The Novgorod land was one of the centers of the formation of the Old Russian state. It was in the Novgorod land that the Rurik dynasty began to reign, and a state formation arose, which received in historiography the names Novgorod Rus, Upper Rus, Povolkhov Rus, from which it is customary to begin the history of Russian statehood.
At the end of the 9th and beginning of the 10th century (in the chronicle dating in 882), the center of the state of Rurikovich moved from Novgorod to Kiev. In the 10th century, Ladoga was attacked by the Norwegian Jarl Eric. In 980, the Novgorod prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich (Baptist), at the head of the Varangian squad, overthrew the Kiev prince Yaropolk, in 1015-1019 the Novgorod prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich the Wise overthrew the Kiev prince Svyatopolk the Accursed.
In 1020 and 1067, the Novgorod land was attacked by the Polotsk Izyaslavichi. At this time, the governor - the son of the Kiev prince - still had great powers.
In 1088, Vsevolod Yaroslavich sent his young grandson Mstislav (son of Vladimir Monomakh) to reign in Novgorod. At this time, the institution of mayors appeared - co-rulers of the prince, who were elected by the Novgorod community.
In the second decade of the XII century, Vladimir Monomakh took a number of measures to strengthen the position of the central government in the Novgorod land.
In 1117, without taking into account the opinion of the Novgorod community, Mstislav was recalled by his father to the south, and Prince Vsevolod Mstislavich was seated on the Novgorod throne. Some boyars opposed such a decision of the prince, in connection with which they were summoned to Kiev and thrown into prison.
After the death of Mstislav the Great in 1132 and the deepening of the tendencies of political fragmentation, the Novgorod prince lost the support of the central government. In 1134 Vsevolod was expelled from the city. Returning to Novgorod, he was forced to conclude a "row" with the Novgorodians, limiting his powers.
On May 28, 1136, due to the dissatisfaction of the Novgorodians with the actions of Prince Vsevolod, he was arrested, and after that he was expelled from Novgorod.
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In 1136, after the expulsion of Vsevolod Mstislavich, republican rule was established on the Novgorod land. The first self-called prince of Novgorod was Svyatoslav Olgovich, the younger brother of Vsevolod of Chernigov, the main ally of the Mstislavichi and rival of the then Kiev prince, Yaropolk of Monomakhovichi.
As a rule, a representative of one of the two warring princely groups was invited to Novgorod either immediately after his allies took key positions in Southern Russia, or before that. Sometimes the Novgorodians helped their allies to take these positions, as, for example, in 1212.
The greatest threat to Novgorod independence was posed by the Vladimir princes (who achieved the strengthening of personal power in their principality after the defeat of the old Rostov-Suzdal boyars in 1174-1175), since they had an effective leverage over Novgorod.
They seized Torzhok several times and blocked the supply of food from their "lower" lands.
Novgorodians also undertook campaigns in North-Eastern Russia, in particular, under the leadership of Vsevolod Mstislavich, on January 26, 1135, they fought at Zhdanaya Gora, and in 1149, together with Svyatopolk Mstislavich, they ravaged the vicinity of Yaroslavl and left because of the spring flood, also as part of the struggle against Yuri Dolgoruky.
In 1170, immediately after the capture of Kiev by the troops of Andrei Bogolyubsky and his allies, the Suzdal men undertook a campaign against Novgorod, where Roman Mstislavich, the son of a prince expelled from Kiev, was located. The Novgorodians managed to win the defensive battle and defend their independence, the enemy suffered huge prisoner losses.
In 1216, when the brother of the Vladimir prince Yaroslav organized an economic blockade of Novgorod, the Novgorodians, with the help of the Smolensk princes, intervened in the struggle for power between the Suzdal princes, as a result of which the Vladimir prince was overthrown.
However, at the beginning of the XIII century, the German Catholic orders (the Order of the Swordsmen and the Teutonic Order) completed the subordination of the Baltic tribes, who had previously paid tribute to Novgorod and Polotsk, and reached the borders of the Russian lands proper.
On July 15, 1240, Alexander Yaroslavich defeated the Swedes on the Neva, on April 5, 1242 - over the Teutons on the ice of Lake Peipsi, and in 1257-1259 he established his influence in Novgorod. In 1268 the Teutons were defeated in the fierce battle of Rakovor.
At the beginning of the 14th century, a struggle broke out between the princes of Tver and Moscow for the reign of Novgorod. Mikhail Tverskoy's attempt to subjugate Novgorod by force was unsuccessful, the campaign was unsuccessful.
In 1326 in Novgorod, Bishop Moses, mayor Olfromey and thousand Ostafy signed the "Delimitation (Runic) Charter" on the spheres of influence on the Kola Peninsula with the ambassador of the King of Norway, Sweden and the Goths Magnus VII Gakon, according to which all rights to the lands of the Kola Peninsula were withdrawn by Novgorod republic.
Beginning in the 1330s, when Moscow and Vilno became the main centers of the Russian lands, the Novgorodians began to call upon the Lithuanian princes to reign as well.
In 1449, Moscow signed an agreement with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, delimiting the zones of influence in Russia. In 1453, the rival of the Moscow prince Vasily the Dark, Dmitry Shemyak, was poisoned in Novgorod, and in 1456 the Novgorodians were forced to conclude the Yazhelbitsky peace with Moscow, according to which the powers of the Moscow prince in Novgorod affairs were significantly expanded.
In 1471, the troops of Ivan III made the first campaign against Novgorod and won a victory in the Shelon battle, and in 1478 it was finally annexed to the Moscow principality.
Having conquered Novgorod in 1478, Moscow inherited its former political relations with its neighbors. The legacy of the period of independence was the preservation of diplomatic practice, in which the northwestern neighbors of Novgorod - Sweden and Livonia - maintained diplomatic relations with Moscow through the Novgorod governors of the Grand Duke.
In territorial terms, the Novgorod land in the era of the Russian kingdom (XVI-XVII centuries) was divided into 5 heaps: Vodskaya, Shelonskaya, Obonezhskaya, Derevskaya and Bezhetskaya. The smallest units of administrative division at that time were the graveyards, by which the geographical location of the villages was determined, the population and their taxable property were counted.
On March 21, 1499, the son of Tsar Ivan III, Vasily, was declared the Grand Duke of Novgorod and Pskov. In April 1502, the Grand Duke of Moscow and Vladimir and All Russia was an autocrat, that is, he became co-ruler of Ivan III, and after the death of Ivan III on October 27, 1505, he became the sole monarch.
Time of Troubles
In 1609, in Vyborg, the government of Vasily Shuisky concluded the Vyborg Treaty with Sweden, according to which Korelsky district was transferred to the Swedish crown in exchange for military assistance.
In 1610 Ivan Odoevsky was appointed governor of Novgorod.
In 1610, Tsar Vasily Shuisky was overthrown and Moscow swore allegiance to the prince Vladislav. A new government was formed in Moscow, which began to swear in the king's son and other cities of the Russian state. I. M. Saltykov was sent to Novgorod to be sworn in and to protect him from the Swedes, who appeared at that time in the north and from the gangs of thieves.
In the summer of 1611, the Swedish general Jacob De la Gardie with his army approached Novgorod. He entered into negotiations with the Novgorod authorities. He asked the governor if they were enemies to the Swedes or friends and whether they wanted to observe the Vyborg Treaty concluded with Sweden under Tsar Vasily Shuisky. The governors could only answer that it depends on the future king and that they have no right to answer this question.
Voivode Vasily Buturlin was sent to Novgorod by the Lyapunov government. Buturlin, arriving in Novgorod, began to behave differently: he immediately began negotiations with De la Gardie, offering the Russian crown to one of the sons of King Charles IX. Negotiations began, which dragged on, and meanwhile, Buturlin and Odoevsky had quarrels: Buturlin did not allow the cautious Odoevsky to take measures to protect the city, allowed Delagardie, under the pretext of negotiations, to cross the Volkhov and approach the most suburban Kolmovsky monastery, and even allowed the Novgorod trade people to supply the Swedes with various supplies.
The Swedes realized that they were presented with a very convenient opportunity to seize Novgorod, and on July 8 they launched an attack, which was repelled only due to the fact that the Novgorodians had time to burn the towns surrounding Novgorod in time. However, the Novgorodians did not hold out in the siege for long: on the night of July 16, the Swedes managed to break through to Novgorod. Resistance to them was weak, since all the military men were under the command of Buturlin, who after a short battle withdrew from the city, robbing Novgorod merchants; Odoevsky and Metropolitan Isidore locked themselves in the Kremlin, but, having neither combat reserves nor military men at their disposal, they had to enter into negotiations with De la Gardie. An agreement was concluded, under which the Novgorodians recognized the Swedish king as their patron, and De la Gardie was admitted to the Kremlin.
By the middle of 1612, the Swedes occupied the entire Novgorod land, except for Pskov and Gdov.
Prince Pozharsky did not have enough troops to fight simultaneously with the Poles and Swedes, so he began negotiations with the latter. In May 1612 from Yaroslavl to Novgorod was sent the ambassador of the "zemstvo" government Stepan Tatishchev with letters to the Novgorod Metropolitan Isidor, the boyar Prince Ivan Odoevsky and the commander of the Swedish troops Jacob Delagardie. Metropolitan Isidor and boyar Odoevsky were asked by the government how they were doing with the Swedes. The government wrote to De la Gardie that if the Swedish king gave his brother to the state and baptized him into the Orthodox Christian faith, they would be glad to be with the Novgorodians in the same council. Odoevsky and Delagardie replied that they would soon send their ambassadors to Yaroslavl. Returning to Yaroslavl, Tatishchev announced that there was nothing good to expect from the Swedes. Negotiations with the Swedes about Karl-Philip's candidate for the Moscow Tsar became for Pozharsky and Minin a pretext for convening the Zemsky Sobor. In July, the promised ambassadors arrived in Yaroslavl: hegumen of the Vyazhitsky monastery Gennady, prince Fyodor Obolensky and from all the fives, from the nobility and from the townspeople - one person. On July 26, Novgorodians appeared before Pozharsky and declared that "the prince is now on the road and will soon be in Novgorod." The ambassadors' speech ended with a proposal "to be with us in love and union under the hand of one sovereign."that "the prince is now on the road and will soon be in Novgorod." The ambassadors' speech ended with a proposal "to be with us in love and union under the hand of one sovereign."that "the prince is now on the road and will soon be in Novgorod." The ambassadors' speech ended with a proposal "to be with us in love and union under the hand of one sovereign."
Then from Yaroslavl to Novgorod a new embassy of Perfiliy Sekerin was sent. He was instructed, with the assistance of the Novgorod Metropolitan Isidor, to conclude an agreement with the Swedes "so that the peasantry would have peace and quiet." It is possible that in this connection the question of the election of the king of the Swedish prince, recognized by Novgorod, was also raised in Yaroslavl. However, the royal election in Yaroslavl did not take place.
In October 1612 Moscow was liberated and it became necessary to choose a new sovereign. From Moscow to many cities of Russia, including Novgorod, letters were sent on behalf of the liberators of Moscow - Pozharsky and Trubetskoy. At the beginning of 1613, a Zemsky Sobor was held in Moscow, at which a new Tsar was elected - Mikhail Romanov.
The Swedes left Novgorod only in 1617; only a few hundred inhabitants remained in the completely devastated city. During the events of the Time of Troubles, the borders of the Novgorod land were significantly reduced due to the loss of the lands bordering with Sweden according to the Stolbovsky Peace Treaty of 1617.
In 1708, the territory became part of Ingermanland (from 1710 St. Petersburg province) and Arkhangelsk province, and from 1726 Novgorod province was allocated, in which there were 5 provinces: Novgorod, Pskov, Tver, Belozersk and Velikolutskaya.
Sometimes, not always true (depending on the historical period), the concept of "Novgorod land" includes the areas of Novgorod colonization on the Northern Dvina, in Karelia and the Arctic.
The period of the political history of the Novgorod land, starting with the coup of 1136 and the sharp restriction of the role of the prince, until the victory of the Moscow prince Ivan III over the Novgorodians in 1478, is commonly called the “Novgorod feudal republic” by most Soviet and modern historians.