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PSKOV

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 543 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PSKOV , in See also:

German, Pleskau, a See also:town of See also:Russia, See also:capital of the See also:government of the same name and an archiepiscopal see of the Orthodox See also:Greek See also:Church, situated on both See also:banks of the Velikaya See also:River, 9 M. S.E. from See also:Lake Pskov and 170 M. by See also:rail S.W. of St See also:Petersburg. Pop. (1897), 30,424. The See also:chief See also:part of the town, with its kremlin on a See also:hill, occupies the right See also:bank of the river, to which the ruins of its old walls (built in 1266) descend; the Zapskovye stretches along the same bank of the Velikaya below its confluence with the Pskova; and the Zavelichye occupies the See also:left bank of the Velikaya—all three keeping their old See also:historical names. The See also:cathedral in the kremlin has been four times rebuilt since the 12th See also:century, the See also:present edifice dating from 1691-1699, and contains some very old shrines, as also the See also:graves of the bishops of Pskov and of several Pskov princes, including those of Dovmont (d. 1299), and Vsevolod (d. 1138). The church of Dmitriy Solunskiy See also:dates originally from the 12th century; there are others belonging to the 14th and 15th. The Spaso-Mirozhskiy monastery, founded in 1156, and restored in 1890-1903, has many remarkable antiquities. The ruins of numerous See also:rich and populous monasteries in or near the town attest its former See also:wealth and greatness. The present town is See also:ill-built, chiefly of See also:wood, and shows traces of decay.

It has a cadets' school, a normal school for teachers, and a few See also:

lower technical See also:schools, an archaeological museum (1903) and some scientific See also:societies. The private collections (coins, antiquities, See also:art See also:works, &c.) of Messrs See also:Pushkin and Sudhov are two of 'the most remarkable in Russia. The manufactures are unimportant. Since the completion of the St Petersburg and See also:Warsaw railway the See also:trade of Pskov has increased. Pskov has See also:regular See also:steam communication with Dorpat. See also:History.—Pskov, formerly the See also:sister See also:republic of See also:Novgorod, and one of the See also:oldest cities of Russia, maintained its See also:independence and its See also:free institutions until the 16th century, being thus the last to be brought under the See also:rule of See also:Moscow. It already existed in the See also:time of Rurik (9th century); and See also:Nestor mentions under the See also:year 914 that See also:Olga, wife of Igor, See also:prince of Novgorod, was brought from Pleskov (i.e. Pskov). The Velikaya valley and river were from a remote antiquity a channel for the trade of the See also:south of See also:Europe with the Baltic See also:coast. Pskov being an important strategic point, its See also:possession was obstinately disputed between the Russians and the Germans and See also:Lithuanians throughout the lrth and 12th centuries. At that time the See also:place had its own See also:independent institutions; but it became in the 12th century a prigorod of the Novgorod republic—that is a See also:city having its own free institutions, but included in certain respects within the See also:jurisdiction of the See also:metropolis, and compelled in time of See also:war to See also:march against the See also:common enemy. Pskov had, however, its own prince (defensor municipii); and in the second See also:half of the 13th century Prince (See also:Timotheus) Dovmont fortified it so strongly that the town asserted its independence of Novgorod, with which, in 1348, it concluded a treaty wherein the two republics were recognized as equals.

Its rule extended over the territory which now forms the districts of Pskov, Ostrov, Opochka, and Gdov (farther See also:

north on the See also:east See also:side of Lake See also:Peipus). The vyeche or See also:council of Pskov was See also:sovereign, the See also:councils of the subordinate towns being supreme in their own municipal affairs. The council was supreme in all affairs of See also:general See also:interest, as well as a supreme See also:court of See also:justice, and the princes were elected by it; these last had to defend the city and levied the taxes, which were assessed by twelve citizens. But while Novgorod constantly showed a tendency to become an See also:oligarchy of the wealthier merchants, Pskov figured as a republic in which the See also:influence of the poorer classes prevailed. Its trading associations, supported by those of the working classes, checked the influence of the wealthier merchants. This struggle continued throughout the 14th and 15th centuries. Nothwithstanding these conflicts Pskov was a very wealthy city. Its strong walls, its See also:forty large and wealthy churches, built during this See also:period, its numerous monasteries, and its extensive trade, See also:bear testimony to the wealth of the inhabitants, who then numbered about 6o,000. As See also:early as the 13th century Pskov was an important station for the trade between Novgorod and See also:Riga. A century later it became a member of the Hanseatic See also:League. Its merchants and trading associations had factories at See also:Narva, See also:Reval and Riga, and ex-ported See also:flax, See also:corn, See also:tallow, skins, See also:tar, See also:pitch, See also:honey, and See also:timber for See also:ship-See also:building. Silks, woollen stuffs, and all kinds of manufactured wares were brought back in See also:exchange.

In 1399 the prince of Moscow claimed the See also:

privilege of confirming the elected prince of Pskov in his rights; and though, fifty years later, Pskov and Novgorod concluded defensive See also:treaties against Moscow, the poorer classes continued to seek at Moscow a See also:protection against the richer citizens. After the fall of Novgorod (1475) Pskov was taken (1510) by See also:Basil Ivanovich, prince of Moscow, and a voyvode or See also:deputy was nominated to govern the city. Moscow, at the end of the 17th century, abolished the last vestiges of self-government at Pskov, which thence-forward See also:fell into rapid decay. Near this city the See also:Teutonic knights inflicted a severe defeat upon the Russians in 1502. Pskov became a stronghold of Russia against See also:Poland, and was besieged (1581) for seven months by See also:Stephen See also:Bathory during the Livonian War, and in 1615 by Gustavus See also:Adolphus of See also:Sweden. Under See also:Peter the See also:Great it became a fortified See also:camp. (P. A. K. ; J. T.

End of Article: PSKOV

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