Alexander Nevsky is one of those names that everyone in our Fatherland knows. The prince, covered with military glory, who was honored with a literary story about his deeds shortly after his death, was canonized by the church; a man whose name continued to inspire generations that lived many centuries later: in 1725, the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky was established, and in 1942, the Soviet Order of Alexander Nevsky (the only Soviet order named after a figure from the era of the Russian Middle Ages). For most Russians, his name is associated with the image created in the film by S. Eisenstein "Alexander Nevsky" by N. Cherkasov.

Alexander was born in 1221 in Pereyaslavl-Zalessky 1. His father, Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, was the third son of one of the most powerful Russian princes of the late 12th and early 13th centuries. Vsevolod the Big Nest, son of Yuri Dolgoruky, grandson of Vladimir Monomakh. Vsevolod (who died in 1212) owned North-Eastern Russia (Vladimir-Suzdal land). Yaroslav (born in 1190) received from his father the Principality of Pereyaslav, which was part of Vladimir-Suzdal. Yaroslav's first wife was Konchak's granddaughter (the daughter of his son, Yuri Konchakovich). Around 1213, Yaroslav married a second time (his first wife died or the marriage was terminated for some reason - unknown) - to Rostislav-Feodosia, the daughter of the Novgorod (later Galician) prince Mstislav Mstislavich (often referred to in the literature as "Remote" on the basis of incorrectly understood definition of the prince in the message about his death as "successful", i.e. lucky). In 1216, Yaroslav and his elder brother Yuri fought an unsuccessful war against Mstislav, were defeated, and Mstislav took his daughter from Yaroslav on the Ryazan princess - erroneously) and at the beginning of 1220 their first-born Fedor was born, and in May 1221 - Alexander 3.

In 1230, Yaroslav Vsevolodich, after a difficult struggle with the Chernigov prince Mikhail Vsevolodich (the grandson of Svyatoslav of Kyiv "The Tale of Igor's Campaign"), established himself to reign in Novgorod the Great. He himself preferred to live in his father's Pereyaslavl, and left princes Fedor and Alexander in Novgorod. In 1233, Alexander remained the eldest of the Yaroslavichs - 13-year-old Fyodor died unexpectedly on the eve of his wedding. "And who will not grant this: the wedding is built, the honey is boiled, the bride is brought, the princes are called; and there will be a place of weeping and lamenting for our sins in fun," the Novgorod chronicler wrote on this occasion 4.

In 1236, Yaroslav Vsevolodich left Novgorod to reign in Kyiv (which continued to be considered the nominal capital of all Russia). Alexander became an independent Novgorod prince. It was in Novgorod that he was in the winter of 1237 - 1238, at a time when North-Eastern Russia suffered a catastrophe: the hordes of the Mongol Empire, led by the grandson of its founder Genghis Khan Batu (Batu), ravaged the Vladimir-Suzdal principality. 14 cities were taken, including the capital - Vladimir. In a battle with one of the Tatar (in Europe, including Russia, the Mongol conquerors were called "Tatars") detachments on the river. City died the Grand Duke of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodich, the elder brother of Yaroslav 5.

After the Mongol troops returned to the Volga steppes in the spring of 1238, Yaroslav Vsevolodich came from Kyiv to the devastated Vladimir and occupied the main princely table of North-Eastern Russia. After that, in 1239, he took vigorous action to strengthen his influence in neighboring lands. Yaroslav defeated the Lithuanian troops that captured Smolensk, and planted an allied prince here; made a successful trip to South Russia 6. In line with this policy, there was also an agreement on the marriage of the eldest son Yaroslav with the daughter of the ruler of a large Western Russian center - Polotsk. In 1239, the wedding of Alexander and the daughter of the Polotsk prince Bryachislav 7 took place. And in the summer of the next, in 1240, an event took place that brought Alexander the first military glory.

In the first half of the XIII century. Swedish feudal lords launched an offensive on the lands of the Finnish tribes and took possession of southwestern Finland. Attempts to move further to the East inevitably had to lead to a collision with Novgorod, which belonged to the mouth of the Neva and the coast of Lake Ladoga. And in 1240, for the first time since 1164, the Swedish army entered the Neva from the Gulf of Finland. He was led, perhaps, by the jarl (the second most important title in Sweden after the king) Ulf Fasi (the reliability of the information from later sources that Birger, later the actual ruler of Sweden, commanded the Swedish forces is doubtful) 8. It is unlikely that the Swedes' goal was a campaign against Novgorod itself; most likely, their task was to fortify at the mouth of the Neva in order to cut off the Novgorod land access to the sea and make it impossible to resist the Swedes in the struggle for eastern Finland 9. The moment for the attack was chosen well: the military forces of the princes of North-Eastern Russia, who often came to the rescue Novgorodians in external wars, were weakened as a result of heavy losses incurred during Batu's campaign of 1237-1238.

What experience of participation in military campaigns was by this time 19-year-old Alexander, is unknown. It is possible that he took part in his father's campaign of 1234 against the German crusader knights who settled in the first third of the 13th century. on the lands of the Baltic tribes - the ancestors of the Estonians and Latvians, a campaign that ended in a successful battle for the Russians on the river. Emajõgi in South-Eastern Estonia 10. Perhaps Alexander also participated in his father's actions against the Lithuanians in 1239. But, in any case, for the first time he had to act independently, make his own decisions and take the lead in military operations.

Having received news of the appearance of the Swedish army, the Novgorod prince could take a wait-and-see attitude, send a request for military assistance to his father in Vladimir, and try to gather a militia from the inhabitants of Novgorod land. But Alexander made a different decision: only with his squad and a small detachment of Novgorodians immediately attack the enemy. "God is not strong, but in truth", - said, according to the testimony of the author of the Life of Alexander, the prince, setting off on a campaign 11.

July 15, 1240, on Sunday, the Russian army suddenly attacked the numerically superior Swedes, encamped near the confluence of the Izhora River into the Neva. The enemy, taken by surprise, suffered heavy losses. The second most important Swedish military leader (called the “voivode” in the Russian chronicle) and many noble warriors died. According to the Life of Alexander, the prince himself met in battle with a representative of the enemy army and wounded him with a spear in the face 12. The battle ended, apparently, with the onset of darkness, and the Swedes were able to bury the dead. Under the cover of night, the remnants of the enemy troops boarded the ships and sailed away 13.

At the end of the same 1240, German crusader knights began aggression against the Novgorod land. During the first third of the XIII century. Knights of the Order of the Swordsmen captured the lands of the Baltic tribes - Estonians, Livs and Latgalians. The possessions of the Order came into close contact with the borders of Russia (along the river Narva and Lake Peipus). Since the end of the 1910s, direct clashes began. After the defeats suffered by the crusaders from Yaroslav Vsevolodich in 1234 and, especially, from the Lithuanians at Siauliai in 1236 (where almost all the sword-bearing knights died - 49 people), the Order of the Sword-bearers merged with the Teutonic Order, which settled in East Prussia (1237 .). The part of the united Order, which received reinforcements from Prussia and Germany, located on the territory of modern Estonia and Latvia, became known as the Livonian Order. Not satisfied with the conquest of the Baltic tribes, the crusaders tried to transfer the expansion to the Russian lands. As with the invasion of the Eastern Baltic, behind the back of the Order stood the papal throne in Rome. The conquest of the peoples of the Baltic states was sanctified by the idea of ​​converting them to Christianity, the war with Russia was justified by the fact that its inhabitants were, from a Catholic point of view, "schismatics" - adherents of the Eastern, Orthodox version of Christianity. At the end of 1240, the Germans captured Izborsk, a city on the western border of the Novgorod land. Then they defeated the army of the large semi-independent center of Pskov, and, thanks to the subsequent collusion with part of the Pskov boyars, they occupied the city. In the north-west of the Novgorod land, the Germans settled in the churchyard of Koporye (to the east of the Narova River near the Gulf of Finland). The entire western part of the Novgorod possessions was ruined by German detachments 14.

The situation was complicated by the fact that at the height of the German offensive, in the winter of 1240-1241. Prince Alexander quarreled with the Novgorod boyars and went to his father in Pereyaslavl together with his "court" (team) 15. The political system of Novgorod had certain specific features that were different from the system of other Russian lands. Here, the local boyars represented a significant force, which invited princes from different lands to the Novgorod table at their discretion. Often the princes, who did not get along with the local nobility, were forced to leave Novgorod 16. This also happened with Alexander (the sources do not report the reasons for the conflict).

Meanwhile, German detachments began to appear already 30 miles from the city, and the Novgorodians sent an embassy to Yaroslav Vsevolodich asking for help. Yaroslav sent to them the second oldest of his sons - Andrei. Soon, apparently, it turned out that he could not properly organize a rebuff, and a new embassy was sent to Yaroslav, headed by the Novgorod archbishop with a request to send Alexander to reign in Novgorod again. And "vod Yaroslav his son Alexander again" 17.

Returning to Novgorod, Yaroslavich actively set to work. He sent the first blow (1241) to Koporye, the stronghold of the invaders. The fortress built here by the enemy was taken. Some of the captured Germans Alexander brought to Novgorod, some he released; at the same time, traitors from the Finnish-speaking tribes of Vodi and Chud who lived in the Koporye region, who had gone over to the side of the enemy, he ordered to be hanged. At the beginning of the next, in 1242, the prince with his retinue, an army of Novgorodians and a detachment led by brother Andrei, sent by his father to help from Suzdal, moved to the lands of the Order. At the same time, he blocked the paths connecting the German possessions with Pskov, and then occupied the city with a sudden blow. The Germans who were in Pskov were captured and sent to Novgorod. Having crossed the border of the Order's possessions, Alexander sent forward a reconnaissance detachment led by the brother of the Novgorod posadnik (the highest official of Novgorod from among the local boyars). This detachment ran into the order army. In the ensuing battle, the leader of the detachment, Domash Tverdislavich, died, some of the soldiers died or were captured, others fled to Alexander. After that, the prince retreated to the ice of Lake Peipus (the natural border between the Novgorod and Order possessions) and took up a position near the eastern shore.

On April 5, 1242, on Saturday, the order army attacked the Russians. Forming a wedge (in Russian sources of that time, this formation is called a "pig"), the Germans and "chud" (Ests) managed to break through the defensive line, made up of lightly armed soldiers, but were attacked from the flanks by cavalry detachments (obviously, the squads of Alexander and Andrei) and suffered a complete defeat. Alexander's soldiers pursued the fleeing enemy seven miles across the ice to the western shore of Lake 18.

According to the Novgorod chronicle, in the battle "pade Chudi beschisla" (countless), and there were 400 Germans; in addition, another 50 Germans were captured and brought to Novgorod 19. The Livonian source - "Rhyming Chronicle" - names other loss figures: 20 knights killed and 6 prisoners 20. This discrepancy, however, is most likely not due to overestimation enemy losses in the first case and an understatement of "ours" in the second. Actually, the knights of the Order were the best equipped and trained part of the German army, but numerically very insignificant: according to the same Chronicle, during the campaign against Pskov in 1268, only one of every hundred soldiers was a knight of the Order 21. In addition to the knights, they participated in the battle their military servants, the soldiers of the bishop of Derpt, probably detachments of German colonial townspeople. A Russian source gives an approximate total of German casualties; in Livonian, however, we are talking only about order knights. According to researchers, in 1242 there were only about a hundred knights in Livonia, while a significant part of them fought with the Baltic tribe of the Curonians 22. Thus, the loss of 26 people killed and captured was, apparently, about half of the number of knights participating in the Ice massacre, and about a quarter - of the total number of knights of the Livonian Order.

In the same year, the Germans sent an embassy to Novgorod with a request for peace: the Order renounced all claims to Russian lands and asked for an exchange of prisoners. The peace treaty was signed on 23.

While the war with the Order was going on in the North of Russia, tragic events were unfolding in the South. At the end of 1240, Batu's army invaded South Russia, captured Pereyaslavl, Chernigov, Kyiv, Galich, Vladimir-Volynsky, and many other cities. Having devastated the southern Russian lands, Batu moved to Central Europe. Hungary and Poland were devastated. Mongolian troops reached the Czech Republic and the shores of the Adriatic. Only at the end of 1242 Batu returned to the Volga region 24. Here the western ulus of the Mongol Empire was formed - the so-called. Golden Horde. As conquerors, the Mongols began to impose their suzerainty on the Russian princes. The first to be summoned to the headquarters of Batu in 1243 was Alexander's father, the Grand Duke of Vladimir Yaroslav Vsevolodich, the strongest of the Russian princes at that time, who did not fight the Tatars (during their campaign against North-Eastern Russia, he was in Kyiv, and during the campaign to South Russia - in Vladimir). Batu recognized Yaroslav as the "oldest" of the Russian princes, confirming his rights to Vladimir and Kyiv, the ancient capital of Russia 25. But the Golden Horde was still part of a huge empire that stretched from the Carpathians to the Pacific Ocean. And Yaroslav was forced in 1246 to go to Mongolia, to the capital of the great khan - Karakorum - for approval.

Alexander, meanwhile, continued to reign in Novgorod. In 1245, Novgorod land was raided by Lithuanians who reached Torzhok and Bezhichi. The prince chased them and defeated them in several battles - at Toropets, Zhizhitsy and Usvyat (within the Smolensk and Vitebsk principalities); many Lithuanian "princes" were killed 26.

On September 30, 1246, Yaroslav Vsevolodich, Alexander's father, died in distant Mongolia. He was poisoned by the mother of the great Mongol Khan Guyuk Turakina, who was hostile to Batu, whose protege in the eyes of the Karakorum court was Yaroslav. After that, Turakina sent an ambassador to Alexander with a demand to come to Karakorum. But Alexander refused.

In 1247, Svyatoslav Vsevolodich, the younger brother of Yaroslav, became the Grand Duke of Vladimir (in accordance with the ancient Russian tradition of inheriting princely power, according to which brothers were given preference over sons). Alexander, according to the redistribution of tables, got Tver in North-Eastern Russia (while he retained the reign of Novgorod) 28. But at the end of that year, the prince, together with his brother Andrei, went to Batu. Obviously, the Yaroslavichi appealed to the act of the khan’s grant to their father, which gave the sons priority rights over their uncle to the great reign of Vladimir (later, only the descendants of Yaroslav Vsevolodich claimed it). From Batu, both went to Karakorum, from where they returned to Russia only at the end of 1249. 29

While Alexander was in the steppes, two messages were sent to him by Pope Innocent IV 30. The idea of ​​contacts with Alexander Yaroslavich arose among the papal curia due to two circumstances. First, his father met in Karakorum with the Pope's ambassador, Plano Carpini, and agreed, according to the latter, to accept the patronage of the Roman Church. Secondly, from Plano Carpini, the pope learned of Alexander's refusal to submit to the great khansha. In his letter to the prince dated January 22, 1248, the pope insisted that he follow the example of his father and asked, in the event of a Tatar offensive, to notify about him "the brothers of the Teutonic Order, who are in Livonia, so that as soon as this (the news) through these brothers reaches to our knowledge, we could immediately think about how, with the help of God, these Tatars could offer courageous resistance" 31.

The papal bull, apparently, managed to be delivered to Alexander while he was at Batu's headquarters in the lower reaches of the Volga. The prince of Novgorod gave an answer, the text of which has not come down to us, but, judging by the content of the next message of the pope (dated September 15, 1248), this answer was evasive or even mostly positive in regard to accepting the patronage of the Roman Church 32. Apparently, being in an uncertain position at the court of Batu, the prince wanted to retain the possibility of choice, depending on the results of his trip. In the second message, Innocent IV gave a positive response to Alexander's proposal to build a Catholic cathedral in Pskov and asked to receive his ambassador, the Archbishop of Prussia. But the bull did not have time to reach the addressee - he was already on his way to Karakorum 33.

The new ruler Ogul-Gamish (Guyuk's widow) recognized (in 1249) Alexander as the "oldest" among the Russian princes: he received Kyiv. But at the same time, Andrei got Vladimir. Thus, the legacy of Yaroslav Vsevolodich was divided into two parts. Alexander chose not to go to distant Kyiv, which had suffered greatly from the Tatar defeat in 1240, and continued to reign in Novgorod. Meanwhile, ambassadors from the pope came to him for a final answer to the proposal to convert to Catholicism. The prince responded with a decisive refusal 34.

Andrei Yaroslavich, having settled in Vladimir, entered into an alliance with the strongest prince of Southern Russia, Daniil Romanovich Galitsky, marrying his daughter, and tried to conduct (like his father-in-law at that time) a policy independent of the Golden Horde. Such an opportunity was given to him, apparently, by the granting of the reign of Vladimir by the Karakorum court, hostile to Batu. But in 1251, Batu's friend and henchman Munke became the great khan. This untied the hands of the Golden Horde Khan, and the following year he organized military actions against Andrei and Daniel. Batu sent the army of Kurimsa to the Galician prince, which did not achieve success, and to Andrey - Nevryuy, who devastated the environs of Pereyaslavl. The Prince of Vladimir fled, finding refuge in Sweden (later he returned to Russia and reigned in Suzdal). In the same year, even before the campaign of Nevruy, Alexander went to Batu, received a label for the great reign of Vladimir, and upon his return (already after the expulsion of Andrei) sat down in Vladimir 35.

From 1252 until his death in 1263, Alexander Yaroslavich was the Grand Duke of Vladimir. Having settled here, he took steps to secure his rights to Novgorod. Previously, the Novgorod boyars could invite princes from various Russian lands - Vladimir-Suzdal, Smolensk, Chernigov. Since the time of Alexander, a new order has been established: Novgorod recognized as its prince the one who occupied the grand prince's table in Vladimir. Thus, having become the Grand Duke of Vladimir, Alexander retained the reign of Novgorod. There he left his eldest son Vasily, but not as an independent prince, but as his governor 36.

The Novgorod boyars did not immediately accept the new order. In 1255, supporters of an independent Novgorod princedom expelled Vasily Alexandrovich from the city and invited Alexander's younger brother Yaroslav (in 1252, Andrei's former ally, who fled to Pskov and reigned there until 1255). Alexander moved to Novgorod by war, but did not storm the city, but preferred the path of negotiations. At first, he demanded that his opponents be handed over from among the Novgorod nobility (Yaroslav fled the city when Alexander approached). Novgorodians agreed to recognize Alexander as their prince, but on the condition that they forgive the leaders of the rebellion. Finally, the prince softened the demands, limiting them to the removal of an objectionable posadnik; this was done, Alexander entered the city, and peace was restored 37.

In the next year, 1256, the Swedes tried to build a city on the eastern, Russian bank of the river. Narova. Alexander was then in Vladimir, and the Novgorodians sent to him for help. Hearing about the collection of Russian troops, the Swedes abandoned their idea and sailed away "over the sea." The prince, having arrived in Novgorod, went on a campaign, and at first he did not tell the Novgorodians who went with him what his goal was. It turned out that he planned to strike at southeastern Finland captured by the Swedes in 1250. The campaign turned out to be generally successful: the strongholds of the Swedes in the land of the Finnish tribe Em were destroyed. But it was not possible to eliminate the power of Sweden over this part of Finland for a long time - after the departure of the Russian troops, the Swedish administration restored its rule 38.

In 1257, the Mongol Empire conducted a population census in North-Eastern Russia to streamline the system of taxation. Alexander Yaroslavich, who then made a trip to the Horde, was forced to agree to a census, maintaining his line on peaceful relations with the Tatars and recognition of the supreme suzerainty of the ruler of the Golden Horde and the great Mongol Khan. From the Suzdal land, the Tatar "numerals" went to Novgorod. The prince accompanied them with a military detachment. In the city, at the news of the Tatar demands for the payment of tribute, a rebellion began, supported by Vasily Alexandrovich, who was still governor there. The Novgorodians did not give "tithes and tamgas" to the Tatar ambassadors, limiting themselves to gifts to the "Caesar" (Great Khan). Alexander and his detachment dealt with the rebels: Vasily was expelled from Pskov (where he fled when his father approached) and sent to Suzdal land, and those who incited him to disobedience "cut off their noses, and vyimash eyes to others." In 1259, the Novgorodians, fearing a Tatar invasion, nevertheless agreed to the Horde census. But when the Tatar ambassadors, accompanied by Alexander, began to collect tribute, a rebellion rose again in Novgorod. After a long confrontation, the Novgorodians nevertheless lost. Following the Tatars, Alexander also left the city, leaving his second son Dmitry 39 as governor.

In 1262, in several cities of North-Eastern Russia - Rostov, Vladimir, Suzdal, Yaroslavl - an uprising broke out, as a result of which the tribute collectors sent by the great khan were killed or expelled. There was no punitive campaign from the Golden Horde: its Khan Berke at that time sought independence from the Great Khan's throne, and the expulsion of the Great Khan's officials from Russia was in his interests. But in the same year, Berke started a war against the Mongol ruler of Iran, Hulagu, and began to demand that Russian troops be sent to help him. Alexander went to the Horde in order to "pray the people from that misfortune" 40. Before leaving, he organized a large campaign against the Livonian Order.

After the Battle of the Ice in 1242, the crusaders did not disturb the Russian lands for 11 years. But in 1253 they violated the peace treaty and approached Pskov, but were repulsed by the Pskovites and the Novgorodians who came to the rescue 41. In subsequent years, the knights tried to increase the pressure on Lithuania, but failed: with its ruler, Mindovg, inflicted a crushing defeat on the combined forces of the Teutonic and Livonian orders (only 150 knights died). The defeat of the crusaders caused a series of uprisings of the Baltic peoples conquered by them. Under these conditions, Alexander entered into an alliance with Mindovg, and the two winners of the Order began to prepare a joint attack on Livonia from two sides: Russian troops were to move on Yuryev (formerly an ancient Russian city set by Yaroslav the Wise in the land of the Estonians; captured by the crusaders in 1234 and named Derpt; now Tartu), and Lithuanian - to Venden (now Cesis).

In the autumn of 1262, Russian troops set out on a campaign. They were commanded by the son of Alexander Yaroslavich Dmitry and brother Yaroslav (who had reconciled by that time with Alexander and reigned in Tver). Together with the Russian forces, the army of the Lithuanian prince Tovtivil, who reigned at that time in Polotsk, went. Yuriev was taken by storm. But a coordinated campaign did not work out: the Lithuanian troops set out earlier and had already retreated from Vendel when the Russians approached Yuryev. Having learned about this after the capture of the city, the Russian troops returned to their land. Nevertheless, the campaign once again demonstrated the strength of the two opponents of the Order - Northern Russia and Lithuania 42.

Alexander arrived in the Horde for almost a year. His mission, apparently, was a success: there is no information about the participation of Russian troops in the wars of the Golden Horde against Hulagu. On the way back to Russia in the autumn of 1263, the 42-year-old Grand Duke fell ill and died on November 14, 1263 in Gorodets on the Volga, having taken monastic vows before his death. On November 23, Alexander's body was buried in the monastery of the Nativity of the Virgin in Vladimir. In his funeral speech, Metropolitan of All Russia Kirill said: "My child, understand that the sun of the land of Suzdal has already set!" 43

In the literature, one can come across the assumption that Alexander, like his father, was poisoned by the Tatars 44. In the sources, however, such a version of his death is not found. In principle, there is nothing surprising in the fact that a long stay in unusual climatic conditions could affect the health of an already elderly person by the standards of that time. In addition, Alexander, apparently, did not differ in iron health: in 1251, the chronicle mentions a serious illness that almost brought him to the grave at the age of thirty 45.

After the death of Alexander, his younger brother Yaroslav became the Grand Duke of Vladimir. The sons of Alexander received: Dmitry - Pereyaslavl, Andrey - Gorodets 46. The younger, Daniel (born in 1261) became after some time the first Moscow prince and the dynasty of Moscow grand dukes and tsars went from him.

If the official (secular and ecclesiastical) assessment of the personality of Alexander Nevsky has always been panegyric, then in historical science his activities were interpreted ambiguously. And this ambiguity naturally follows from the apparent contradiction in the image of Alexander. Indeed: on the one hand, this is undoubtedly an outstanding commander who won all the battles in which he participated, combined decisiveness with prudence, a man of great personal courage; on the other hand, this is a prince who was forced to recognize the supreme power of a foreign ruler, who did not try to organize resistance to the Mongols, undoubtedly the most dangerous enemy of Russia of that era, moreover, he helped them in establishing a system for the exploitation of Russian lands.

One of the extreme points of view on the activities of Alexander, formulated in the 20s of the last century by the Russian émigré historian G.V. Vernadsky 47, and recently mostly repeated by L.N. choice between orienting to the East and orienting to the West. Having entered into an alliance with the Horde, he prevented the absorption of Northern Russia by Catholic Europe and, thereby, saved Russian Orthodoxy - the basis of identity. According to another point of view, defended by the English historian J. Fennell and supported by the Russian researcher I.N. Danilevsky, it was Alexander's "collaborationism" in relation to the Mongols, his betrayal of the brothers Andrei and Yaroslav in 1252 that caused the establishment of the yoke of the Golden Horde in Russia 49 .

So was Alexander really made a historical choice and can one and the same person be both a hero and a collaborator-traitor?

Given the mentality of the era and the characteristics of Alexander's personal biography, both of these points of view look far-fetched. The suzerainty of the Horde immediately acquired a certain semblance of legitimacy in the worldview of the Russian people; its ruler was called in Russia by a higher title than any of the Russian princes - the title "tsar" 50. The dependence of the Russian lands on the Horde in its main features (including the collection of tribute) began to take shape as early as the 40s of the 13th century. 51 (at the time when Alexander reigned in Novgorod and did not directly influence Russian-Tatar relations); in the 1950s there was only a streamlining of the system of economic exploitation. After the death of his father in 1246, when Alexander became the strongest prince in Northern Russia, he really faced a choice: to maintain peaceful relations with the Horde, recognizing the supreme suzerainty of the khans over Russia (already recognized by that time by all significant princes of both Northern and Southern Russia) and resist the Order, or start resisting the Tatars by entering into an alliance with the Order and the religious head of Catholic Europe behind it - the pope (the prospect of a war on two fronts to the prince, who spent most of his life in Novgorod, near the Horde border, should have seemed unacceptable, and quite fair). Alexander hesitated until returning from a trip to Karakorum and firmly chose the first option only in 1250. What was the reason for the decision of the prince?

Of course, one should take into account the general wary attitude towards Catholicism and the personal experience of Alexander, who in 1241-1242, at the age of twenty, had to repel the advance of German crusaders supported by Rome on the Novgorod land. But these factors also acted in 1248, however, then the prince's response to the pope's message was different. Consequently, something that appeared later tipped the scales against the pope's proposal. It can be assumed that four factors had an impact:

1) During his two-year trip across the steppes (1247 - 1249), Alexander was able, on the one hand, to be convinced of the military power of the Mongol Empire, and on the other hand, to understand that the Mongol-Tatars do not claim to directly seize Russian lands, being content with recognition vassalage and tribute, and also differ in religious tolerance and are not going to encroach on the Orthodox faith. This should have favorably distinguished them in the eyes of the prince from the crusaders, whose actions were characterized by the direct seizure of territory and the forcible conversion of the population to Catholicism.

2) After Alexander's return to Russia at the end of 1249, information should have reached him that the rapprochement with Rome of the strongest prince of Southern Russia, Daniil Romanovich Galitsky, turned out to be useless for the defense against the Tatars: the anti-Tatar crusade promised by the pope did not take place 52.

3) In 1249, the actual ruler of Sweden, Jarl Birger, began the final conquest of the land of Emi (Central Finland), and this was done with the blessing of the papal legate 53. to him an act on the part of the curia.

4) The mention in the bull of September 15, 1248 of the possibility of establishing a Catholic episcopal see in Pskov 54 inevitably had to cause negative emotions in Alexander, because. earlier, a bishopric was established in Yuryev, captured by the Germans, and therefore the proposal to establish one in Pskov was associated with the annexationist aspirations of the Order, recalling the more than a year stay of Pskov in 1240-1242. in the hands of the crusaders. Thus, the decision of the prince to stop contacts with Innocent IV was associated with the realization of the futility of rapprochement with Rome to oppose the Horde and with obvious manifestations of selfish motives in the policy of the pope.

But what happened in 1252? According to the information of the early chronicles and the life of Alexander, this year the Novgorod prince went to the Horde. After that, Batu sent an army under the command of Nevryuy to Andrei Yaroslavich; Andrei fled from Vladimir, first to Pereyaslavl, where his ally, the younger brother of Alexander and Andrei, Yaroslav Yaroslavich, reigned. The Tatars, who approached Pereyaslavl, killed Yaroslav's wife, captured his children "and the people were helpless"; Andrei and Yaroslav managed to escape. After the departure of Nevruy, Alexander arrived from the Horde and settled in Vladimir 55.

The following interpretation of these events has become widespread in historiography: Alexander went to the Horde on his own initiative with a complaint about his brother, and Nevruy’s campaign was the result of this complaint. these facts, while J. Fennell interpreted the events of 1252 without any constraint: "Alexander betrayed his brothers" 57. objectivity) from the recognition that it was Alexander who was to blame for the ruin of the earth and the death of people, incl. his daughter-in-law; however, no reference to higher political considerations can serve as a serious justification. If the given interpretation of the events of 1252 is correct, Alexander Yaroslavich appears as an unprincipled person, ready to do anything to increase his power. But is it true?

Alexander's complaint against his brother is not mentioned in any medieval source. There is a message about it only in the "History of the Russian" by V.N. Tatishchev, it was from there that it passed into the works of later researchers. According to Tatishchev, "Alexander complained about his brother, Grand Duke Andrei, as if he had solicited the khan, taking a great reign under him, as if he were the oldest, and he caught his father's cities, and he did not pay the khan's exits and tamgas in full" 58. In this case, an uncritical judgment is unlawful, that Tatishchev quotes, "apparently, an early source that did not fall into the annals" 59. The use of sources that have not come down to us in the History of Russia is probable, but refers to other periods (primarily the 12th century). At the same time, there are many additions in Tatishchev's work, which are research reconstructions, attempts to restore what the source "did not finish": unlike later historiography, where the text of the source is separated from the judgments of the researcher, they are not delimited in "Russian History" , which often gives rise to the illusion of mentioning unknown facts where there is a guess (often plausible) of the scientist. Such is the case under consideration 60. The article of 1252 by Tatishchev as a whole repeats verbatim one of the sources he had - the Nikon Chronicle 61. The exception is the passage cited above. It is a completely logical reconstruction: since Nevruy's campaign took place after Alexander's arrival in the Horde, and after the campaign he took the table that belonged to Andrei, it means that the campaign was caused by Alexander's complaint against his brother; analogies of such a development of events are found in the activities of the princes of North-Eastern Russia of a later time 62. Thus, we are not talking about the source’s message, but about the researcher’s guess, uncritically perceived by subsequent historiography, and the question is whether the sources give grounds for such an interpretation of events .

Andrei Yaroslavich, apparently, really pursued a policy independent of Batu, however, in his actions he relied on such a weighty support as a label for the reign of Vladimir, received in 1249 in Karakorum from Khansha Ogul-Gamish, hostile to Batu, 63. But in 1251 Batu managed to place his henchman Munke on the Karakorum throne and the next year he organized two campaigns at the same time - Nevruy against Andrey Yaroslavich and Kuremsy against Daniil Romanovich. Thus, the campaign of Nevruy was clearly a planned action as part of actions against the princes who did not obey Batu, and not a reaction to Alexander's complaint. But, if we consider the latter a myth, then for what purpose did Alexander go to the Horde?

In the Laurentian Chronicle (the oldest containing a story about the events of 1252), the facts are presented in the following sequence: first it says that "Ide Oleksandr, Prince of Novgorod and Yaroslavich, to the Tatars and let him go and with great honor, giving him the eldership in all his brothers", then it tells about the Tatar campaign against Andrei, after which it tells about the arrival of Alexander from the Horde to Vladimir 64. Since he returned to Russia undoubtedly after the "Nevryuev rati", the words "let go and with honor", etc. should be attributed to the same time. Before telling about the Tatar campaign, the chronicler says: “Prince Yaroslavich and his boyars are thinking of running away rather than serve as a tsar.” but "fight or flight"), as before. Most likely, Andrei's "thought" with the boyars took place after the Vladimir prince received a demand to come to the Horde. Batu, having finished with internal Mongol affairs, was going to reconsider the decision on the distribution of the main tables in Russia, adopted in 1249 by the former, hostile to him, the Karakoram court, and summoned both Alexander and Andrei to him. The first obeyed the Khan's demand. Andrei, after consulting with his boyars, decided not to go (perhaps he did not count on a successful outcome of the trip because of the favor shown to him in 1249 by the government of the now overthrown and murdered great khansha). After that, Batu decided to send a military expedition against Andrei, as well as another prince who did not obey him - Daniil of Galitsky, and give Alexander a label for the great reign of Vladimir. It should be noted that the campaign of Nevruy was a much more "local" enterprise than the campaigns against the princes who did not obey Sarai in the early 80s. 13th century and in 1293 ("Dyudenev's army"): only the environs of Pereyaslavl and, possibly, Vladimir were devastated. 66. It is possible that such "limitation" was the result of Alexander's diplomatic efforts.

In general, it can be stated that in the actions of Alexander Yaroslavich there is no reason to look for some kind of conscious fateful choice. He was a man of his era, acted in accordance with the worldview of that time and personal experience. Alexander was, in modern terms, a "pragmatist": he chose the path that seemed to him more profitable for strengthening his land and for himself personally. When it was a decisive battle, he fought; when an agreement with one of the enemies of Russia seemed most useful, he went to an agreement. As a result, during the period of the great reign of Alexander (1252 - 1263) there were no Tatar raids on Suzdal land and only two attempts to attack Russia from the West (Germans in 1253 and Swedes in 1256), quickly suppressed. Alexander achieved recognition by Novgorod of the suzerainty of the Grand Duke of Vladimir (which was one of the factors due to which it was North-Eastern Russia that later turned into the core of the new, Russian state). His preference for the Vladimir table over Kyiv was a decisive event in the process of moving the nominal capital of Russia from Kyiv to Vladimir (because it turned out that it was Vladimir who was chosen as the capital by the prince, recognized as the "oldest" in Russia) 67. But these long-term consequences of Alexander's policy Nevsky were not the result of a change in the objective course of events. On the contrary, Alexander acted in accordance with the objective circumstances of his era, acted prudently and energetically.

Prince Alexander Nevsky, whose biography is very remarkable, became one of those Russian rulers who are not only remembered to this day, but also revered. His battles and deeds dominate the minds of representatives of modern generations, although he himself lived a long time ago.

Birth and family

Alexander Nevsky (his biography is known, in principle, quite well) in 1221 with the princely couple Yaroslav Vsevolodich and Theodosia Mstislavovna (daughter) The young prince began to rule in his beloved Novgorod already in 1236, and his entire reign was filled with disputes with wayward townspeople. Novgorod was a free city that did not want to unquestioningly obey anyone. Alexander married in 1239, choosing the Polotsk princess Alexandra Bryachislavna as his wife. This marriage brought three sons: Daniil later became the Moscow prince, and Dimitri and Andrei - Vladimir.

and the battle on Lake Peipsi

The glorious battle, for which the prince got his nickname, took place on July 15, 1240. Alexander managed to repel the attack of the Swedish troops under the command of the famous Jarl Birger (later he would become the ruler of Poland), save the territories on the coast of the Gulf of Finland and close the issue of the Swedes' claims to these for a long time. earth. Alexander Nevsky (his biography describes this fact) soon after the battle leaves Novgorod, again not getting along with the inhabitants (and the point, as always, was the freedom-loving Novgorodians), and moved to Pereslavl-Zalessky.

However, this disgrace did not last long. Novgorod could not do without a glorious commander, because there were always those who wanted to encroach on his lands. This time it turned out to be the forces of the Lithuanian prince and Strictly speaking, the order itself was not officially at enmity with the Russian princes. A split had been brewing in its ranks for a long time. Some of the knights advocated the continuation of campaigns in the Holy Land, while others wanted the crusades to be transferred to the east, to the lands of Russia and its neighbors. Actually, few Livonian knights participated in the famous battle, most of the troops belonged to the Lithuanian prince. Prince Alexander Nevsky, whose biography is described in the article, responded to the plea of ​​the Novgorodians and returned. The battle, famous for centuries, took place on the ice-bound (although the exact place is still not known) in 1242 on April 5. The defeat of the enemy forces turned out to be complete, this defeat was hard for the order. Thus, Prince Alexander Nevsky (his biography is filled with such acts) ensured the security of the western borders of Russia.

Rome and Horde

These two battles - on the Neva and Lake Peipus - are so famous for centuries also because they were the only ones for Russia at that time. In the east, things were terrible. The Russian princes were not able to unite in time and repel the attack of a powerful enemy - the Horde, and now they had to obey the khans, travel to their capital to receive labels for the right to reign in their native lands. For this, after the death of their father, the brothers Alexander and Andrei went to the Horde. The eldest in the reign got the southern lands of Russia, including Kyiv, and the youngest - the northern ones. However, the prince still returns to his beloved Novgorod. And here another event occurs, which the biography of Alexander Nevsky (its summary should also include this fact) emphasizes especially. Despite the power of the Mongols and his own troubles, the prince does not accept help from the West in exchange for the adoption of the Catholic faith. Such an offer is made to him by Innocent IV, but is categorically refused.

After internal turmoil in the Horde itself (the overthrow of Khanshi Ogul Hashim by Khan Mongke), Alexander received in Novgorod in 1242. But he failed to reign in the city - his brother Andrei, having enlisted the support of the Galician prince Daniel Romanovich and the prince of Tver, refused to give up power. However, soon Alexander was still able to get to Novgorod. Alexander Nevsky (his biography is full of glorious victories in the diplomatic field) during a trip to the Golden Horde managed to knock out his soldiers the opportunity not to participate in the conquering Mongol campaigns. However, on the way back, the prince falls ill and dies in Gorodets, located on the Volga River, on November 14, 1263. There is a version that the Mongols poisoned him, but there is no way to prove it today.

veneration of a saint

In Vladimir, they began to venerate him back in the 1280s, but the official canonization came later. The noble prince Alexander Nevsky became the patron not only of Russia, but later of Russia, and his exploits were reflected not only in folklore and folk legends, but later in literature and cinema.

Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (1220 - November 14, 1263), Prince of Novgorod, Pereyaslavsky, Grand Duke of Kyiv (from 1249), Grand Duke of Vladimir (from 1252).

Canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in the guise of the faithful under Metropolitan Macarius at the Moscow Council of 1547. Commemorated on December 6 and September 12 according to the new style (the transfer of relics from Vladimir-on-Klyazma to St. Petersburg, to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery (from 1797 - Lavra) on August 30, 1724).

Alexander Nevsky: only the facts

Prince Alexander Yaroslavovich was born in 1220 (according to another version - in 1221) and died in 1263. In different years of his life, Prince Alexander had the titles of Prince of Novgorod, Kyiv, and later Grand Duke of Vladimir.

Prince Alexander won his main military victories in his youth. During the Battle of the Neva (1240), he was at most 20 years old, during the Battle of the Ice - 22 years old.

Subsequently, he became more famous as a politician and diplomat, but occasionally acted as a military leader. In all his life, Prince Alexander did not lose a single battle.

- Alexander Nevsky canonized as a noble prince.

Lay people who have become famous for their sincere deep faith and good deeds, as well as Orthodox rulers who managed to remain faithful to Christ in their public service and in various political conflicts, are ranked among this saint. Like any Orthodox saint, the noble prince is not at all an ideal sinless person, however, he is first of all a ruler who was guided in his life primarily by the highest Christian virtues, including mercy and philanthropy, and not by a thirst for power and not self-interest.

Contrary to popular belief that the Church canonized almost all the rulers of the Middle Ages as the faithful, only a few of them were glorified. Thus, among Russian saints of princely origin, the majority are glorified as saints for their martyrdom for the sake of their neighbors and for the sake of preserving the Christian faith.

-Through the efforts of Alexander Nevsky, the preaching of Christianity spread to the northern lands of the Pomors.

He also managed to contribute to the creation of an Orthodox diocese in the Golden Horde.

The modern idea of ​​Alexander Nevsky was influenced by Soviet propaganda, which spoke exclusively about his military merits. As a diplomat who built relations with the Horde, and even more so as a monk and saint, he was completely inappropriate for the Soviet government. Therefore, Sergei Eisenstein's masterpiece "Alexander Nevsky" does not tell about the whole life of the prince, but only about the battle on Lake Peipsi. This gave rise to a common stereotype that Prince Alexander was canonized for his military merits, and holiness itself became something of a “reward” from the Church.

The veneration of Prince Alexander as a saint began immediately after his death, at the same time a rather detailed Tale of the Life of Alexander Nevsky was compiled.

The official canonization of the prince took place in 1547.

Life of the Holy Right-Believing Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky

Portal "Word".

Prince Alexander Nevsky is one of those great people in the history of our Fatherland, whose activities not only influenced the fate of the country and people, but changed them in many ways, predetermined the course of Russian history for many centuries to come. It fell to him to rule Russia at the most difficult, turning point that followed the devastating Mongol conquest, when it was about the very existence of Russia, whether it would be able to survive, maintain its statehood, its ethnic independence, or disappear from the map, like many other peoples of Eastern Europe that were invaded at the same time.

He was born in 1220 (1), in the city of Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, and was the second son of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, at that time the prince of Pereyaslavl. His mother Theodosius, apparently, was the daughter of the famous Toropets prince Mstislav Mstislavich Udatny, or Udaly (2).

Very early, Alexander was involved in the turbulent political events that unfolded around the reign in Veliky Novgorod - one of the largest cities in medieval Russia. Most of his biography will be connected with Novgorod. The first time Alexander came to this city as a baby was in the winter of 1223, when his father was invited to reign in Novgorod. However, the reign was short-lived: at the end of that year, having quarreled with the Novgorodians, Yaroslav and his family returned to Pereyaslavl. So Yaroslav will either put up, then quarrel with Novgorod, and then the same will happen again in the fate of Alexander.

This was explained simply: the Novgorodians needed a strong prince from North-Eastern Russia, close to them, so that he could protect the city from external enemies. However, such a prince ruled Novgorod too harshly, and the townspeople usually soon quarreled with him and invited some South Russian prince who did not annoy them too much to reign; and everything would be fine, but, alas, he could not protect them in case of danger, and he cared more about his southern possessions - so the Novgorodians had to again turn to the Vladimir or Pereyaslav princes for help, and everything was repeated anew.

Again Prince Yaroslav was invited to Novgorod in 1226. Two years later, the prince again left the city, but this time he left his sons in it as princes - nine-year-old Fyodor (his eldest son) and eight-year-old Alexander. The boyars of Yaroslav, Fyodor Danilovich and the princely tiun Yakim, remained with the children. They, however, failed to cope with the Novgorod "freemen" and in February 1229 had to flee with the princes to Pereyaslavl.

For a short time, Prince Mikhail Vsevolodovich Chernigov, a future martyr for the faith and a revered saint, established himself in Novgorod. But the southern Russian prince, who ruled remote Chernigov, could not protect the city from outside threats; besides, severe famine and pestilence began in Novgorod. In December 1230, the Novgorodians invited Yaroslav for the third time. He hastily arrived in Novgorod, concluded an agreement with the Novgorodians, but stayed in the city for only two weeks and returned to Pereyaslavl. His sons Fedor and Alexander again remained in reign in Novgorod.

Novgorod reign of Alexander

So, in January 1231, Alexander formally became the Prince of Novgorod. Until 1233 he ruled together with his elder brother. But this year Fedor died (his sudden death happened just before the wedding, when everything was already ready for the wedding feast). The real power remained entirely in the hands of his father. Probably, Alexander took part in his father's campaigns (for example, in 1234 near Yuryev, against the Livonian Germans, and in the same year against the Lithuanians). In 1236, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich took the vacant throne of Kyiv. From that time on, sixteen-year-old Alexander became the independent ruler of Novgorod.

The beginning of his reign fell on a terrible time in the history of Russia - the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars. The hordes of Batu, who attacked Russia in the winter of 1237/38, did not reach Novgorod. But most of North-Eastern Russia, its largest cities - Vladimir, Suzdal, Ryazan and others - were destroyed. Many princes died, including Alexander's uncle, the Grand Duke of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich and all his sons. Alexander's father Yaroslav (1239) received the Grand Duke's throne. The catastrophe that occurred turned the whole course of Russian history upside down and left an indelible mark on the fate of the Russian people, including, of course, Alexander. Although in the first years of his reign he did not have to directly face the conquerors.

The main threat in those years came to Novgorod from the west. From the very beginning of the 13th century, the princes of Novgorod had to hold back the onslaught of the growing Lithuanian state. In 1239, Alexander built fortifications along the Shelon River, protecting the southwestern borders of his principality from Lithuanian raids. In the same year, an important event took place in his life - Alexander married the daughter of the Polotsk prince Bryachislav, his ally in the fight against Lithuania. (Later sources give the name of the princess - Alexandra (3).) The wedding was held in Toropets, an important city on the Russian-Lithuanian border, and a second wedding feast was held in Novgorod.

An even greater danger for Novgorod was the advance from the west of the German crusader knights from the Livonian Order of the Sword (merged in 1237 with the Teutonic Order), and from the north - Sweden, which in the first half of the 13th century intensified the offensive on the lands of the Finnish tribe em (tavasts), traditionally included in the sphere of influence of the Novgorod princes. One can think that the news of the terrible defeat of Batu Rus prompted the rulers of Sweden to transfer military operations to the territory of Novgorod proper.

The Swedish army invaded Novgorod in the summer of 1240. Their ships entered the Neva and stopped at the mouth of its tributary, the Izhora. Later Russian sources report that the Swedish army was led by the future Jarl Birger, the son-in-law of the Swedish king Erik Erikson and the long-term ruler of Sweden, but researchers are doubtful about this news. According to the chronicle, the Swedes intended to "capture Ladoga, simply say Novgorod, and the entire Novgorod region."

Battle with the Swedes on the Neva

This was the first truly serious test for the young Novgorod prince. And Alexander withstood it with honor, showing the qualities of not only a born commander, but also a statesman. It was then, upon receipt of the news of the invasion, that his famous words sounded: “ God is not in power, but in truth!»

Having gathered a small squad, Alexander did not wait for help from his father and went on a campaign. On the way, he connected with the Ladoga residents and on July 15 suddenly attacked the Swedish camp. The battle ended with a complete victory for the Russians. The Novgorod chronicle reports huge losses on the part of the enemy: “And many of them fell; they filled two ships with the bodies of the best husbands and let them go ahead of them on the sea, and for the rest they dug a hole and threw it there without a number.

The Russians, according to the same chronicle, lost only 20 people. It is possible that the losses of the Swedes are exaggerated (it is significant that there is no mention of this battle in Swedish sources), and the Russians are underestimated. A synodicon of the Novgorod church of Saints Boris and Gleb in Plotniki, compiled in the 15th century, has been preserved with the mention of “princely governors, and Novgorod governors, and all our beaten brethren” who fell “on the Neva from the Germans under Grand Duke Alexander Yaroslavich”; their memory was honored in Novgorod in the 15th and 16th centuries, and later. Nevertheless, the significance of the Battle of the Neva is obvious: the Swedish onslaught in the direction of North-Western Russia was stopped, and Russia showed that, despite the Mongol conquest, it was able to defend its borders.

The life of Alexander highlights the feat of six "brave men" from Alexander's regiment: Gavrila Oleksich, Sbyslav Yakunovich, Yakov from Polotsk, Misha from Novgorod, Sava's combatant from the younger squad (who cut down the golden-domed royal tent) and Ratmir, who died in the battle. The Life also tells about a miracle performed during the battle: on the opposite side of Izhora, where there were no Novgorodians at all, subsequently they found many corpses of fallen enemies, who were struck by the angel of the Lord.

This victory brought loud glory to the twenty-year-old prince. It was in her honor that he received the honorary nickname - Nevsky.

Shortly after the victorious return, Alexander quarreled with the Novgorodians. In the winter of 1240/41, the prince, together with his mother, wife and "his court" (that is, the army and the prince's administration), left Novgorod for Vladimir, to his father, and from there - "to reign" in Pereyaslavl. The reasons for his conflict with the Novgorodians are unclear. It can be assumed that Alexander sought to dominate Novgorod, following the example of his father, and this caused resistance from the Novgorod boyars. However, having lost a strong prince, Novgorod could not stop the advance of another enemy - the crusaders.

In the year of the Neva victory, the knights, in alliance with the “chud” (Estonians), captured the city of Izborsk, and then Pskov, the most important outpost on the western borders of Russia. The following year, the Germans invaded the Novgorod lands, took the city of Tesov on the Luga River and set up the Koporye fortress. Novgorodians turned to Yaroslav for help, asking him to send his son. Yaroslav first sent his son Andrei, Nevsky's younger brother, to them, but after a repeated request from the Novgorodians, he agreed to let Alexander go again. In 1241, Alexander Nevsky returned to Novgorod and was enthusiastically received by the inhabitants.

Battle on the Ice

Once again, he acted decisively and without any delay. In the same year, Alexander took the fortress of Koporye. He captured the Germans in part, and sent them home in part, but hanged the traitors of the Estonians and the leaders. The next year, with the Novgorodians and the Suzdal squad of his brother Andrei, Alexander moved to Pskov. The city was taken without much difficulty; the Germans who were in the city were killed or sent as booty to Novgorod. Developing success, Russian troops entered Estonia. However, in the first clash with the knights, Alexander's guard detachment was defeated.

One of the governors, Domash Tverdislavich, was killed, many were taken prisoner, and the survivors fled to the prince's regiment. The Russians had to retreat. On April 5, 1242, a battle took place on the ice of Lake Peipus ("on Uzmen, near the Raven Stone"), which went down in history as the Battle of the Ice. The Germans and Estonians, moving in a wedge (in Russian, “pig”), pierced the advanced Russian regiment, but were then surrounded and completely defeated. “And they chased after them, beating them, seven miles across the ice,” the chronicler testifies.

In assessing the losses of the German side, Russian and Western sources differ. According to the Novgorod chronicle, countless "chuds" and 400 (in another list 500) German knights died, and 50 knights were captured.

“And Prince Alexander returned with a glorious victory,” says the Life of the Saint, “and there were many prisoners in his army, and those who call themselves “God’s knights” were led barefoot near the horses.” There is also a story about this battle in the so-called Livonian rhymed chronicle of the end of the XIII century, but it reports only 20 dead and 6 captured German knights, which is, apparently, a strong understatement.

However, the differences with Russian sources can partly be explained by the fact that the Russians considered all the killed and wounded Germans, and the author of the Rhyming Chronicle - only "knight brothers", that is, full members of the Order.

The battle on the ice was of great importance for the fate of not only Novgorod, but the whole of Russia. Crusader aggression was stopped on the ice of Lake Peipsi. Russia received peace and stability on its northwestern borders.

In the same year, a peace treaty was concluded between Novgorod and the Order, according to which an exchange of prisoners took place, and all Russian territories occupied by the Germans were returned. The chronicle conveys the words of the German ambassadors addressed to Alexander: “What we occupied by force without Prince Vod, Luga, Pskov, Latygol - we retreat from everything. And if they captured your husbands, they are ready to exchange them: we will let yours go, and you will let ours go.

Battle with the Lithuanians

Success accompanied Alexander in battles with the Lithuanians. In 1245, he inflicted a severe defeat on them in a series of battles: near Toropets, near Zizhich and near Usvyat (near Vitebsk). Many Lithuanian princes were killed, and others were captured. “His servants, mocking, tied them to the tails of their horses,” says the author of the Life. “And from that time on they began to fear his name.” So the Lithuanian raids on Russia were also stopped for a while.

There is another, later Alexander's campaign against the Swedes - in 1256. It was undertaken in response to a new attempt by the Swedes to invade Russia and establish a fortress on the eastern, Russian, bank of the Narova River. By that time, the fame of Alexander's victories had already spread far beyond the borders of Russia. Having learned not even about the performance of the Russian rati from Novgorod, but only about the preparations for the performance, the invaders "ran away across the sea." This time, Alexander sent his squads to Northern Finland, recently annexed to the Swedish crown. Despite the hardships of the winter transition through the snowy desert terrain, the campaign ended successfully: “And Pomorie fought everything: they killed some, and took others in full, and returned back to their land with a lot of full.”

But Alexander not only fought with the West. Around 1251, an agreement was concluded between Novgorod and Norway on the settlement of border disputes and the delimitation of the collection of tribute from the vast territory inhabited by the Karelians and the Saami. At the same time, Alexander was negotiating the marriage of his son Vasily to the daughter of the Norwegian king Hakon Hakonarson. True, these negotiations were unsuccessful due to the invasion of Russia by the Tatars - the so-called "Nevryuev rati."

In the last years of his life, between 1259 and 1262, Alexander, on his own behalf and on behalf of his son Dmitry (proclaimed Prince of Novgorod in 1259) “with all Novgorodians” concluded a trade agreement with the “Gotsky Coast” (Gotland), Lubeck and German cities; this agreement played an important role in the history of Russian-German relations and proved to be very durable (it was referred to even in 1420).

In wars with Western opponents - the Germans, Swedes and Lithuanians - Alexander Nevsky's military leadership talent was clearly manifested. But his relationship with the Horde developed in a completely different way.

Relations with the Horde

After the death in 1246 of Alexander's father, Grand Duke of Vladimir Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, who was poisoned in the distant Karakorum, the throne passed to Alexander's uncle, Prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich. However, a year later, Alexander's brother Andrei, a warlike, energetic and decisive prince, overthrew him. Subsequent events are not entirely clear. It is known that in 1247 Andrei, and after him Alexander, made a trip to the Horde, to Batu. He sent them even further, to Karakorum, the capital of the vast Mongol Empire (“to the Kanovichi,” as they said in Russia).

The brothers returned to Russia only in December 1249. Andrei received from the Tatars a label to the grand-ducal throne in Vladimir, while Alexander received Kyiv and “the whole Russian land” (that is, Southern Russia). Formally, the status of Alexander was higher, because Kyiv was still considered the main capital city of Russia. But ruined by the Tatars and depopulated, he completely lost his significance, and therefore Alexander could hardly be satisfied with the decision made. Even without stopping in Kyiv, he immediately went to Novgorod.

Negotiations with the papacy

By the time of Alexander's trip to the Horde are his negotiations with the papal throne. Two bulls of Pope Innocent IV, addressed to Prince Alexander and dated 1248, have survived. In them, the primate of the Roman Church offered the Russian prince an alliance to fight against the Tatars - but on condition that he accepted the church union and transferred under the protection of the Roman throne.

Papal legates did not find Alexander in Novgorod. However, one can think that even before his departure (and before receiving the first papal message), the prince held some kind of negotiations with representatives of Rome. In anticipation of the upcoming trip "to the Kanovichi," Alexander gave an evasive answer to the pope's proposals, calculated to continue negotiations. In particular, he agreed to the construction of a Latin church in Pskov - a church, which was quite common for ancient Russia (such a Catholic church - the "Varangian goddess" - existed, for example, in Novgorod since the 11th century). The pope regarded the prince's consent as a readiness to agree to a union. But this assessment was deeply erroneous.

The prince probably received both papal messages already upon his return from Mongolia. By this time, he had made a choice - and not in favor of the West. According to researchers, what he saw on the way from Vladimir to Karakorum and back made a strong impression on Alexander: he was convinced of the invincible power of the Mongol Empire and the impossibility of ruined and weakened Russia to resist the power of the Tatar "kings".

This is how the Life of his prince conveys famous response to papal envoys:

“Once upon a time, ambassadors from the pope from great Rome came to him with these words: “Our dad says this: We heard that you are a worthy and glorious prince and your land is great. That is why they sent two of the most skillful cardinals to you ... so that you listen to their teaching about the law of God.

Prince Alexander, having thought with his wise men, wrote to him, saying: “From Adam to the flood, from the flood to the division of languages, from the confusion of languages ​​\u200b\u200bto the beginning of Abraham, from Abraham to the passage of Israel through the Red Sea, from the exodus of the sons of Israel to death King David, from the beginning of the kingdom of Solomon to August the king, from the beginning of August to the Nativity of Christ, from the Nativity of Christ to the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord, from His Resurrection to the Ascension to heaven, from the Ascension to heaven and to the kingdom of Constantine, from the beginning of the kingdom of Constantine to the first council, from the first council to the seventh - all that we know well, but we do not accept teachings from you". They returned home."

In this answer of the prince, in his unwillingness to even enter into debate with the Latin ambassadors, it was by no means some kind of his religious narrow-mindedness, as it might seem at first glance. It was a choice both religious and political. Alexander was aware that the West would not be able to help Russia in liberation from the Horde yoke; the struggle with the Horde, to which the papal throne called, could be disastrous for the country. Alexander was not ready to go to a union with Rome (namely, this was an indispensable condition for the proposed union).

The acceptance of the union—even with the formal consent of Rome to the preservation of all Orthodox rites in worship—in practice could only mean simple submission to the Latins, both political and spiritual at the same time. The history of the dominance of the Latins in the Baltics or in Galicia (where they briefly established themselves in the 10s of the XIII century) clearly proved this.

So Prince Alexander chose a different path for himself - the path of refusing any cooperation with the West and at the same time the path of forced obedience to the Horde, accepting all its conditions. It was in this that he saw the only salvation both for his power over Russia - albeit limited by the recognition of the Horde's sovereignty - and for Russia itself.

The period of the short great reign of Andrei Yaroslavich is very poorly covered in Russian chronicles. However, it is clear that a conflict was brewing between the brothers. Andrei - unlike Alexander - showed himself to be an opponent of the Tatars. In the winter of 1250/51, he married the daughter of the Galician prince Daniel Romanovich, a supporter of resolute resistance to the Horde. The threat of unification of the forces of North-Eastern and South-Western Russia could not but alarm the Horde.

The denouement came in the summer of 1252. Again, we do not know exactly what happened then. According to the chronicles, Alexander again went to the Horde. During his stay there (and perhaps already after returning to Russia), a punitive expedition was sent from the Horde against Andrei under the command of Nevruy. In the battle near Pereyaslavl, the squad of Andrei and his brother Yaroslav, who supported him, was defeated. Andrei fled to Sweden. The northeastern lands of Russia were plundered and devastated, many people were killed or taken prisoner.

In the Horde

St. blgv. book. Alexander Nevskiy. From the site: http://www.icon-art.ru/

The sources at our disposal are silent about any connection between Alexander's trip to the Horde and the actions of the Tatars (4). However, one can guess that Alexander's trip to the Horde was associated with changes on the khan's throne in Karakorum, where in the summer of 1251 Mengu, an ally of Batu, was proclaimed great khan.

According to sources, “all the labels and seals that were indiscriminately issued to princes and nobles in the previous reign,” the new khan ordered to be taken away. So, those decisions, in accordance with which Alexander's brother Andrei received a label for the great reign of Vladimir, also lost their force.

Unlike his brother, Alexander was extremely interested in revising these decisions and getting into his own hands the great reign of Vladimir, to which he, as the eldest of the Yaroslavichs, had more rights than his younger brother.

One way or another, but in the last open military clash between the Russian princes and the Tatars in the history of the turning point of the 13th century, Prince Alexander found himself - perhaps through no fault of his own - in the camp of the Tatars. Since that time, one can definitely talk about the special "Tatar policy" of Alexander Nevsky - the policy of appeasing the Tatars and unquestioning obedience to them.

His subsequent frequent trips to the Horde (1257, 1258, 1262) were aimed at preventing new invasions of Russia. The prince strove to regularly pay a huge tribute to the conquerors and not allow speeches against them in Russia itself. Historians assess the Horde policy of Alexander in different ways. Some see in it a simple servility to a ruthless and invincible enemy, the desire by any means to keep power over Russia in their hands; others, on the contrary, consider the most important merit of the prince.

“Two feats of Alexander Nevsky - the feat of war in the West and the feat of humility in the East,” wrote G.V. Vernadsky, the leading historian of the Russian Diaspora, “had one goal: the preservation of Orthodoxy as the moral and political strength of the Russian people. This goal was achieved: the growth of the Russian Orthodox kingdom took place on the soil prepared by Alexander.

The Soviet researcher of medieval Russia V. T. Pashuto also gave a close assessment of the policy of Alexander Nevsky: “With his cautious prudent policy, he saved Russia from final ruin by the armies of nomads. Armed with struggle, trade policy, selective diplomacy, he avoided new wars in the North and West, a possible, but disastrous for Russia, alliance with the papacy and the rapprochement of the curia and the crusaders with the Horde. He bought time, allowing Russia to get stronger and recover from the terrible devastation.

Be that as it may, it is indisputable that the policy of Alexander for a long time determined the relationship between Russia and the Horde, largely determined the choice of Russia between East and West. Subsequently, this policy of appeasing the Horde (or, if you like, currying favor with the Horde) will be continued by the Moscow princes - the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Alexander Nevsky. But the historical paradox - or rather, the historical pattern - lies in the fact that it is they, the heirs of the Horde policy of Alexander Nevsky, who will be able to revive the power of Russia and eventually throw off the hated Horde yoke.

The prince erected churches, built cities

... In the same 1252, Alexander returned from the Horde to Vladimir with a label for a great reign and was solemnly placed on the grand throne. After the terrible ruin of Nevryuev, he first of all had to take care of the restoration of the destroyed Vladimir and other Russian cities. The prince “erected churches, rebuilt cities, gathered dispersed people into their houses,” testifies the author of the princely Life. The prince showed special care in relation to the Church, decorating churches with books and utensils, favoring them with rich gifts and land.

Novgorod unrest

Novgorod gave Alexander a lot of anxiety. In 1255, the Novgorodians expelled the son of Alexander Vasily and put Prince Yaroslav Yaroslavich, brother of Nevsky, to reign. Alexander approached the city with his squad. However, bloodshed was avoided: as a result of negotiations, a compromise was reached, and the Novgorodians submitted.

New unrest in Novgorod occurred in 1257. It was caused by the appearance in Russia of Tatar "numerals" - census takers of the population, who were sent from the Horde to more accurately tax the population with tribute. Russian people of that time treated the census with mystical horror, seeing in it the sign of the Antichrist - a harbinger of the last times and the Last Judgment. In the winter of 1257, the Tatar "numerals" "counted the entire land of Suzdal, and Ryazan, and Murom, and appointed foremen, and thousands, and temniks," the chronicler wrote. From the "number", that is, from tribute, only the clergy - "church people" were exempted (the Mongols invariably exempted the servants of God in all the countries they conquered, regardless of religion, so that they could freely turn to various gods with words of prayer for their conquerors).

In Novgorod, which was not directly affected by either the Batu invasion or the Nevryuev army, the news of the census was met with particular bitterness. Unrest in the city continued for a whole year. Even the son of Alexander, Prince Vasily, turned out to be on the side of the townspeople. When his father appeared, who accompanied the Tatars, he fled to Pskov. This time, the Novgorodians avoided the census, limiting themselves to paying a rich tribute to the Tatars. But their refusal to fulfill the will of the Horde provoked the wrath of the Grand Duke.

Vasily was exiled to Suzdal, the instigators of the riots were severely punished: some, on the orders of Alexander, were executed, others had their noses cut off, and others were blinded. Only in the winter of 1259 did the Novgorodians finally agree to "give a number." Nevertheless, the appearance of Tatar officials caused a new rebellion in the city. Only with the personal participation of Alexander and under the protection of the princely squad, the census was carried out. “And the accursed ones began to ride through the streets, copying Christian houses,” reports the Novgorod chronicler. After the end of the census and the departure of the Tatars, Alexander left Novgorod, leaving his young son Dmitry as prince.

In 1262, Alexander made peace with the Lithuanian prince Mindovg. In the same year, he sent a large army under the nominal command of his son Dmitry against the Livonian Order. The squads of the younger brother of Alexander Nevsky Yaroslav (with whom he managed to reconcile), as well as his new ally, the Lithuanian prince Tovtivil, who settled in Polotsk, took part in this campaign. The campaign ended with a major victory - the city of Yuryev (Tartu) was taken.

At the end of the same 1262, Alexander went to the Horde for the fourth (and last) time. “There was great violence in those days from the infidels,” says the princely Life, “they persecuted Christians, forcing them to fight on their side. The great prince Alexander went to the king (Khan of the Horde Berke. - A.K.) to pray for his people from this misfortune. Probably, the prince also sought to rid Russia of a new punitive expedition of the Tatars: in the same 1262, a popular uprising broke out in a number of Russian cities (Rostov, Suzdal, Yaroslavl) against the excesses of the Tatar tribute collectors.

The Last Days of Alexander

Alexander apparently succeeded in achieving his goals. However, Khan Berke detained him for almost a year. Only in the autumn of 1263, already sick, Alexander returned to Russia. Having reached Nizhny Novgorod, the prince fell completely ill. In Gorodets on the Volga, already feeling the approach of death, Alexander took monastic vows (according to later sources, with the name of Alexei) and died on November 14. His body was transported to Vladimir and on November 23 he was buried in the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God of the Vladimir Nativity Monastery with a huge gathering of people. The words with which Metropolitan Kirill announced to the people about the death of the Grand Duke are known: “My children, know that the sun of the land of Suzdal has already set!” In a different way - and perhaps more accurately - the Novgorod chronicler put it: Prince Alexander "worked for Novgorod and for the whole Russian land."

church veneration

Church veneration of the holy prince apparently began immediately after his death. The Life tells of a miracle that happened at the very burial: when the prince’s body was placed in the tomb and Metropolitan Kirill, as usual, wanted to put a spiritual letter in his hand, people saw how the prince, “as if alive, stretched out his hand and accepted the letter from the hand metropolitan... So God glorified his saint.”

A few decades after the death of the prince, his Life was compiled, which subsequently was repeatedly subjected to various alterations, revisions and additions (in total there are up to twenty editions of the Life dating from the 13th-19th centuries). The official canonization of the prince by the Russian Church took place in 1547, at a church council convened by Metropolitan Macarius and Tsar Ivan the Terrible, when many new Russian miracle workers, previously revered only locally, were canonized as saints. The Church equally glorifies the military prowess of the prince, “in no way is conquered in battles, always conquering,” and his feat of meekness, patience “more than courage” and “invincible humility” (according to the outwardly paradoxical expression of the Akathist).

If we turn to the subsequent centuries of Russian history, then we will see, as it were, a second, posthumous biography of the prince, whose invisible presence is clearly felt in many events - and above all in the turning, most dramatic moments in the life of the country. The first acquisition of his relics took place in the year of the great Kulikovo victory, won by the great-grandson of Alexander Nevsky, the great Moscow prince Dmitry Donskoy in 1380. In miraculous visions, Prince Alexander Yaroslavich appears as a direct participant in both the Battle of Kulikovo itself and the Battle of Molodi in 1572, when the troops of Prince Mikhail Ivanovich Vorotynsky defeated the Crimean Khan Devlet Giray just 45 kilometers from Moscow.

The image of Alexander Nevsky is seen over Vladimir in 1491, a year after the final overthrow of the Horde yoke. In 1552, during a campaign against Kazan, which led to the conquest of the Kazan Khanate, Tsar Ivan the Terrible performed a prayer service at the tomb of Alexander Nevsky, and during this prayer service a miracle occurred, regarded by everyone as a sign of the coming victory. The relics of the holy prince, which remained until 1723 in the Vladimir Nativity Monastery, exuded numerous miracles, information about which was carefully recorded by the monastery authorities.

A new page in the veneration of the holy and faithful Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky began in the 18th century, under the emperor Peter the Great. The winner of the Swedes and the founder of St. Petersburg, which became a “window to Europe” for Russia, Peter saw in Prince Alexander his immediate predecessor in the fight against Swedish dominance in the Baltic Sea and hastened to transfer the city he founded on the banks of the Neva under his heavenly patronage. Back in 1710, Peter ordered that the name of St. Alexander Nevsky be included in the holidays during divine services as a prayer representative for the “Neva Country”. In the same year, he personally chose a place to build a monastery in the name of the Holy Trinity and St. Alexander Nevsky - the future Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Peter wanted to transfer the relics of the holy prince here from Vladimir.

The wars with the Swedes and the Turks slowed down the fulfillment of this desire, and only in 1723 did they begin to fulfill it. On August 11, with all due solemnity, the holy relics were carried out of the Nativity Monastery; the procession went to Moscow, and then to St. Petersburg; everywhere she was accompanied by prayers and crowds of believers. According to Peter's plan, the holy relics were supposed to be brought to the new capital of Russia on August 30 - on the day of the conclusion of the Treaty of Nystadt with the Swedes (1721). However, the distance of the journey did not allow this plan to be carried out, and the relics arrived in Shlisselburg only on October 1. By order of the emperor, they were left in the Shlisselburg Church of the Annunciation, and their transfer to St. Petersburg was postponed until next year.

The meeting of the shrine in St. Petersburg on August 30, 1724 was distinguished by special solemnity. According to legend, on the last leg of the journey (from the mouth of the Izhora to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery), Peter personally ruled the galley with a precious cargo, and his closest associates, the first dignitaries of the state, were at the oars. At the same time, the annual celebration of the memory of the holy prince was established on the day of the transfer of relics on August 30.

Today the Church celebrates the memory of the holy and faithful Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky twice a year: on November 23 (December 6, New Style) and on August 30 (September 12).

Days of the celebration of St. Alexander Nevsky:

• May 23 (June 5, New Style) - Cathedral of the Rostov-Yaroslavl Saints
• August 30 (September 12 according to the New Style) - the day of the transfer of relics to St. Petersburg (1724) - the main
• November 14 (November 27, New Style) - death day in Gorodets (1263) - canceled
• November 23 (December 6, New Style) - the day of burial in Vladimir, in the schema of Alexy (1263)

Ancient Kiev antiquity collapsed and perished. On its ruins, a new people and a new state arose. In that critical age, Russia was especially vulnerable. It could disappear, disintegrate under the onslaught of external enemies. Prince Alexander played the role of a guard who gave the country a respite, so necessary for survival.

Russian ship in a stormy sea

By his time, the old, mighty Russia had decayed.

Yes, Russia experienced the greatest flourishing of culture in the 11th-13th centuries. Monumental temples were erected, Russian painters mastered icon painting, mosaics and book miniatures, Russian jewelers adopted the finest work technique from Byzantium, Russian scribes learned how to create exquisitely complex, and, moreover, absolutely independent works.

But all this splendor was accompanied by a growing political crisis. The Russian ship seemed to have fallen into a storm zone, and hurricane winds tore the sails from the masts, broke the oars, and crushed the sides.

And now the storm strip, terrible, costly, is replaced not by a lull, but by a monstrous hurricane. Batu appeared with his hordes. The rotten structure of the Russian ship could not withstand such an onslaught. The wooden body rose above the ocean, swirled in a giant whirlwind and crashed onto the rocks a step away from the cliff. There is no strength to be removed from the stone teeth sticking out of the bottom of the sea. There is no way to fix the ship. And the waves pull him to a terrible line, where the water boils, from where there is only one way - overthrow, death, disintegration into small fragments.

After the hurricane invasion of the Mongol-Tatar hordes of Batu in 1237-1240, when the Russian power was crushed and dozens of cities were devastated, a system of heavy dependence on the Horde conquerors began to take shape, based on fear of new invasions. Novgorod and Pskov lands, fortunately, escaped a devastating defeat. But they experienced a strong onslaught from the Swedes, Germans, Lithuanians.
Russia turned into a second-rate region of Eastern Europe, weakened, split into many small and weak in the military-political sense of the principalities. It was saved from the final collapse and death by the efforts of a few selfless, gifted and far-sighted individuals.

Of these, Prince Alexander Yaroslavich, nicknamed Nevsky, is more famous than others.
Several years of fierce struggle for the inviolability of the Novgorod and Pskov borders brought him immortal fame. The finest hour of his life was the famous Battle of the Ice - the victory over the German army on the ice of Lake Peipsi.

But after this triumph, the prince lived for another two decades. And he had to solve problems, in comparison with which the defeat of German knighthood is a puzzle in a children's magazine.
Once huge and mighty, and now broken beyond recognition, the ship of Russia froze on stones in front of the abyss. He was pushed to fall - both by his own fools and other people's wise men ... Alexander Yaroslavich stood with a drawn sword next to a helpless wooden carcass and drove away those who could, willingly or unwillingly, send the unfortunate bulk into the abyss. And when relative peace was established, he changed his sword to a carpenter's ax and worked tirelessly to restore the ship's seaworthiness, push it from the stones and take it away from the disastrous cliff.

Sword, axe, icy water, shadows of enemies in the distance, a barely living ruin of Russia and a stubborn man who still hopes to save the heritage of his ancestors. He was very tired, but, gritting his teeth, he still does his job, mentally calling on God for help. Sweat is pouring from him. Deep night all around, dawn will not come soon. Cold.

This is how Alexander Yaroslavich should be remembered.

On the defense of the Novgorod region

Prince Alexander was born on May 13, 1221. He was the second son of Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich of Pereyaslavl from Princess Rostislava of Toropets, at the baptism of Theodosius.

Father enjoyed great prestige in Novgorod the Great. Freedom-loving and autocratic Novgorodians several times invited him to reign in their rich land, then quarreled, drove him away and invited him again. Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, due to his imperious nature, had difficulty getting along with the Novgorod freemen. But he had the gift of a military leader and brought victories from campaigns against the Finns, Germans and Lithuanians. Novgorodians firmly hoped for his martial art ...

Leaving Novgorod, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich often left young princes in his place. In the mid-30s of the XIII century, his father began to take Alexander on campaigns.

Then the Novgorodians were opposed by a strong and dangerous enemy - the German knightly Order of the Sword, formed in 1202. His tasks included seizing lands in the Baltic states (Livonia) and converting the local population to the Roman Catholic faith. The order led a vigorous offensive. At first, the knights conquered pagan tribes, but then clashed with the completely Christian Polotsk principality. Fighting with the armies of Russian princes, the Germans either kept the sword from cruel extermination, seeing Christians in front of them, or forgot about the Christian brotherhood and chopped, cut, and hung. So, having taken the city of Fellin (Viljandi), they hanged the entire Russian garrison ...

Religious affinity hindered their passion for conquest very little.

From 1236 to 1240, Alexander Yaroslavich reigned continuously in Novgorod, fulfilling the will of his father. He occupied the throne of Kyiv and was in desperate need of a strong rear.

Yaroslav's affairs went very badly in 1238. A destructive whirlwind of the Batu invasion swept through North-Eastern Russia. Cities were in ruins, many princes lay down in the damp earth.

Circumstances forced Yaroslav Vsevolodovich to move from Kyiv to Vladimir. Having moved to the North-East, he tried to restore a little bit of order in a country that had been brought to complete chaos.

Novgorod almost escaped the horrors of the Mongol-Tatar conquest. The fire touched it along the edges: Torzhok fell, and after that the victorious fogs wedged shallowly into the Novgorod lands and soon turned back.

The eldest of the surviving sons of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, his protege in wealthy Novgorod and quite an adult for the affairs of government, automatically became one of the key figures on the "chessboard" of Northern Russia. A huge responsibility fell on the shoulders of Prince Alexander: the defense of the Novgorod borders from warlike neighbors. And those, hoping to take advantage of the difficult situation of Russia, increased pressure on the Novgorod region.

In 1239 or 1240, Alexander Yaroslavich "cut down" with the Novgorodians a number of small fortresses ("towns") along the Shelon River.

In 1237, at the direction of the Pope of Rome, the forces of the Order of the Sword were replenished: it was combined with the mighty Teutonic Order. New detachments of knights arrived from Germany to help.

But the first blow to Northern Russia was delivered not by them, but by the Swedes.

In the summer of 1240, a Swedish flotilla led by Jarl Ulf Fasi and the son-in-law of King Eric XI Birger Magnusson entered the mouth of the Neva. With them arrived the Catholic clergy - some "piskups", as well as the militia of the Finno-Ugric peoples of sum and em. Most likely, the Swedish military leaders intended to fortify themselves in these places: to set up a fortress, garrison it, gradually put the surroundings under control, primarily Ladoga. And that means grabbing a hefty slice of the Novgorod region.

The hagiographic tale reports the following about preparations for the battle with the Swedes: the enemy leader "... came to the Neva, intoxicated with madness, and sent his ambassadors, proud, to Novgorod to Prince Alexander, saying:" If you can, defend yourself, for I am already here and ruining the land yours." Alexander, having heard such words, flared up in his heart and entered the church of Hagia Sophia, and, falling on his knees before the altar, began to pray with tears: nations, you commanded to live without transgressing foreign borders. And, remembering the words of the prophet, he said: “Judge, Lord, those who offend me and protect from those who fight with me, take up arms and a shield and stand to help me.” And, having finished his prayer, he stood up and bowed to the archbishop. The archbishop was then Spiridon, he blessed him and released him. The prince, leaving the church, wiped away his tears and said, in order to encourage his squad: “God is not in power, but in truth.”

The Swedish camp was located near the confluence of the Izhora River with the Neva. He was attacked by Russian detachments on Sunday, July 15 at about 10 am. The battle dragged on for many hours. In the end, the Swedes could not stand the battle and went to the ships, giving up their foothold on the shore. They had to fill two ships with the dead bodies of noble (“higher”) warriors, and others, as Russian sources say, were buried in a common pit “without number”.

The victory brought Alexander Yaroslavich great fame. This success added the honorary nickname "Nevsky" to the prince's name.

In the same year, Alexander, having quarreled with the Novgorodians, left them.

During his absence, many troubles happened. The Germans occupied Pskov, took the town of Tesov and founded the Koporye fortress near the coast of the Gulf of Finland. Russian merchants became victims of knightly robbery 30 versts from Novgorod.

Then the Novgorodians, feeling mortal danger, considered it good to ask the Grand Duke Yaroslav for support and for sending a young hero - his son. Alexander Yaroslavich reluctantly agreed and received from his father to help the Vladimir-Suzdal squad, led by his younger brother. In 1241, Alexander rode with all his military strength to Novgorod, and "the people of Novgorod were glad", exhausted by the merciless enemy.

At that time, Alexander Nevsky was only 20 years old. The young warrior began to prepare a large counteroffensive against the Germans and their allies.

Yaroslavich acted swiftly: Koporye fell under his blows. There the prince took many prisoners. According to the hagiographic story about Alexander Yaroslavich, he "... hung some, took others with him, and others, having pardoned, let him go, for he was immensely merciful." In that ferocious time, it was indeed a great mercy to simply let go of those who built a fortress on your land.

Battle of the Ice Map

In the winter of 1241/1242, Alexander's army again went on a campaign. Soon Pskov was returned to her.
The main clash with the German knights took place on April 5, 1242, on the ice of Lake Peipsi, “on the ridge”, not far from the Voronii stone rock. Alexander Yaroslavich won.
The battle on the ice decided the outcome of a great war. The Order was forced to send an embassy headed by Andreas von Stirland to Novgorod "with a bow"; he made peace, abandoning all previously conquered Novgorod and Pskov territories.

The moral significance of the Battle on the Ice is extremely great. It is even more significant than the political consequences. Russia was bleeding. Russia weakened under the blows of the Mongol-Tatars. From a distance, she looked like easy prey. But the Battle on the Ice showed that there was still a force ready to bury the hurried conquerors.

These two battles - on the Neva and Lake Peipsi - the struggle for dominance in the Baltic states and on the lands of North-Western Russia was by no means limited.

Yaroslav Vsevolodovich and Alexander Nevsky often had to fight off Lithuanian raids. In 1239, the Russian army expelled the Lithuanian prince who settled there from Smolensk. In 1245, Lithuania broke into Russian lands near Torzhok. The local prince went out to fight the invaders, but was defeated. Then Alexander Nevsky arrived with the Novgorod army, took away the entire “full” and laid down eight Lithuanian princes in a fierce battle near Toropets. Here, on the borders of the Novgorod region, the prince still had many more battles to fight. The chronicle of the great war on the northern borders of Russia in the middle of the 13th century resembles a red-hot furnace, into which dry firewood is continuously thrown so that the flame does not subside.

Negotiations with the Pope

Pope Innocent IV twice appealed to Alexander Yaroslavich with a proposal to submit to the papal throne. Both messages of Innocent IV have clear dates: January 22 and September 15, 1248.

In 1246, returning to Russia from a trip to Karakorum, to the emperor of the great Mongol Empire, Grand Duke Yaroslav Vsevolodovich died. Now Alexander himself had to "go to the Tatars" for the first time - for a label to reign. In the second half of 1247, or at the beginning of 1248, Alexander Yaroslavich left Russia and went to Batu's headquarters. He could read the first epistle of the Roman high priest only there, in the Horde. Obviously, the papal letter was delivered to him by sending a messenger. Having familiarized himself with its content, the prince decided to provide himself with a “quiet rear” in a beautiful move. He had a long trip to Karakorum ahead of him. Alexander Yaroslavich did not even imagine when he would be able to return, but he understood that the path was not close. During this time, the order Germans in the Baltic states can go on the offensive. Yes, and the Swedes were able to deal a serious blow. But as long as Innocent IV is confident that he will be able to bring Novgorod under the arm of the Western Church without bloodshed, by mere embassy speeches, he will probably keep his spiritual children from armed adventures. And what else does Russia need on the western borders? Peace, only peace. Especially when their main defender is missing ...

So a reply letter went to Rome, containing some promises in a positive way and creating the illusion of success for the Roman high priest. Alexander Yaroslavich hoped in this way to at least temporarily weaken the onslaught of his western neighbors on Northern Russia, nothing more.

Arriving in Novgorod, the papal ambassadors did not find him: Alexander Yaroslavich would not return there soon. And the second letter of Innokenty did not find the prince at Batu either. Alexander Yaroslavich was moving east, into the heart of the Mongol Empire...

When he returned from distant wanderings, Rome received the usual "no". The talks did not lead to any practical steps. Catholicism has not advanced an inch with us.

Under the heel of the Horde

Alexander Yaroslavich spent two years away from Russia - 1248 and 1249. Wandering through the vast Empire of the Mongols, he fully realized for the first time that Russia was opposed not just by another people of the steppes, but by a monster state, hitherto unseen, with immeasurable military potential.

Prince Alexander returned only towards the end of 1249, and, in the words of the chronicler, "there was great joy in Novgorod." His younger brother, Andrei, returned with him.

Sartak. Pavel Ryzhenko. Part of the triptych The Sun of the Russian Land. 2008–2009

After the return of the Yaroslavichs from the Horde, the younger brother of Alexander, Andrei, became the sovereign of Vladimir. He also came to the supreme power not by seniority, bypassing several applicants who had more rights to the throne. However, perhaps this was the will of the Tatars, and he did not consciously seek the throne of Vladimir, but only became the object of the Khan's political intrigue. Apparently, this move of the Horde was directed to the political split of Russia.
While he was in charge in Vladimir, Alexander Yaroslavich, who received reign in Kyiv and Novgorod from the Mongols, planned to establish business in South Russia. But ruin and desertion reigned there, so that his plans were not destined to come true.

Andrei Yaroslavich did not know how to get along with the Horde and refused to serve the Khan. In 1252, for the obstinacy of Grand Duke Andrei Yaroslavich and his brother Yaroslav Yaroslavich, who joined him, the Tatar tumens under the command of the commander Nevryuy fell upon Vladimir Rus. The brothers, fearing revenge from the Tatars, fled in advance. But Nevruy overtook them. The regiments of the two Yaroslavich brothers were defeated in a fierce battle near Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, and the Grand Duke himself fled to Sweden, from where he returned only a few years later. Yaroslav Yaroslavich was sheltered by Ladoga, and then Pskov. The land experienced a new ruin: the Horde stole many captives, took away the cattle from the peasants.
Andrey Yaroslavich, thus, in recklessness and youth, laid down the Russian rati to no avail.

When Russia bled from the "Nevryuev rati", Alexander Nevsky was in the Horde (shortly before that he again went there on political affairs) and did not provide any support to the brothers. Could he help them somehow? Unknown. And, by and large, highly doubtful. What actions could Alexander Yaroslavich take while sitting with the Khan?
After the flight of Andrei, Alexander Yaroslavich himself became the Grand Duke (1252). The townspeople and the clergy of Vladimir, triumphant, met the sovereign "from the cross" at the Golden Gate. He ruled North-Eastern Russia for eleven years, until his death.
First of all, Alexander Yaroslavich restored the temples destroyed during the "Nevryuev rati", gathered the fled townspeople and farmers, helped the land to rise from ruin. Then he began a difficult political game. With one hand he had to fight off his western neighbors, with the other he had to flatter the Horde, averting the danger of new raids and keeping the junior princes in obedience. A lot of time was spent on trips to the Horde, but without "Horde diplomacy" from now on, no big deal could be solved in Russia ...

Nevertheless, Alexander Yaroslavich found time for a long pilgrimage to the shrines of Rostov. The pilgrimage took place on Holy Week 1259. The Grand Duke of Vladimir was an example of a real Orthodox sovereign to his subjects. For him, the deeds of faith were as important as the deeds of the sword. “And the days of his life multiplied in great glory, for he loved priests, and monks, and the poor, he honored metropolitans and bishops and listened to them, as to Christ himself,” says the hagiographic story about him.

It is curious that Metropolitan Kirill, elected by the South Russian clergy and having his residence in Kyiv, dealt more readily with Alexander Nevsky than with the princes of Galicia and Volhynia. He spent a significant part of his stay at the bishop's chair in North-Eastern Russia, and not in Kyiv. Apparently, Metropolitan Kirill found in Alexander Yaroslavich a sovereign who was in charge of the affairs of the Church.

The most difficult and, as they say now, "unpopular" task of his reign was to ensure proper taxation in favor of the Horde. Only in this way could Alexander Yaroslavich save Russia from the new Nevryuev rati.

But it was the city that was most indebted to his military prowess that reacted worst of all to the prospect of paying tribute to the Horde. Great unfaithful Novgorod.

The year 1257 brought black news to the Novgorodians: "Nizov" Russia (Ryazan, Vladimir, Suzdal, Murom, etc.) gave the Horde a "number". In other words, they allowed us to collect information for tax purposes. Following them came the turn of Novgorod. The local population, unfamiliar with the nightmare of the Horde raids, not conquered by the Mongol-Tatars, who could not stand the power of their representatives, the Basques, was indignant. The ancient Novgorod freemen did not allow the thought of such a humiliation. The chronicle says: "People are confused." Then Alexander Yaroslavich himself moved to Novgorod with "Tatar ambassadors." He saved this land more than once from foreign power. But now the prince's anger knew no bounds. He saw how Russia perished under the Tatar swords, how great regiments in battles with a huge army of the Horde lay down like beveled ears - not once, not two, not three. And he, like no one else, understood: if Novgorod's liberty is allowed to continue to bloom and smell sweet, the punitive army will arrive at the walls of the city immediately. And nothing will remain of his riches, nor of his pride. Those daredevils who are now so nice to tear their throats at the veche, away from the deadly fogs, will fall.
Having humbled Novgorod, Alexander Nevsky saved it. With the Novgorodians, who saw strength, the prince made peace, received gifts from them for the khan. But the Novgorodians still did not agree to give the "number". A year and a half later, Alexander Yaroslavich nevertheless forced the proud vecheviks to do it. They were threatened with a new campaign: “The regiments are already gathering!” And the Novgorodians submitted. Novgorod has become a tributary of the Horde... Bitterly, sadly. But the firebrands of Novgorod are a much sadder scenario than Novgorod, which agreed to pay Tatar taxes.

Instead of the Horde invasion, fires and devastation, something completely different happened: soon Alexander Yaroslavich concluded a trade agreement with Gotland that was beneficial for Novgorod ...

Anti Horde uprising

Forces to repulse the Mongol authorities accumulated gradually, under the guise of unconditional submission to the khans.

In the early 60s of the XIII century, the time came for a trial strike. In the cities of North-Eastern Russia, the tax-farmers, the Mohammedans (Bukharians or people from the Volga Bulgaria), who were called “besermens” in the sources, rampaged. From their requisitions, the Russians experienced, as the chronicle says, "fierce languor." A Muslim representative of the Horde, Kutlubiy, came to Yaroslavl, from whom “a desecration of the churches” also came. Under Kutlubiy, a certain henchman served - the former monk Zosima, who converted to Islam "drunkard" and "blasphemer". Zosima especially raged along with his master. The chronicle calls it "Satan's vessel".

The devastation emanating from the Horde and their minions was barely tolerated. And the Horde power over Russia in those years wavered: bloody feuds began between the khans, which dragged on for several years.

It was then, in 1262, that an uprising broke out, which at once covered a vast territory. In Rostov, Suzdal, Vladimir, Yaroslavl, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky and Ustyug the Great, “there was a veche,” and God “put the wrath of the peasants into the heart.” Farmers were killed or expelled from the cities. Zosima also died, and the Yaroslavl people "thrown his body to dogs and crows to be devoured."
The support provided by the insurgent Alexander Nevsky (if not the coordinating role of the prince) is evidenced by a line in the Ustyug Chronicle, which reports on the sending of letters on his behalf, "that the Tatars should be beaten."

What did the rebels achieve? Russia has not ceased to be a vassal of the Horde. Russia did not stop paying tribute. The Russian princes, as before, had to go to every new khan, so that he would approve their power in the reign. But the lands of Alexander Yaroslavich were spared the most severe form of dependence - when the Horde tribute is collected by ferocious tax-farmers, and not by the princes themselves. In addition, it was possible to repel an attempt to belittle the Orthodox Church on the part of the Horde Mohammedans.

In other words, although the uprising did not liberate Russia, it nevertheless ended successfully and brought some relief to the people.

But the Grand Duke nevertheless went to the Horde: "for Christians with filthy ... to overcome", that is, to beg for peace to his land. Either due to his efforts, or because of the tense foreign policy situation, the Golden Horde Khan Berke did not send a punitive expedition.

demise

Khan detained Alexander Yaroslavich in the Horde for a long time. The prince fell ill when he was about to return. having accepted the schema on November 14, 1263, Alexander Yaroslavich ended his earthly journey in Gorodets.

Metropolitan Kirill said about the death of the great defender of Russia: “The sun of the Russian land has set!” And the Novgorod chronicler, grieving over the death of the prince, wrote: “Give, Lord the Merciful, to see your face in the next century, for you have labored for Novgorod and for all the Russian land.”
The life story about Alexander Yaroslavich tells about the posthumous miracle performed through him by the Lord God: “It was then a marvelous miracle and worthy of memory. When his holy body (Alexander Yaroslavich. - D.V.) was placed in the tomb, then Sebastian the Economist and Kirill the Metropolitan wanted to unclench his hand in order to put in a spiritual letter. He, as if alive, stretched out his hand and took the letter from the metropolitan's hand ... ".

Grand Duke Alexander Yaroslavich was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. The main days of his commemoration fall on August 30 (September 12) and November 23 (December 6).

***
The results of the reign of Alexander Yaroslavich do not seem to shine with either the scale of achievements or the novelty of political decisions.

What did he achieve? Stop the Germans and Swedes on the western borders of the Novgorod region, negotiate peace and mutual respect with the Norwegians and Gotlanders, slightly ease the Horde yoke on the ridge of Russia. At a high price, rid your possessions of the disastrous Horde raids. Maybe rebuild cities and temples, give the Church a deep breath after its capital residence in Kyiv has turned into firebrands.
From the outside, it's sparse.

Did Alexander Yaroslavich work out some special, completely new policy? No no. He was an excellent student of his father, who groped for all the main political decisions long before Alexander Yaroslavich became the sovereign sovereign of Vladimir.

But Alexander Nevsky is revered as one of the greatest figures in the history of Russia, a true hero, beloved by the people, and Yaroslav Vsevolodovich is known mainly to specialists in the history of Ancient Russia.

What is the difference between them? Why did the father become the son's shadow? Why is the son, who ended his reign not in glorious battles, but in exhausting litigation with the Horde, exalted so high?
There are two reasons, I think.

Firstly, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich is tainted with participation in bloody internecine strife, and his son avoided shedding brotherly blood. Whatever enmity connected him with rival princes, he never raised weapons against them, did not collect regiments. And when, nevertheless, it was necessary to bring the army under the walls of Novgorod, he restrained himself, did not use armed force. Take care of your people, did not want to weaken them with bloodletting.

Secondly, unlike his father, Alexander Yaroslavich won victories in incomparably worse conditions. And he achieved relief at a time when no one looked forward to it.

Alexander Yaroslavich is famous for the fact that he accepted the Russian ship half-broken, sitting firmly on pitfalls, with holes in the sides, and honestly worked to save it. He tirelessly pumped out water, patched holes, fought off marauders, standing knee-deep in icy waves. Moreover, he did not turn into a bloodthirsty beast, to which the harshest conditions in which he had to exercise his power inclined, but remained a truly Christian sovereign.
And what? The ship did not sink. Here is the main result!

The ship left the stones and slowly, slowly, under one sail, where there used to be three, and with a dozen rowers, where fifty used to sit, but still continued sailing.
And therefore - a deep bow to the sovereign Alexander Yaroslavich, an honest Russian man who took on his shoulders a heavy burden and responsibly carried this burden until the deadline, until God himself freed the prince from hardships.

On the screen saver Neva battle. Pavel Ryzhenko. Part of a triptych. "The sun of the Russian land". 2008–2009

Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky
Years of life: May 13, 1220? - November 14, 1263
Reign: 1252-1263

Alexander Nevsky - biography

Years of reign:

Prince of Novgorod in 1236-51, Grand Duke of Vladimir from 1252.

Alexander Nevsky is one of the most prominent rulers of his time. N. I. Kostomarov very accurately formulated its role and significance in history. “The 13th century was the period of the most terrible shock for Russia,” he wrote. - From the east, the Mongols flooded into it with countless hordes of conquered Tatar tribes, ruined, depopulated most of Russia and enslaved the rest of the people-population; it was threatened from the northwest by a German tribe under the banner of Western Catholicism. The task of the politician of that time was to place Russia, as far as possible, in such relations with various enemies, under which she could maintain her existence. The man who has taken upon himself this task and laid a firm foundation for the future for the further fulfillment of this task, may justly be called the true ruler of his age. This is how Prince Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky is in Russian history.

Alexander Nevsky was born on May 13, 1220 (1221?) in the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky. By decision of his father Yaroslav, he reigned in Pereyaslavl and Novgorod. The princely tonsure of the youth Alexander (the so-called rite of initiation into warriors) was performed in the Transfiguration Cathedral of Pereslavl by St. Simon, Bishop of Suzdal, who was one of the compilers of the Kiev Caves Patericon. It was from the blessed elder-hierarch that he received his first blessing for military service in the Name of God, for the defense of the Russian Church and the Russian land.

The first information about Alexander Nevsky dates back to 1228, when his father Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, who reigned in Novgorod, quarreled with the townspeople and was forced to leave for Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, his ancestral inheritance. But he left in the city of Novgorod in the care of trusted boyars 2 of his young sons Alexander and Fedor. After the death of his brother Fyodor in 1236, he was placed on the Novgorod table.

From an early age, he accompanied his father on campaigns. So, in 1235, he was a participant in the battle on the Emajõgi River (in present-day Estonia), in which Yaroslav's troops defeated the Germans. In the next year, 1236, Yaroslav left for Kyiv, and placed his son on his own to reign in the city of Novgorod.

In 1239, Alexander married the daughter of the Polotsk prince Bryachislav. Some historians say that she was the namesake of her husband in baptism.

Alexander - Battle of the Neva

Despite the strained relations with the Novgorodians, Alexander's fame is connected precisely with the city of Novgorod. In 1240, the Novgorod troops, led by the still young Prince Alexander, dealt a crushing blow on the banks of the Neva to the Swedes, who were heading to Russia on a crusade in order to convert its inhabitants to Catholicism.

Before the battle, Alexander prayed for a long time in the church of St. Sophia, the Wisdom of God. And, remembering the psalm of David, he said: “Judge, Lord, those who offend me and rebuke those who fight with me, take up arms and a shield, stand to help me.”

After the blessing of Archbishop Spyridon, the prince, leaving the temple, strengthened the squad with famous words filled with faith: “God is not in power, but in truth. Some - with weapons, others - on horseback, and we will call on the Name of the Lord our God! They staggered and fell, but we rose up and stood firm.” It was after this battle that ended in a brilliant victory that the young prince began to be nicknamed Alexander Nevsky.