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The earliest mention of the city, originally known as Pleskov, comes in 903. At that time, Igor of Kiev married a local noblewoman who was later canonized as St. [[Olga of Kiev|Olga (Helena)]]. St. Olga was first noble of ancient Rus to accept Orthodox Christianity. Her grandson and pupil [[Vladimir of Kiev]] (St. Vladimir) converted all of Kievan Rus to Holy Orthodoxy in 988. The first prince of Pskov was St. [[Vladimir of Kiev|Vladimir]]'s younger son Sudislav. During the 12th and 13th centuries, the town was politically attached to the [[Novgorod]] Republic. In 1241, Pskov was taken by the Teutonic knights, but St. [[Alexander Nevsky]] liberated it several months later. In order to secure their independence, the Pskovians elected a converted Lithuanian prince, named Dovmont (St. [[Dovmont (Timothy)|Dovmont]]/Timothy), as their prince in 1266. Having fortified the town, Dovmont defeated the knights at Rakovor. His [[relics]] and sword are preserved in the ancient kremlin, and the core of the citadel erected by him is still referred to as "Dovmont's town". By the 14th century, Pskov functioned as the capital of a sovereign republic whose most powerful political force was the merchant class who brought the town into the Hanseatic league. Pskov's sovereignty was formally recognized by Novgorod in 1348. The resulting Pskov Charter was a principal source for the all-Russian law code issued in 1497.

[[Category:Church History]]