From the diaries of Nikita Zablotsky, Deputy Master of the Pskov Mint
(It should be noted that, as a child of the Republic, Zablotsky shows an unhealthy use of 'we' and 'our' when describing decisions made, in fact, by the King)
In the days of the Republic, when I was young and only an apprentice minter, I accompanied one of the three merchant caravans that Knyaz John dispatched in October of 1399 to establish trade within the Venetian trading zone.
We noticed the difficulty that our merchants were facing due to trade leagues, and whilst this inclined us to oppose such leagues, we saw that, at least in the short term, Pskov might have to join a league. Thus it was that in October 1400 we joined the Venetian league, since this would secure our 5 merchant houses in Venezia, but not limit our ability to trade in other centres. The Venetian League, whilst as anti-competitive as any of the other leagues, seemed to send merchants only to Venezia itself. There had been suggestions that our nation join the Hanseatic League, but it was noticed that Hanseatic members dominated Antwerpen, so it would be far better if we were able to compete them out, unhindered by the restrictions of the Hanseatic guilds.
By the beginning of 1402, it was seen that this strategy had worked. Our traders dominated Lubeck, Venezia, Liguria, and Antwerpen's trading houses. It was then that Novgorod, where we had initially avoided trading, assuming that they would soon attack us and ban our traders (In Pskov it pays to be paranoid). But years of peace had convinced us otherwise. The peace also gave our nation time for many new reforms. First was the Land Reform of October 1402. This was followed by the founding of the (now Royal) Bank of Pskov in September 1404, and the census after the autumn harvest of that year.
Then, on the 9th of November, Novgorod claimed Pskov as part of their territory, a grievous insult to us, but one that we could not punish, being too weak to face them in war. But the peace continued, and by May 1405 we had 5 merchant houses in each of Lubeck, Liguria, Venezia, Novgorod, Antwerpen, Alexandria, and Astrakhan.
It was in the January of 1406 that the Knyaz sought my services as a personal advisor. He hired three masters of the mint to serve the republic, we needed more gold to hire mercenaries in the expected event of Novgorod attacking our lands. By the Spring of 1407 the nations coffers were so full that many in the Veche urged a conquest of Ingermanland. However, the nation was still too weak, and John wisely resisted such calls.
This led to a loss of his popularity amongst the people, and on the 14th of October 1407, Knyaz Gavriil Mozhaisky Khilkov was elected in John's place. Gavriil's first action was to seek, unsuccessfully, to get Pskov entered into the HRE. After another year, and two more gifts of gold to the Bohemian Emperor, a second attempt at such was successful, and Pskov came under the Emperor's protection.
On January 1409, the Knyaz enacted a new centralisation policy, destabilising the country. Then, suddenly, on the 2nd of February 1409, Gavriil seized power and became the Despot of Pskov until his death. The newly crowned King immediately embarked upon a scheme to entice the Imperial Electors with gifts of gold. For this reason, I, as well as my fellow Minters, was one of the few government officials able to retain his post in the new regime. He began with Brandenburg, which he felt might double as a worthy ally in the west, but found, to his dismay, that no number of bribes would make them budge from their support of the Habsburgs' claim.
In December of 1410, Gavriil commissioned a tapestry to commemorate his rightful ascension to the throne. The plans of this tapestry was altered a few months later, when, on the 2nd of May 1411, the Teutonic Order declared war upon us. Suddenly there was yet another glorious episode to be added to the King's legend.
Armies at start of the War of Teutonic Aggression
They had no cause, no rightful justification. The Emperor did not heed the call to arms, but luckily we were aided by Lithuania and Novgorod. King Gavriil did not expect that these allies would do much to save us, both had shown power-mongering ambitions, and the King suspected that they might focus upon the capture of Teutonic lands, rather than the salvation of our city. It pays to be paranoid in Pskov, as I have said before. But there was the glimmer of hope, that they might at least distract the Teutonic order long enough for us to earn our freedom with our own blood. The Lithuanian Army was in Polotsk, having just defeated a rebel uprising, and we thought that this would mean that they would simply turn North, and come to our aid. But, alas, Lithuania was more concerned with "liberating" the Lithuanian populations of Wenden and Samogitia.
Novgorod, however, showed a remarkable kindness, attacking the Teutonic army and breaking the siege of our capital. But then they turned back to Kholm. Thus it was that the Teutonic Knights returned to besiege our walls a second time. The fates smiled on us, however, and Lithuania's forces completed their sieges in time to turn North to save us. On the 17th of November 1411, the main force of the Lithuanian Army, 20 thousand infantry and 5 thousand knights, destroyed the 8 thousand strong sieging force of the Teutonic Order, who had unwisely attempted an ill-fated assault upon our walls only a few days previous. The already demoralised army was completely routed, and all that remained of the Order's military were the one thousand knights recently rallied in Kurland. The Lithuanians then made peace with the Order, taking the province of Wenden in tribute.
In March of 1412, the men of Novgorod finally marched over the border into Estland. We knew they were just there to opportunistically make a small conquest, but it served our purposes for the Teutons to be further weakened. With mercenaries hired with the gold that our trading policies had won us, we first destroyed the remaining Teutonic resistance, then set about besieging the entirety of their nation.
Besieging the Teutonic Order
Peace
Then, in February 1413 as victory was within our grasp, Lithuania attacked Mazovia. The King was faced with the decision of whether uphold the guarantee and commit to what could be a disastrous war for us, or to blacken the promises of his predecessor. He hoped that maybe our commitment might sway Mazovia's other allies to join the struggle. He ordered the invasion of Lithuania with all Pskov's troops. He had hoped to take just one more province from the Teutonic Order, so as to prevent their future threat, but Lithuania was far more of a danger.
Armies at start of 2nd War of Lithuanian Aggression
Polish War Subsidies
We were aided by Polish War Subsidies. They, as much as we, were in danger from the larger forces of Lithuania. We set out to use our inferior forces to besiege a large swath of Northern Lithuania, rather than seek direct battle. It was an attempt to annoy and opportunistically take war prizes. It was at this point that one of our scholars discovered that Pskov had legitimate claims to the ownership of Wenden. Our merchants also did their bit, donating 100 ducats of their own wealth to aid us in our efforts. Thought we did capture Wenden in the course of the war, when Poland made white peace with the Lithuanians in October 1413, we were forced to return control of the city.
Boundary Dispute
Merchant Gift to the State
So we disbanded all mercenaries, and headed home. In 1414 Yevgeniy Paletskij, the Deputy Deputy Master of the Mint died, and thus the king took on a new advisor. Having made great progress in banking reforms, it was time for legal reforms to take precedence, and thus Mikhail Travin was brought into the inner circle of the King's court.
The first task in the newly won provinces of Riga and Livland was the conversion of the populous to the Orthodox faith. The Rigan Catholic Uprising of 1415 took longer than expected to be put down. Our generals underestimated the strength of 3000 angry peasants. But, after retreating back to Livland for the Summer, our armies regrouped and successfully defeated the rebels just in time for the harvest.
