Novgorod Land () was one of the largest historical territorial–state formations in Russia, covering its northwest and north. Novgorod Land, centered in Veliky Novgorod, was in the cradle of Kievan Rus' under the rule of the Rurikid dynasty and one of the most important princely thrones of the era. During the collapse of Kievan Rus' and in subsequent centuries, Novgorod Land developed as the Novgorod Republic: an autonomous state with republican forms of government under the suzerainty of the great princes of Vladimir-Suzdal (later – Moscow/Muscovy).Anton Gorsky. Russian Lands in the 13th–14th Centuries: the Path of Political Development – Saint Petersburg: Nauka, 2016 – Pages 63–67Alexander Filyushkin. Titles of Russian Sovereigns – Moscow; Saint Petersburg: Alliance Archeo, 2006 – Pages 39–40
During the period of greatest development, it reached north to the White Sea, and in the east it has been claimed that it did spread beyond the Ural Mountains. It had extensive trade relations within the framework of the Hanseatic League and with the rest of Rus'. The Principality of Moscow conquered the Novgorod Republic in 1478, although Novgorod Land continued to exist as an administrative unit until 1708.
Population The settlement of the territory of Novgorod Land began in the Valdai Upland since the Paleolithic and Mesolithic, along the border of the Valdai (Ostashkovsky) glaciation, and in the north–west of Priilmenye, in the area of the future territorial center, since the Neolithic.
ArchaeologicallyMaya Zimina. Neolithic Basin of the Msta River. Moscow: Nauka, 1981. 205 Pages, 22 Illustrations and through the study of toponymy,Ruth Ageeva. Hydronymy of the Russian North–West as a Source of Cultural and Historical Information. URSS Editorial, 2004 the presence of migratory so–called Nostratic communities is supposed here, replaced by Indo–European groups (future Balts and Slavs) who came from the south–west and ancestors of the Baltic–Finnish peoples who came from the east.Vladimir Petrukhin, Dmitry Raevsky. Essays on the History of the Peoples of Russia in Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Tutorial. Series: Studia Historica. 2nd Edition, Revised and Supplemented. Moscow: Znak, 2004 – 416 Pages George Vernadsky. Ancient Russia. Tver – Moscow: Lean; Agraf, 1996. (2000) – 447 Pages
The center of the Slavic settlements was the vicinity of Lake Ilmen and the Volkhov River, and the Ilmen Slovenes lived here. It is traditionally believed that in the 6th century Krivichi tribes came here, and in the 8th century, in the process of Slavic settlement of the East European Plain, the tribe of Ilmen Slovenes came. Finnic tribes lived in the same territory, having left 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 some researchers.Valery Vasiliev. Ancient European Hydronymy in Priilmenye // Bulletin of Novgorod State University. 2002. No. 21 The dates of the Slavic settlement rely on the burial mounds, with long mounds associated with Krivichi, and hill-shaped mounds with Slovenes.
Archaeological research in Staraya Ladoga and Rurik Gorodishche shows the presence of Scandinavians, traditionally referred to in the Old Russian (medieval) literary sources as Varangians, among the inhabitants of these first large settlements.Tatyana Jackson. Aldeiguborg: Archeology and Toponymy
In addition to the Slavic population, a significant part of the Novgorod Land was inhabited by various Finnic peoples.Alexander Saks. Novgorod, Karelia and Izhora Land in the Middle Ages // The Past of Novgorod and Novgorod Land. Velikiy Novgorod. 2005Alexander Saks. The Medieval Korela. Formation of Ethnic and Cultural Community Vodskaya pyatina along with the Slavs was inhabited by Votians and Izhora, who were closely associated with Novgorod. The Yem', who lived in southern Finland, was usually at enmity with the Novgorodians and more inclined to the side of the Swedes, while the neighboring Karelians usually kept to Novgorod. Novgorod were often fighting Chud who inhabited Livonia and Estonia. Zavolochye was inhabited by Finnic tribes, which was often called Zavolotskaya Chud; later Novgorod colonists settled in this region. Tersky coast was inhabited by the Sámi people. Further, Permians and Zyryans lived in the northeast.
History Oldest period (before 882) Archeological data shows that in the 9th century Novgorod was already a large settlement (or rather a chain of settlements from the source of Volkhov and Rurik GorodishcheInstitute of the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Rurikovo SettlementEvgeny Nosov. Typology of the Volga Region Cities. "Novgorod and Novgorod Land. History and Archeology". Materials of the Scientific Conference up to Kholopiy Town,Evgeny Nosov, Alexey Plohov. Kholopiy Gorodok. Antiquities of the Volga Region – Pages 129–152 opposite of Krechevitsy). Other settlements included Ladoga,Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Staraya Ladoga Articles about Novgorod Izborsk and possibly Beloozero. Slavic and Finnic tribes inhabited the territory and by the 9th century Scandinavians were also present.Sixsmith, Martin. "Chapter 1." Russia: A 1,000 Year Chronicle of the Wild East. New York, NY: Overlook Pr., 2012 The Scandinavians probably called this territory Garðaríki.
According to tradition, Novgorod Land was one of the centers of formation of Kyivan Rus'. The Primary Chronicle calls it "a great and abundant land" and records the legend of the Invitation of the Varangians (traditionally dated to 862): its inhabitants wanted to "seek a prince who may rule over us and judge us according to law" and therefore invited Rurik (founder of the Rurikovich dynasty), Sineus and Truvor, to rule over them.
As part of Kievan Rus (882–1136)
At the end of the 9th – beginning of the 10th centuries (in chronicles dating to 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, Novgorod Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich (the Baptist), at the head of the Varangian squad, overthrew the Kiev Prince Yaropolk. In the 990s, Novgorod refused to convert to Christianity, and stood up for its faith with the supreme priest Bogumil Solovey and tysyatsky Ugonyay. Novgorod was baptized by force with "fire and sword": many Novgorodians were killed, and the whole city burned down. In 1015–1019, Prince of Novgorod Yaroslav Vladimirovich the Wise overthrew the Kiev Prince Svyatopolk the Accursed. The Novgorodians supported Yaroslav during the war, and after his victory in the war, Yaroslav rewarded them and granted the "Yaroslav's Law" and the "Charter" to Novgorod. These documents became the prototype of and were referenced in the charters on which the princes invited by Novgorodians took the oath. Also under Yaroslav, Detinets and the first Saint Sophia Cathedral were built.
Among the Rus, the Novgorodians were the first to reach the regions between the Arctic Ocean and Lake Onega. An expedition led by the voivode UlebAlexey Gippius. Scandinavian Footprint in the History of the Novgorod Nobility // Slavica Helsingiensia 27, 2006 – Pages 93–108 were defeated by the Yugra people near the Iron Gates (which have been identified with the valley of Pechora River or possibly regions further to the east) in 1036. Trade with the Yugra tribe was already established in 1096. In 1020 and 1067, Novgorod Land was attacked by the Polotsk Izyaslavichs.
In the 11th century, the governor – the son of the Kiev prince – still had great powers. In the same period, the institute of posadniks appeared, who ruled in Novgorod at a time when its prince was not there (like Ostromir) or the prince was a minor, as in 1088, when Vsevolod Yaroslavich sent his grandson Mstislav (son of Vladimir Monomakh) to reign in Novgorod. In 1095, the Novgorodians, dissatisfied with the absence of their prince Davyd Svyatoslavich, returned Mstislav, and seven years later they opposed the attempt of the Kiev prince to replace Mstislav with his son. The key republican authorities (veche, prince, posadnik) emerged in Novgorod in the 11th century.
In the second decade of the 12th century, Vladimir Monomakh strengthened the central authority in Novgorod Land. Chronicles report that the Novgorodians paid tribute to him in 1113. In 1117, without taking into account the opinion of the Novgorod community, Mstislav was recalled to the south by his father, and Prince Vsevolod Mstislavich was seated on the throne of Novgorod. Some boyars opposed this decision of the prince, in connection with which they were called to Kiev and thrown into prison.
After the death of Mstislav the Great in 1132 and the deepening tendencies of political fragmentation, the prince of Novgorod lost the support of the central government. In 1134, Vsevolod was expelled from the city. Returning to Novgorod, he was forced to conclude an agreement with the Novgorodians, limiting his authority. On January 26, 1135, the army of Novgorod, led by Vsevolod and Izyaslav Mstislavich, lost the Battle of Zhdanaya Mountain to the army of Suzdal Prince Yuri Dolgorukiy. On May 28, 1136, in connection with the dissatisfaction of Novgorod with the actions of Prince Vsevolod, he was taken into custody and then expelled from Novgorod.
Republican period (1136–1478)
Vladimir–Suzdal influence
From the late 11th century the Novgorodians asserted greater control over the determination of their rules and rejected a politically dependent relationship to Kiev. In 1136 they expelled prince Vsevolod Mstislavich accusing him of not caring for smerds, of trying to move to Pereslavl and of cowardliness and indecisiveness in military matters. Svyatoslav Olgovich, the younger brother of Vsevolod of Chernigov, the main ally of the Mstislavichs and rival of the then Kiev prince, Yaropolk from the House of Monomakh, became the first prince independently called upon by the Novgorodians. Subsequently the Novgorodians were able to invite in and dismiss a number of princes. Often these invitations or dismissals were based on who was the dominant prince in Rus' at the time,Michael C. Paul, "Was the Prince of Novgorod a 'Third-rate bureaucrat' after 1136?" Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas 56, No. 1 (Spring 2008): 72–113. while sometimes the Novgorodians helped their allies to take these positions, as, for example, in 1212.
Novgorod brought much of its food supplies from the Oka region which was controlled by the princes of Vladimir who had defeated the old Rostov–Suzdal boyars in 1174–1175 and consolidated the power in their hands. They could and did block grain traffic causing a shortage or even famine in Novgorod. After taking control of the valley of Sheksna and the town of Beloozero located close to the road from Novgorod to the Northern Dvina, Vladimir could also threaten the possessions of Novgorod in the east and often intercepted the tribute delivered from there. Sometimes Novgorod resisted the expansionist policy of Yuri Dolgoruky by force, launching an invasion in 1134 under the leadership of Vsevolod Mstislavich which was defeated at Zhdanaya Mountain. In 1149, together with Svyatopolk Mstislavich, the Novgorodians ravaged the surroundings of Yaroslavl and left because of the spring flood leading seven thousand men into captivity. More often Novgorod had to appease the powerful prince of Vladimir, including by accepted two sons of Yuri as princes of Novgorod.
In 1170, immediately after the capture of Kiev by the troops of Andrei Bogolyubsky and his allies, they undertook a campaign against Novgorod, in which Roman Mstislavich, the son of the prince expelled from Kiev, was located. The Novgorodians managed to win the defensive battle and defend their independence with the enemy suffering heavy losses.