The Votes are the old Finnic people of western Ingria, from the Narva and Lake Peipus to the Luga and the Izhora upland, close kin of the north Estonians across the Narva (en.wikipedia Votians).
They first appear in 1069, when they joined Prince Vseslav of Polotsk in attacking Novgorod, and in 1149 they marched with Novgorod against the Yem. By 1200 they are tributaries and auxiliaries of Novgorod and live under their own village elders and customs. Their cemeteries of the 12th and 13th centuries (the 'Votic kurgans' of the archaeologists) show a farming people with rich ornaments; most are still pagan.
No Novgorodian fort stands among them: Koporye is built by the Germans in 1240 and Yam in 1384.
Who holds it
- Name
- none named
- Title
- the Votic communities (no leader named)
- Confidence
- high
No Votic leader is named for these years.
Overlord
Novgorod, to which they pay tribute and send men to war.
How things stand that morning
Novgorod's tributaries, self-governing; no fort, officer or church of Novgorod's attested among them. Across the Narva lie the Estonians of Virumaa (ees).
Wealth
Farming, fishing on the gulf and the Luga, furs.
Military
Levies serving with Novgorod.
Threats
- Estonian raids across the Narva
- Novgorod's demands
Customs and assemblies
Village communities under their elders; no assembly or leader recorded.
Overlord claims
Novgorod takes tribute and calls them to war; later the whole north-western quarter of Novgorod's land is named after them (Vodskaya pyatina). The Danes and the Germans of Estonia covet the land in the 13th century (later).
Places of note
- Koporye (not yet built): site of the German fort of 1240; nothing there in 1200
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: A few chronicle mentions and archaeology; nothing dated to 1199-1200.
On the map: The line between the Votes and the Izhora is drawn at the Kovashi and the Izhora upland, and the southern edge at the Luga forests; both are estimates.
Primary sources for Novgorod
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Chronicle of Novgorod (kept year by year; the Synodal manuscript written in the 13th and 14th centuries). Novgorod's own record, kept at St Sophia. Read online
- The Laurentian Chronicle (the Suzdal continuation kept in the late 12th and 13th centuries; manuscript 1377). The court record of Vsevolod III of Vladimir. Read online
- The Livonian Chronicle of Henry, Henry of Livonia (1225 to 1227). The chief source for the Baltic mission. Read online
- The birch-bark letters (11th to 15th centuries). Excavated letters and notes on birch bark, dated by the layer they lie in. Read online
- The law of the Gotlanders; The saga of the Gotlanders (Guta lag about 1220, Guta saga about 1220 to 1275; manuscript of about 1350). The law and the short history of the self-governing island. Read online
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia (en): Votians
- The Chronicle of Novgorod 1016-1471 (Novgorod First Chronicle), tr. R. Michell and N. Forbes (1914): entries for 1164-1215 read through the archive.org full-text search (scan pp. 76-106)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.