Pskov

Novgorod formally recognised Pskov's independence in 1348, and for the next century and a half the city governed itself through its veche, which soon issued a law code of its own, the Pskov Charter. Its walls were tested constantly: the Kremlin withstood twenty-six sieges in the 15th century alone, and Pskov's masons were counted the best in Russia. In the end it was Moscow, to the east, that ended the republic. In January 1510 the veche met for the last time, agreed to submit to Grand Prince Vasily III and saw its bell taken down, and three hundred leading families were deported to central Russia. The walls went on serving the new masters: in 1581–1582 Stephen Báthory of Poland besieged Pskov for months and launched some thirty assaults, beaten back mainly by its townspeople, and in 1615 a Swedish siege failed as well, opening the way to the peace of Stolbovo.