Peterhof (Novgorod)
The Peterhof or Petershof (Middle Low German and modern German for "Peter's courtyard"; Russian: немецкий двор; Latin: curia sancti Petri) was a Hanseatic kontor, one of the four major trading posts of the Hanseatic League, on the right bank of the Volkhov at Novgorod, Russia, then forming the Novgorod Republic.
[3] A kontor was a corporation (universitas) with a level of legal autonomy, the code of the Peterhof was called the schra.
[4]: 15 The Peterhof maintained special ties with Visby, although Lübeck tried to take over control only with partial success.
Imports to Novgorod included herring, Flemish broadcloth, metals such as silver, salt and wine.
Although the Hanseatic residents did not live in complete isolation from the natives of Novgorod, the Peterhof was the most spatially segregated kontor.
[1]: 182 It and the Gotenhof were surrounded by a wooden palissade with one gate, the enclave bordered the market of Novgorod.
Scandinavian merchants dominated the Baltic trade for most of the 12th century and the Gutnic or Gotlanders had a big role.
The St. Peter's Church was located there, it was also used as a storage place for the post's archive, coffers and valuable trading goods.
[1]: 99 The Peterhof had a considerable degree of legal autonomy, although its court of appeal was located in Visby, and created its own code of regulations, the schra.
[7][8] Westphalian merchants were important in Novgorod, and this was seen as a threat by Lübeck, a city that was a central hub for trade from the Baltic with the Holy Roman Empire and the North Sea lands and that tried to consolidate a critical role in the Hanseatic League.
[11]: 82 In the 15th century, the Livonian towns led by Dorpat and Reval contested the compromise between Lübeck and Visby and prevailed from 1442 onwards.
But the earlier success of Novgorod's squirrel trade had also lowered prices and in the early 15th century this allowed the lower classes to purchase squirrel fur, and wealthier tastes moved to other more luxury types of fur like sable.
[11]: 83 Ivan III closed the Hanseatic kontor at Novgorod in 1494 and deported its merchants to Moscow.
Ivan sought to open as many outlets for foreign trade as possible, which included his fortress of Ivangorod in the Baltic.
[1]: 312 The Peterhof in Novgorod was, like the other kontors, a legal person established as a merchant's corporation (universitas mercatorum).
[5]: 100–101 Later the alderman of the court was abolished and replaced by two aldermen of the church, who left the kontor's administration to lower officials.
[1]: 99 [2]: 136 It regulated matters like the authority of the kontor leadership, trade, taxes, duties, rights and contact with natives and outsiders.
[2]: 144–145 Hanseatic men visiting the Peterhof were divided in a threefold hierarchy: masters, assistants or associates, and apprentices.
Not only were the Peterhof and the Gotenhof palissaded, contact with outsiders was strictly regulated: Russian men were only allowed into the courtyard during the day.
This strict regulations was in part for the merchants' protection, because in Novgorod there was more severe violence and there were larger differences in language and religion with the local population than at other kontors.
It was surrounded by all kinds of hutments where living quarters, offices, the meeting hall, a prison and a presbytery were located.
The Hanseatic role in the fur trade fell fast after the closure of the Peterhof by Ivan III.
Beeswax was harvested from wild bees in a vast area from Lviv to Kazan, so Novgorod always faced considerable competition on this market.
[14]: 52–53 The Hanseatic traders imported herring, metals, especially silver but also copper, tin and lead, salt, hop, Flemish broadcloth and wine to Novgorod.
