Posadnik

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Posadnik (Russian: Посадник) was a deputy of Knyaz in some East Slavic places assigned to rule a city or a land. Most notably, the term is known as an equivalent of a stadtholder of the medieval towns of Novgorod and Pskov.

[edit] Novgorod

Despite such legendary figures as 9th-century Gostomysl, the term posadnik was first used in the Primary Chronicle under the year of 997 to denote the most senior official of an Eastern Slavic town. The earliest Novgorod posadniks include a dynasty composed of Dobrynya, his son Konstantin Dobrynich and Ostromir. Later on, this term would come to mean the highest post of civil administration ("prime minister") in Novgorod and Pskov.

In Novgorod Republic, the city posadnik was electable out of boyars by veche to be a mediator between the public and the Novgorod knyaz. In 1354, a statesman Ontsifor Lukinich carried out a reform, introducing six posadniks instead of one. It meant that this title was retained by the person after his replacement (hence, the term "old posadnik", or старый посадник). They also elected the so-called "stepennyi" posadnik (степенный посадник) from among the "old" ones. In accordance with the reform of 1416-1417, the number of posadniks was increased threefold and stepennyi posadniks were to be elected for a six-month period.

The last of the Novgorod posadniks was Marfa Boretskaya, a noble lady who opposed Novgorod's alliance with Ivan III. When the city was annexed by Muscovy, she was deported to Moscow and the post of posadnik was abolished. Marfa is the subject of Karamzin's novella (1808).