The history of the Novgorod Republic - A democracy in medieval Europe

Nowadays, Veliky Novgorod seems just like any other town in Eastern Europe. Its historic, yet neglected old town and rows of grey, Brezhnev era housing projects seems like a sight you could find in most town surrounding it, but Novgorod has something a bit more to offer. Veliky Novgorod was once home to a great Russian state which practiced democracy in an otherwise feudal and absoloute Europe.
In this video, I will be talking about the history of the Republic of Novgorod, from its rise to its fall, and how it has influenced the area around it ever since.

note:
I'm by no means a professional historian, and finding reliable sources for this script was certainly hard, but I've still tried my best to compile accurate data for this video and I hope that you may enjoy it!

[Clover_el_alma_amarilla]

This is probably one of the most underrated states in all of history.

[UnbekannterSoldat]

Novgorod's proto-democracy was pretty much like other democracies, with the exception of the Prince. It was quite typical for medieval European republics to be governed by patricians, while most commoners were excluded from power. In many western European regions, guilds tried to acquire representation in city senates and by the 17th century it was quite common across many "parliaments" to include estates other than patricians and nobles.

[Bananabo-at]

best video discussing the history of Novgorod I've found

[barracuda]

"A path of democracy from Novgorod that has surely carried over into the 21st century."

I assume that was sarcasm, but if only that statement had held true.

Good video anyway. The Novgorod Republic is a very fascinating and very unknown aspect of Russian history.

[petyrbaelish]

Nice video! Hope you have a good start

[emilianohermosilla]

Novgorod is THE main source for alt-history for anyone that dreams of a democratic Russia. What could have been, man…

[traxmanok]

Interesting, how could there be a rebellion against a country that is obviously much stronger than the rebels themselfs, and why the veche did nothing about it. Explanation of that turning event would be a nice addiction to the already well made video by you.

[socrates]

A solid historical work, my deepest respect from Poland, as I'm researching the roots of European republicanism picking places like the Italian republics, the Dutch republic, the Swiss Republic, the Venetian Republic, and now the Republic of Novogrod...which proves despite the Kremlin's propaganda that a part of Russians were deeply enrooted in modern European values, before the rise of Moscow...this heritage should be the basis of a new Russian republic after the war and the collapse of the regime...one can only ask how would the past 8 centuries of Russias's history look like if Novogorod not Moscow would succeed...

[sahilhossain]

Lore of The history of the Novgorod Republic - A democracy in medieval Europe momentum 100

[coreyrusso]

Thank you for telling us about our lands in vast Russia!

[구석방-ux]

Free toulouse, occitan, north ireland, novorossiya, sami, babaria and shieet

[Facundo]

That's incredible I never would have imagined that in midieval times, democracy rose up out of a place that is now Russia. Ironic.

[stefanodobleja]

Some of the Russian friends I have think that if the Novgorod would have repelled Muscovy and Novgorod would have becomed the main Russian polity instead of Muscovy, Eastern Europe would have been more democratic, rich and much more connected to the Scandinavian countries and Germany !

[lightsinthedarkness]

Hopefully this democracy will somehow be the future of Russia

[gaborbakos]

It is hardly understandable and the loud music just makes it even so.

[dodec]

How do Russians today look at Novgorod? Are they proud of that part of their history or do they look down on the Novgorodians?

[AbcdEfgh-mwnj]

There are a lot of Baltic-Finnish or Finno-Hungarian hydronyms and toponyms. A solyanka lived there. Ilmen is not such a big lake. I don't think that a large number of Slavs could force their way there. But that's not even the point. Apparently, a lot of trade people from different places of different origins went there. There is even Muromets. And Muroma is located on the Oka River. Therefore, the city of Novgorod is like the USA in micro-scale for that region. Many adventurers and trade people have done their business.

[tomaszbethell]

"Which is good for him I guess" Lol

[peaceandlove]

Ivan the third:*invades Novgorod*
Novgorod:*fights back*
Ivan the third: how dare you, evil infidels? Now I'll destroy you all!
This reminds me something.

[Roman-kkic]

You messed up the whole story at the beginning by forgetting to mention Krivici dynasty that Ruric and Co ended (killed) in Latvia and maybe Lithuania they still call Russia- Krevia. You failed miserably my friend.