Principality of Novgorod (Byzantine Khazaria)

The Principality of Novgorod-Seversk was a medieval Rus' principality centered on Novgorod. It was one of most powerful and major Russian successor states of the Kievan Rus. However, the creation of the independent principality was not directly related to the defeat the Rus had sustained at the hands of the Khazars, rather it had broken away from the Kievan Rus a few weeks prior to that event.

Background
Despite its name, Novgorod is among the most ancient cities of the East Slavs. The Sofia First Chronicle first mentions it in 859; the Novgorod First Chronicle mentions it first under the year 862 when it was allegedly already a major station on the trade route from the Baltics to Byzantium. Archaeological excavations in the middle to late twentieth century, however, have found cultural layers dating back only to the late tenth century, the time of the Christianization of Rus and a century after it was allegedly founded, suggesting that the chronicle entries mentioning Novgorod in the 850s or 860s are later interpolations.

The Varangian name of the city Holmgård (Holmgarðr or Holmgarðir) is mentioned in Norse Sagas as existing at a yet earlier stage, but historical facts cannot here be disentangled from legend. Originally, Holmgård referred only to the stronghold southeast of the present-day city, Riurikovo Gorodishche (named in comparatively modern time after Varangian chieftain Rurik, who supposedly made it his "capital" around 860 CE). Archeological data suggests that the Gorodische, the residence of the Knyaz (prince), dates from the middle of 9th century, whereas the town itself dates only from the end of the 10th century, hence the name Novgorod, "new city", from Old Norse Novgarðr, also rendered as Naugard in Old High German and Middle High German.

Early Principality of Novgorod
In Norse sagas the city is mentioned as the capital of Gardariki (i.e., the East Slavic lands). Several Viking kings sought refuge in Novgorod from enemies at home. No more than a few decades after the death and subsequent canonization of Olaf II of Norway, in 1028, the city's community had erected a church in his memory, Saint Olaf's Church in Novgorod.

Princely titles in Novgorod were often awarded to favorites of the Kievan Rus; princes ruling there had no real self-sufficiency or independence.

Fall of the Kievan Rus
The Norse Principality of Novgorod was founded in early March 964, when Vésteinn, a Norwegian prince, taking advantage of the preoccupation of the central Rus government with the invasions of the Khazars that were occurring around that time, seized the city of Novgorod and the surrounding province with troops provided by his relative, Egill of Norway. Henceforth, the links between Novgorod and the Scandinavian states remained close, but their nature and extent have been disputed.

Throughout the 960's, the Khazars fought several wars of retaliation against the Kievan Rus after Kiev had tried to annex Khazaria. The Rus warlords Oleg and Sviatoslav I of Kiev, who had been leading the war against the Khazars, met with defeat after defeat. The Byzantine Empire provided indirect backing to the Khazars from the south and supplied a number of Bulgar mercenaries. In order to prevent Kiev from uniting against his new state, Vésteinn forged a temporary alliance with the Khazars.

The death of Sviatoslav in battle against the Khazars marked the fall of the Kievan Rus. Due to his death and the murder of his alleged heirs, the Kievan Rus quickly broke apart, degenerating into minor states and kingdoms. Having achieved victory over the Rus, the Khazars returned to Khazaria.

With the withdrawal of the Khazars and the fall of the Kievan Rus, the Principality of Novgorod quickly absorbed the smaller Russian states around them. By 1000, Novgorod was the most powerful of the remaining Russian nations. By 1040, the prince Úlfr of Novgorod had annexed southern Finland. He was the first known Russian prince to lay claims to Finnish territory.

In 1092, a dispute between the Principality and the new dynasty of Norway led the Novgorodians to war against the king of Norway. Their more organized fighting forces had swiftly overrun Gotland and eastern Sweden by 1096. However, these gains were soon lost under his successors. The war with Norway proved costly, ineffective, and ended with no clear victor. The principality decayed though the 1100's, after a series of wasteful and despotic princes. In 1112, the prince of Novgorod annexed the traditional northern area of the Baltic states, including Livonia and Estonia.

By 1126, the Byzantine Empire had conquered the Khazars and swept across Russia, checking further Novgorodian expansion southwards. In 1154, the Byzantines conquered the last of the Russian states south of Novgorod and shared a direct border with the principality.