnik and the thousand. The posadnik was elected for an indefinite period, he controlled the prince, monitored the activities of the Novgorod authorities, in his hands was the supreme court of the republic, the right to dismiss and appoint officials. In case of military danger, the posadnik went on a campaign as an assistant to the prince. By order of the posadnik, the veche, which he headed, gathered by ringing the bell. The posadnik received foreign ambassadors and, in the absence of the prince, commanded the Novgorod army. Tysyatsky was the first assistant to the mayor, he commanded separate detachments during the war, and in peacetime he was in charge of commercial affairs, a merchant court.
In favor of the posadnik and the thousandth was the so-called poralie, i.e. known income from the plow; this income served the posadnik and the thousandth as a certain salary.
The political life of Novgorod was greatly influenced by the bishop of Novgorod, and from 1165 by the archbishop. In his hands was the church court, he was in charge of relations between Novgorod and foreign states, and most importantly, he was the largest of the Novgorod feudal lords.
With the expulsion of Prince Vsevolod from Novgorod in 1136, the Novgorodians did not completely eliminate the prince, but the significance and role of the prince in Novgorod changed dramatically. The Novgorodians now themselves elected one or another prince at a veche (invited), concluding a “row” agreement with him, which extremely limited the rights and scope of the prince’s activities. The prince could not declare war or make peace without an agreement with the veche. He did not have the right to acquire land in Novgorod possessions. He could collect tribute, but only in certain volosts assigned to him. For all his activities, the prince was under the control of the posadnik. In short, the Novgorod prince was a "fed" prince. He was only a military specialist who was supposed to be at the head of the Novgorod army during a military danger. Judicial and administrative functions were taken away from him and transferred to the initial people - townsmen and thousands.
The princes of Novgorod, as a rule, were the princes of Vladimir and Suzdal, the most powerful of the Russian princes. They persistently sought to subjugate Veliky Novgorod to their power, but the latter resolutely fought for its liberties.
The defeat of the Suzdal troops in 1216 on the Lipitsa River ended this struggle. Novgorod finally turned into a feudal boyar republic.
Established in Novgorod and separated from it in the XIV century. The Pskov veche system lasted until they were annexed to Moscow.
It should be noted that the veche system in Novgorod was by no means a rule of the people. In fact, all power was in the hands of the Novgorod elite. Next to the veche, the Novgorod leaders created their own aristocratic body - the council of gentlemen. It included sedate (i.e. acting) posadnik and thousand, former posadniks and thousand, elders of the Novgorod ends. The archbishop of Novgorod was the chairman of the council of gentlemen. The council of gentlemen met in the chambers of the archbishop and preliminarily decided all the cases that were submitted to the veche meeting. Gradually, the council of masters began to replace the decisions of the veche with their decisions.
The people protested against the violence of the masters. Veche life of Novgorod knows more than one example of a clash between the feudal nobility and the general population.
The history of the Novgorod land is, firstly, the history of one of the largest cities of the Middle Ages, which demonstrated proximity to the European type of development, and, secondly, the history of a powerful state that stretched from the Baltic to the Arctic Ocean and the Urals.
The oldest core of the Novgorod land was an interethnic confederation of Slavic (Slovenes, Krivichi) and Finno-Ugric (Merya, Chud) tribes. Its political and economic center, the city of Novgorod, was located on both banks of the Volkhov, not far from the source of this river from Lake Ilmen. Volkhov divided the city into two sides: the eastern one - the Trade one and the western one - the Sofia one. By the end of the XIII century. the division of the city into five main administrative districts was finally determined - the ends of Slavensky (in the eastern part of the city), Nerevsky, Lyudin (on the Sofia side), Plotnitsky, Zagorodsky. The territory around Novgorod was divided into five provinces, later called Pyatin. To the northwest of Novgorod, between the rivers Volkhov and Luga, lay the Vodskaya Pyatina; to the northeast, on both sides of Lake Onega to the White Sea - Obonezhskaya; to the south-west, on both sides of the Shelon River - Shelonskaya; to the southeast, between Msta and Lovat - Derevskaya; in the direction of the Volga - Bezhetskaya. Novgorod "colonies" lay to the north and east of the pyatins - Zavolochye on the Northern Dvina, Tre on the Kola Peninsula, Pechora, Perm, Vyatka. Already in the XII century. all these lands paid tribute to Novgorod. To capture the colonies and exploit their wealth, the Novgorod boyars made extensive use of explorers-robbers - "ushkuiniki".
The suburbs of Novgorod were located in the pyatins: Ladoga, Staraya Russa, Torzhok, Izborsk, Koporye. The largest suburb was Pskov, which eventually separated into an independent republic and began to be called the "younger brother of Novgorod."
Agriculture has long been developed in the Novgorod land. However, infertile soils significantly reduced the efficiency of grain production. Therefore, in the event of crop failures, Novgorod depended on neighboring Russian lands. At the same time, natural and climatic conditions favored the development of cattle breeding. Hunting, fishing, beekeeping became widespread. An important source of Novgorod's wealth was the plunder of colonial lands, from which furs, silver, wax and other items of trade came from.
The level of handicraft production in Novgorod was no lower than in the famous centers of Western Europe and the Middle East. Skillful blacksmiths, tanners, jewelers, gunsmiths, weavers, coopers and other specialists worked here. The vast majority of craft workshops were located in rich boyar estates, the owners of which exploited the work of artisans. A large boyar family had an exhaustive set of different industries. While facilitating boyar consolidation, this system of organizing urban ownership at the same time strongly opposed the consolidation of artisans on a professional basis. The participation of artisans of various professions in a single economic organization of the boyar clan became an insurmountable obstacle to their unification into guild organizations.
The foreign trade of Novgorod was largely subordinated to the needs of crafts: handicraft raw materials were imported - non-ferrous metals, precious stones, amber, boxwood, cloth, etc. Salt was imported for a long time until its local deposits were discovered. The main subjects of Novgorod export to Western Europe were furs, walrus tusks, wax, lard, flax, and hemp.
Trade relations between Novgorod and Scandinavia go back to a very early time. Novgorod merchants visited Byzantium, the countries of the East, traded in remote Russian cities. In the XII century. Novgorodians had their own guest house in the city of Visby on the island of Gotland. In Novgorod itself there were two courts of foreign merchants: Gothsky (the inhabitants of the island of Gotland were called Goths) and German. From the second half of the XII century. the intensive trade of Novgorodians with the Baltic German cities begins, which was subsequently formed by the Hanseatic League. Emperor Frederick II gave Novgorod merchants the right to trade duty-free in Lübeck.
The large Novgorod merchants were organized into hundreds, which somewhat resembled Western European merchant guilds. The most influential and organized was the association of wax merchants (wax merchants) "Ivanovskoe Sto", which existed at the Church of John the Baptist on Opoki.
Large sections of the city were the hereditary property of large boyar families. The owners of neighboring city estates were descended from one common ancestor. It has been established that the city estates of the boyars themselves did not change their borders during the 10th-15th centuries. The emergence of the patrimonial system in the Novgorod land dates back only to the beginning of the 12th century, when the boyars began to actively acquire “villages”. Prior to this, boyar land ownership existed not in a privately owned, but in a corporate form. The fact is that the local aristocracy, which apparently originated from the tribal nobility, took an active part in the collection of state revenues and control over them. This distinguished Novgorod from the southern Russian lands, where undivided princely control over state revenues (the polyudya system) dominated. Turning into a special corporation, the Novgorod boyars separated themselves from the princely retinue organization. It completely retained the collection of state revenues even during the patrimonial period, which consolidated the tops of Novgorod society and gave them the means and opportunities for an effective struggle against princely power.
The socio-political development of the Novgorod land initially had its own specifics. Princely power has always been secondary in relation to Novgorod. Already under Yaroslav the Wise, Novgorodians achieved significant political successes. The memory of the calling of Rurik and the established practice of concluding an agreement (“row”) with the prince ideologically prepared the triumph of the republican order in Novgorod. Around 1117, the Novgorodians became “free in the princes”, that is, they openly declared their right to expel the prince regardless of the will of Kiev, and in 1126 they themselves chose their own posadnik (before that, the posadnik was either sent from Kiev or appointed by the prince from squad composition).
An important milestone on the path to the complete independence of Novgorod from Kiev was the events of 1132-1136. After the death of the great Kiev prince Mstislav Vladimirovich, his son Vsevolod, who occupied the Novgorod throne, decided to leave Novgorod and take Pereyaslavl. When he, having not achieved success in the south, returned to Novgorod, the Novgorod veche expelled him. In 1136, the Novgorodians took Vsevolod and his entire family into custody. The prince was blamed for “not watching the stink”, he wanted to go to reign in Pereyaslavl, he was the first to flee the battlefield in the war with the Suzdal prince Yuri Dolgoruky.
It is traditionally considered that with the victory of the boyars over the princely power in 1136, the orders of the feudal boyar republic finally triumphed in Novgorod. From that time on, the boyars began to exert a decisive influence on the choice of the prince.
Initially, none of the princely families of Russia managed to gain a foothold in Novgorod for a long time, but from the 30s. 13th century only representatives of the Suzdal branch reigned there. In total, during the XII-XIII centuries. the change of princely power in Novgorod took place about 60 times. The supreme power in Novgorod was in the hands of the city council. It was engaged in legislative activities, concluded and terminated agreements with the prince, elected all senior officials, resolved issues of war and peace, and established the duties of the population. The prince was an integral part of the republican administrative apparatus, but his functions were sharply limited. They boiled down mainly to protecting Novgorod from external danger. The prince was obliged to strictly comply with the conditions of the “row” with the Novgorodians, otherwise he could be “showed the way”. The judicial rights of the prince were limited, he could not subject the Novgorod husbands to repressions "without fault", he was forbidden to acquire land in the volosts, that is, on the outskirts of the Novgorod land. But the princely power often took on intermediary functions and reconciled the warring boyar groups.
From the environment and under the control of the boyars, the veche elected the posadnik, who eventually concentrated all executive power in his hands. He convened the veche and carried out its decisions, concluded agreements with the prince. In addition, the posadnik supervised the activities of all officials, together with the prince led military campaigns, performed judicial functions, and represented in foreign relations.
The next senior official of Novgorod was the thousand. Initially, he was appointed prince, but from the end of the XII century. also became elected. For a long time (until the second half of the 14th century), representatives of the non-Yarsk population were the thousands - lesser people, merchants. Tysyatsky controlled the tax system, oversaw the order in the city, and in wartime led the militia.
Bishop (later Archbishop) played an important role in the life of Novgorod. From the middle of the XII century. the spiritual pastor also began to be chosen by the Novgorodians themselves. Veche named three candidates. After that, on the other side of the Volkhov, in St. Sophia Cathedral, one of the three most authoritative ministers of the church was chosen by lot with the help of a child or a blind man. The hierarch chosen in this way was sent to the metropolitan in Kiev for consecration. The first Novgorod lord who went through a similar procedure was Arkady. The election took place in 1156.
The Novgorod lord was the keeper of the city treasury, was in charge of state lands, participated in the management of foreign policy, controlled the standard of weights and measures, and had his own regiment. Any land transactions were considered invalid without his sanction. The Novgorod Chronicle was kept at the Bishop's court. The archbishop's position was for life, although it happened that the bishops went to the monastery or were expelled by the decision of the veche.
There were also other officials in Novgorod. At the head of the end were the "Konchansky", at the head of the streets - the "street" elders. They were chosen at the appropriate ("Konchan" and "Ulichan") meetings.
One of the essential issues in the history of Novgorod has always been to identify the degree of democracy in its political system. Many historians of the XIX-XX centuries. saw in the Novgorod Republic an example of “democracy” (N.M. Karamzin, I.Ya. Froyanov), the antithesis of the monarchy. It is widely believed that the entire male population of the city participated in the veche meeting of Novgorod - from the boyars to simple artisans and merchants. However, the real power in the Novgorod Republic belonged to the feudal lords (boyars and lesser) and the richest merchants. There was a clear trend towards an oligarchic form of government (VL Yanin). Over time, the boyars also created a special body - the council of "gentlemen". The meetings of this unofficial government of Novgorod were held in the chambers of the lord on the Sofia side and under his chairmanship. The council prepared the agenda of veche meetings, developed measures to influence the veche, and supervised officials of the republic.
Veche Square of Novgorod, which was located near the Nikolsky Cathedral on the Trade side, did not exceed the size of the boyar estate. There was a tribune ("degree") for the leaders of the republic, as well as benches for the rest of the participants. According to V.L. Yanin, it could accommodate a maximum of 400-500 people, which corresponded to the number of wealthy boyar estates in Novgorod. It is clear that the places on the benches could be occupied primarily by wealthy homeowners. Apparently, the advantages of the republican system and its external democracy were based not on the large number of people in the city council, but on its publicity, as well as on the multi-stage system of the city council. If the city-wide veche was, in fact, an artificial body, the result of the creation of an inter-Konchan confederation, then the lower levels of the veche ("Konchan" and "Ulichan") genetically descended from the most ancient popular assemblies. But they were also the most important means of organizing the internal political struggle of the boyars for power. On them it was easier to kindle and direct the political emotions of all social groups of the end or the street in the right direction.
Under normal conditions, the boyars had no need to convene a veche and appeal to the will of the lower classes. Therefore, the city council was not a daily governing body. Chronicle memories of him are separated by years. Veche assumed full power only in emergency cases: in case of rejection of an unwanted prince, enemy invasion, etc.
The state of emergency in Novgorod was usually accompanied by the arrest of the prince, the posadnik or other representatives of the republican administration, and the robbery of the property of persons outlawed. But the elements of the veche system formed a peculiar mentality of the Novgorodians. If in Southwestern Russia the boyars executed princes, then in Novgorod they were not killed, but the veche did not stand on ceremony with elected officials and dealt with all cruelty.
The internal life of Novgorod was characterized by social tension, which often resulted in urban uprisings (1136, 1207, 1228-1229, etc.). Although the urban rank and file took an active part in movements of this kind, it would be an exaggeration to consider these uprisings a manifestation of the class struggle. In each specific case, some groups of Novgorodians, led by their boyars, fought against other groups with their boyars. It was a struggle of interests, a struggle between "Ulichanskaya" and "Konchanskaya". But the street crowd, "black people" played a decisive role in robberies and pogroms, the victims of which were representatives of any boyar clan.
It can be assumed that the self-assertion of the Novgorod boyars as a member of corporate power, in contrast to the boyars of the southern principalities, led not to centrifugal, but to centripetal consequences in the political and economic spheres. Having achieved the limitation of the princely power, the boyars of Novgorod did not give the princes the opportunity to pull the Novgorod land apart.
Names | Rulers | Chronology Portal "Russia"During the period of greatest development, it reached the White Sea to the north, and spread beyond the Ural Mountains in the east. It covered almost the entire modern north-west of Russia.
Administrative division
Administratively, by the end of the Middle Ages, it was divided into pyatins, which, in turn, were divided into halves (pyatins) from the second half of the 16th century. The five division was superimposed on the earlier one - on volosts, counties (awardings), graveyards and camps, and, according to the annals, the foundations of this administrative division were laid in the 10th century by Princess Olga, who established graveyards and lessons in Novgorod land. In The Tale of Bygone Years, a definition is given as "a great and plentiful land."
After the entry of the Novgorod land into the Russian state, the territorial division was preserved, and the territories from the end of the 15th century were called pyatins, before the Novgorod land was divided into lands, and in the 12th century into rows - bearing the same name with the pyatins - Votskaya land, Obonezhsky and Bezhetsky row, Shelon, Tree. In each pyatina there were several courts (counties), in each court (county) - several graveyards and volosts.
Settlement
The settlement of the territory of the Novgorod land began in the region of the Valdai Upland since the Paleolithic and Mesolithic, along the border of the Valdai (Ostashkovsky) glaciation, and in the north-west of the Ilmenye, in the area of the future territorial center - since the Neolithic.
It is traditionally believed that the Krivichi tribes came here in the 6th century, and in the 8th century, in the process of the Slavic settlement of the East European Plain, the Ilmen Slovene tribe came. Finno-Ugric tribes lived on the same territory, leaving a memory of themselves in the names of numerous rivers and lakes. The interpretation of pre-Slavic toponymy as exclusively Finno-Ugric is questioned by many researchers.
The time of the Slavic settlement is dated, as a rule, according to the type of mound groups and individual mounds located in this territory. Pskov long mounds are traditionally associated with the Krivichi, and mounds in the form of a hill with Slovenes. There is also the so-called Kurgan hypothesis, based on which various assumptions are possible about the ways of settling this territory.
Archaeological research in Staraya Ladoga and the Rurik Settlement show the presence among the inhabitants of these first large settlements, including Scandinavians, traditionally called Varangians in ancient Russian (medieval) literary sources.
Demography
Story
Ancient period (before 882)
Novgorod land was one of the centers of formation of the Old Russian state. It was in the Novgorod land that the Rurik dynasty began to reign, and a state formation arose, which received the names in historiography Novgorod Rus, Upper Rus, Volkhov Rus, from which it is customary to begin the history of Russian statehood [ ] .
As part of Kievan Rus (-)
At the end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th century (according to the annalistic dating in 882), the center of the Rurikovich state moved from Novgorod to Kiev. In the 10th century, Ladoga was attacked by the Norwegian Jarl Eric. In 980, Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich (the Baptist) of Novgorod, at the head of the Varangian squad, overthrew the Kiev prince Yaropolk. In the 990s, Novgorod refused to accept Christianity, and stood up for his faith with the supreme sorcerer over the Slavs Bogumil Nightingale and Ugoniy tysyatsky. Novgorod was forcibly baptized with inhuman cruelty “by fire and sword”: many Novgorodians were killed, and the whole city burned down. In -1019, the Novgorod prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich the Wise overthrew the Kiev prince Svyatopolk the Accursed.
The greatest threat to Novgorodian independence was posed by the princes of Vladimir (who achieved increased personal power in their principality after the defeat of the old Rostov-Suzdal boyars in 1174-1175), since they had in their hands an effective lever of influence on Novgorod. They captured Torzhok several times and blocked the supply of food from their "grassroots" lands.
Novgorodians also undertook campaigns in North-Eastern Russia, in particular, even under the leadership of Vsevolod Mstislavich, on January 26, 1135, they fought at the Zhdana Mountain, and in 1149, together with Svyatopolk Mstislavich, they devastated the environs of Yaroslavl and left due to spring floods, also as part of the struggle against Yuri Dolgoruky.
In 1392, the Peace of Niebuhr was officially signed in Novgorod by a delegation of Vendian cities.
In 1610, Tsar Vasily Shuisky was overthrown and Moscow swore allegiance to Prince Vladislav. A new government was formed in Moscow, which began to take the oath to the prince and other cities of the Russian state. I. M. Saltykov was sent to Novgorod to take the oath and to protect himself from the Swedes who appeared at that time in the north and from gangs of thieves. Novgorodians and, probably, at their head, Odoevsky, who was constantly on good terms with the Novgorod metropolitan Isidore, who had great influence on the Novgorodians, and, apparently, he himself enjoyed respect and love among the Novgorodians, agreed not earlier to let Saltykov in and swear allegiance to the prince than they will receive a list from Moscow with an approved cross-kissing letter; but even after receiving the letter, they swore allegiance only after they took a promise from Saltykov that he would not bring the Poles with him into the city.
Soon a strong movement against the Poles arose in Moscow and throughout Russia; at the head of the militia, which set it as its task to expel the Poles from Russia, was Prokopiy Lyapunov, who, together with some other persons, made up the provisional government, which, having taken control of the country, began to send out the governor to the cities.
May 25, 1613 begins an uprising against the Swedish garrison in Tikhvin. The rebellious townspeople recaptured the fortifications of the Tikhvin Monastery from the Swedes and withstood the siege in them until mid-September, forcing Delagardie's detachments to retreat. With the successful Tikhvin uprising, the struggle for the liberation of North-Western Russia and Novgorod began, culminating in the signing of the Stolbovsky peace treaty in 1617.
Novgorod land is one of the main centers of formation of ancient Russia as a state. This was facilitated by the geographical position of the Novgorod lands. The modern Novgorod region is located in the European part of the Russian Federation, in its northwestern part. It borders: with the Leningrad region - in the north, with the Vologda and Tver regions - in the south and the Pskov region - in the west. The geographical position of the Novgorod land favored the rapid formation of the Novgorod Republic as an independent and independent military-political territory. The city of Novgorod was located on the water trade route, called by historians "from the Varangians to the Greeks." Trade between the feudal states of North-West Europe and Byzantium was intensively carried out along the mentioned trade route. The modern Novgorod region is located on the Priilmenskaya lowland, the Valdai Upland and the Tikhvin ridge. Rivers flow through its territory: Volkhov, Msta, Polist, Shelon and Lovat. During the Middle Ages, these rivers served as the main transport infrastructure of the Novgorod Republic. At present, the importance of the rivers of the Novgorod region for the economic activity of the region is insignificant. Of the lakes of the Novgorod region, three of the largest can be noted: Ilmen, Lake Valdai and Lake Velye.
The geographical position of the Novgorod land determines its climate as temperate continental. Precipitation on its territory falls annually up to 850 mm. The average temperature background in July is +15-18 degrees, and in January -7-10 degrees. In the period of its highest prosperity, the Novgorod Republic owned vast territories from the Baltic Sea to the Ural Mountains and from the White Sea to the Volga. This was the result of its aggressive colonial policy and ensuring its own food security. The whole point is that geographical location of the Novgorod land not conducive to the effective development of agriculture. The non-chernozem swampy soils of the Novgorod Republic limited the possibilities of cultivated agriculture, and the Novgorodians had to colonize the southwestern adjacent territories with a more favorable climate for this. Veliky Novgorod at the time of the Novgorod Republic was a completely European city both in appearance, and in the number of inhabitants, and in the way of life. The fact that there were no climatic conditions for cultural agriculture forced the Novgorodians to develop various industries and crafts on the territory of the Novgorod Republic. The manufactured products were intensively traded with neighboring states and lands, which made it possible to form a fairly rich merchant class. Trade also contributed to interstate cultural exchange and foreign policy contacts.
The special geographical position of the Novgorod land in the north-west of the ancient land gave it considerable weight among the Russian feudal principalities. Novgorod controlled trade routes from North to South and from East to North-West. This made it possible for the Novgorod feudal republic to receive significant income from customs duties, develop its own trade and conduct an effective exchange of production technologies with other peoples. Aggressive neighbors in the northwest (the Swedes and the "crusaders") forced Novgorod to wage constant wars to preserve its borders. This circumstance forced an agreement with the Tatar-Mongolian Golden Horde, which allowed Novgorod to focus its efforts on repelling the invasion of the Swedes and the Livonian and Teutonic Orders in the first half of the 13th century. Historians argue that one of the factors that influenced the Golden Horde to conclude a non-aggression pact with Novgorod was the geographical location of the Novgorod lands. The Novgorod Republic, covered with impenetrable forests, and the excessive swampiness of its territory would impede the movement of mounted Tatar-Mongolian troops and convoys. Perhaps, it was precisely due to the geographical location of its lands that Novgorod remained one of the few Russian cities that were not plundered and wiped off the face of the earth during the Tatar-Mongol invasion. This allowed the Novgorodians to defeat the Swedes and the "crusaders" who were pressing from the north, thereby saving medieval Russia from the final enslavement by neighbors from the northeast. After the annexation of Novgorod to the Muscovite state at the end of the 15th century, the Novgorod Republic ceased its independent existence. The policy vector of the Russian tsars gradually changed its direction to other territories, and Veliky Novgorod turned into an ordinary provincial territorial center.
Geographical position
In $XII - XIII$ centuries. Novgorod's possessions included a vast territory from the Gulf of Finland to the Urals and from the Arctic Ocean to the upper reaches of the Volga. Vast expanses of land stretched around Novgorod, which belonged to Novgorod and received the name "Land of Hagia Sophia". All this land was divided into pyatinas and regions. Quantity Pyatin matched the number of ends. In the north-east of Novgorod, along the shores of Lake Onega, there was the Obonezh pyatina; to the northwest, between Luga and Volkhov, - Votskaya; in the southeast, between Msta and Lovat, there is a patch of Derevskaya; to the south-west, on the banks of the Shelon River, - Shelonskaya, and finally, in the south, the five Bezhetskaya stretched. There were suburbs of Novgorod in pyatiny: - Pskov, Torzhok, Ladoga, Izborsk and others, which had political self-government but they were vassals of Novgorod. Beyond the pyatinas stretched Novgorod " volosts", which had a different device from Pyatin; their number varied over time. The most prominent place among them was occupied by Zavolochye and the Dvina land, located beyond the watershed of the Onega basin, the Western Dvina and the Volga. In the east, Perm land was located, lying along the Vychegda and Kama rivers; to the northeast of Zavolochye and Perm land was the Pechora volost, located along the Pechora River; on the other side of the Ural ridge, the land of Yugra, and on the shores of the White Sea, the land of Terskaya, or “Tre”, etc. In addition to the pyatins, the territory of the Novgorod Republic was divided into volosts, which included possessions more distant and acquired later.
Remark 1
Most likely, the Novgorod land was divided into fifths between the ends to systematize taxation from the population living there. Probably, Novgorod periodically redistributed the patches between different ends in order to reduce the likelihood of corruption.
Agriculture
In the economic life of Novgorod, the main role was assigned to agriculture. In the first place among cultivated crops was winter rye. An important role in the economy of the Novgorod land was also played by cattle breeding, closely related to agriculture. So, if agriculture was the main occupation of the rural residents of the Novgorod Republic, then the townspeople were often engaged in cattle breeding.
Remark 2
Cultivation of wheat indicates that in the $XII$ century, the Novgorod land was used three-field crop rotation system.
crafts
In the Novgorod cadastres of that time, more than $30$ of crafts were mentioned, which were engaged in by the inhabitants of these lands in addition to agriculture. One of the industries that was of great importance for the economy was salinization. Many peasants of the Derevskaya and Shelonskaya Pyatin, as well as Pomerania, were engaged in it. The owners of salt pans resorted to the labor of seasonal workers - diggers. In lakes, rivers and residents of Novgorod land caught a large number of fish: "black" (carps, perches, pikes, etc.) and "red" (sturgeon, salmon). In addition, they caught crayfish, which were also found in large numbers. Due to the fact that Novgorodians did not know sugar, honey and wax were highly valued. This contributed to the widespread beekeeping (gathering of honey). Bees were not specially bred, but honey was taken from wild bees. An interesting type of fishery was pearl. In the annals of Moscow and others, one can often find a description of Novgorod pearls. Hunting was also widespread. The Novgorod forests were famous for the abundance of various species of animals, and the fur-bearing animal was especially valued. Novgorod was a major exporter of fur to Europe, where squirrel, marten, sable and other furs were supplied.
Remark 3
The widespread use of hunting is evidenced by the fact that hunting grounds are often mentioned in sales documents.
Craft
The agriculture of Novgorod the Great was developed as far as natural conditions allowed, but it, nevertheless, could not fully satisfy all the needs of the local population. The scarce soils and the nature of the climate forced the Novgorodians to actively engage in crafts and trade. It should be emphasized that, while producing goods on its own, Novgorod sold them without intermediaries in the West, which was significantly more profitable. As a result, the prerequisites for the development of handicrafts in the Novgorod Republic were quite significant. Novgorodians achieved the greatest success in carpentry: throughout Russia they were known as the best carpenters.
In the annals, we can often find the following craft professions: shield maker, tanner, silversmith (jeweler artisan), boilermaker, oponnik (weaver), carnation, blacksmith.
In $XII - XIII$ centuries. Novgorod was a major center of handicraft production. In terms of the level of handicraft production technology and the scale of its distribution, Novgorod was not inferior to the largest medieval cities in Europe.
Trade
In historical sources, one can find numerous evidence of the paramount importance of trade in the economic life of Novgorod. Novgorod traded with both the East and the West.
Remark 4
The scale of commercial relations of Veliky Novgorod is evidenced by a large number of oriental coins found in the former Novgorod lands during archaeological excavations.
In the $12th century, when the Hanseatic city of Lübeck began to predominate in the trade of Northern Europe, the Novgorodians established trade relations with the Germans, which is evidenced by the agreements that have survived to this day, which reflected the relationship between German and Novgorod merchants. The most convenient geographical position contributed to the transformation of Novgorod into the largest trading center, which supplied furs, honey, leather, and seafood products to European markets. Merchants were mainly engaged in trade, but they received the products themselves from the boyar fishing villages.