Pskov Republic

After the disintegration of Kievan Rus' in the 12th century, the city of Pskov and its dependent territory became part of the Novgorod Republic, but it continued to enjoy self-government under the supervision of a posadnik, or chief executive, that was appointed by Novgorod.^[1] Pskov had the status of a borough (Russian: пригород, romanized: prigorod), but was given the unique right to have boroughs of its own, with Izborsk being the most ancient among them.^[2] Due to Pskov's leading role in the struggle against the Livonian Order, its influence grew significantly within the republic. The long reign of Daumantas (r. 1266–1299), and especially his victory in the Battle of Rakvere in 1268, ushered in a period of significant autonomy, as well as a state of peace with the Livonian Order.^[3][4] The expansion of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania began to penetrate Pskov when Grand Duke Gediminas responded to the Pskovites' request to send a prince in 1323.^[5][6]

Prince Aleksandr of Tver was granted sanctuary by the Pskovites in 1327 after he had fled Tver following an anti-Tatar uprising that was subsequently crushed by a punitive force dispatched by the khan of the Golden Horde.^[7][8] Aleksandr was appointed as the prince of Pskov and an agreement was reached in which the Pskovites promised to "not to hand him over to the Russian princes".^[7] At the behest of Ivan I of Moscow, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church excommunicated Aleksandr as well as the people of Pskov.^[9][8] Aleksandr then fled to Lithuania and, after a treaty was signed between Pskov and the head of the church, the ban was lifted.^[9] Aleksandr later returned to Pskov in 1331 and he once again served as their prince until he went to the Horde in 1337 to recover the principality of Tver.^[10]

In August 1348, Magnus IV of Sweden captured the key fortress of Orekhov located at the eastern end of the Neva.^[11] The Pskovites sent a small detachment and took advantage of the situation by only agreeing to accompany the Novgorodian army on the condition that Pskov would be formally granted its independence.^[11] Novgorod sent an allied force to lay siege to the fortress and signed the Treaty of Bolotovo on the way to Orekhov.^[12] As per the terms of the treaty, the posadniki of Novgorod no longer had any administrative or judicial function in Pskov and the law-courts of the archbishop of Novgorod would only be run by representatives chosen by the Pskovites.^[13] In return, Pskov pledged to aid Novgorod in the event that it was attacked.^[13] Despite this, the Pskovites refused to aid Novgorod in its siege of Orekhov and the detachment left.^[13]

Following the death of the Lithuanian governor in April 1349, the Pskovites decided to cut ties with Algirdas and his son Andrei.^[14] Algirdas declared war on Pskov but, due to a string of military defeats earlier, he was limited to arresting Pskovian merchants and sending Andrei to raid the territory of Pskov.^[14] Although there is no mention of a Muscovite governor arriving in Pskov or negotiations with Moscow at the time in any of the sources, Pskov likely received military support from Moscow, and by the end of the decade, was within Moscow's sphere of influence.^[15] Simeon of Moscow was also able to establish a dominant position in Novgorod, and as a result, he was able to eliminate Lithuania's influence in northwest Russia.^[16]

For most of the second half of the 14th century, Pskov was in the sphere of influence of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. This changed after Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania signed the Treaty of Salynas with the Teutonic Knights in 1398, in which he promised to help them conquer Pskov, while the Teutons promised to help Lithuania conquer Novgorod.^[17] That same year, Vytautas sheltered Tokhtamysh in exchange for military assistance.^[18] Vyatautas was promised aid in conquering Moscow and he joined Tokhtamysh in his war against Temür Qutlugh, but they were decisively defeated at the Battle of the Vorskla River in 1399.^[18] After Prince Ivan Andreyevich left the city, Pskov sent emissaries to Grand Prince Vasily I of Moscow requesting a prince, and from then on, the prince of Pskov was a governor or viceroy (namestnik) under the overlordship of the grand prince.^[19] The same year, Moscow signed an agreement with the prince of Tver, which consolidated cooperation between the two principalities.^[20]

Lithuania attempted to bring Novgorod and Pskov into its sphere of influence again, leading to a Lithuanian attack on Pskov in 1406.^[21] Grand Prince Vasily I of Moscow sent troops to aid Pskov, leading to a border war between Lithuania and Moscow until 1408.^[21] The two sides stopped fighting as Vasily had to battle a Tatar invasion led by Edigu in 1408, while Vytautas joined the forces of Władysław II Jagiełło to inflict a devastating defeat on the Teutonic Knights at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410.^[21] Relations between Lithuania and Moscow resumed a more peaceful course; however, both sides continued to struggle for influence in the political affairs of Pskov and Novgorod.^[21] Finally, in 1449, Grand Prince Vasily II signed treaties with Casimir IV Jagiellon which delineated their spheres of influence, with Casimir recognizing Pskov and Novgorod as dependencies of Moscow.^[22] Pskov's dependence on Moscow increased as the grand prince's governor was now required to swear an oath to him as well.^[23]

In 1462, Grand Prince Vasily II appointed the prince Vladimir Andreyevich as his governor without requesting permission from Pskov first.^[24] After his death the same year, the Pskovites dismissed Vladimir, and Grand Prince Ivan III reached an agreement with the city in which he promised to not appoint a new governor without the permission of Pskov, while the Pskovites promised not to dismiss a governor without the permission of the grand prince.^[24] Five years later, Ivan appointed Fyodor Yuryevich as his governor and demanded that Pskov grant his governor the right to appoint representatives in all twelve boroughs, rather than the seven he had been allowed up to that point.^[25] Pskov was forced to accept the demand, and some scholars view the enactment of the Pskov Judicial Charter the same year as an attempt to define the distribution of judicial authority between the city and the grand prince.^[26]

In 1501, the armies of Pskov and Moscow were defeated in the Battle of the Siritsa River by the Livonian Order, but the city withstood a subsequent siege.

Upon becoming the grand prince, Vasily III continued his father's policy of annexing the other remaining Russian states.^[27] In the autumn of 1509, he visited Novgorod, where he received complaints from the Pskov veche against the Muscovite governor of the city.^[27] At first, Vasily encouraged complaints against the governor, yet soon after, he demanded that the city abolish its traditional institutions, including the removal of the veche bell.^[27] From that point on, Pskov was to be ruled exclusively by his governors and officials, and on 13 January 1510, the veche bell was removed and transported to Moscow.^[27]

During an official visit to Pskov, Vasily held a large reception that was attended by city officials, merchants and representatives of other classes.^[27] At the height of the reception, he had them arrested.^[27] In total, around 300 families were deported and replaced with loyalists, as Vasily sought to remove any potential opposition to his direct rule.^[28] Following its incorporation into the centralized Russian state, the city of Pskov and the lands around it continued to prosper, preserving some of its economic and cultural traditions that may have even spread to Moscow.^[28]

Despite being a city-state, Pskov also extended over a large amount of territory, like Novgorod. It covered the territory between Novgorod and the lands inhabited by the Baltic peoples, reaching the Gulf of Finland. As a result of its geographic position, Pskov made frequent contact with Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights. The Hanseatic League also had an office in Pskov, which allowed the city to have commercial contacts with distant states. Pskov did not have a relatively empty hinterland, which prevented it from engaging in expansionism unlike Novgorod, which had a vast hinterland in the Russian North.^[24]

The Pskov Republic had well-developed farming, fishing, blacksmithing, jewellery-making and construction industries. Exchange of commodities within the republic itself and its trade with Novgorod and other Russian cities, the Baltic region, and Western Europe cities made Pskov one of the biggest handicraft and trade centres of Rus'. As opposed to the Novgorod Republic, Pskov never had big feudal landowners: estates were smaller and even more scattered than of those in Novgorod.^[29] The estates of Pskovian monasteries and churches were much smaller as well. Some land was owned by smerds while other izorniki did not own the land they worked and were obliged to pay rent – between a quarter and a half of the harvest. A farmer who had no debts to his landlord could leave him only on a certain day of the year.^[30][31]

The government of the Pskov Republic consisted of the veche (popular assembly), posadnichestvo (mayoralty) and the prince (directly or through a viceroy). Mayors (posadniki) from all parts of the city, together with one or more lord mayors and former mayors formed the Council of Lords (sovet gospod, boyarskiy sovet), which was the main executive organ of the state. The mayoral offices (posadniki) became a privilege of several noble (boyar) families.^[32] Former posadniki kept their title, and so the incumbent posadnik was known as the stepennyi posadnik.^[33] Although considered to be a republic, the head of state remained the prince; however, power was shared with the local authorities, and so a particular prince could be dismissed.^[33] The best documented duties of the prince include him commanding the army and his judicial office.^[33] The prince of Pskov was also more dependent on the grand prince compared to the prince of Novgorod, and so princes were often recruited from the ranks of service princes who had been accepted into the service of the grand prince, especially after 1399.^[24]

The veche had legislative powers; it could appoint military commanders and hear ambassadors' reports. It also approved expenses such as grants to princes and payments to builders of walls, towers and bridges.^[34] The veche gathered at the Trinity Cathedral, which held the archives of the veche and important private papers and state documents. The veche assembly included posadniki, as well as "middle" and common people.^[35] Historians differ on the extent to which the veche was dominated by elites, with some saying that real power was in the hands of boyars, while others consider the veche to have been a democratic institution.^[36]

Conflicts were common and the confrontation between the veche and the posadniks in 1483–1484 led to the execution of one posadnik and to the confiscation of property of three other posadniks who fled to Moscow.^[37] The power of the prince was limited but – in contrast to the Novgorod Republic – he still retained important administrative and judicial functions, the latter carried out jointly with the posadnik.^[38][39]

The legal code of Pskov, known as the Pskov Judicial Charter, was enacted by its veche in 1397, with redactions until 1467.^[40] Pskov's legal code is regarded as a monument of Russian law.^[40] The principal subjects of the code included commercial law, criminal law, debts, evidence, inheritance, the law of procedure, the legal position of certain peasant classes, as well as the rights of certain officials.^[41] The Charter of Pskov was an important source for the Sudebnik of 1497 under Ivan III, the first collection of laws of the newly unified state.^[42]

Like Novgorod, Pskov was divided into several kontsy (lit. 'ends'). There were four kontsy in the 14th century, as the city was growing and a new wall was constructed in 1465 the new ends were created. Each end had its central church which housed the archive, treasury and refectory where holiday feasts were held. The ends played a prominent role in the government: often delegations sent by Pskov had representatives from all the ends and each end administered a part of the territory of the republic outside of the capital city.^[43]

Pskov remained dependent on Novgorod in ecclesiastic all matters during the republican period. A religious sect whose followers were known as the strigolniki was active in the city in the second half of the 14th century and the beginning of the 15th century.

Pskov, along with Novgorod, was an important centre of trade between Russia and Western Europe. Already in the 13th century German merchants were present in the Zapskovye area of Pskov and the Hanseatic League had a trading post in the same area in the first half of the 16th century which moved to Zavelichye after a fire in 1562.^[44][45] Pskov's main trade partners were Riga, Reval and Dorpat.^[46] The wars with Livonian Order, Poland-Lithuania and Sweden interrupted the trade but it was maintained until the 17th century, with Swedish merchants gaining the upper hand eventually.^[45]

Pskov churches feature many distinctive elements: corbel arches, church porches, exterior galleries and zvonnitsa bell towers. These features were introduced by Pskov masons to Muscovy, where they constructed numerous buildings during the 15th and 16th centuries. Out of all non-religious construction, only the fortresses in Pskov, Izborsk and Gdov have survived.

The literature of Pskov land was an integral part of the medieval Russian literature. The chronicle-writing started in the 13th century, at first dealing mostly with topics of local interest. By the 15th century, the chronicles became more detailed and described events in Muscovy, Novgorod, Lithuania and the Golden Horde. The most important works written in Pskov are the Story of Dovmont describing the coming of Dovmont to the city, his baptism and subsequent victories, The Life of Saint Euphrosynus and The Address of Hegumen Pamfil which contains one of the earliest descriptions of Ivan Kupala rituals.^[47]

The downfall of Pskov is recounted in the Story of the Taking of Pskov (1510), which was lauded by D. S. Mirsky as "one of the most beautiful short stories of Old Russia. The history of the Muscovites' leisurely perseverance is told with admirable simplicity and art. An atmosphere of descending gloom pervades the whole narrative: all is useless, and whatever the Pskovites can do, the Muscovite cat will take its time and eat the mouse when and how it pleases".^[48]

• Crummey, Robert O. (6 June 2014). The Formation of Muscovy 1300 - 1613. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-87199-6.
• Feldbrugge, Ferdinand J. M. (2 October 2017). A History of Russian Law: From Ancient Times to the Council Code (Ulozhenie) of Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich of 1649. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-35214-8.
• Fennell, John (13 October 2014). The Crisis of Medieval Russia 1200-1304. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-87314-3.
• Fennell, John (15 November 2023). The Emergence of Moscow, 1304-1359. Univ of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-34759-5.
• Martin, Janet (2006). Perrie, Maureen (ed.). The Cambridge History of Russia: Volume 1, From Early Rus' to 1689. Cambridge University Press. pp. 127–157. ISBN 978-0-521-81227-6.
• Масленникова Н. Н. Присоединения Пскова к Русскому централизованному государству. Leningrad, 1955.
• Riasanovsky, Nicholas Valentine; Steinberg, Mark D. (2019). A History of Russia. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-064558-8.
• Selart, Anti (2015). "Chapter 3: Livonia and Rus' in the 1230s and 1240s". Livonia, Rus' and the Baltic Crusades in the Thirteenth Century. Leiden/Boston: BRILL. pp. 127–170. doi:10.1163/9789004284753_005. ISBN 978-90-04-28475-3.
• Shaikhutdinov, Marat (2021). Between East and West: The Formation of the Moscow State. Academic Studies Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctv249sgn2. ISBN 978-1-64469-713-9. JSTOR j.ctv249sgn2.
• Valerov, A. V. (2004). Новгород и Псков очерки политической истории Северо-Западной Руси XI-XIV веков. Saint Petersburg: Алетея. pp. 190–191. ISBN 5893296680.

• The Chronicles of Pskov, vol. 1–2. Moscow–Leningrad, 1941–55.
• Валеров А. В. Новгород и Псков: Очерки политической истории Северо-Западной Руси XI—XIV вв. Moscow: Aleteia, 2004. ISBN 5-89329-668-0.