The town of Pskov functions as the…

The town of Pskov functions as the capital of a de facto sovereign republic.

Its most powerful force is the merchants who have brought the town into the Hanseatic League.

Pskov's independence is formally recognized by the Novgorod boyars in the Treaty of Bolotovo (1348), relinquishing their right to appoint the posadniks of Pskov.

Up until this point, Pskov had, at least nominally, been part of the Novgorodian Land and subordinate to Novgorod, although it had invited in its own princes and been de facto independent for perhaps a century before that.