The Peace Treaty of Orekhovets (Treaty of Nöteborg) was signed

On August 12 1323 at the fortress Orekhovets (Swedish: Nöteborg) after 30 years of military actions the  Treaty of Orekhovets (Treaty of Nöteborg) was signed between the Novgorod Republic and the Kingdom of Sweden, and it was for the first time that the demarcation of the territories between Russia and Sweden was made.

The Treaty read that the “eternal peace” was concluded by Yuriy Danilovich, Grand Prince of Vladimir and Novgorod, and the King Magnus IV of Sweden. The Novgorod Land lost three West Karelian pogosts (Syn.: parish, municipality) — Jääski, Äyräpää and Savolax, by that time already captured by Swedes. The text of the Peace Treaty defined the Novgorod-Swedish border. Thus, the western part of the Karelian Isthmus with Vyborg went to the Kingdom of Sweden, whereas Novgorod received eastern part of the isthmus with the fortress Korela. As a result, the culture of Karelians, divided by the Orekhovets border, on the one hand, developed under the influence of West European Catholicism, and on the other — the East-Slavic Orthodoxy.

Under the treaty, the delta of the Neva with its banks, as well as the southern and eastern part of the Karelian Isthmus were made part of the Novgorod Land. The western part of the Swedish Karelia was closed for joint international trade, however the Novgorod Karelians were given a right to use the border territories of the Swedish Karelia for fishing and beaver hunting. This right was valid up to conclusion of the Treaty of Stolbovo in 1617.

The Treaty of Orekhovets was the first agreement on “eternal peace” signed between Russia and a neighboring country. In 1478 when the Novgorod Land lost its independence and was subordinated to Moscow, the Russian state still considered the Peace Treaty of Orekhovets as a continuing international agreement between Russia and Sweden.

The conditions of the Treaty of Orekhovets were valid until the conclusion of a new treaty on “eternal peace” in Tyavzin near Narva in 1595.

Lit.: Балашов Е. А. Мир «на вечные времена» // Карельский перешеек — земля неизведанная. СПб., 1996; То же [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://terijoki.spb.ru/history/templ.php?page=balas3&lang=ru; История Карелии с древнейших времен до середины XVIII в. Петрозаводск, 1952; Похлёбкин В. В. Русско-шведский Ореховский мирный договор 1323 г. // Внешняя политика Руси, России и СССР за 1000 лет в именах, датах, фактах. М., 1995; То же [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://www.kirjazh.spb.ru/biblio/pohleb/pohleb3.htm; Шаскольский И. П. Политические отношения Новгорода и карел в XII-XIV вв. // Новгородский исторический сборник. Вып. 10. Новгород, 1961; Шаскольский И. П. Русско-шведские переговоры 1323 г. и Ореховецкий мирный договор // Борьба Руси за сохранение выхода к Балтийскому морю в XIV веке. Л., 1987; То же [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://kirjazh.spb.ru/biblio/shask_14/shask0.htm.

Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:

Ленстрем К. И. О мирных договорах между Россией и Швецией в XIV столетии. [Казань, 1855];

Russian forces have occupied Noteborg fortress // On this day. 22 October 1702.