The Novgorod Republic was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries in northern Russia, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east. Its capital was the city of Novgorod. The republic prospered as the easternmost trading post of the Hanseatic League, and its people were much influenced by the culture of the Byzantines.
Veche was a popular assembly in medieval Slavic countries.
Posadnik (Cyrillic: посадник, was the mayor in some East Slavic cities or towns. Most notably, the posadnik was the mayor of Novgorod and Pskov. The term comes from the Old Church Slavic "posaditi," meaning to put or place; they were so-called because the prince in Kiev originally placed them in the city to rule on his behalf. Beginning in the 12th century, they were elected locally.
Pskov, known at various times as the Principality of Pskov or the Pskov Republic, was a medieval state on the south shore of Lake Pskov. Originally a principality and then a part of the Novgorod Republic, Pskov became an independent republic in 1348. Its territory was roughly equivalent to the modern Pskov Oblast of Russia. Its capital city was Pskov.
The Battle of Shelon was a decisive battle between the forces of the Grand Duchy of Moscow under Ivan III and the army of the Novgorod Republic, which took place on the Shelon River on 14 July 1471. Novgorod suffered a major defeat and ended with the de facto unconditional surrender of the city. Novgorod was absorbed by Muscovy in 1478.
The Pskov Judicial Charter was an Old Russian legal code of the Pskov Republic. It was issued in various redactions between 1397 and 1467, and was based on certain resolutions of the Pskovian city assembly or veche, princely decrees, provisions of the Russkaya Pravda and common law. It, along with the Novgorod Judicial Charter, was an important source for the Sudebnik of 1497.
Chiliarch is a military rank dating back to antiquity. Originally denoting the commander of a unit of about one thousand men in the Macedonian army, it was subsequently used as a Greek translation of a Persian officer who functioned as a kind of vizier and of the Roman army's military tribunes. It has subsequently been used for other similar ranks and positions in other armed forces.
The Treaty of Yazhelbitsy was a peace treaty signed by Vasili II, Grand Prince of Moscow and Vladimir, and the government of Novgorod the Great in the village of Yazhelbitsy in February 1456. This treaty was a significant setback for Novgorod, which would culminate, almost quarter of a century later, in the city being brought under the direct control of the Muscovite Grand Prince in 1478.
A tysiatskii, sometimes translated dux or herzog, was a military leader in Kievan Rus' who commanded a people's volunteer army called a thousand. In the Novgorod Republic, the tysyatskii evolved into a judicial or commercial official and was elected from boyars at a veche for a period of one year. In cities with no veche, tysyatskiis were appointed by the knyaz or prince from among the noble boyars and could hand down their post to their sons.
Marfa Boretskaya, also known as Martha the Mayoress, was the wife of Isaac Boretsky, Novgorod's posadnik in 1438–1439 and again in 1453. According to legend and historical tradition, she led the republic's struggle against Muscovy between her husband's death and the city's eventual annexation by Ivan III of Russia in 1478.
The St. George's (Yuriev) Monastery is usually cited as Russia's oldest monastery. It stands in 5 kilometers south of Novgorod on the left bank of the Volkhov River near where it flows out of Lake Ilmen. The monastery used to be the most important in the medieval Novgorod Republic. It is part of the World Heritage Site named Historic Monuments of Novgorod and Surroundings.
The Prince of Novgorod was the chief executive of the Novgorod Republic. The office was originally an appointed one until the late eleventh or early twelfth century, then became something of an elective one until the fourteenth century, after which the Prince of Vladimir was almost invariably the Prince of Novgorod as well.
The Diocese of Novgorod is one of the oldest offices in the Russian Orthodox Church. The medieval archbishops of Novgorod were among the most important figures in medieval Russian history and culture and their successors have continued to play significant roles in Russian history up to the present day. They patronized a significant number of churches in and around the city,, and their artistic and architectural embellishments influenced later Russian art and architecture; they also patronized chronicle-writing, a crucial source on medieval Russian history.
Ontsifor Lukinich was a posadnik of Novgorod the Great in 1350–1354. He came from a Novgorodian boyar family that gave a number of posadniks to the city. He is most famous for reforming the office in 1359, increasing the number of posadniks and creating a ruling collective in the city.
Vasilii Kalika was Archbishop of Novgorod the Great and Pskov from 1330 to 1352. He is in large part responsible for reinvigorating the office after it had fallen into decline to some extent following the Mongol Invasion.
Yaroslav's Court was the princely compound in the city of Novgorod the Great. Today it is roughly the area around the Trade Mart, the St. Nicholas Cathedral, the Church of St. Procopius, and the Church of the Myrrh-bearing Women. The Trade Mart renovated and heavily modified in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, is all that is left of the princely palace itself. The prince also had a compound called the Riurik's Court south of the marketside of the city.
The Council of Lords or Sovet Gospod was, according to the traditional scholarship, the executive organ of the Novgorodian and Pskovian veches.
The Novgorod Judicial Charter was an Old Russian legal code of the Novgorod Republic, issued in 1440, although the current version was supplemented in 1471 under the auspices of Grand Prince Ivan III, and his son, Ivan Ivanovich [1458-90; predeceased his father and never reigned] and
according to the blessing of the hieromonk Feofil who was named to the archbishopric of Novgorod the Great and Pskov, so [then] the mayors of Novgorod, and the Novgorod millenariuses, and boyars, and ranking men, and merchants, and taxpaying townsmen, all five boroughs (kontsy) [of Novgorod], [and] all Lord Novgorod the Great at assembly (veche) in Iaroslav's court
Veliky Novgorod, also known as Novgorod (Новгород), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the Volkhov River just downstream from its outflow from Lake Ilmen and is situated on the M10 federal highway connecting Moscow and Saint Petersburg. UNESCO recognized Novgorod as a World Heritage Site in 1992. The city has a population of 224,286 (2021 Census).
Novgorodian 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 Rurikovich 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. During the period of greatest development, it reached north to the White Sea, and in the east it spread beyond the Ural Mountains. It had extensive trade relations within the framework of the Hanseatic League and with the rest of Rus'. Muscovy conquered the Novgorod Republic in 1478, and annexed it in 1578, although Novgorod Land continued to exist as an administrative unit until 1708.
