To the north, the east, and the south new principalities were formed and governed by men who all claimed to be descendants of Rurik, and down to the end of the sixteenth century no Russian outside of this great family ever attempted to establish independent sovereignty.
For six centuries after the so-called invitation of Rurik the city on the Volkhof had a strange, checkered history.

Rapidly it conquered the neighbouring Finnish tribes, and grew into a powerful independent state, with a territory extending to the Gulf of Finland, and northwards to the White Sea.

At the same time its commercial importance increased, and it became an outpost of the Hanseatic League.

In this work the descendants of Rurik played an important part, but they were always kept in strict subordination to the popular will.

Political freedom kept pace with commercial prosperity.