Time from Phillip to Yeleazar. Solovki.

Two years after the death of Phillip, Swedes appeared on the White Sea. They were the strongest rivals of Russia with regards to the possession of the North. By that time the treaty between Norway and Great Novgorod (1251) was nolonger upheld. This treaty had stated that the tribes of the White Sea and Kola peninsulas became the tributaries of Northern Russia. Moscow principality destroyed Northern Russia.

The threat from the side of the Swedes was more than “hypothetical,” keeping in mind that the building of the first wooden fortress initially was merely to provide shelter and some minor protection on Solovki. It was seven years after the first appearance of a “potential” enemy. From this time, the monastery undertook the organization of defense of the White Sea. For the next year the wooden structure perished in the skirmish with Swedes. They were not pleased with the appearance of a fortress in the territory of the “questionable” islands.

Only three years later, the building of the famous Solovki fortress began. It became the largest regular fortress of northern Europe. Even today, the labor expense of the process of the stone building impresses anyone who arrives at Solovki.

During the years of "vague time," the cloister fortress preserved the loyalty to Moscow principality. Due to this, the Russian North remained Russian.