The chronicle in Novgorod has a long tradition,It was founded in the 11th 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 region.
The beginning of the chronicle
The surviving Novgorod annals are conditionallyare denoted by five numbers. Each of them has several lists, called taps. For example, the Novgorod first chronicle in its early period covers the period from the beginning of the thirteenth 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.
A later derivation is itsa somewhat supplemented processing, and the events described in it cover a longer historical stage, stretching to the thirties of the 15th 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 the Novgorod chronicles
It should be noted that conditional serial numberschronicles were given 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,which occurred until the forties - fifties of the XV century, and in some of the lists made from it, a later period is also included. Many researchers tend 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a large part of it is a processing of the Novgorod-Sophia arch, not preserved to the present day, mentioned in other historical documents as the Sophia's first chronicle.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, conditionallyindicated by the fifth number, it is easy 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 thirdordinal 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.
Coming 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 was kept forwe have 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 conclusions, and, if the main edition delivers the description of events until 1675, then in separate lists they continue further.
In addition to the above monuments, published inour time and become the property of the general 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 into some extent supplement the materials outlined in the main six arches 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 presentation of events in the annalsis somewhat tendentious in nature, conditioned by the dominant ideology of the ruling classes of the boyar republic, nevertheless in a number of cases the authors' sympathy is clearly on the side of the common people.
