Novgorod chronicles - priceless monuments of antiquity

Chronicle in Novgorod has a long tradition, originating in the XI century and lasted for seven centuries. The documents that came from the pen of the ancient authors became the most important sources for studying the history of the socio-political development of this vast territory.

The beginning of the chronicle

The Novgorod chronicles that survived to us are conditionally designated by five numbers. Each of them has several lists, called izvodami. For example, Novgorod's first chronicle in its early period covers the period from the beginning of the thirteenth and to the forties of the fourteenth century. It is preserved in the form of a small parchment list, which has a format not exceeding a quarter of a standard page, and consisting of one hundred sixty-nine sheets.

The later outcrop is its somewhat augmented refinement, and the events described in it cover a longer historical stage stretching to the thirties of the fifteenth century. In addition to the short version of the "Russian Truth" - a unique collection of the XI century, which contains a statement of the legal norms of Kievan Rus, - it contains a number of other monuments of ancient Russian lawmaking. The Novgorod chronicle of the junior harbor, like its later version, is kept in the collection of the Synodal Department of the State Historical Museum.

The accepted sequence of Novgorod chronicles

It should be noted that conditional ordinal numbers were given to chronicles on the basis of the dating of the events presented in them, and not the order of writing the texts themselves. For example, the chronology of events, which contains the Novgorod Chronicle of the first izvoda and the second after it, has a direct continuation in the fourth chronicle, which also survived in several exhortations.

The Chronicler narrates in her about the events that took place up to the forties and fifties of the fifteenth century, and in some of the lists made with her, a later period is also covered. Many researchers are inclined to believe that a large part of it is a processing of the Novgorod-Sophia arch, not preserved to the present day, mentioned in other historical documents as the Sophia's first chronicle.

The Fifth Novgorod Annals

Studying the material contained in the annals, conditionally designated by the fifth number, it is not difficult to see that it is nothing more than a slightly revised and partly supplemented version of the fourth chronicle, of which the conversation was higher. The description of historical events is broken in it in 1446 year.

Chronicle, narrating about the times of Ivan the Terrible

Novgorod chronicles, having the second and third order numbers, are nevertheless written much later than the fourth and fifth. This is clearly evidenced by the linguistic analysis of the text. Comparison with other historical documents shows that the second chronicle contains a large number of borrowings from other various chronicles compiled in Novgorod.

Reached to us in one single list, part of which, according to researchers, is irretrievably lost, it contains a significant number of interesting facts relating to the period of the reign of Ivan the Terrible. The information concerning the Livonian wars and the Kazan campaign is of particular value.

Evidence of church and state life

The next third chronicle preserved for us extensive information on the history of the religious life of Novgorod, and in particular about the erection of temple structures in it. This document is an invaluable material on the study of ancient Russian architecture of the Late Middle Ages. As well as some other Novgorod chronicles, the document is known in several exhortations, and, if the main edition brings the description of events to 1675, then in separate lists they continue further.

In addition to the above monuments, published in our time and made public, there is also a large number of other historical documents that are close in nature to the Novgorod-Sophia group. To them, in particular, it is necessary to carry the so-called sixth Novgorod chronicle. Unlike their predecessors, along with a description of the events that took place directly in the city, it contains a significant amount of national materials relating to the history of the entire state.

Priceless monuments of antiquity

Many unpublished historical monuments to some extent supplement the materials outlined in the main six arches, which were mentioned above. In general, the Novgorod chronicles are among the most numerous and capacious in content in the Russian chronicle. Many monuments of ancient writing, compiled in other areas of Ancient Rus, bear the imprint of their influence.

Despite the fact that the account of events in the annals is somewhat tendentious in nature, conditioned by the ruling class of the ruling boyar republic, which dominated the country, nevertheless, in a number of cases, the sympathies of the authors are clearly on the side of the common people.