Russian City-States – Novgorod and Kiev
CHARLES CHALPERI – Professor at University of Indiana
Dear Dr. Kolkey,
You may very well be right about Novgorod, but I do not know how to apply your categories to this material. Medieval elites - aristocratic or commercial - such as Novgorod did not and could not distinguish intellectually or politically between their own (we would say, selfish class) interests and the "common good". Novgorodian elites thought in terms of Novgorod's commercial interests or political "liberties". There was no "national" interest at the time, since there was no unified country or political "nation." In general Novgorod sought to avoid war. We know more about the contest of factions among the elite over urban office than over policy disputes which might involve war.
With all due apologies, my understanding of this material does not permit me to carry your analysis any further.
Sincerely,
Charles Halperin
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
JANET MARTIN – Ph.D. University of Chicago – Professor at University of Miami
Dr. Kolkey,
I am not sure you will find what you are looking for in relations between
Novgorod and Kiev. I suggest, however, that you read Martin Dimnik's two books
on Chernigov: THE DYNASTY OF CHERNIGOV 1054-1146 and THE DYNASTY OF CHERNIGOV
1146-1246. He provides very detailed discussions of the relations among the
various branches of the Riurikid dynasty, including their wars and their
alliances.
Good luck in your research.
Janet Martin
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DAVID GOLDFRANK – Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley – Professor at Georgetown University
Dr. Kolkey,
Read the Chronicle, and you'll see for Novgorod (Kiev's city-state element is
even tougher to entangle) that factions operated and supported rival princes --
but we hardly know anything about motives or thinking -- No Thucydides or
Guicciardini emerged to tell the story of Novgorod or Rus at large.
Sorry, but there are no silk purses to be crafted from these sows' ears.
best,
dg
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROBERT O. CRUMMEY – Professor at University of California, Davis
"Dear Dr. Kolkey,
It seems to me that your best chance would be to look at Novgorod’s wars with Moscow in the 1400s, especially the campaigns that led to Moscow’s conquest. On this topic, there are good starting points in English including John Fennell’s biography of Ivan III; the writings of Gustav Alef on Ivan III’s reign; and the work in Russian of V. L. Ianin on the elites and internal politics of Novgorod. Checking library holdings on line – eg. UCLA (via Melvyl) - will give you many more leads.
As for your thesis, there is little doubt that, on crucial questions of war and peace, there were factional divisions within city states like Novgorod. Sometimes these revealed themselves in meetings of the popular assembly (veche) and sometimes in riots or intrigues. Moreover, the factions did use ideological or religious claims to justify their positions. At the same, the sources and the historians who have read them differ widely on the sincerity of the claims attributed to the factions and the compositions of the groups. Everybody’s speculations predictably reflect the a priori positions with which they began....
Best wishes,
Robert Crummey"
