VYATKA IS A STRONGHOLD OF PIRACY IN MEDIEVAL RUSSIA

Mochalov Evgeny Vladimirovich, Shegulova Margarita Alekseevna

The article is devoted to the formation and disappearance from the historical arena of a unique phenomenon of Medieval Rus  the Vyatka Republic. The authors considered the prerequisites for the formation of the Republic, its connection with Veliky Novgorod, as well as a separate attention is paid to the issue of Novgorod colonization in the East. The study focuses on the analysis of the source base devoted to or related to Vyatka history (stories, chronicles, folklore and other documents). The authors in the course of the study concluded that the Vyatka Republic was a kind of «watchdog», which was first in the service of the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal prince, later of the Moscow prince. It was this circumstance, according to the authors, that later became the key reason for the fall of the only pirate republic in the history of Medieval Rus.

Keywords:Vyatka, piracy, ushkuiniki, Republic, povolniki, Anfal Nikitin, Khlynov, raids, civil strife, Veliky Novgorod, campaign, Moscow Principality.