VRV3+PC Stolbovo, Leningrad Oblast, Russia
Stolbovo Peace — a peace treaty signed on February 27 (March 9), 1617, in the village of Stolbovo (near Tikhvin), which ended the Russian-Swedish War of 1610–1617.
The peace treaty was concluded between the Russian Tsardom (Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich) and the Swedish Kingdom (King Gustav II Adolf) with the mediation of the English King James I. Preliminary negotiations were conducted by Prince Daniil Mezecki on the Russian side and Count Jakob De la Gardie on the Swedish side.
In January 1616, after the cessation of hostilities between the Russian Tsardom and the Swedish Kingdom, delegations from Sweden and Russia gathered in Staraya Russa to conduct peace negotiations. The mediators were the Englishman John Merick and Dutch envoys. However, after two months, due to deep disagreements, the negotiations broke down, and in February the delegation members returned to their countries. Nevertheless, the need to resume talks was clear, and almost a year later, in December 1616, at the initiative of the Swedish side, they resumed in the village of Stolbovo, near Tikhvin, 53 km from modern Novaya Ladoga, on the Syas River. This time, the mediator was John Merick alone.
After two months of intense debates, the negotiations were completed in January 1617, and on February 27 of that year, the peace treaty known as the Stolbovo Peace was signed.
May 1, 1617. Ratification by Swedish King Gustav Adolf of the Stolbovo Treaty on eternal peace between Russia and Sweden. Parchment. Swedish language, the king’s title is written in gold paint, sewn with a silk cord. The king’s autograph signature. RGADA (Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts)
According to the treaty text, the Novgorod lands were divided between the two states: the Russian Tsardom returned the territories captured during the Time of Troubles — Veliky Novgorod and the entire Novgorod patrimony, including Staraya Russa, Ladoga, Porkhov, Gdov with their districts, as well as the Sumer Volost (the area around Lake Samro, now Slantsevsky District of Leningrad Oblast) and all state and church property seized by the Swedes in this territory; the Swedish Kingdom received the Russian towns of Ivangorod, Yam, Koporye, Korela, the entire Neva River area, and Oreshek with its district. Additionally, Moscow agreed to pay the Swedish crown 20,000 silver rubles — a huge sum considering the ruble’s value in the early 17th century (at that time, one ruble contained 49 grams of silver, so 20,000 silver rubles equaled 980 kg of silver). Moscow renounced claims to Livonia and the Karelian land.
The right of free trade was established for merchants of both sides. However, Swedish merchants were not allowed to travel with goods through the Moscow state to Persia, Turkey, and Crimea, and Muscovite merchants were forbidden to travel through Sweden to England, France, and other Western European countries.
Both contracting countries pledged not to entice defectors from abroad and to return those who had already crossed the border.
The Stolbovo Peace completely cut Russia off from the Baltic Sea, which allowed King Gustav Adolf to consider the treaty a major victory for the Swedish army and diplomacy. Speaking in the Swedish parliament — the Riksdag — he said: “One of the greatest blessings granted by God to Sweden is that the Russians, with whom we have long had uncertain relations, must now renounce that backwater from which they so often troubled us. Russia is a dangerous neighbor. Its possessions stretch to the seas of the North and Caspian; to the south, it borders almost on the Black Sea. Russia has a strong nobility, many peasants, populous cities, and large armies. Now, without our permission, the Russians cannot send a single boat into the Baltic Sea. The large lakes Ladoga and Peipus, the Narva field, swamps 30 versts wide, and strong fortresses separate us from them. Now the Russians have lost access to the Baltic Sea, and I hope it will not be easy for them to cross this little stream.”
The king generously rewarded all members of the Swedish delegation who signed the treaty text during the difficult negotiations.
The Moscow authorities were also satisfied with the conclusion of peace, although on harsh terms. Firstly, they achieved the return of Veliky Novgorod with its lands, which refused to swear allegiance to the Swedish crown. Secondly, Moscow, having secured its rear, gained the opportunity to continue the war with Poland without hindrance to reclaim Russian territories captured on the western borders. The head of the Russian delegation at the negotiations, Prince Mezecki, and the clerk Zyuzin were rewarded — the former received the rank of boyar, and the latter that of okolnichy.
The Moscow authorities highly appreciated the participation of the mediator — John Merick. He was gifted valuable furs — the usual hard currency of those years — a gold chain, precious stones, and Eastern fabrics.
Results of the Stolbovo Peace: Sweden returned to Russia Novgorod, Porkhov, Staraya Russa, Ladoga, Gdov, and the Sumer Volost. Russia ceded to Sweden Ivangorod, Yam, Koporye, Oreshek, Korela — that is, the entire access to the Baltic Sea. Additionally, Russia had to pay Sweden 20,000 rubles. England strengthened its trade positions in Russia.
The borders established by the Stolbovo Peace remained until the beginning of the Great Northern War of 1700–1721.
In the complex international and internal situation of the early 17th century, when the dramatic era of the Time of Troubles had just ended, bringing the country to the brink of national catastrophe, the Stolbovo Peace was a positive step toward stabilization on Russia’s northwestern borders. In 1656, stolnik Pyotr Potemkin with Russian regiments reached the banks of the Neva River, at the mouth of the Okhta River. He stormed and captured the Swedish fortress Nien-Shants, which the Russians called Kantsy (Shantsy). Then he attacked another Swedish fortress located in the upper reaches of the Neva — Shlisselburg (Swedish name Noteburg, Russian name Oreshek) but failed to take it and was forced to retreat in 1658.
Finally, this territory was annexed to Russia by Peter I, which was officially recorded in the Treaty of Nystad with Sweden on August 30, 1721. The treaty’s 24 articles fixed the state border between Russia and Sweden. According to this treaty, Russia regained the lands lost in 1617: Karelia and Ingria, and legally secured territorial access to the Baltic Sea. Moreover, under the treaty’s terms, Sweden lost to Russia its provinces of Livonia with the city of Riga and Estonia with Reval and Narva.
Sources:
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Столбовский_мир
https://tikhvin.spb.ru/19/34152/
https://ruhistor.ru/stolbovskij-mirnyj-dogovor-1617-goda.html
