Town · Grand principality of Vladimir-Suzdal · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Beloozero at the source of the Sheksna

The Beloozero of 1200 is a wooden town at the place where the Sheksna leaves the White Lake, a little south-east of modern Belozersk, which stands on a site the town moved to in the fourteenth century.

Named in the Primary Chronicle's tale of 862, it is the old centre of the Ves, a Finnic people, and in 1071 the scene of a rising of pagan priests put down by Yan Vyshatich. It is the Rostov land's northern fur town and the gate to the Onega and Dvina lands. No prince sits here until after 1238.

Who holds it

Name
Grand Prince Vsevolod III, through his governor (posadnik), not named for 1200
Title
lord of the town
Since
1176
Born
not applicable
Family
not applicable
Confidence
low

Laurentian Chronicle as summarised in the standard accounts; en.wikipedia

Lord in 1200

Grand Prince Vsevolod III, through his governor (see Governor of Beloozero).

How things stand that morning

Held for Vsevolod by his governor.

Charter

None: Rus' towns had no charters. Custom and the prince's word governed.

Council

None recorded.

Communities

Ves and Slav settlers.

Fairs and markets

Not recorded.

Militia

Men of the district.

Walls and castle

A wooden fort with earth ramparts.

Trade and crafts

Furs of the Ves country, fish, the Sheksna waterway.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Early mentions (862, 1071) are firm; its state in 1200 is not recorded. The seat is placed at modern Belozersk; the 1200 site lay a little to the south-east at the Sheksna's source.

Primary sources for Vladimir-Suzdal

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 Hypatian Chronicle (the Kievan Chronicle compiled about 1200 at the Vydubichi monastery; the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle in the 13th century). The southern record. 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 birch-bark letters (11th to 15th centuries). Excavated letters and notes on birch bark, dated by the layer they lie in. Read online
  • The Tale of Igor's Campaign (about 1187 to 1200 (disputed)). A poem on Igor Sviatoslavich's defeat by the Polovtsians in 1185 that addresses the princes of the day by name: Vsevolod of Vladimir, Rurik and David Rostislavich, Yaroslav of Galich, Roman of Volhynia and the Olgovichi of Chernigov, of whom Igor himself was prince from 1198. Read online

Sources and studies

  1. Wikipedia (en): Belozersk
  2. The Laurentian (Suzdal) Chronicle, PSRL vol. 1, entries for 1176-1212, cited from the researcher's knowledge of the standard accounts (not fetched in this run: ru.wikipedia, fmg.ac and the archive.org texts would not load)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.