Introduction
In 1471, even as England was being torn apart by the Wars of the Roses, the little republic of Novgorod was rent by its own bitter divisions. The meddling of upstart Moscow in their historic city had become insupportable, and many in the Veche, Novgorod’s civic Council, cried that independence could be achieved only by submission to the King of Poland.
ON July 14th, 1471, an army of the citizens of Novgorod gathered a few miles from the city, and faced the forces of Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow, across the River Shelon.*
The trouble had arisen after the city’s council voted to renounce all ties with Moscow and draft articles of submission to Casimir IV, King of Poland and Duke of Lithuania. This seemed wise, for as a member of the Hanse economic area, dominated by German towns, Novgorod was economically locked into western Europe.* “We are free men of Great Novgorod” they cried “and the grand prince of Moscow does us many wrongs and much injustice; we are for the king of Poland.”* When Novgorod’s envoy next visited Moscow, he refused to reassure Ivan of his city’s friendship. “Under that head I have no instructions from Great Novgorod,” he replied loftily, “and I have no orders to speak”.
Not everyone in Novgorod approved. Poland and Lithuania were Roman Catholic lands, and a vocal minority refused to sell their church out to the Pope for the sake of trade.* They made a point of sending their new Bishop, Theophilus, appointed in 1470, to Moscow to be confirmed in his post.
* The River Shelon, where battle was joined in 1471, lies a few miles to the west of Novgorod, and flows into Lake Ilmen. The city itself lies in northwest Russia, about 100 miles south of St Petersburg and 300 miles northwest of Moscow, and stands on the River Volkhov, which flows east out of Lake Ilmen before turning north to empty into Lake Ladoga, near St Petersburg.
* See An Odious Monopoly. Novgorod was the furthest east of the Hanse towns, London the furthest west. Membership strangled trade for English merchants for two centuries before the Russia Company, established in 1555, began exploiting a recently-discovered route to Russia and the Far East by sailing round Norway. See Merchants of Muscovy.
* Not very logical, perhaps, but quite a common position among nationalists who accept abject subservience to some new master so long as they can say they have thus gained ‘independence’ from their historic enemy.
* One of the city’s most revered saints was the former Prince of Novgorod, Alexander (r. 1236-56, 1258-59), who received the honorific title ‘Nevsky’ for his victory over Roman Catholic crusaders at the River Neva on July 15th, 1240. See The Trials of Alexander Nevsky.
Précis
In 1471, the merchants who dominated the city of Novgorod in northwest Russia were in negotiations to sell their little republic out to the glamorous Kingdom of Poland. The plans were kept under wraps, but when their envoy to Moscow refused to declare the city-state’s loyalty to Moscow, Prince Ivan III guessed that something was up. (56 / 60 words)
In 1471, the merchants who dominated the city of Novgorod in northwest Russia were in negotiations to sell their little republic out to the glamorous Kingdom of Poland. The plans were kept under wraps, but when their envoy to Moscow refused to declare the city-state’s loyalty to Moscow, Prince Ivan III guessed that something was up.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, although, because, just, must, ought, until, whether.
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