New approaches to the studying of Russian-Swedish frontier organization of 17^th c.

Russian-Sweden border along the Sestra (swed. Sister) river fixed in the beginning of 18^th c. and from that time kept in one or another case without changing till the Winter war 1939-1940 had been created under the influence of prolonged and complicated correlation between Sweden and Novgorod and later between Sweden and Moscow State. The most significant stages of this correlation were the Orekhov peace of 1323, the Tyavzino Peace of 1595, the Stolbovsky Peace of 1617 and the Nyschtadt Peace of 1721.

Meanwhile during the development of all the agreements mentioned above (we suppose all of them were the reflection of the struggle of two states for the control on some Finnish tribes) the system of borderline organization was also developed. In the times of independent Novgorod such organizing of borderline system came to the fortress building, for mostly – the building of stone fortresses (Korela, Kopor'e, Oreshek, Jam). The most active stage of such building was in late 13 – early 14 cc. During that period nor Swedes neither Novgorodians could not capture and hold any stone fortress: both Sweden Vyborg and Novgorodian Korela (Kexholm) had kept in hands of its builders. Nobody knows how the history of Neva banks could follow if the Swedes in the beginning of 14 c. had succeeded in building stone fortress Landskrona.

The Orekhov peace of 1323 has a special place among the number of Russian-Sweden pacts. Just that peace had stabilized the Novgorod-Swedish correlation for two hundred years. What is more, the first totally fixed borderline between two states belongs to the time of that peace. The location of the Sweden-Russian boundary after this Peace was currently studied by J. Gallén and J.Lind [Gallén 1968; Gallén & Lind 1991; Lind 1997].

That stable borderline was broken only in the 16^th c. while Ivan the Terrible expansion against Sweden in the middle of the century. After the war of 1557 the flimsy peace between two states was achieved while both of them were on the stage of plotting (or reconstruction). The Russian-Sweden frontier line lived a kind of very turbulent life. But instead of it just in that time new churches had been built just nearby the line (fig.1, the St.Mikhail church on Saya river built in 1570s ? [Kniga zapisey 1576/77: 126]).

The Livonian war of 1558-1583, during which the Moscow State had suffered a shattering defeat, revealed new approaches to the frontier line organizing. The Sweden general Pontus De la Gardi while successfully moving forward throw western Novgorod districts met not only with medieval Novgorod stone fortresses but also with “ostrozheks” ? temporary wooden-earth fortifications been built already in 16 c. on the most significant arterial roads. In the 1580s the most significant road on the North-West of Novgorod district was the Ivangorod road that had connected Novgorod with Ivangorod ? a fortress in the Narova mouth (Russian Narva in Sweden sources). Just on that road before the war had come into the deepest parts of Novgorod land a number of fortifications near “pogost” (parish) centers (Tesovo, Zarech'e) or other points (Onstopel') were built [Selin 1997].

The events followed in the Russian North-West in late 16^th ? early 17^th cc. caused great changes in countryside settlement structure. The movement of the population brought about the Ivan's the Terrible “oprichnina” and the events of Livonian war lead to a reduction of the small village number and to the concentration of the most of the peasant population in more or less large village and pogosts (parish centers) [Vorob'ev & Degtyarev 1986: 57]. The exception in this period is the time of Boris Godunov ruling (including the period when Fedor Ivanovitch was Moscow czar). That years (the 1590s and the very beginning of the 17^th c.) were a small period of growing stability in Russian countryside. But in trouble time just pogosts, parish centers became also centers of settling, of re-colonization.

The choosing of these centers for the colonization was determined by different combine reasons. Just in the late 16^th c. small fortresses (gorodoks) appeared near some pogosts of Novgorod Land. We know the mentions of gorodoks near Ofremovsky pogost in Shelonskaya pyatina, near Tigodsky pogost in Vodaskaya pyatina [Kniga zapisey 1576/77: 91 ob., 115 ob.]. Just in 1555 the middle 16^th c. the gorodok near Spas on Neva had also appeared [Gramota 1555]. In 1571 the gorodok in Kokola perevara (small local unit) in Kir'yazhsky pogost was mentioned, a year before the oprichniki?had placed in it [Obysk 1571}. Therefore the pogost centers were only the main points of defense; there were also small frontier outposts along the frontier line. Two of them - in Korboselsky and Voskresensky Gorodensky pogost, on the frontier with Vyborg Lähn - were mentioned in 1607 [Gramota 1607; Otpiska 1607].

New stage in the building small fortresses near pogost centers began after the Vyborg Treaty of 1609, during Skopin-Shujsky's and J. De la Gardie's Campaign from Novgorod to Trinity Monastery. According to S.F.Platonov, particularly the building of small ostrozheks (fortresses) on the main state roads ensured the success of those commanders [Platonov 1995: 267]. Very likely Platonov implied the ostrozheks near Valday and Borovochi mentioned in Razraydnye Knigi [Belokurov 1907: 187-188]

Meanwhile just in the part of Novgorod Land occupied by Sweden we also mention such ostrozheks that were appeared at that time one after another practically everywhere. We know ostrozhek Bronnitsa near Novgorod that defended the city from the side of the Great Moscow Road [Sundberg 1982: 11], also ostrozheks in Belaya and Bolon'ja on Msta river. In 1614 Moscow general Bogdan Chulkov was offered to held warriors and to go on the state service in Volkhov mouth that near the Ladoga Lake and to built an ostrozhek there and to organize raids against Swedes and Lithuanians from it. [Otpiska 1614à]. But Chulkov changed his way and went to Zaonezh'e, to Pudoga pogost where he hold some Cossacks from the two ostrozheks (Pudoga and Shala, near the adequate pogosts) and moved to Andoma ostrozhek (also near the pogost of the same name) where the Lithuanians had been [Otpiska 1614à]. In a short time Chulkov built ostrozheks in the Tolvuj and in Shuja pogost [Otpiska 1614b]. In 1614 practically each pogost in Zaonezh'e had a kind of fortification. In the same time we know Veino ostrozhek on the Great Moscow Road and Ramyshevo ostrozhek on Lovat' [Otpiska 1614c; Kniga seunchej 1613-1619: 15].

In 1615 the Dutch ambassador van Brederode while tripping along the North Western part of Novgorod Land noticed “shantzes” in Zarech'e, Tesovo and Staritza (on Luga) [Brederode 1991: 215]. The war proceedings of Muscovites at that time was held with taking into account the basing in such ostrozheks. In the same year another ostrozhek on Luga was mentioned, near the village of Ivnya in St.Demetriy Gorodensky pogost [Chelobitnaya 1615] (fig. 2).

The most far away from Novgorod ostrozhek was the one in Cherensky pogost of Bezhetskaya pyatina. It was situated on Kabozha River near its mouth. The ostrozhek is known from 1611, when there was Sweden rotmiester Fransbruck's detachment [Otpiska 1611]. In 1612 the ostrozhek was still a danger for Muscovites [Otpiska 1612]. Generally the Eastern border of Novgorod land was well reinforced by Swedes as the most possible point of Muscovites' invasion. In 1613 the Muscovite commander of Ustjuzhna-Zheleznopolskaya wrote to his superiors in Beloozero: “The Nemetskie warriors left the ostrozheks” [Otpiska 1613]. Each ostrozhek was the center for a temporal administrative unit of a number of pogosts which population was to furnish the Sweden garrisons (so the Tesovo ostrozhek was a center for 3 pogosts, the Cherensky - for 12).

Such a system of ostrozheks - the basic points made by Sweden in the epoch of total devastation that had become in Novgorod land after Sweden army departure was convenient enough for Muscovite war administration. However only a small number of ostrozheks existed in 1611-1617 were mentioned in the documents of the later time. Swedes also continued to use the ostrozheks in Ingermanland during the 17^th c. In 1623 Muscovites sent a deserter to the Zarech'e ostrozhek near Zarech'e pogost [Pamyat' 1623]. On June 2, 1656 the Novgorodian streltsy (a sort of army) were sent to Solomenny ostrozhek (near Solomyansky pogost in Karelia - Sweden at that time) [Gulevitch 1911: 36]. A “fortress hill” - linnavuori of 16^th-17^th cc. is archaeologically known near Ilomanten - former Ilomansky pogost of Karelia [Taavitsainen 1997].

One Russian ostrozhek was situated near St.Kliment pogost in Tesovo of Vodskaya pyatina on the bank of Tesovskoye Lake connected by small brook with Oredezh river, on the cross of the land road from Novgorod to Ivangorod [Selin 1996] with the river way that also connected Novgorod with the Baltic Sea. Firstly Tesovo was mentioned in the First Novgorod Chronicle in 13^th c. (in 1233 and 1240 [NPL 1950: 72, 282,295]), then it became a center of archbishop's land property, then, between 1478 and 1500 it was confiscated by Moscow prince Ivan III. In 16^th c. the newly built Ivangorod road passed near Tesovo, a road station was organized there and the carriers were settled near the neighbor Spassky pogost.

Swedes built an ostrozhek there and made it a center of four neighbor pogosts - the Butkovsky, the St.Kliment, the Khrepelsky and the Spassky ones [Kniga Zapisnaya 1615]. The Sweden garrison had some problems with the natives [Jakubov 1890: 34; Widekind 1676]. After the Swedes' departing from Novgorod Land which passed near Tesovo along the Ivangorod road (in Tesovo Swedes buried the bells from some Novgorod churches [Opis' Novgoroda 1617: 133-134]) there appeared an outpost with small garrison [Rassprosnye rechi 1629; Otpiska 1631]. In 1620s-1630s a detachment of streltsy headed by the outpost head was placed there. In 1657 the Tesovo ostrozhek was mentioned among a list of towns that were under the rule on Novgorodskaya Chet' (a fiscal department) [Nevolin 1859: 175]. In that time Tesovo was a place of Russian army concentration in the war with Sweden of 1656-1657. “To make some fortifications that are expedient” was one of the order received by Tesovo outpost head prince B.G.Eletsky. He had a detachment that included 23 streltsy, 4 soldiers and the emergency of landowners and gentlemen [Gadzyatsky 1945: 27-28]. The Tesovo outpost was known also later, in 1668 [RShEO 1960: 309-310]

Tesovo outpost was the most important point of the Novgorod Land defense from North-West. The first point on the Russian side near the borderline was Osinovaya Gorka on Ivangorod road where the exchanging of deserters had ever been [Zherbin 1956: 49; Otpiska 1636]. According to the native folklore tradition there were also some frontier fortifications [Plan lesonasazhdeniy 1874]. Further on the way to Novgorod there was the St.Trinity Zverinsky monastery where was also an outpost in the 17^th c. In 1631 there were streltsy of I.Boranov's detachment (may be it was the same I.Boranov who was the head of Ivnya ostrozhek in 1615) [Otpiska 1631]. The monastic dwellings were sometimes used as a prison for deserters. And the Tesovo outpost was only the third fortified point on the Ivangorod road.

The example of Tesovo is not an accidental one. The consideration of urbanization process in Tesovo surroundings could help us to choose a direction of its studying in Novgorod Land as a whole. As we had already mentioned, Tesovo had disappeared from the sources after 1240s. During the 15^th c. a large land property of Novgorod archbishop was formed around Tesovo. In early 16^th c. the St.Kliment pogost appeared there. We do not know exactly the history of this settlement in the middle 16^th c. In the end of the century it appeared as a large settlement with not agricultural functions: there were built the State pier, where goods from Baltic sea had been ever unloaded; from that place it had been carried to Novgorod by land road. Tesovo received a new impulse to development in the years of Sweden occupation in early 17t^h c.: the fortifications built at that time were in use till the beginning of the Northern War 1700-1721.

Probably it is better to examine the Tesovo fate in the whole context of Novgorod urbanization. We can contemplate that before the end of 15^th c. the pogost centers did not develop into towns because of Novgorod that stopped any attempt to independence. The town, not agricultural functions of those centers have appeared in 16^th c. and in the Time of Troubles manifested particularly brightly. After the Stolbovsky Peace 1618 the ostrozheks built during the war mainly disappeared. Tesovo in this case is an exception connected with the building of the new Russian-Sweden frontier in the 17^th c. and not with the pogost system.
 
 

The process of the creation of small fortifications along the Russian-Sweden frontier was accompanied with the appearing of a number of war settlements near it. There we ought to speak much more on the problem of the deserters on the Russian-Sweden frontier.

The main reason for the migration of the population from the regions that had been change hands to Sweden after 1617 was the violent measures of the king Gustaff Adolph directed to the Orthodox population. Namely the religious factor was the determinant for the crossing the borderline. There one could find some specific traces in the connections between the Moscow State and its subject: the baptism, more exactly - the adoption Orthodox custom was itself an act of the adoption of Russian (Muscovite) citizenship. In such a case the population moved by any possibility had been from Sweden to Muscovite State automatically became Russian subjects.

In the 2^nd half of 17^th c. in the frontier regions of Novgorod Land a new administrative unit was formed under the name of Tesovskaya Dvortsovaya (State) volost'. Its first recording belongs to 1674-1676 [Spisok 1674/76]. The analysis of this description showed hat the villages of St.Kliment, Spassky and Budkovsky pogosts that had become deserted in the Time of Troubles were settled with the deserters - immigrants mostly from the Kopor'e district. These resettled villages formed the Tesovskaya Dvortsovaya (State) volost'. In 1733 it was changed to the St. Alexander Nevsky monastery in St.Petersburg [Imennoy ukaz 1733] and in 1775 passed to St.Petersburg Province whereas all the other settlement of the mentioned pogosts left in Novgorod Province. Probably the migrants of the 17^th c. were mainly Izhoras that had determinate the ethnic structure of this territory. Namely in the Tesovskaya State volost' and in the neighbor land property of the St.Trinity Zverinsky monastery the researches of the Izhora language and culture distinguished a local Upper-Oredezh dialect of the Izhora language. According to P.I.Keppen in the middle 19^th c. in Luzhsky district Izhoras lived in the villages: Nesterkovo, Tarasino, Kremena, Votsko (or Novoselki), Ol'khovets, Ozereshno, Novinka, Chascha, Nizovka (in 1840 resettled from Chascha), Lugi, Chernitsa (in 1842 resettled from Lugi), Pelkova [Keppen 1853]. Just those settlements in the 17^th c. were included into Tesovskaya volost' or belonged to St.Trinity Zverinsky monastery. The modern researches confine the Upper-Oredezh dialect also in the number of this villages [Kon'kova 1992; Fedorov 1983] (fig. 4).

The forming of Tesovskaya volost' in the nearest of Sweden-Russian borderline was followed with the other circumstance. According to the conditions of the Stolbovsky peace 1617 the territories of Jam, Korela, Oreshek, Ivangorod and Kopor'e districts were transferred to Sweden. The Kopor'e district in the 16^th c. included, on the top of all, Gresensky and Orlinsky pogosts. The Tesovskaya volost' appeared in 1670s on the space of borderline vast places included the villages Sorochkino Boloto, Lugi and Chernetsovo. All those settlements in 1500 were in Gresensky and Orlinsky pogosts. Consciously or accidentally but Russian officials who had made the Russian-Sweden borderline left some territory of Kopor'e district for the Moscow State to the detriment of the Stolbovsky Peace conditions [Selin 1995a; Selin 1995b]. .

The inhabitants of Tesovskaya volost' - the late Sweden subjects - were to settle lands deserted during the Time of Troubles, in the closest neighborhood with the frontier. Just those villages were in danger in any conflict situation. When the wars begun (in 1655 and in 1700s) Swedes destroyed those villages and also the St.Trinity Zverinsky monastery on the Ivangorod Road. Thus, it was completely destroyed in 1657. Till 1662 the monastery was uninhabited and in 1662-1663 the monk Theodosey, the new head and builder of the monastery, fall 1200 logs and transported them for new dwellings himself [Pamyat' 1663].

Just the same had happened in the beginning of the Northern War 1700-1721 when the enemies after the first Narva campaign, continually disturbed each other with raids that often have been of robber character [Perepisnaya kniga 1709: 67; Zhurnal 1770: 25]. All of this created the specific traces of everyday life in such settlements and the inhabitants of them had become war settlers indeed. One can mention that in the modern folklore tradition of the contemporary countryside inhabitants of those territories that are ethnically Russian the self-denomination as “Swedes” is very often. Of course this is the evidence of more “political” than “ethnical” origin of this population whose forefathers after the Time of Troubles came from the Sweden border and settled the vast lands [my interviews in Scvhupogolovo, Luzhsky district, May 2, 1991; in Kastuja, Tosnensky district, May 2, 1999].

The Moscow State by all ways tried to hide the creation of those settlements near the frontier. It played a double game with Sweden. For the first time in the position of the Peace treatment recently signed, aspiring not to let any political conflict the Moscow State sent the officials to find and to return the deserters indeed. The meetings of Sweden and Moscow representatives for the deserters changing were hold regularly. But also in the same time the secret order to the frontier state commanders and governors was created. It was directed to meet those deserters but to hide them and to settle far from the frontier [Czarsakaya gramota 1625]. After the War 1656-1657 the situation changed. Since that to State made regular settlements along the frontier. In that position all the territory along the frontier was forbidden to be sold or to be distribute to gentlemen [Spornoe delo 1700].

One of the most important factors in the relations between Russian and Sweden authorities was as we had already mentioned the religious one. And in the cultural situation of the 17^th c. it had actualized in a particular way. In the time of Novgorod-Sweden State of 1611-1617 these relations were soft (there were even some parleys about a possible contact between the two Churches [Kovalenko 1995]), but after the Stolbovsky peace 1617 the interrelations between the churches had became deteriorating. The Sweden Government tried to control the Orthodox clergy in the districts annexed and the Moscow state in the same time attempted to leave it under the control of Novgorod archbishop [Czarsakaya gramota 1619; Gramota Makarya 1619]. Incidentally the departure of priests to the “Moscow side” also furtively encouraged by Moscow State [Czarsakaya gramota 1624].

The changes in the system of frontier organization proceeded in the result of Russian-Sweden war 1656-1657. The first deal of Moscow State after the beginning of the war was the order sent to all the outposts that permitted to meet the deserters “ kindly” [Gadzyatsky 1945: 22]. The main centers of the army concentration were the well-fortified points ? Ladoga and Tesovo. There the detachments of Novgorod landowners and gentlemen stayed under the leadership of the commanders - prince Bogdan Eletsky (in Tesovo) and Boris Tushin (in Ladoga) [Gadzyatsky 1945: 27-28]. The Sweden troops had also concentrated around the osrozheks near pogosts - in Zarech'e and Izhersky pogost.

The Lavujskiy outpost was an important point of defense during that war. Now it is the only one monument of such type archaeologically studied. The Lavujskiy ostrozhek is known throw a number of documents of the 17^th c. According to V.P.Petrenko it had appeared on the place of the medieval Novgorodian fortress of 12-13^th cc. [Peterenko 1982]. Then from 1500 and till the late 16^th c. - till the building of the ostrozhek - there was a village Gorodische [VOIDR 1851: 61]. Before the confiscation by Ivan III it belonged to one of the greatest landowners of Ladoga district - Fedor Pobeditsky. The studying of the outpost by V.P.Petrenko revealed the traces of the fortress of the 17^th c. Initially one can mention that whole the system of frontier outposts along the Russian-Sweden frontier of 1617-1700 was connected with the main roads. All of them were on the roads: the Lavujskiy outpost on the road from Ladoga to Oreshek, the Tesovo outpost on the Ivangorod road, the Kostovskiy outpost on the Oreshek road. The outpost in the center of the Rozhdestvensky pogost on Pasha River probably controlled the road from Olonets to Ladoga [Czarsakaya gramota 1657] (fig. 3).

On the eve of the war at the same time with the building of the Olonets fortress there was created an outpost on the Russian-Sweden frontier in Samro volost' [Nakaz 1649]. Initially the watch over the outpost was the duty of the “arable soldiers” - the former peasants of the Samro volost' (remember the similar principle of troop organizing in Sweden). Such a practice was sampled by Moscow State being in need in money in Zaonezh'e where the transforming the peasants to “arable soldiers” caused the great indignation [Bogoslovsky 1911].

Such a system was on the Russian-Sweden frontier during all the rule of the czars Aleksey Mikhailovich and Fedor Alekseevich. At that time the main root for frontier defense were the settlers along the frontier - or the deserters, such as war settlers in Tesovo volost', either the settled “arable soldiers”, former peasants in Zaonezh'e and Samro volost'. A kind of “cheap frontier” was created. Serious changes came only just before the Northern War of 1700-1721. There is one document fixing the system of small ostrozheks and outposts in 1698 [Obysknye knigi 1698]. It could be the basic document for the making a conception of the number of frontier defenders and of the concrete defense system.

The document shows that the number of outposts on the eve of the Northern war had enlarged but the garrisons were too small (fig. 5)

Fig. 5. Outposts, outpost commanders and garrisons on the Russian-Sweden frontier in 1698.
 

Outpost	Commander	Garrison
Tesovo ostrozhek	stol'nik Fedor Naumov son Ushakov	10 soldiers
Sust'e outpost	Lev Vasyl'ev son Neelov
Shekolhinskiy outpost
Kirikovo outpost
Onezhitsy outpost	Vasyliy Ignat'ev son Murav'ev	5 soldiers
Verichino outpost		4 soldiers
Kostovskiy outpost	Grigorey Fedorov son Obernibesov	6 streltsy
Lavujskiy outpost	Yevsey Ivanov son Valuev	streltsy from Ladoga are changing after half a year
Gorochovo outpost
Outpost on Volkhov mouth
Outpost on Syas' mouth
Naklo village	?	5 soldiers and a commander

Many points of this system had existed just in the middle 17^th c. For example the outpost in Onezhitsy is known from the time of Russian-Sweden war of 1656-1657 [Pamyat' 1659]. In 1658 the Cossacks from Ladoga (as streltsy in 1698) stayed changing after half a year on the Lavujskiy outpost [Chelobitnaya 1658/59]. It is significant that in 1698 the commander of The Tesovo ostrozhek was stol'nik Fedor Ushakov - a person of high range in Moscow administration. This shows the attention of the Moscow State to the ostrozhek. But in 1698 in the defense organization we could not see any trace of former war settlements. Possibly their fonctions were at that time transferred to the troops of streltsy and soldiers. The soldiers were possibly from the Ivan Ridder's regiment placed in Novgorod [Bobrovsky 1891: 17-18].

On the opposite side of the frontier before the Northern War the Sweden cavalry stayed in Lopsky pogost and in Porech'e myza [Voenno-pochodny zhurnal 1701/05: 67].

During Peter's the Great reforming the frontier system had been significantly changed, although the attention to fortresses was still actual in the 18^th c. But after the Nischtadt Peace of 1721 the frontier moved back from the old Novgorod lands. This is out of our consideration.

In the conclusion I like to outline the possible sources that could help to take some new data on the Russian-Sweden frontier of 16^th-17^th cc.

The most significant place belongs to the archaeoloical sources. In 1998-1999 we began to excavate a settlement near former St.Kliment pogost in Tesovo, may be also near Tesovo ostrozhek of 17^th c. The data received does not let us to make some conclusion on the frontier organisation. Possibly the further excavation would tell us some more on this subject. In 1999 we also found the place of former Zarech'e pogost and ostrozhek which in 17^th c. played the same role from the Sweden side of the frontier.

The data of the contemporary folklore tradition plays a special role for the fixing (and sometimes - even for the revealing) of some archaeological monuments. The historical traditions about intervenes correspond with some reality of the 17^th c. very often. The brightest example of it is the fixing on one map of 19^th c. that introduce one wooden territory some places named accordingly “the Novgorod guard-place” and “the King's guard-place”. That wooden territory was just near the cross of the Russian-Sweden frontier by the Ivangorod road. There is no doubt that both the places correspond with some small guard-places existed in the 17^th c. We also mentioned the traditions with the indications of Sweden frontier in many places along the former borderline [my interview in the village Bolshie Sabitsy, Gatchinsky district, April, 24, 1990; in the village Konechki, Tosnensky district, April, 25, 1990]. Possibly the more purposed and deep collection and study of such data could enlighten the picture of Russian-Sweden border of 17^th c.