Question by Mcleod: What happened to Novgorod?
I remember playing Medieval Total War Kingdoms as the faction of Novgorod. But from looking on the map I see that there are two Novgorod’s one is Nizhny Novgorod and the other is Veliky Novgorod. Can anyone explain why this is? And why the once shining center of trad the was Novgorod now has a little over two hundred thousand inhabitants?
Answers and Views:
Answer by Keir
i love that game
remember in the 1400s a city with 200,000 people would be massive!
well after the Mongolian invasion of Russia Novgorod fell, it collapsed under pressure from the mongol hordes and the teutonic knights, eventually a little town called moscow rose up and defeated the mongolian armies and in the process the Muscovites took over the remains of Novgorod
also Novgorod is a common town name, like they is 14 springfields in america
EDIT: did i say that the mongolians invaded novgorod?! no i said that novgorod became weaker after their invasion which led to moscow taking them over
Answer by Joseph
Just like there is York in England, there is New York in the US. Cities rise up to glory, and then decline.
Veliky (Greater) Novgorod is the one that’s depicted in the Total War. From XII to the XV century Novgorod was the center Novgorod Republic, and was a member of Hanseatic League, a great trading alliance that stretched across Northern Europe. At the time the city was referred to in Russian as Gospodin Veliky Novgorod, or Lord Novgorod the Great. Hence the name Veliky Novgorod.
The other answer is completely wrong. Novgorod did not fall to the Mongols or Teutonic knights. Mongols commanders did not want to get their cavalry bogged down in the maze of dense forests, lakes, marshes, and rivers that surround Novgorod and turned back.
On the other hand, Novgorod fought a number of wars with Sweden and the knights of the Teutonic Order. In 1240 Novgorod army under the command of 19 year old Alexander Nevsky defeated Swedes at the Battle of Neva, and in 1242 defeated the Teutonic knights in the Battle on the Ice. This victory stopped the Teutonic expansion eastward, and established a border along the Narva River and Lake Peipus between the Orthodox and Catholic branches of the Christian faith. This line still serves as a border between Russia and Baltic States.
By XV Century Novgorod became dependent on the Principality of Vladimir-Suzdal for grain to feed its population, and this presented Moscow an opening to gain control of the Novgorod, with Moscow annexing Novgorod outright in 1478. After that its importance declined, especially when Peter the Great established a new Russian Capital of St. Petersburg, ironically enough, right on the spot of Alexander Nevsky’s 1240 victory over the Swedes.
Answer by arrabbit500
First of all, which total war are you playing. Novgorod became Russia a while ago. Having two Novgorod can just mean that the provinces rebelled and became independent states. The populations change during war, bad economic times, starvation and natural disasters.
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