Economy of the Pskov Republic
Archaeological excavation of the Pskov necropolis in 2003–2004 revealed a high social status and Scandinavian origin of the buried.
Large variety of around 60 found articles, among them Byzantine coins, bronze and copper items, confirmed that Pskov was not an economically isolated region, and showed extensive military and commercial contacts with both the West and the East.
This happened just ten years before the establishment of the Hanseatic League, the late medieval northern European commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and their market towns situated along the coasts of the Baltic and North Seas, which played a major part in Pskov's economic development.
First of all, it was caused by enormous Novgorodian resources, which had in its possession vast territories of the Russian North – stretching from the Baltic Sea to the northern Ural Mountains.
From its northern colonies, the Novgorod market received huge quantities of fur, and only part of it was reaching Pskov.
The Pskov Land compared to Novgorod represented small border territories with a poor resource base.
As any other merchants from the Hanseatic League, Pskov businessman could only trade from within their own gostiny dvor (“guest court”) – collections of small shops where merchants from other cities could, at designated times, come to sell their wares: “And Pskovians and Germans with their goods shall trade from their yards“(«А псковичи и немцы с своим товаром ставятся на своих дворех»).
Administration of gostiny dvor provided order and adjudicated legal disputes between Russian and foreign merchants.
Pskov merchant caravans reached Upper Volga cities: Rzhev, Tver, Yaroslavl, but preferred to not venture further east as long journeys and high logistic expenses – duties paid when crossing multiple administrative border made such voyages economically unviable.
[citation needed] The establishment of diplomatic and trade relations between the Pskov Republic and the Hansa was logical due to its geographical location, political system and its independence from Novgorod and other Rus' principalities.
Pskov was trading with many Hanseatic cities – Lübeck, Danzig, Riga, but most of all with Reval (Tallinn) and Dorpat (Tartu).
[citation needed] According to the earliest written records of 1228,[4] Pskov had peace agreements with its western neighbors and even refused Novgorodian calls to go to war with Livonian Riga, showing their independence from Novgorod in their foreign affairs.
[citation needed] Although in 1242 Novgorod has reestablished its control over Pskov, Pskovians kept their independence in economic relations with the Hanseatic city-states.
Despite numerous military conflicts between Novgorod and Livonian cities which were disturbing peace in the region, Pskovians preferred to continue economic affairs with the Hansa.
[5] In 1417, Pskov signed an agreement with the Livonian Order which, aside from a military neutrality pact, had clauses concerning free trade and diplomatic relations.
In fact, it was so profitable that during the Novgorodian–Livonian wars in the 1420s, Hanseatic merchants continued to smuggle arms and metals to Novgorod and Pskov despite the Livonian prohibition of such trade.
[8][9] In the 1430s as the Hanseatic influence in Northern Europe was declining due to the rapid development of the Netherlands and the center of Hansa-Novgorod trade shifted to Livonian cities.
[13] At the time of the Pskov Republic furs were the main Russian export, however the Pskovian production was small compared to the Novgorod.
Western Europe could not produce enough wax to satisfy the demand and had to buy it from the East where honey hunting was well developed due to the abundance of forests.
A large part of trade operations were conducted using a credit system, but in the absence of bank loans, merchants gave their counterparty promissory notes, which then were the basis for the right to demand repayment.
