# Pskov's independence from Novgorod (Bolotovo Treaty, 1348)
The Bolotovo Treaty was concluded at Bolotovo in 1348.[1](https://istorya-pskova.ru/razorvav-gosudarstvennuyu-svyaz-s-novgorodom-pskov-uzhe-ne-mog-rasschityvat-na-ego-pomoshh/) • [2](http://www.pskov.ellink.ru/hist/event/007.html) The two sides were the [Novgorod Republic](https://www.edgepedia.org/novgorod-republic) and the Pskov community.[1](https://istorya-pskova.ru/razorvav-gosudarstvennuyu-svyaz-s-novgorodom-pskov-uzhe-ne-mog-rasschityvat-na-ego-pomoshh/) • [2](http://www.pskov.ellink.ru/hist/event/007.html)
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Date | 1348, concluded at Bolotovo[1](https://istorya-pskova.ru/razorvav-gosudarstvennuyu-svyaz-s-novgorodom-pskov-uzhe-ne-mog-rasschityvat-na-ego-pomoshh/) • [2](http://www.pskov.ellink.ru/hist/event/007.html) |
| Sides | Novgorod and Pskov[1](https://istorya-pskova.ru/razorvav-gosudarstvennuyu-svyaz-s-novgorodom-pskov-uzhe-ne-mog-rasschityvat-na-ego-pomoshh/) • [2](http://www.pskov.ellink.ru/hist/event/007.html) |
| Outcome | Novgorod recognized Pskov's independence in appointments and courts, while Pskov remained within the Novgorod archbishopric but gained the right to have a Pskovian serve as the bishop's local deputy[1](https://istorya-pskova.ru/razorvav-gosudarstvennuyu-svyaz-s-novgorodom-pskov-uzhe-ne-mog-rasschityvat-na-ego-pomoshh/) • [3](https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2013.1.011) • [12](https://www.pravenc.ru/text/2577765.html) |
## Background and causes
Pskov, a suburb of Novgorod on the western frontier, had sought self-government long before 1348. According to one study, the entry for 1228 in the [Novgorod First Chronicle](https://www.edgepedia.org/novgorod-first-chronicle) records the Pskov veche's first step toward becoming an organ of sovereign authority.[3](https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2013.1.011) A second armed conflict with Novgorod and the great prince in 1328 to 1329 ended with a peace treaty, the first conclusion of peace between the two cities directly mentioned in the chronicles.[3](https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2013.1.011) • [4](https://www.drevnyaya.ru/vyp/2026_2/2026_2_04.php)
## Course of events
The historian A. V. Valerov argues that the conflict was not very serious and that the disagreements were settled quickly, within a few years.[5](https://a-nevsky.ru/library/novgorod-i-pskov-ocherki-politicheskoy-istorii-severo-zapadnoy-rusi-xi-xiv-vekov10.html)
## Outcome and terms
From then on Pskov's posadniks (chief magistrate/mayor of a medieval Russian city) were appointed by the Pskov veche rather than by Novgorod; a Pskovian could not be summoned to trial in Novgorod; and the Novgorod lord (vladyka) had to appoint a Pskovian, not a Novgorodian, as his namestnik in the city.[1](https://istorya-pskova.ru/razorvav-gosudarstvennuyu-svyaz-s-novgorodom-pskov-uzhe-ne-mog-rasschityvat-na-ego-pomoshh/) • [3](https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2013.1.011)
The original text of the agreement has not survived; the event is known from Novgorod chronicles.[6](http://anvictory.org/blog/2009/09/12/500-letie_pskovskogo_vzyatiya_ili_den_holopa/)
## Consequences and political influence
The treaty converted long-standing practice into law: in substance Pskov had already exercised these rights, and 1348 gave them formal confirmation.[1](https://istorya-pskova.ru/razorvav-gosudarstvennuyu-svyaz-s-novgorodom-pskov-uzhe-ne-mog-rasschityvat-na-ego-pomoshh/) Pskov began electing two posadniks who, with the old posadniks and sotsky, formed a governmental council and judicial college, the gospoda, sitting at the prince's porch; as a former prigorod Pskov had not constituted a tysyacha and so had no tysyatsky office.[6](http://anvictory.org/blog/2009/09/12/500-letie_pskovskogo_vzyatiya_ili_den_holopa/)
The sovereign character of the republic showed in institutions the treaty left intact: Pskov issued and supplemented its own laws (the [Pskov Judicial Charter](https://www.edgepedia.org/pskov-judicial-charter), edited at the veche), set its own taxes, held the rights of military mobilization and of declaring war and making peace, and used its own stamps and coins.[7](https://doi.org/10.1163/18763316-04104002) In the 100 years after the treaty Pskov fought no fewer than 10 large wars with the [Livonian Order](https://www.edgepedia.org/livonian-order) and [Lithuania](https://www.edgepedia.org/lithuania), without being able to count on Novgorod's help once the state link was broken.[1](https://istorya-pskova.ru/razorvav-gosudarstvennuyu-svyaz-s-novgorodom-pskov-uzhe-ne-mog-rasschityvat-na-ego-pomoshh/)
## Historians' assessment
Historians disagree on the document's nature and date. Following T. V. Kruglova, the 1348 Bolotovo text should be called not a treaty but a charter of grant (zhalovannaya gramota);[8](https://daily.hse.ru/post/kto-v-put-xodil-za-volgu-tainy-dogovornyx-otnosenii-mezdu-novgorodom-i-pskovom) other scholars date the Bolotovo agreement between 1329 and 1342,[3](https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2013.1.011) and one dissertation author dates it to 1342 rather than 1348.[9](https://www.dissercat.com/content/vzaimootnosheniya-novgoroda-i-pskova-v-novgorodskom-i-pskovskom-letopisanii-xi-seredina-xiu-) On the significance, Valerov sees the settlement of the late 1340s and early 1350s as a political success for Pskov: avoiding a break with Novgorod, the Pskovites could concentrate on the Order and Lithuania.[5](https://a-nevsky.ru/library/novgorod-i-pskov-ocherki-politicheskoy-istorii-severo-zapadnoy-rusi-xi-xiv-vekov10.html) The treaty resulted in recognition of the sovereignty of the Pskov principality, yet Novgorod chroniclers continued to treat Pskov as a subordinate territory even afterward, a bias visible in their account of the 1341 to 1342 conflict that preceded the treaty.[10](https://st-hum.ru/en/node/145) More broadly, throughout the 12th to 14th centuries the Novgorod and Pskov lands coexisted, and in the 14th century their rivalry gave way to joint resistance to grand-princely power, that of rising Moscow.[11](https://a-nevsky.ru/library/novgorod-i-pskov-ocherki-politicheskoy-istorii-severo-zapadnoy-rusi-xi-xiv-vekov11.html)
## References
1. "Разорвав государственную связь с Новгородом, Псков уже не мог рассчитывать на его помощь": https://istorya-pskova.ru/razorvav-gosudarstvennuyu-svyaz-s-novgorodom-pskov-uzhe-ne-mog-rasschityvat-na-ego-pomoshh/
2. "Псков становится независимым от Новгорода": http://www.pskov.ellink.ru/hist/event/007.html
3. "Political Organization in the Pskov Republic: the Prince, the Veche and Sovereignty", Quaestio Rossica: https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2013.1.011
4. "Древняя Русь. Вопросы медиевистики" (2026/2): https://www.drevnyaya.ru/vyp/2026_2/2026_2_04.php
5. А. В. Валеров, "Новгород и Псков: Очерки политической истории Северо-Западной Руси XI, XIV веков", гл. III, §3: https://a-nevsky.ru/library/novgorod-i-pskov-ocherki-politicheskoy-istorii-severo-zapadnoy-rusi-xi-xiv-vekov10.html
6. "500-летие «Псковского взятия» или День холопа?": http://anvictory.org/blog/2009/09/12/500-letie_pskovskogo_vzyatiya_ili_den_holopa/
7. "The Evolution of State Institutions of the Republic of Pskov and the Problem of its Sovereignty", Russian History (Brill): https://doi.org/10.1163/18763316-04104002
8. "«Кто в путь ходил за Волгу»: тайны договорных отношений между Новгородом и Псковом", HSE Daily: https://daily.hse.ru/post/kto-v-put-xodil-za-volgu-tainy-dogovornyx-otnosenii-mezdu-novgorodom-i-pskovom
9. "Взаимоотношения Новгорода и Пскова в новгородском и псковском летописании, XI – середина XIII в." (автореферат): https://www.dissercat.com/content/vzaimootnosheniya-novgoroda-i-pskova-v-novgorodskom-i-pskovskom-letopisanii-xi-seredina-xiu-
10. С. А. Песьяков, "К вопросу о политической конъюнктуре письменных источников...", Studia Humanitatis: https://st-hum.ru/en/node/145
11. А. В. Валеров, "Новгород и Псков...", Заключение: https://a-nevsky.ru/library/novgorod-i-pskov-ocherki-politicheskoy-istorii-severo-zapadnoy-rusi-xi-xiv-vekov11.html
12. НОВГОРОДСКАЯ И СТАРОРУССКАЯ ЕПАРХИЯ, https://www.pravenc.ru/text/2577765.html
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › European history › Russia › Mongol rule and the rise of Moscow, with Novgorod and Tver (1240 to 1462) › Novgorod and Pskov*
*Initially written Sep 24, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026*
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