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The Pskov Republic (Russian: Псковская республика, romanized: Pskovskaya respublika), formally known as Lord Pskov (Russian: Господин Псков), was a city-state in northwestern Russia. Its capital city was Pskov and its territory was roughly equivalent to modern-day Pskov Oblast.
Pskov gained its formal independence from the Novgorod Republic in 1348. As a sovereign republic, Pskov maintained complete internal self-governance, developed distinct legal system and defended its borders against external threats throughout the 14th century. From 1399, it recognized the political suzerainty of the Grand Principality of Moscow, culminating in its formal incorporation into the Russian State in 1510. The legal traditions of the Pskov Republic heavily influenced the development of the Russian law.
Following the establishment of the Novgorod Republic in northern Rus' during the 12th century, the city of Pskov and its dependent territory became part of the Novgorod Republic, but it continued to enjoy self-government under the supervision of a posadnik, or chief executive, that was appointed by Novgorod. Pskov had the status of a borough (Russian: пригород, romanized: prigorod), but was given the unique right to have boroughs of its own, with Izborsk being the most ancient among them. The first period of self-declared independence lasted from 1228 to 1242, ending when the city was temporarily annexed by the Livonian Order. After being liberated by Aleksandr Nevsky, the city pledged its fealty to the grand prince and Novgorod. Due to Pskov's leading role in the struggle against the Livonian Order, its influence grew significantly. The long service of Daumantas (r. 1266–1299), and especially his victory in the Battle of Rakvere in 1268, ushered in a period of significant autonomy, as well as a state of peace with the Livonian Order. The expansion of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania began to extend to Pskov when Grand Duke Gediminas responded to the Pskovites' request to send a prince in 1323.
Prince Aleksandr of Tver was granted sanctuary by the Pskovites in 1327 after he had fled Tver following an anti-Tatar uprising that was subsequently crushed by a punitive force dispatched by the khan of the Golden Horde. Aleksandr was appointed as the prince of Pskov and an agreement was reached in which the Pskovites promised "not to hand him over to the Russian princes". At the behest of Ivan I of Moscow, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church excommunicated Aleksandr as well as the people of Pskov. Aleksandr then fled to Lithuania and, after a treaty was signed between Pskov and the head of the church, the ban was lifted. Aleksandr later returned to Pskov in 1331 and he once again served as their prince until he went to the Horde in 1337 to recover the principality of Tver.
In August 1348, Magnus IV of Sweden captured the key fortress of Orekhov located at the eastern end of the Neva. The Pskovites sent a small detachment and took advantage of the situation by only agreeing to accompany the Novgorodian army on the condition that Pskov would be formally granted its independence. Novgorod sent an allied force to lay siege to the fortress and signed the Treaty of Bolotovo on the way to Orekhov. As per the terms of the treaty, the posadniki of Novgorod no longer had any administrative or judicial function in Pskov and the law-courts of the archbishop of Novgorod would only be run by representatives chosen by the Pskovites. In return, Pskov pledged to aid Novgorod in the event that it was attacked. Despite this, the Pskovites refused to aid Novgorod in its siege of Orekhov and the detachment left.
The signing of the Treaty of Bolotovo has traditionally been regarded as the date when Pskov's independence was sealed; however, some modern historians have argued that the treaty was concluded earlier or that there is little evidence of Pskov's dependence on Novgorod in the 12th and 13th centuries. Scholars have variously dated the treaty between 1329 and 1342. Valentin Yanin argued that the treaty was concluded in 1329, only confirming previous agreements. According to Yanin, Pskov was independent as early as 1137 and relations between the two cities were based on contracts. Despite this, there is no trace of the Pskov magistrates' activities or legislation until the 14th century. Sergei Beletzkiy has shown that Pskov's original seals appeared in the 14th century and that their design followed that of Novgorod's seals.
In 1341, the chronicle of Novgorod states that the Pskovites had "betrayed themselves" (predashasia) to Lithuania when they invited Grand Duke Algirdas to serve as a prince of the republic. Following the death of the Lithuanian governor in April 1349, the Pskovites decided to cut ties with Algirdas and his son Andrei. Algirdas declared war on Pskov but, due to a string of military defeats earlier, he was limited to arresting Pskovian merchants and sending Andrei to raid the territory of Pskov. Although there is no mention of a Muscovite governor arriving in Pskov or negotiations with Moscow at the time in any of the sources, Pskov likely received military support from Moscow, and by the end of the decade, was within Moscow's sphere of influence. Simeon of Moscow was also able to establish a dominant position in Novgorod, and as a result, he was able to eliminate Lithuania's influence in northwest Russia for the time being. In 1352, the Black Death reached Pskov and subsequently spread to the rest of Russia; the chronicles of Novgorod and Pskov say that hundreds died every day, but it also weakened the ascendancy of Moscow for some time.
During the second half of the 14th century, the Pskov Republic frequently invited Lithuanian service princes to fill the office of the prince. governance, This changed after Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania signed the Treaty of Salynas with the Teutonic Knights in 1398, in which he promised to help them conquer Pskov, while the Teutons promised to help Lithuania conquer Novgorod. That same year, Vytautas sheltered Tokhtamysh in exchange for military assistance. Vyatautas was promised aid in conquering Moscow and he joined Tokhtamysh in his war against Temür Qutlugh, but they were decisively defeated at the Battle of the Vorskla River in 1399. After Prince Ivan Andreyevich left the city, Pskov sent emissaries to Grand Prince Vasily I of Moscow requesting a prince, and from then on, the prince of Pskov was a governor or viceroy (namestnik) under the overlordship of the grand prince. The same year, Moscow signed an agreement with the prince of Tver, which consolidated cooperation between the two principalities.
Lithuania attempted to seize Pskov's territories, resulting in a failed offensive against the Pskov Republic in 1406. Grand Prince Vasily I of Moscow sent troops to aid Pskov, leading to a border war between Lithuania and Moscow until 1408. The two sides stopped fighting as Vasily had to battle a Tatar invasion led by Edigu in 1408, while Vytautas joined the forces of Władysław II Jagiełło to inflict a devastating defeat on the Teutonic Knights at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410. Relations between Lithuania and Moscow resumed a more peaceful course; however, both sides continued to struggle for influence in the political affairs of Pskov and Novgorod. Finally, in 1449, Grand Prince Vasily II signed treaties with Casimir IV Jagiellon that delineated their spheres of influence, with Casimir recognizing Pskov and Novgorod as dependencies of Moscow.
In the first half of the 15th century, the recognition of the suzerainty of the Muscovite grand prince was voluntary. The city was also able to conclude treaties with other countries. The 1417 peace treaty with the Livonian Order states: "We have been sent", declared the Pskov ambassadors, "by our authorities, the mayor and all Pskov (posadnik pskovskii i ves' Pskov), from the patrimony of our Lord, Russian prince (iz otchiny nashego gospodina, russkogo kniazia)..." Although the grand prince was recognized as the suzerain (gospodin), and Pskov as his "patrimony" (otchina), the Pskovites did not need his approval for the treaty. The status of Pskov until the mid-15th century has been compared to that of the free cities of the Holy Roman Empire. Pskov did not pay regular taxes to the suzerain, nor was it dependent on him for judicial matters. However, the Muscovite court adopted the title of sovereign (gosudar) in the mid-15th century to reflect the grand prince's claim to hold supreme power over the Russian lands. Vasily II succeeded in having Pskov recognize his title of gosudar. In addition, the grand prince's governor was now required to swear an oath not only to him but also to his descendants. Pskov's former contractual relationship with the grand prince was superseded by hereditary Muscovite rule. Pskov also lost the right to expel unpopular governors.
Grand Prince Vasily II appointed the prince Vladimir Andreyevich as his governor in 1462 without requesting permission from Pskov first. After his death the same year, the Pskovites dismissed Vladimir, and Grand Prince Ivan III reached an agreement with the city in which he promised to not appoint a new governor without the permission of Pskov, while the Pskovites promised not to dismiss a governor without the permission of the grand prince. Five years later, Ivan appointed Fyodor Yuryevich as his governor and demanded that Pskov grant his governor the right to appoint representatives in all twelve boroughs, rather than the seven he had been allowed up to that point. Pskov was forced to accept the demand, and some scholars view the enactment of the Pskov Judicial Charter the same year as an attempt to define the distribution of judicial authority between the city and the grand prince.
Starting in the 1460s, Pskov's foreign policy gradually fell under the control of the grand prince. It is likely that the grand prince approved the terms of treaties with neighboring countries, while Pskov's authorities continued to handle minor trade disputes. For instance, in a letter dating to 1463–1465 and addressed to the authorities in Riga, the prince, posadniki, boyars, merchants and "all Pskov" protested against the offenses faced by two Pskovite merchants in the city, without any reference to the grand prince's decision. However, treaties between Moscow and other countries show that Pskov was no longer an active participant in international affairs. In his 1494 peace treaty with Lithuania, Ivan III called Pskov his patrimony and guaranteed maintaining trade and justice in the city. Although Pskov is indicated to have already lost its independence in the second half of the 15th century, its local administration and legal system remained intact. The clearest evidence of its loss of independence was a new seal introduced in 1468–1469 that bore the legend "votchina of Grand Prince Ivan Vasil'evich".
In 1501, the armies of Pskov and Moscow were defeated in the Battle of the Siritsa River by the Livonian Order, but the city withstood a subsequent siege. In the summer of 1503, the city concluded a six-year truce with the Livonian Order on the order of the grand prince of Moscow. In the treaty, "tsar" Ivan III of Russia confirms an agreement in Novgorod by the representatives of the "respected prince of Livland, Walter von Plettenburg" on one side and Pskov on the other. The title of tsar was used as part of Ivan's policy to gain international recognition as an equal to the emperor. This was one of the last treaties concluded by Pskov before it completely lost its autonomy.
Upon becoming the grand prince, Vasily III continued his father's policy of annexing the other remaining Russian states. In the autumn of 1509, he visited Novgorod, where he received complaints from the Pskov veche against the Muscovite governor of the city. At first, Vasily encouraged complaints against the governor, yet soon after, he demanded that the city abolish its traditional institutions, including the removal of the veche bell. From that point on, Pskov was to be ruled exclusively by his governors and officials, and on 13 January 1510, the veche bell was removed and transported to Moscow.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Pskov Republic”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.