Private war of count Gerhard of Cleves
The article is devoted to the prehistory of the war between Livonia and Novgorod in 1443-1448. On the basement of the scrupulous analysis of the documents from the archive of Livonian order is shown how the private conflict little by little became a full-scale war between two states. The history of this conflict reflects a specific of the breaking point age between the Middle Ages and the Modern era. The researchers, who do not take this specific into account, take a risk to follow the wrong way, while researching the history of the relationships between Livonia and Novgorod in the middle of 15th century.