Medieval Novgorod: The City Where Everyone Could Write | Full History Documentary

#novgorod #middleages #history #archeology

1,000 years ago, in Novgorod, northern medieval Russia, the art of writing was not reserved for the elite. Men, women, children, rich or poor: everyone wrote. To love, to argue, to advise, or to trade, they sent letters engraved on birch bark.

At that time, Novgorod was the center of an independent, flourishing, and educated republic, among the most prestigious cities of its era. Thanks to exceptional archaeological excavations, hundreds of these letters have been found. They tell the story of daily life in this distant time—the simple joys, the struggles, the anger, and the hopes of a people who, long before us, wrote to exist.

NOVGOROD, Lettres du Moyen Âge
Written and Directed by: Marc Jampolsky
Narrated by: Féodor Atkine
Production: GEDEON Programmes, ARTE France, Archipel
Format: 52 minutes – 2004
Category: Education / History

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#russia #medieval #letters #dailyhistory #discovery #gedeondoc #fullmovie #ancientwriting