Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Novgorod Republic began its formal independence in 1136 when citizens dismissed Prince Vsevolod Mstislavich. This event marked the start of a city-state where people held the right to hire and fire their leaders at will.
The archbishop of Novgorod sat in the Chamber of Facets and headed embassies for the republic from 1433 onward. He oversaw secular court cases while supervising the largest diocese in Russia until the late 14th century.
Lübeck merchants exported between 200,000 and 500,000 Lübeck marks worth of furs and beeswax from Novgorod to Livonia in the 1350s. Silver cloth wine and herring were imported from Western Europe while squirrel and other relatively cheap furs were supplied in considerable amounts.
Sweden and Novgorod signed the Treaty of Nöteborg on the 12th of August 1323 to regulate their border for the first time. This agreement followed military conflicts including the Battle of the Neva in July 1240 and the Battle on the Ice in 1242.
Over one thousand birch bark manuscripts have been discovered in the city since archaeological excavations began in the 1950s. Archeologists estimate that as much as 20,000 similar texts still remain buried underground or burned down during fires.
Ivan III sent his army to take direct control of the city and abolished the local government including the veche in 1478. He replaced it with a namestnik or governor who directly reported to him and ordered the removal of the veche bell to Moscow.