Novgorod Land
[citation needed] Archaeologically[4] and through the study of toponymy,[5] 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.
[9] 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.
An expedition led by the voivode Uleb[22] 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.
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.
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.
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.
After that, he sent a letter to Novgorod with the offer of help: "I bow to Saint Sophia, and the tomb of my father, and all Novgorodians; I have come to you having heard about the violence from the prince, and I pity my patrimony.
The Novgorod Chronicle speaks of him in an extremely positive way: fair in court and punishment, a successful commander, attentive to the concerns of people, and noble and selfless.
In Novgorod, Mstislav showed decisiveness and initiative in internal affairs: he replaced the posadniks and the archbishop, launched active construction in the city and the posad, undertook the reconstruction of defensive structures on the southern approaches to his land: the fortress walls of Velikiye Luki were reconstructed and the town was placed under control of Mstislav's brother Vladimir who resided in Pskov.
Thus, the administrative–political, defensive, and commercial significance of Pskov began to grow in the process of transforming the Baltic states from a backward pagan province into an important region for the Western European trade, church, and military expansion.
[citation needed] Dissatisfied with the passivity of the church Mstislav achieved the removal from service of Archbishop Mitrofan in January 1211 and proposed to nominate Dobrynya Yadreikovich, a monk of the Khutynsky monastery and a member of an influential boyar clan.
[29] At the same time, recognizing the rights of Riga to the lands along the Daugava (possibly also Kukenois and Gerzike) improved the position of Novgorod and Pskov at the expense of Prince of Polotsk Vladimir who lost the support of his compatriots.
During the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' the southern parts of Novgorod land were devastated; Volok Lamsky, Vologda, Bezhetsk, Torzhok were all captured by the invaders.
[30][31] The destruction of the powerful principality of Vladimir by the Mongols removed the danger to Novgorod and its colonies and left it as an undisputed leader of Russian eastward expansion.
[23] On July 15, 1240, Alexander Yaroslavich defeated the Swedes on the Neva and on April 5, 1242 he won the Battle on the Ice of the lake Peipus against the Livonian Order.
[32] In 1326, in Novgorod, Bishop Moses, Posadnik Olfromey and Tysyatsky Ostafy signed a treaty with the ambassador of the King of Sweden and Norway Magnus IV which defined the spheres of influence in Lappland.
The treaty of 1392, known as Niebur's Peace, resolved most of the issues and became the basis for the relationship between Novgorod and Hansa, in spite of several conflicts occurring in the 15th century.
In territorial terms, Novgorod Land in the era of the Tsardom of Russia (16th–17th centuries) was divided into 5 fifths (pyatinas): Vodskaya, Shelonskaya, Obonezhskaya, Derevskaya and Bezhetskaya.
The burden on peasants living on state lands significantly decreased compared to the republican period as the in-kind rents were replaced by money ones.
The reason for the pogrom was the denunciation and suspicions of treason (as modern historians suggest, the Novgorod conspiracy was invented by the favorites of Ivan the Terrible, Vasily Gryazny and Malyuta Skuratov).
According to Turchin and Nefedov, Novgorod Land experienced overpopulation during this period leading to inferior soils brought into cultivation, increasing use of fertilisers, epidemics and declining per capita consumption.
Due to a severe epidemic hitting Novgorod in 1552, massacres by Ivan the Terrible, repeated crop failures and the increasing tax burden, the population decreased five times by the end of the century.
[41][42] In 1609 the government of Vasily Shuisky concluded the Vyborg Treaty with Sweden, according to which Korela was transferred to the Swedish crown in exchange for military assistance.
He asked the governor whether they are enemies to the Swedes or friends and whether they want to comply with the Vyborg treaty concluded with Sweden under Tsar Vasily Shuisky.
Odoevsky and Metropolitan Isidore locked themselves in the Kremlin but with no military supplies or men at their disposal they had to enter into negotiations with De la Gardie.
The government wrote to De la Gardie that if the king of Sweden gives his brother to the state and christens him in the Orthodox Christian faith, then they are glad to be on the same council with the Novgorodians.
[44] In July, the promised ambassadors arrived in Yaroslavl: the hegumen of the Vyazhishchi Monastery Gennady, Prince Fyodor Obolensky, and out of all the pyatins, from the noblemen and from the townspeople – by person.
The rebellious posad people recaptured the fortifications of the Tikhvin Monastery from the Swedes and withstood the siege in them until mid–September, forcing the De la Gardie troops to retreat.
The walls and ramparts were restored and many new buildings were constructed in Novgorod, including the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign, the stone bridge over Volkhov, trade rows and Voivode's court.
Some territories of relatively late Novgorod colonization were not included in the five–fold division and formed a number of volosts that were in a special position: Zavolochye or Dvinskaya land – along the Northern Dvina from Onega to Mezen.
