The Council of Lords or Sovet Gospod was, according to the traditional scholarship, the executive organ of the Novgorodian and Pskovian veche

Veche

Veche was a popular assembly in medieval Slavic countries.In Novgorod, where the veche acquired the greatest prominence, the veche was broadly similar to the Norse thing or the Swiss Landsgemeinde.-Etymology:...

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The Council of Lords in Novgorod the Great

In Novgorod, the Council of Lords was said to have been chaired by the Archbishop of Novgorod

Archbishop of Novgorod

The Archbishop of Novgorod is the head of the eparchy of Novgorod the Great and is one of the oldest offices in the Russian Orthodox Church. The archbishops have, in fact, been among the most important figures in medieval Russian history and culture and their successors continued to play...

 and composed of the posadniks (the incumbent and retired posadniks), tysyatskys (incumbent and retired), and other important members of the boyarstvo. It met, after 1433, in the Palace of Facets, part of the archiepiscopal palace in Novgorod built by Evfimy II

Evfimy II (Archbishop of Novgorod)

Evfimy II, Archbishop of Novgorod the Great and Pskov from 1429 to 1458, was one of the most prolific patrons of the arts and architecture of all the Novgorodian archbishops.-His Background:...

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Valentin Yanin

Valentin Yanin

Valentin Lavrentievich Yanin is a leading Russian historian who has authored 700 books and articles. He has also edited a number of important journals and primary sources, including works on medieval Russian law, sphragistics and epigraphy, archaeology and history...

 has argued that the Council of Lords was the real governing body in Novgorod and that it controlled the veche, which was merely a sham through which the common people were tricked into thinking they were participating in government. More recently though, Jonas Granberg has called into question the very existence of the Council of Lords, arguing that it is an invention of historians based on very sparse sources and much conjecture based on other governing bodies elsewhere in Europe.

The Council of Lords In Pskov

The Pskov Judicial Charter and other sources speak of "The Lords" but it is not clear if this is a formal body or a more general term like "the city fathers" or something to that effect.