Hanseatic and Russian Data

Abstract

The article is a study of the two collective political bodies of medieval Novgorod – the veche (popular assembly) and the so called “Council of Lords.” The basis of research is mostly the Hanseatic documents in Middle Low German and Latin which have been underestimated until now. However, they are often more trustworthy than narrative sources with their literary clichés and ideological biases. Both Russian and Hanseatic sources indicate that the veche was a real political institution which was open to all townsmen enjoying full rights regardless of social status. On the other hand, the sources give no grounds to suggest the rural population’s involvement in the Novgorodian veche. The author also argues that a governmental council did really exist in medieval Novgorod. There is some evidence of it in Hanseatic sources of the 14–15th centuries. However, no traces of its existence before the 14th century can be discovered. The council included the highest magistrates of the Novgorodian republic and was referred to in Hanseatic documents as de heren (gospodá). Finally the author comes to the conclusion that the Novgorodian medieval polity should be studied in the broader context of European medieval city republics.