Novgorod the Great Trivia Quiz

Answer: the ninth century (800s)

Historians aren't completely sure which "old" city the people who named Novgorod more than a millenium ago had in mind. According to one version, the city itself was founded only in the 10th century, not far from a nearby stronghold.

A 65-ton bronze monument was erected in the Novgorod Kremlin in 1862 to mark Russia's 1000th anniversary. 129 historical figures are represented, including princes and tsars, military leaders, writers, artists and composers.

Answer: the Vikings

Although it's hard to separate fact from legend, most historians now agree that the Viking chieftain Rurik founded a settlement known as Holmgard that later evolved into Novgorod. Rurik's successor Oleg (called Helgi by the Norsemen) went on to take Kiev, which he made his capital, cementing in place a dynasty that would rule Russia (in whole or in part) until 1598. Several prominent Viking leaders took refuge in Novgorod at one time or another, including King Olaf II of Norway, who was later made a saint by the Roman Catholic Church.

The language spoken in Novgorod and Kiev in medieval times gradually evolved into three distinct but closely related modern languages: Belarussian, Russian and Ukrainian. Since the fall of the Soviet Union Kiev is often spelled "Kyiv" to reflect the Ukrainian rather than the Russian pronunciation, but I'll stick with the more familiar version here.

Answer: Constantinople (the Byzantine capital)

This classic trade route is sometimes referred to as "the road from the Varangians (eastern Vikings) to the Greeks". It passed from the Baltic to Lake Ladoga via the Neva River, then up the Volkhov River past Novgorod and briefly overland to the Dniepr River, which flows past Kiev and into the Black Sea.

Baghdad was a wealthy and vibrant city in the 8th and 9th centuries but did not trade directly with Novgorod. The Mongols were generally nomads and Karakorum was their capital only for about thirty years in the 13th century; in any case it was separated from Novgorod by a very long overland route. Rome at this time was significant only as the seat of the popes; in terms of wealth and political power it had not recovered from the collapse of the old empire.

Answer: Christianity (Orthodox)

According to another legend, Prince (now Saint) Vladimir of Kiev sent emissaries to meet with representatives of all four. His envoys were so overwhelmed by the beautiful Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople that they made their choice on the spot. Practical considerations may also have played a role: the Byzantine Empire was a vitally important trading partner and Orthodox monks had already developed the Cyrillic alphabet to help spread their faith among the Slavic peoples in the Balkan peninsula. Today Novgorod and the surrounding region are filled with old churches, some of which were built less than 100 years after the arrival of Christianity.

Up until the 10th century most people in Russia adhered to a Slavonic version of paganism, some elements of which - like the Maslenitsa spring festival - have carried on into modern times.

Answer: It was governed as a republic

Although Novgorod wasn't a democracy as we understand the word today, it might have had the seeds of one: a citizens' council called the "veche" elected or approved the appointment of key officials. Some writers have speculated that if modern Russia had formed around Novgorod instead of Moscow the country's history would have been very different. Like any historical "what if" scenario, that could be debated endlessly.

The idea of a republic - a state that existed independent of a king or prince - obviously took some getting used to. Official documents from this period refer to Novgorod as if it were a person: "His Sovereign Majesty Lord Novgorod the Great" (Gosudar Gospodin Veliki Novgorod).

For many years Novgorod was easily the most prominent of the breakaway states and dominated lands from Estonia to the Arctic Sea and the Ural Mountains on the edge of Asia. However, the first Russian prince to make regular use of the title "tsar" (a Russification of "caesar") was Ivan III of Moscow, from about 1480. Not coincidentally, I suspect, he only started doing that after Novgorod was no longer in a position to challenge him.

Answer: the Germans

At the Battle on the Ice, which took place on a frozen Lake Peipus in 1242, Alexander crushed the "crusading" Teutonic Knights, having already seen off the Swedes in 1236, likewise at "Lord" Novgorod's request. The city no doubt appreciated his help but later asked him to leave: they didn't want him to build up too much personal power. On Stalin's orders Sergei Eisenstein made a now-classic film about Alexander Nevski in 1938.

Although the Mongols conquered Russia around the same time, they never entered Novgorod, probably because it wasn't worth the trouble of fighting their way across the marsh-dotted landscape. Even so, like other Russian cities, Novgorod paid an annual tribute to the Mongols for several centuries.

Russians sometimes observe that "the Mongols only wanted our gold, the Germans wanted our gold and our souls as well."

Answer: the Hanseatic League

The Hanseatic League, an alliance of trading guilds, dominated the Baltic regional economy from the 12th through 15th centuries. Member cities ranged from Groningen in the Netherlands in the west to Visby in Sweden in the north and Reval (now Tallinn) in Estonia in the east, as well as three dozen or so others, mostly in Germany. Besides Novgorod, non-member cities where the League maintained a full official residence (a 'Kontore' or 'counting-house') included London (England), Bergen (Norway) and Antwerp (in modern Belgium). Novgorod's most valuable contribution to the trading network was furs, most of which came from the far north of European Russia.

The other "leagues" were made up for this quiz, although their names have real historical associations with the Baltic region.

Answer: all of these things happened

Novgorod was initially much stronger than Moscow, which in 1300 was just a minor trading outpost, but the Muscovite princes cleverly exploited their position: at first ignored by the Mongol overlords, who saw them as insignificant, they later allied with them to put down a rebellion by other princes but then went on to play a leading role in driving them out of Russia for good. Through bribery, marriage or force they eventually took over all the other cities controlled by princes of the Rurik dynasty, including Kiev.

The people of Novgorod were not happy under Muscovite rule and Ivan IV ("the Terrible") suspected them of treason, which led to a massacre of merchants, aristocrats and many ordinary citizens in 1570, followed by exile for all prominent survivors. Not surprisingly, the city was actually happy to be occupied by Sweden in 1611 during Russia's "Time of Troubles".

Answer: It was bypassed by the main Moscow-St. Petersburg railway

Novgord was not part of the unhappy "Pale of Settlement". In 1727 it was actually broken off from St. Petersburg region to become a separate administrative unit. Convicted revolutionaries, of course, were normally sent to Siberia.

With no natural resources to speak of and no longer on a key trade route, Novgorod never became a major industrial centre. Even so, it recovered from almost total destruction in WWII to become an important manufacturer of electronic goods under Soviet rule, producing everything from radios and televisions to secret military technology.

Answer: Nizhni Novgorod

All four are real places, but only Nizhni Novgorod on the Volga River is a major city - its 2002 population of 1.3 million dwarfed Veliki Novgorod's 200,000. Founded as "Lower Novgorod" in 1221 to distinguish it from the already-flourishing "Lord Novgorod the Great", it reverted to the original name in 1990 after being known as Gorki for most of the Soviet period.

Novogrudok is in Belarus and its name also means "new town". Novgorod-Severski (Novhorod-Siverski) and Novgorod Volynski are both in Ukraine.

Find out more about Veliki Novgorod!

a good Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velikiy_Novgorod
some nice photos and tourist info: http://www.novgorod.ru/english/