Battle of Shelon

Coordinates: 58°12′N 30°46′E / 58.200°N 30.767°E / 58.200; 30.767
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Battle of Shelon River
Part of the Muscovite-Novgorodian wars
Date14 July 1471
Location
Shelon River, Russia
Result Decisive Muscovite victory
Belligerents
Novgorod Republic
Grand Principality of Moscow
Commanders and leaders
Dmitry Isakevich Boretsky Daniil Kholmsky
Strength
ca. 30,000 5,000
Casualties and losses
ca. 15,000 killed, 2,000 captured unknown

The Battle of Shelon (

Shelon River on 14 July 1471. Novgorod suffered a major defeat and ended with the de facto
unconditional surrender of the city. Novgorod was absorbed by Muscovy in 1478.

Background

The clash between the Muscovy and the Novgorod Republic was a continuation of the conflict between them going back into the late 14th century. This particular episode was caused by Novgorod's violation of the

archbishop of Novgorod or the Orthodox faith in the city (by building Catholic churches in the city for example.)[1]

Battle

The battle took place in the morning of 14 July on the left bank of the Shelon River, which flows into Lake Ilmen southwest of

Archbishop-Elect of Novgorod, ordered his cavalry to not attack the Muscovites, but only the Pskovian forces, thus limiting their room to maneuver.[3] The Battle of Shelon lasted for two hours and ended with Novgorod's defeat. According to Muscovite sources, more than 12,000 Novgorodians were killed during the battle and the subsequent pursuit. Some 2,000 men were taken prisoners.[4]
It is, however, difficult to say how accurate these figures are as the size of the Novgorodian army at this time are almost impossible to determine, and the number seems quite high given that the city of Novgorod itself probably had a population of only about 40,000 people, although the army could have been drawn from the rural population as well. That being said, the numbers may have been inflated to add to the Grand Prince's prestige and cast Novgorod in an even worse light.

Aftermath

On 24 July Ivan III executed the Novgorodian commander, Dmitry Isaakovich Boretsky, one of the Boretsky clan which, led by Marfa Boretskaya, had championed the city's opposition to Moscow. In the longer term, the defeat at Shelon severely weakened the Novgorodian Republic. According to some sources, Ivan III confiscated significant amounts of land from the archiepiscopal administration and several of the largest monasteries immediately after the battle (although most sources date these confiscations to 1478), thus weakening the independence of the Novgorodian church. He also returned to the city several times in the 1470s and arrested important boyars or entire boyar clans. However, he only took direct control of the city-state in January 1478 after further strained relations with Archbishop Feofil and Novgorodian boyars led him to send his armies against the city in the winter of 1477–1478.[5]

References

  1. ^ Michael C. Paul, "Secular Power and the Archbishops of Novgorod Before the Muscovite Conquest," Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History 8, No. 2 (Spr. 2007):262-263.
  2. ^ E. A. Razin, Istoriia boennogo iskusstva, (St. Petersburg, 1994) vol. 2, pp. 314-317.
  3. ^ Paul, "Secular Power," 260.
  4. ^ See A. K. Bate, Shelonskaia operatsiia Ioanna III Vasilevich i Shelonskaia bitva v 1471 godu 14 iuliia (Petrograd, 1915); Sergei M. Soloviev, Istoriia Rossii s drevneishikh vremeni (Moscow, 1960), Book 3, vol. 5, pp. 17-23.
  5. ^ Paul, "Secular Power," 257-269.

External links

58°12′N 30°46′E / 58.200°N 30.767°E / 58.200; 30.767

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