Pskov Republic

The Pskov Republic (Russian: Псковская республика, romanized: Pskovskaya respublika) was a city-state in northwestern Russia. It is traditionally considered to have won its formal independence from the Novgorod Republic in 1348. Its capital city was Pskov and its territory was roughly equivalent to modern-day Pskov Oblast.

After the disintegration of Kievan Rus' in 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 reign 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 penetrate 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 reign in the city. 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.

For most of the second half of the 14th century, Pskov was in the sphere of influence of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the city continued to invite Lithuanian princes. 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 bring Novgorod and Pskov into its sphere of influence again, leading to a Lithuanian attack on Pskov 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 which delineated their spheres of influence, with Casimir recognizing Pskov and Novgorod as dependencies of Moscow. Pskov's dependence on Moscow increased as the grand prince's governor was now required to swear an oath to him as well.