Swedish–Novgorodian Wars
The Swedish–Novgorodian Wars were a series of armed conflicts during the 12th and 13th centuries, fought between the Novgorod Republic and medieval Sweden over control of the Gulf of Finland.
The clashes between Catholic Swedes and Orthodox Novgorodians had religious overtones, but before the 14th century there is no knowledge of official crusade bulls issued by the pope.
After the marriage of Yaroslav I (Grand Prince of Novgorod and Kiev) to Ingegerd of Sweden in 1019, Ladoga became a jarldom in the orbit of Kievan Rus'.
[clarification needed] It is also unclear who supposedly defeated and killed who; earlier authors such as Nikolay Karamzin (1826)[4] and Vladimir Pashuto (1968)[5] concluded that the "Novgorodian" merchants defeated the Swedish raiders, while Beñat Elortza Larrea (2023) wrote that the Swedish fleet ended up "intercepting three merchant ships from Novgorod and killing their crews.
At that time, Honorius responded to the Swedish Archbishop only by declaring an embargo against trade with pagans in the region; it is not known if the Swedes requested further help for the moment.
A Finnish retaliatory raid against Ladoga in 1228 ended in defeat, contributing to the Finns' subjugation by the Catholic Swedes during the Second Swedish Crusade in 1249.
[citation needed] In 1311, the Novgorodians devastated central Finland, where the Swedes had recently built the new Hakoinen Castle, starting the Häme War.
[citation needed] As early as 1328, Sweden was encouraging settlers to take over the northern coast of the Gulf of Bothnia, which was defined by the treaty as Novgorod's possession.
[citation needed] After ten years of peace, the king felt ready to renew hostilities and demanded the Novgorodians to recognise the pope's authority.
According to the Novgorod First and Fourth Chronicles, the king demanded that the Novgorodians debate with his "philosophers" (Catholic theologians) and whoever lost would convert to the religion of the winner.
Novgorodian archbishop Vasily Kalika conferred with the posadnik and other members of the city's elite and told the king that, since they had received Christianity from Constantinople, he should send his philosophers there to debate with the Byzantines.
[citation needed] In the late 14th century, the Novgorodians set up the fiefs of Korela, Oreshek, Koporye, Luga, and Ladoga as a sort of buffer state between their core dominions and Sweden.
Several Lithuanian dukes renowned for their military skills were invited to rule this Ingrian duchy; Narimantas, his son Patrikas, and then Lengvenis.
Novgorod's demise did not result in peace, however, and conflict continued between the Principality of Moscow (later known as the Tsardom of Russia) and Sweden until the early 19th century.
