1252 event in Rus'. Brief description of events

In the first years after the invasion, the Russian princes were more occupied with the restoration of their destroyed principalities and the distribution of princely tables than with the problem of establishing any relations with the conquerors who had left the Russian lands.

There was no complete unanimity in North-Eastern Rus' on this issue. Strong and rich cities in the northwestern and western outskirts that were not subject to Tatar defeat (Novgorod, Pskov, Polotsk, Minsk, Vitebsk, Smolensk) opposed the recognition of dependence on the Horde khans.

Northwestern Rus', which opposed subordination to the Horde khan, was opposed by the group Rostov princes: Vladimir Konstantinovich Uglitsky, Boris Vasilkovich Rostovsky, Gleb Vasilkovich Belozersky, Vasily Vsevolodovich Yaroslavsky.

The existence of two groups - the northwestern one, which opposed the recognition of dependence on the Horde, and the Rostov one, which was inclined to establish peaceful relations with the conquerors - largely determined the policy of the Grand Duke of Vladimir.

This policy in the first decade after Batu's invasion was twofold. On the one hand, most of North-Eastern Rus' was devastated by the invasion and no longer had the strength to openly resist the conquerors, which made recognition, at least formal, inevitable. Golden Horde khans. In addition, the Grand Duke could not help but take into account anti-Tatar sentiments masses who repeatedly opposed the foreign yoke.

The first decade after the invasion is the period when the foreign yoke was just taking shape, and the forces supporting Tatar rule were victorious in the country.

Having formally recognized his dependence on the Golden Horde, Grand Duke Yaroslav Vsevolodovich (Grand Duke of Vladimir in 1238-46) gradually prepared for the liberation of his country. It is known that he tried to negotiate a military alliance with the West against the Horde. Perhaps rumors about Yaroslav’s anti-Horde sentiments and his negotiations with the West were the reason for his death at the headquarters of the great Mongol Khan.

Yaroslav's son, Grand Duke Andrei, behaved quite independently towards the Horde. During his great reign (1249-52), the chroniclers did not mention either the trips of the Russian princes to the Horde, or the sending of “gifts,” and “tributes and exits” were then paid “not in full.” Grand Duke Andrei Yaroslavich made an attempt to openly oppose the power of the conquerors. To do this, he sought an alliance with another Russian prince who continued the resistance, Daniil of Galicia-Volyn. A marriage alliance was concluded between the children of the Vladimir and Galician-Volyn princes, which was an external reflection of the emerging military-political alliance of the two strongest Russian principalities.

The policy of agreement with the conquerors was supported by the Orthodox Church. The position of the churchmen was greatly influenced by the usual Mongol policy of attracting the local clergy to their side through complete religious tolerance, tarkhanov, exemption from tribute, etc. No less important for explaining the position Orthodox Church In relation to the Horde khans, it seems that the churchmen were very suspicious of the negotiations of the anti-Tatar group of princes with the papal curia, seeing an alliance with the Catholic states as a real threat to their income and privileged position. The Church not only supported a policy aimed at establishing peaceful relations with the Tatars, but also ideologically substantiated the power of the Horde Khan over the Russian lands, proclaiming its divine origin.

Finally, one cannot ignore the fact that the forces that advocated peaceful relations with the Tatars were led by such a popular prince as Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (Grand Duke of Vladimir in 1252-63). In the fight against Andrei Yaroslavich, who could easily be accused of “treason” to the khan, the only opportunity opened up for Alexander to return the grand-ducal table that belonged to him by seniority. If Andrei Yaroslavich relied on anti-Tatar forces, then Alexander, naturally, could only take the grand-ducal table from him with the help of the Horde.

Note: In 1247, after the death of his father, Andrei and Alexander went to the Volga Horde, and from there to Mongolia, to the Great Khan Guyuk, who, contrary to the wishes of Batu, gave Andrei a label for the great reign of Vladimir.

As a result, the forces of North-Eastern Rus' in front of the “Nevryuev Army” were fragmented. A significant part of the nobility (both spiritual and secular) did not support the Grand Duke’s attempt to openly oppose the Horde, which predetermined the failure of this speech.

The Horde Khan was dissatisfied with the too independent policy of Grand Duke Andrei Yaroslavich. At that time, Monke, Batu’s protege, was already sitting on the Great Khan’s throne in Mongolia, and the central Mongolian administration, which had previously contributed to Andrei’s establishment of the great reign, no longer supported him. Therefore, when Alexander Yaroslavich came to the Horde in 1252 to “look” for a great reign, he was given the most favorable reception. A strong Mongol-Tatar “army” of Tsarevich Nevryu was sent against Grand Duke Andrei.

The Tatar army moved in 1252 against the rebellious Grand Duke. Andrei Yaroslavich tried to organize resistance. The Sofia First Chronicle reports that the Tatars “under Vladimer wandered Klyazma”, “went to the city of Pereyaslavl; lurking,” and near Pereyaslavl, “Great Prince Andrei and his regiments met them, and the two forces fought, and the slaughter was great.” The Grand Duke's army, to which only the Tver squads with the governor Zhiroslav came to the aid, after a fierce battle, “the filthy defeat of the former.” None of the princes of the Rostov group took part in the battle; In connection with these events, the chronicles are generally silent about them. In addition to the Pereyaslavl principality, which became the scene of battle and persecution of the defeated regiments of the Grand Duke, the Tatar army defeated only Suzdal, Andrei’s “fatherland”. “Nevryuev’s army” played a significant role in establishing the Mongol-Tatar yoke over North-Eastern Russia; it brought final victory to the princes, who stood for reconciliation with the conquerors, for subordination to the power of the Horde khan (of course, while ensuring their own interests).

The defeat of the anti-Tatar group led to the fact that for a long period (essentially, right up to the rise of Moscow), none of the northeastern Russian principalities could become an organizational center for the fight against the conquerors. This was the main reason for the separation of Russian lands on the western outskirts (Polotsk, Smolensk, Vitebsk, etc.) from Vladimir-Suzdal Rus', conquered by the Mongol-Tatars.

Note: Andrei Yaroslavich first sought salvation in Novgorod, from where he then retired to Sweden. In 1256 he returned to Rus' and was received by Alexander, who reconciled him with the khan and gave him Gorodets and Nizhny as an inheritance, and then, with the khan’s permission, Suzdal.

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Rusichi ROOIVS - Historical section

On July 24, 1252, on the eve of the memory of Saints Boris and Gleb, the Horde army appeared under the walls of Vladimir. The event was extraordinary for many reasons. For twelve years armed Mongols had not been seen in Rus'. Moreover, this time they did not come on their own, but were “directed” by one of the Russian princes onto another. And what is even more significant, the arrival of the army of Tsarevich Nevryuy at the request of Prince Alexander Yaroslavich meant that this strongest of the princes of North-Eastern Rus' made the final choice in favor of an alliance with the Horde - a choice that largely determined the entire further course national history, for with the arrival of the “non-Russian army” the establishment of the Horde in Rus' actually begins yoke.

The thirteenth century is a century of profound turning point in the history of Rus'. Since the publication of N. M. Karamzin’s “History of the Russian State,” this turning point has been associated with the establishment of the “Mongol yoke.” This amazing word, in the meaning of a form of military-political dependence with a “passive” connotation, first introduced into scientific use by Karamzin, has survived into school textbooks imperial and Soviet period and is still held to this day.

The “yoke” (Latin jugum from jungere - to connect) is simply an ox yoke, which was placed around the neck of the defeated leader of the barbarians during the triumphal entry of the victorious commander into Rome. By choosing this particular word, Karamzin followed the biblical Church Slavonic tradition, in which it is used in two senses: as “yoke, burden, heaviness” (literally and figuratively) and as “possession, domination”.

Usually like this artistic images they do not take root in scientific and school usage, and the “yoke” has been living for the second century. The vitality of the word, apparently, is explained by its remarkable “camouflage” properties, thanks to which in the mass consciousness of Russians the two-hundred-year relationship with the Horde seems to be almost a continuous pogrom by Batu. If you look closely, it turns out that the “yoke” is understood as a form of tributary relations, in which the Russian princes were obliged to periodically pay monetary tribute to the Horde khans and provide troops for the Horde campaigns, and in return received the khan’s “label” for reigning - a certificate that the bearer is under the protection and patronage of the khan. Relationships of this type were widespread in both Western Europe and the East and in their most famous form are called vassal relations. According to medieval concepts, tributary relations did not involve anything humiliating. Why was it necessary to camouflage these relations with the vague word “yoke”?

The answer, apparently, is that the “yoke” allows you to avoid tactless conversation about the circumstances and ways of establishing this dependence. “Yoke” continues to be reproduced in our textbooks in order to camouflage the unpleasant fact that the dependence of North-Eastern Rus' on the Golden Horde is the result conscious choice and the purposeful policies of the princes.

In almost all textbooks available to the general public and popular historical works the situation appears as if the notorious “yoke” was established immediately after Batu’s invasion of 1237–1240. The trouble, however, is that tributary relations of this kind do not “emerge”, do not “form” and are not “established” by themselves. These are contractual relations, and they must be recorded in a legally significant act. In Western Europe, the vassal had to kneel down and pronounce the oath formula - “homage”; the overlord had to strike him with a symbolic blow with a sword flat on the back and also pronounce his part of the ritual formula; in the Mongol Empire there was a special ritual that cemented the relationship of the senior khan with the “ulusnik” who came under his authority. The first of the Russian princes to perform this ritual according to Mongolian custom was the Grand Duke of Vladimir Yaroslav Vsevolodovich. The oldest narrative about these events that has survived to our time - the Laurentian Chronicle - reports in epic style that in 1243, Grand Duke Yaroslav went to Batu, and sent his son Constantine to the Great Khan in Karakorum; Batu “honored Yaroslav with great honor” and granted him eldership in all of Rus'. That is, the prince, of his own free will, went to Sarai on the Lower Volga - the nomadic headquarters of Batu, who had just returned from a campaign in Western Europe, took the oath - in Mongolian "shert" - and became a tributary of the khan.

The next year, other princes of North-Eastern Rus' followed his example - princes Vladimir Konstantinovich, Boris Vasilkovich, Vasily Vsevolodovich went to the Horde and received labels from Batu for their “fatherland”. Even if textbooks mention these trips, they usually explain the submission of the princes of North-Eastern Rus' by the insurmountability of the Mongol force, which the disunited lands and principalities devastated by the invasion could not resist. All these traditional arguments are valid only with significant reservations.<…>

Thus, modern science has accumulated a lot of evidence that the destructive consequences of the Mongol invasion in traditional literature are greatly exaggerated. Although the country suffered significant losses, it retained enough strength to resist the Mongols and defend independence. In any case, this was the opinion of many influential contemporaries of the events, princes and leaders of urban communities. The orientation of North-Eastern Rus' towards an alliance with the Horde was established as a result of acute internal struggle.

In order to fight off the Mongols, of course, the combined efforts of all Russian principalities were needed. And it should be noted that the appanage order did not at all prevent the organization of joint military enterprises, in which almost all Russian lands often took part (as in Andrei Bogolyubsky’s campaign against Kyiv in 1174). In March 1238, in the Battle of the City River, the Mongols were opposed by the united forces of the Vladimir, Yaroslavl, Uglitsky and Yuryev principalities, but they were clearly not enough. Combining the efforts of North-Eastern and South-Western Rus' was quite possible, and, in addition, to fight the Mongols it was possible to rely on the help of an external ally. It was natural to look for such an ally in the West. All of Europe in those days, despite the mutual anathematization of the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1054, was still considered relatively united “ Christian world", whose nominal head was the pope. One of the first Russian princes to enter into negotiations with the papal curia was Mikhail of Chernigov, who in 1245 sent his candidate for the Kyiv Metropolitan See, Abbot Peter Akerovich, to the Lyon Cathedral. In the same 1245, Daniel of Galicia entered into relations with Rome, expressing his readiness to recognize “the Roman Church as the mother of all Churches” in response to help against the Tatars. The Grand Duke of Vladimir Yaroslav Vsevolodovich also, apparently, did not consider the oath to Batu as a final and irrevocable solution to the issue of political orientation. In any case, in 1246, during a trip to the capital of the Mongol Empire, Karakorum, where he was summoned for “approval” by the Great Khan ( Golden Horde nominally remained part of the Mongol state and Batu's appointees required the approval of the Great Khan), he negotiated an alliance with the papal legate Giovanni del Plano Carpini and, according to Carpini, agreed to accept the patronage of the Roman Church. It is possible that these negotiations, which were reported to Turakine - the mother of the great Khan Guyuk, the actual ruler of the empire - by the Russian interpreter Temer from Yaroslav's retinue, were the reason for the murder of the prince in Karakorum. According to Carpini, he was poisoned by “the mother of the emperor, who, as if as a sign of honor, gave him food and drink from own hand; and he returned to his room, immediately fell ill and died seven days later, and his whole body miraculously turned blue.”

In accordance with the traditional order, Yaroslav's younger brother Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich became the Grand Duke of Vladimir. But already at the end of 1247, his nephews Alexander and Andrei Yaroslavich went to Batu. They disputed the grand-ducal table, referring to the act of the khan's grant to their father and pointing out that the khan's grant was stronger than custom. Batu did not dare to resolve the dispute with his own power and sent his brothers to Karakorum. In 1249, the new ruler of the empire, the widow of Khan Guyuk Ogul-Gamish, recognized Alexander Yaroslavich as the “oldest” among the Russian princes: he received Kyiv. But the great reign of Vladimir was granted to Andrey. Alexander chose not to go to the remote and heavily devastated city and continued to reign in Novgorod.

Andrei Yaroslavich, having settled in Vladimir as a protege of the Karakorum, tried not only to pursue a policy independent of the Golden Horde (which was made easier by the conflict within the empire - Batu had strained relations with the Guyuk clan), but together with his younger brother Yaroslav, who reigned in Tver, he began create a coalition to jointly fight the Mongols. He entered into an alliance with the strongest prince of Southern Rus', Daniil Romanovich Galitsky. The union was sealed in 1250 by the marriage of Andrei with the daughter of a Galician prince, despite the fact that this violated the norms of church - canonical - law, which did not allow marriage between close relatives - in in this case cousins and sister.

Daniil Romanovich was also preparing to speak out against the Tatars and conducted intensive negotiations with the Roman Curia, which during this period began to show great interest in the Russian principalities as possible participants in the anti-Mongol coalition. Negotiations between Daniil of Galicia and Rome led in 1246 to the formal extension of the power of the papal throne to the Galician-Volyn land. The few surviving documents (papal bulls have reached us, but we do not have letters from Russian princes at our disposal) nevertheless allow us to assert that, in expressing his readiness to submit to the Roman Church, Daniil of Galicia pursued exclusively political goals. It is no coincidence that one of the first papal bulls, sent in May 1246, included a promise of “advice and assistance” against the Tatars. Meanwhile from direct subordination Daniel managed to evade the spiritual hierarchy of Rome. The princely printer Kirill, nominated by him as a candidate for the Kyiv metropolis, in 1246 was sent for approval to Nicaea to Patriarch Manuel II, expelled by the Catholic crusaders from Constantinople.

In the midst of these anti-Mongol preparations, a blow to the coalition being created was unexpectedly dealt by Alexander Yaroslavich, who, of course, could not be pleased with the appointment to the honorary, but lost all significance, Kiev table. The prince endured for the time being. The change in the state of affairs in Karakorum made it easier for him to solve the problem. Ogul-Gamish, who disfavored Batu, was overthrown on July 1, 1251, and Batu’s friend and protege Munke became the Great Khan. Apparently, there was an agreement between them on the complete autonomy of the Batyev ulus. Batu’s hands were untied, which Alexander Yaroslavich, whom Batu favored, did not fail to take advantage of.

The Laurentian Chronicle (the oldest containing a story about the dramatic events of 1252) briefly reports that “Alexander, Prince Yaroslavich of Novgorod, went to the Tatars and released him with great honor, giving him seniority among all his brothers.” According to Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev, who, working in the 1730s. over his “Russian History”, used many sources that have not reached us, Prince Alexander reinforced his claims to the great reign of Vladimir with a letter against his brother: “Alexander complained about his brother Grand Duke Andrei, as if he had seduced the khan, taking the great reign under him, as the eldest , and gave him fatherly honors, and does not pay the khan in full for exits and tamgas.”

In the interval between Alexander’s arrival in the Horde and his return with “honor,” Batu sent two punitive expeditions to Rus', one under the command of Nevryuy - against Andrei, the other - under the leadership of Kuremsa - against Daniil Galitsky. Andrei and his brother Yaroslav were defeated in the battle of Pereslavl, after which Andrei fled to Sweden, and Yaroslav was called to reign by the Pskovites.

Daniil Galitsky, for his part, easily repelled Kuremsa’s attack and conducted more decisive negotiations with Rome, demanding, in exchange for recognition of the pope’s authority in the church affairs of Southern Rus', real military assistance against the Tatars. The matter was settled in 1253: in exchange for a firm promise Polish princes To send an army to help Daniel against the Tatars, the Galician prince agreed to accept the royal crown from the pope.

Having received the label for the great reign and settled in Vladimir, Alexander Yaroslavich, relying on Mongol strength, took steps to secure his rights to Novgorod, seeking recognition by the republic of the one who occupied the grand-ducal table in Vladimir as its prince. In any case, having become the Grand Duke of Vladimir, Alexander retained the Novgorod reign, placing his eldest son Vasily there, only with the rights of a governor.<… >

The alliance of Alexander Yaroslavich with the Horde predetermined the subjugation of South-Western Rus' by the Tatars. Daniil Galitsky, left without allies in the Russian lands, found it more difficult to obtain help from Catholic Europe. The Mongols, in alliance with a Christian prince, no longer seemed dangerous to Europe. In 1258, a large army was sent against Daniel under the leadership of one of the best Mongol commanders, Burundai, and by 1261 the resistance in Southwestern Rus' was suppressed; Daniel was even forced to tear down the fortifications of many cities.

Resistance to the establishment of the Horde yoke, however, did not stop there. In 1262, the uprising swept almost all of North-Eastern Rus'. In large cities - Rostov, Vladimir, Suzdal and Yaroslavl - veches gathered, the townspeople, who took power into their own hands, expelled and partly killed Horde officials and tax farmers (often these were Muslim merchants and even Russian people like the former monk Zosima, who captured the imagination of his contemporaries who converted to Islam). Later chronicles tried to portray the Russian princes as the inspirers of the uprising. Ustyug Chronicle of the 16th century. even reports an absolutely fictitious episode about Alexander’s sending out a “letter” “that the Tatars should be beaten.” But Alexander Yaroslavich, of course, had nothing to do with the popular movement - early chronicles do not say a word about the participation of princes in it, and Alexander’s laudatory “Life” does not mention the uprising at all. At the very beginning of the uprising, Alexander went to the Horde, the purpose and outcome of this trip are unknown to us. "Life" and the only chronicle, which mentions its reasons, report that Khan Berke demanded the sending of Russian troops to participate in Mongol campaigns(“to persecute Christians, ordering them to fight with themselves”), and the prince went to the Horde, “in order to pray for the people from that misfortune.” Panegyrists of the prince suggest that as a result of his “diplomatic efforts,” the khan left the uprising unpunished. But most likely, Khan Berke, who at that time was waging a difficult war with the Ilkhan of Persia, had no time for Rus', and he left it to the Russian princes themselves to deal with the townspeople, of whose loyalty he could be quite confident. In any case, it is known that Russian troops subsequently took part in Mongol campaigns several times.

Thus, through the focused and long-term efforts of Prince Alexander Yaroslavich, the Horde “yoke” over Russia was established.

What goals did Prince Alexander pursue by bringing Rus' under the Horde yoke? The paucity of our sources does not allow us to answer this question completely unambiguously. Therefore, several versions are in use. Traditional panegyric interpretation of the action of Alexander Yaroslavich, somewhat modified in the 20s. XX century by historians - “Eurasians” (mainly Georgy Vernadsky) and which has become especially widely known in recent decades in the “biological-passionary” version of Lev Gumilyov, boils down to the fact that the prince, having concluded an alliance with the Horde, prevented the absorption of Northern Rus' by Catholic Europe and thereby saving Russian Orthodoxy - the basis of national identity.

This version is based on the idea of ​​a deep cultural confrontation Orthodox Rus' and Catholic Europe, which supposedly moved to Rus' in the 13th century " crusade"with the goal of returning Orthodox "schismatics" "to the bosom of the true church." The Horde is presented by historians of this trend in the idyllic form of a completely tolerant and tolerant state, the union with which did not inspire any fears for the purity of the Orthodox faith.

The myth of the “blessed” prince, steadfastly resisting the Catholic threat, began to be created soon after the death of Alexander Yaroslavich, at the end of the 13th century, when his famous “Life” was compiled. In this monument, written by a scribe from the entourage of Metropolitan Kirill (who, we recall, was appointed in Nicaea - the most anti-Catholic place in the world at that time) with the participation of the son of Alexander Nevsky, Prince Dmitry Alexandrovich, a completely ordinary border skirmish on the Neva for the first time acquires almost universal proportions of a clash of civilizations . According to the “Life”, from which battle paintings are mostly copied into our textbooks, in July 1240, not just a band of Swedish adventurers landed on the Neva, but the army of the “king of the Roman part of the midnight country”, that is, the “Catholic part of the North” appeared. . The episode of the “Life” about the failure of the Catholic mission sent to convert Alexander Yaroslavich became widely known. The ambassadors from Rome said this to the prince: “Our dad said: “I heard that you are a glorious and brave prince, and that your land is great. For this reason, I sent to you from my twelve cardinals two most skilled ones, Agaldad and Gemont, so that you could listen to their teaching about the law of God.” The papal envoys received a negative answer in an extremely harsh form; the prince, after reflection “with his sages,” allegedly answered: “We know all this well, but we will not accept your Teaching.”

The orientation of the Orthodox Church to the East is quite understandable.<… >However, in the 40s - early 50s. In the 13th century, the Mongol threat and the lively contacts with Rome of Mikhail Chernigovsky and Daniil Galitsky led to a noticeable weakening of tensions in interfaith relations. In 1245, speaking at a council in Lyon with a call to fight the Horde, Pope Innocent IV mentioned Rus' among the “Christian” countries devastated by the Tatars, and in 1248 he entered into correspondence directly with Alexander Yaroslavich. In his message to the prince dated January 22, 1248, the pope exhorted the Russian prince to follow the example of his father, who agreed to recognize the supremacy of Rome, and asked, in the event of a Tatar offensive, to notify about it “the brothers of the Teutonic Order residing in Livonia, so that as soon as this (the news) would come to our attention through these brothers, we could immediately think about how, with God’s help, we could show courageous resistance to these Tatars.” Alexander’s response letter did not reach us, but judging by the content of the pope’s next message (September 15, 1248), the prince was ready to accept the “patronage of the Roman Church.” In his second letter, Innocent IV agreed to Alexander's proposal to build a Catholic cathedral in Pskov and asked to receive his ambassador, the Archbishop of Prussia. But when, at the end of 1248, ambassadors from the pope came to Alexander for a final answer to the proposal to convert to Catholicism, he responded with a decisive refusal. It seems that the change in the prince’s thoughts was associated not with the defense of Orthodoxy, but with a change in his view of the possibility of an alliance with the Mongols, with whose orders he managed to become well acquainted during his stay in Sarai with Batu and his trip to Karakorum.

The second traditional way to explain Nevsky’s pro-Mongol policy is associated with his image as a defender of the “geopolitical” interests of Rus' in the Baltic. This tradition develops into early XVIII century. In 1724, by order of Peter the Great, the relics of the saint were transferred from Vladimir to St. Petersburg. Obviously, this action was supposed to serve as a symbolic consolidation of Russia’s rights to the lands newly acquired as a result of the Northern War. It is no coincidence that, by order of Peter, the celebration of the memory of Alexander Nevsky was established on August 30 - the day the Nystad Peace Treaty was concluded with Sweden. Subsequently, this image was consolidated in Russian social memory by a number of official symbolic gestures. In 1725, Catherine I established the highest military order named after Alexander Nevsky, and in 1753 an annual religious procession was established from the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

After a short break, the Soviet authorities also turned to this image with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Patriotic War. In 1941, Eisenstein’s iconic film “Alexander Nevsky” was released, filmed back in 1938, but “put on the shelf” due to the alliance between the USSR and Germany. Soon after the film's release, its creators were awarded the Stalin Prize.

This interpretation of Alexander Yaroslavich’s motives is based on the idea of ​​a coordinated and systematic “aggression of the German-Swedish feudal lords” in the Baltic states, allegedly intending to seize or, as the authors of the “Life” put it, “to take over Ladoga and the entire Novgorod region.” The decisive actions of Alexander Yaroslavich, as they wrote in Soviet times, “prevented Russia from losing the shores of the Gulf of Finland and the complete economic blockade of Rus'.”

In fact, the Russian lands themselves were never the goal of German and Swedish expansion, we're talking about on the development of “buffer” territories inhabited by pagan tribes that did not have their own statehood.<…>

Waging a stubborn struggle with the Baltic pagan tribes - mainly Estonians and Lithuanians, the Germans often entered into alliances with Russian princes and cities. So in 1212, Albert concluded a defensive and offensive alliance with the Polotsk prince Vladimir, who renounced the right to collect tribute from the Livs and Lettgals in favor of the bishop. Albert even became related to the Pskov prince Vladimir Mstislavich, marrying his brother to his daughter. The fight against the Estonians was successful for the order, but the Lithuanians inflicted a crushing defeat on the knights near Siauliai in 1236, after which the weakened Order of the Swordsmen was merged with the Teutonic Order and became its branch.

In 1219, Waldemar of Denmark entered the struggle for the eastern Baltic, who built the Revel fortress here (now Tallinn) and took possession of a significant part of the Estonian lands - the Virumaa region.

By the middle of the 13th century. as a result of a rather intense struggle for power between the masters of the order and the bishops of Riga, the structure of the Livonian state was finally formed, which was a medieval federation consisting of Livonian Order, Riga Archbishopric, Dorpat, Ezel and Courland bishoprics and city communities. Largest cities Livonia enjoyed self-government, major decisions received city councils - “rats”, headed by burgomasters. Members of the federation, pursuing their own interests, did not always pursue a coordinated policy. City authorities often concluded trade agreements with Smolensk, Polotsk, Novgorod, which stated that if the order starts a war, “the German merchant has nothing to do with it.”

Russians also often turned to the Germans for help during internecine clashes. For example, in 1213, Prince Vladimir Mstislavich, expelled from Pskov, found refuge in Livonia, who later helped the Bishop of Riga in the fight against Polotsk and even became a fogt (judge and steward) of one of the order’s castles. In Livonia, his son Yaroslav and the thousand Boris Negochevich, expelled from Novgorod, and his supporters ended up. Apparently, some of the Pskov and Novgorod residents interested in developing trade with the Germans were more attracted to the political order Livonian Confederation, than “autocracy”, which Yaroslav Vsevolodovich and his son Alexander clearly strived for. In 1228, the Pskovites resolutely refused to participate in Yaroslav Vsevolodovich’s campaign against Riga and entered into an agreement of mutual assistance with the Riga residents (in particular, the Riga residents pledged to defend Pskov from Novgorod). The Novgorodians, in turn, refused to participate in the prince’s enterprise “without their brothers - the Pskovites.” The prince had to abandon the idea. In 1240, the Germans, together with Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich, captured the Pskov “suburb” of Izborsk, the gates were opened to them by the Pskov boyars, who were in cahoots with the Germans (“they held the war” in the words of the chronicler).

The struggle for the right to levy tribute from the Finnish tribes bore just as little resemblance to the one-sided Swedish “aggression.” Since 1157, the rulers of Sweden began the systematic conquest and Christianization of the South and Central Finland, inhabited by the Suomi and Tavast tribes (Sum and Em Russian chronicles) and Karelians. For a long time, the Novgorodians periodically staged raids on these pagan tribes, imposing tribute on them, and gradually the tribal elite was included in the Russian nobility. Southern Finland became the object of a rather intense struggle, which was waged with with varying success. The Swedes ravaged Russian settlements during sea raids. But the Swedish shores were repeatedly hit by unexpected attacks from the eastern shores of the Baltic. For example, in 1187, the Karelians allied with the Novgorodians destroyed the Swedish city of Sigtuna to the ground (on the site of which Stockholm would later be founded). City gate of the ruined Sigtuna, made in 1152–1154. in Magdeburg by order of Bishop Wichmann, they still decorate the western facade of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod Kremlin.

There is no reason to imagine this rather routine struggle of Livonia, Denmark, Sweden, Novgorod and Pskov for control over the lands of Chud, Estonia, Livonians, Sumi, Emi and Karelians as a concerted aggression, much less a crusade against Rus'. Nevertheless, the myth of the Western threat was created. To give it some credibility to the ideologists of the pro-Mongolian policy pursued by Prince Alexander Yaroslavich and his descendants, it was enough to take individual episodes of this Baltic turmoil out of context and inflate them into events of European, or even global, scale - the Battle of the Neva and Ice battle. It is characteristic that popular Russian historical literature largely draws details of the description of the Neva Battle from the “Life”, except that it does not repeat after its compiler that most of the Swedes were beaten “by the angel of the Lord” on the other side of the river, where it was “impassable Alexandrov's regiment." Later, when the descendants of Alexander Nevsky formed the dynasty of the Moscow Grand Dukes, the picture of the battle was decorated with new details to the greater glory of Alexander Yaroslavich. So, in Moscow chronicle vaults from the end of the 15th century. Earl Birger begins to appear as the leader of the Swedes, to whom Alexander Yaroslavich allegedly personally inflicted a deep wound on his forehead and “put a stamp on his face.” The participation of Earl Birger would really speak to the state nature of the Swedish sortie, and victory over him would be a great honor. But, alas, Birger Folkung of Bielbo is the actual founder of the modern Swedish state, whose life is known in detail, and the central avenue of Stockholm bears his name, received the title of jarl only in 1248, never had a scar on his forehead, and made only one trip to the Finnish lands - in 1249, and quite successful.

The creation of the myth of the epoch-making battle on the Neva, begun by the anti-Catholic Metropolitan Kirill, was continued by Moscow chroniclers, and then by diplomats of Peter the Great, who desperately needed a predecessor on the banks of the Neva, and was completed by obedient scribblers from the history of the Stalin era, whose opuses were supposed to prepare the Soviet people to the fight against German fascism. In fact, it is still at the core of the views of the private Russian citizen Eisenstein’s brilliant film, full of historical absurdities, is about this era. By the way, a brilliant critical review of the script for this film, written by academician M. N. Tikhomirov, was called “A Mockery of History.”

Apparently, the real scale of the battle can be judged by the losses of the parties. According to the Novgorod chronicle, twenty Russian soldiers died in battle, or even less, “God knows.” But the chronicler names only four, including the tanner’s son. The attention to such a socially insignificant character most likely means that the losses were small, at least compared to other similar clashes that occurred in the “buffer zone” quite regularly. Among the enterprises of the Swedes and their Suomi allies, the most famous are the raids of 1142, 1164, 1249, 1293, 1300. The Novgorodians and their Karelian allies made similar campaigns in 1178, 1187, and 1198, but this list is hardly exhaustive. Many of these enterprises were much larger in scale than the famous Battle of the Neva. For example, in 1164, the Swedes came to Ladoga on 55 augers (this large boat could accommodate up to 50 foot soldiers or a dozen mounted soldiers). The townspeople burned the settlement and locked themselves in the fortress, sending for Prince Svyatoslav Rostislavich and the Novgorodians, and for four days they steadfastly held the siege until help arrived, completely defeating the Swedes. Only a small part of the Swedish detachment managed to escape on 12 damaged augers. In all appearances, this was a much more significant and undoubted triumph of Russian weapons, which, however, was completely erased from the people's memory, straightened out by centuries of official propaganda.

It has an equally perverse appearance in ours. popular literature and the famous Battle of the Ice on Lake Peipsi.<… >

In any case, neither Nevskoe nor Chudskoe battle were not decisive and turning points in the struggle for spheres of influence in the Baltic states. A turning point in this struggle was outlined after the Novgorodians took Dorpat in 1262, and in 1268 they carried out a large campaign against Danish possessions in the lands of the Estonians, which ended bloody battle near Rakovor. The Swedes, despite the supposedly crushing defeat on the Neva, by the middle of the 13th century. conquered all of Finland and at the end of the century began to conquer Karelia. In 1293 they built the Vyborg fortress on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, and in 1300 they built Landskrona on the Neva. A relatively stable border between the possessions of Novgorod and Sweden was established only by the Treaty of Orekhov in 1323.

It is significant that Alexander Nevsky himself did not take part in the struggle for the Baltic states in the last ten years of his life, although, it would seem, he should have used the full power of his Horde patron in this direction. The only exception- winter campaign of 1256 Southern Finland, which is described in the chronicle extremely vaguely, without any indication of motives and goals, it is only reported that the Russian squads managed to kill and capture many Finns, “and came... all healthy” (this standard chronicle formula was usually used to describe an unsuccessful military enterprise) . So it is unlikely that providing a rear to fight Western expansion in the Baltic states was the main motive of Alexander Yaroslavich when establishing vassal relations with the Horde.

Apparently, our contemporary historian Anton Gorsky is right when he asserts that one should not look for “some kind of conscious fateful choice” in the actions of Alexander Yaroslavich. He was a man of his era, acting in accordance with the worldview of the 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 him personally. When it was a decisive battle, he fought; when an agreement with one of Rus'’s enemies seemed most useful, he agreed.” One could agree with this; it remains to clarify what exactly the prince considered “useful.” The prince's main activities in last decade his life allows us to answer this question quite unambiguously. The alliance with the Mongols greatly facilitated the Grand Duke’s taming of the obstinate veche cities, with which Vladimir princes have been fighting since the time of Yuri Dolgoruky. An alliance with the West would inevitably strengthen the position of the cities; the cities of Western Europe have long been freed from the power of feudal lords. Rus' was inevitably drawn into the system of European law, which contributed to the strengthening of the system of power associated with contractual relations between autonomous parties.

But the system of government adopted in the Mongolian uluses suited Alexander Yaroslavich completely. Plano Carpini draws this system with vivid strokes: “The emperor of these Tatars has amazing power over everyone. No one dares to stay in any country unless the emperor shows him where. He himself indicates where the leaders should be, the leaders indicate the places to the thousanders, the thousanders to the centurions, and the centurions to the tens. Moreover, in everything that he prescribes at every time, in every place, whether in relation to war, or to death, or to life, they obey without any contradiction.<.>The leaders have the same power over their people in everything, for among them there is no one free.” Receiving labels for reign from the hands of the khan, the Russian princes accepted and gradually established this model of power relations in Rus'. Under the rule of the Horde, the old friendly relations could no longer be maintained. The princes of North-Eastern Rus', having become “officers” of the Mongol khans, obliged to unquestioningly obey the will of the khan, could no longer come to terms with the independence of the senior squad; the citizenship system over time was supposed to lead to the establishment of princely despotism in the Muscovy created by the descendants of Nevsky.

There is an important grain of bitter truth in the words of our contemporary historian Mikhail Sokolsky: “The shame of Russian historical consciousness, Russian historical memory is that Alexander Nevsky became an indisputable concept of national pride, became a fetish, became the banner not of a sect or party, but of the very people whose historical destiny he was cruelly mutilated.” In addition to the historical path that Alexander Yaroslavich pushed North-Eastern Rus' onto, there was another path along which the Russian lands took, whose princes did not want to serve the Horde khans. Over time, another state was formed from these lands - the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. For several centuries it successfully waged a difficult struggle on two fronts against the order and against the Horde, which our official historiographers declared “hopeless” and “senseless.” And it won. By the end of the 14th century, the great Lithuanian prince Vitovt appointed the Horde khans with his will, in 1381 he decided whether to place “his king Tokhtamysh in the Horde for the reign”, and in 1410, in essence, he put an end to the Teutonic Order. Heirs of the once united Kievan Rus steel in the XIII–XV centuries. three states with different political systems, three Rus' - Lithuanian, Moscow and Novgorod. Their struggle for hegemony in the unification of all Russian lands and the victory of Moscow in this struggle determined future fate our country. But that's another story.

Gorsky A. A. Alexander Nevsky // World of History. 2001. No. 4 (http://www.tellur.ru/historia/archive/04–01/nevsky.htm)

Danilevsky I. N. Russian lands through the eyes of contemporaries and descendants. (XII–XIV centuries). M.: Aspect Press, 2001.

Giovanni del Plano Carpini. History of the Mongols. M., 1957 (http://www.darktimes.ru/Karpini.html).

Makarov N. Rus'. Thirteenth century. Character cultural changes// Homeland. 2003. No. 11.

Sokolsky M. M. Incorrect memory (Heroes and anti-heroes of Russia). M., 1990.

Fennell J. The Crisis of Medieval Rus'. 1200–1304. M.: Progress, 1989.

Florya B. N. At the origins of the religious schism of the Slavic world (XIII century) St. Petersburg: Aletheya, 2004. (Journal version is available at: http://www.krotov.org/library/f/florya/flor04.html. )

Chernetsov A.V. On the problem of assessment historical significance Mongol-Tatar invasion as a chronological milestone // Rus' in the XIII century: Antiquities of the Dark Time. M., 2003.

Yurganov A. L. At the origins of despotism // History of the Fatherland: people, ideas, solutions. Essays on the history of Russia IX - beginning. XX century M., 1991. Book 1. pp. 34–75 (http://a-nevskiy.narod.ru/library/24.html).

Notes:

“Grand Duke Yaroslav went to the Tatars to visit the Batyevs, and sent his son Kostyantin to Kanovi; Batu almost Yaroslav with great honor and his men, and let him go, and said to him: “Yaroslav!” May you become the oldest prince in the Russian language." Yaroslav returned to his land with great honor.”

The Laurentian Chronicle describes these events as follows: “Andrei, Prince Yaroslavich, decided to flee with his boyars rather than serve as the Tsar, and flee to an unknown land with his princess and his boyars.” “And I chased Tatarov after him, and caught him near the city of Pereyaslavl. God save and his father’s prayer. The Tatars spread across the land and the princess Yaroslavl Yasha, and the children of the Imash, and the governor Zhidoslav killed, and the princess killed, and the children of Yaroslavl in full poslash, and people without a shield led to horses and cattle, and, having done a lot of evil, went away.”

(1252) - a punitive campaign of the Golden Horde troops under the command of Nevryuy, directed (possibly at the request of Alexander Nevsky) against Alexander Nevsky’s brother, Grand Duke of Vladimir Andrei Yaroslavich.

Story

The origins of the conflict, according to historians, lay in the division of the inheritance of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, who was poisoned in the Horde in 1246. Yaroslav's brother Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, who took over Vladimir in accordance with the old order of inheritance, was expelled by one of the younger Yaroslavichs, Mikhail. According to some reports, Yaroslav bequeathed the great reign to Andrei, and his eldest son, Alexander, Novgorod and Kyiv, this was supported Mongol Khan Guyuk, including his troops, while Batu demanded to give the great reign to Alexander. The conflict between Guyuk and Batu ended in 1247 with the death of Guyuk in Transoxiana during a campaign against Batu. In subsequent years, Munke, who took the khan's throne, was engaged in suppressing his internal political opponents, including with the help of troops sent by Batu led by Burundai (1251).

At the end of 1249, Alexander and Andrey returned to Rus', after which an alliance between Andrey and Yaroslav Yaroslavich and Daniil Galitsky emerged.

According to some sources, the order to march against Andrei Yaroslavich was given by Sartak (the son of Batu and, possibly, his co-ruler); according to others, Batu himself did it. At the head of the campaign was the commander Nevryu, named in IV Novgorod Chronicle"prince". According to some chronicles, in addition to him, the troops were also commanded by Kotiya and Olabuga, who probably had the rank of temniks.

Nevryu crossed the Klyazma near Vladimir, defeated Andrei on the eve of Boris Day, that is, July 23. Details of the battle are unknown. Andrei and Yaroslav first fled to Novgorod, but the Novgorodians did not accept them, after which Andrei left for Sweden, and Yaroslav for Pskov. Nevryuy ravaged Pereyaslavl, where the wife of Yaroslav Yaroslavich was killed and the children were taken prisoner. A “small number” of people, horses and cattle were taken to the Horde.

This was the first appearance of large Mongol-Tatar military forces in North-Eastern Rus' after Batu’s invasion.

Historians adhere different opinions about the involvement of Alexander Nevsky in the Nevryu campaign, as a result of which he became the Grand Duke of Vladimir. Upon his return from Sweden, Andrei received Suzdal from Alexander (Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich died in 1252), and new conflicts between them are unknown, but Yaroslav continued the fight, coming to Novgorod in 1255. But Alexander restored his position there, returning his son Vasily from Torzhok there.

Nevryuyev's army (1252) - a punitive campaign of the Golden Horde troops under the command of Nevryuy, directed by Tsarevich Sartak, co-ruler of his father Batu, against the Grand Duke of Vladimir Andrei Yaroslavich, brother of Alexander Nevsky. There is a strong opinion that Nevryuev’s army was brought to Rus' by Alexander Nevsky himself. However, is this so? We invite you to read the chapter “Nevryuev’s Army” from the book by D.G. Khrustalev “Northern Crusaders. Rus' in the struggle for spheres of influence in the Eastern Baltic in the XII-XIII centuries,” where this issue is studied.

In 1252, a new Russian-Mongolian conflict flared up in the North-East of Rus', which led to the campaign of the army of Khan Nevryuy and a new (first after 1238) devastation of the region. The essence of what happened has caused and continues to cause conflicting opinions among historians. Let's try to consider in more detail the sources on the current situation.
The Suzdal Chronicle - the official, but most often the most reliable source on the events of those years - sets out the matter in the following sequence:

"In the summer of 6760[March 1252 - February 1253] Prince Alexander of Novgorod and Yaroslavl went to the Tatars, and was released with great honor, which gave him seniority among all his brothers.
That same summer, Prince Yaroslavich Andrei decided to run away with his boyars rather than serve as Tsar; and he ran to an unknown land with his princess and his boyars;
and the potash of Tatarovo followed him, and befell him near the city of Pereyasllvlya;
[nothing indicates a break in the text at this point, but most likely the story about the battle with the Mongols at Pereyaslavl is missing here, since the results of this battle are then reported]
God preserve the prayer of his father;
Tatarov was smitten with the earth, and Princess Yaroslavl[most likely the wife of Yaroslav Yaroslavich] Yasha, and the children of the confiscation, and the voivode Zhidoslava, and the princess, and the children of Yaroslavl in full poslash, and the people led the merciless to horses and cattle, and did a lot of evil, left.
That same summer, the deserted Tatarovo Olga, Prince of Ryazan, returned to his land.
That same summer, Prince Alexander Velnky and the Tatars came to the city of Volodymer, and from the crosses at the Golden Gate, the Metropolitan and all the abbesses and citizens, and seated him on the table of his father Yaroslav, holding Romana Mikhailovna, and the whole row, and there was joy great in the city of Volodymeri and the entire land of Suzhdal.

That same summer, the Christ-loving prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodich passed away.”

A completely different, connected and integral picture of events - “The Tale of the Nevryuev Army” - is painted by the Voskresenskaya, Sofia First and some other later chronicles:

“That same summer, Nevryu, and Kotya, and Slavukha came bravely to the land of Suzdal, with my others, to Grand Duke Andrei Yaroslavich. On the eve of Boris, the godless Tatars wandered around Klyazma near Volodymyr, and went to the city of Pereyaslavl to the hidden thing; in the morning, on Borish day , fuck them, prince great Andrey with their regiments, and the battle was fought, and the slaughter was great,
By the wrath of God, for the multiplication of our sins, the filthy Christians ran away from above.

And the Great Prince Andrei barely escaped and arrived in Velniky Novgorod, but Novgorod did not receive him, he went to Pskov and stayed there for a little while, waiting for his princess; his princess came to him, and he and the princess went to the German city of Kolyvan. And leaving that princess, he himself went overseas to the land of Sveya, and the mayor of Ovensk met him and received him with honor, he was the ambassador for the princess to Kolyvan; and for some time that time was with the princess in the Svei land. Having stayed there again, he then returned to his homeland;

and then the godlessness of the Tatars captivated the city of Pereyaslavl, Princess Yaroslavl Yasha, and the children, and killed that governor Zhidislav, and killed the princess, and the children of Yaroslavl led the way, and led a lot of people, and did a lot of evil from the Jews.”

The desire to convict the national hero of getting his hands dirty, on the one hand, and the desire to whitewash him at all costs, on the other, led scientists to many years of controversy. The fire was also fueled by V.N. Tatishchev, who in “Russian History” fully developed the accusations against Alexander Yaroslavich:

“And Alexander complained about his brother Grand Duke Andrei, as if he had seduced the khan, taking a great reign under him, as if he were the eldest, and captured his father’s cities, and did not pay the khan in full. The Khan became angry with Andrei and ordered Nevryuya Saltan to go to Andrei and bring him before him. And that same summer, Nevruy Saltan came from the Horde, and Prince Katiak (the following presentation is reminiscent of the already quoted “The Tale of the Nevryu Army”)».

“The prince, active and very tough in character (of which there are expressive examples in the chronicles), could not and did not put up with the fact that his younger brother found himself at the helm of the internal and foreign policy North-Eastern Rus'. Most likely, the specific reason for the clash between the brothers was the clarification of subordination in the hierarchy of power. Alexander, who held the title of Grand Duke of Kyiv, undoubtedly laid claim to supreme power in all Russian lands, with which Andrei could not agree, for at least two reasons. The Grand Duchy of Vladimir became virtually autonomous even before the Mongol invasion, and, secondly, its establishment was sanctioned by the highest imperial authority in Karakorum.”

Many other both domestic and foreign researchers presented the events in a similar vein. Even G.V. Vernadsky, in his apologetic article “Two exploits of St. Alexander Nevsky” (1925), actually agreed with Alexander’s involvement in the arrival of the Nevryu army. The historian wrote: “Not finding obedience in his brothers, Alexander did not stop before subduing them with the help of the Tatars.”
We are far from the extreme to which some scientists fall, denying that Tatishchev has any additional sources other than those that have survived to this day. However, in this case, reporting on Alexander’s complaint against Andrei, the scientist rather tried to complete the chronicle - to logically clarify its content. The whole phrase is dotted with neologisms and extra-chronicle phrases. N.M. Karamzin also assessed Tatishchev’s text. However, this in no way takes into account the context of the chronicle presentation, which Tatishchev tried to interpret.
Many historians have more than once tried to explain the actions of Alexander Yaroslavich in a tone favorable to him. Thus, V.A. Kuchkin believes that Andrei opposed the Mongols after Alexander left for the Horde. As a result, he himself provoked the punitive operation, and Alexander Yaroslavich unsuccessfully tried to prevent it. I. N. Danilevsky believes that the whole matter was connected with the change of the Mongol Great Khan, which is why the rotation of Russian princes was required, which Alexander could not initiate. A. A. Gorsky presented the case as a planned action of the Mongols against a group of disloyal princes. Andrei, having married the daughter of Daniil Romanovich, fell under his influence and began to pursue a “policy independent of Batu,” as a result of which the khan punished him.

In this regard, we would like to make a few comments.

1. It is a priori recognized that in the form of the duumvirate that established itself in the North-East of Rus' after 1249 (Andrei holds Vladimir, and Alexander holds “Kyiv and the entire Russian land”), the seeds of the conflict of 1252 are laid. brackets the specific cause of the conflict of 1252 and an explanation of the need for the Mongols to intervene. According to V.L. Egorov, Alexander did not want to resort to “usual practice internecine war”, but hoped to resolve the issue by “purely administrative” methods. Resolve the issue of replacing the Grand Duke?! We already considered this plot in 1247-1248, when Prince Svyatoslav was changed - then he was first kicked out, and then the current situation in the Horde was established. By the way, there was no bloodshed, and all participants saved good relations. Why was the scheme different now? And Alexander Yaroslavich appears as such an imperious and proud man, thirsting for all-round power. Why did he wait three years? It must be assumed that the matter is not at all about Alexander’s machinations - the chronicle notes that he went to Batu as the Prince of Novgorod. Accordingly, the events of his conversion to the Grand Duke, apparently, took place in the Horde, with which Andrei came into conflict.

2. It was suggested that Andrei almost formed an anti-Mongol alliance among Suzdal princes. The starting point for this is seen as his marriage to the daughter of Daniil Romanovich, who was later actively involved in the war with the Mongols. However, for Daniel, the reason for the war was the attack of Kuremsa at the end of 1252, and he unleashed it only in 1254. The attack of Nevruy dates back to the summer of 1252 - on Boris's day (July 24). And Andrei runs not to Daniel at all, but to the Baltic states and Sweden. All this vaguely resembles planned actions. And it is not Daniel who initiates the conflict with the East, but again Andrei himself. It is difficult to judge how accidental his ally Yaroslav Yaroslavich was.

3. Nowhere in the chronicle is there a hint that Alexander was involved in the conflict between Andrei and the Mongols. In the Life, which was written by a contemporary, albeit a hagiographer, it is specially noted that “Tsar Batu was angry at the gates of Menshago Andrei and sent his governor Nevryun to reconcile the land of Suzhdal”, and “after the captivity of Nevryunev, the great prince Alexander will erect churches, fill the cities, and bring the dissolved people into their homes.” Alexander’s concern for the people of Suzdal would have looked too hypocritical if he himself had been the initiator of the Nevryuev campaign. The chronicle says that they greeted his return from the Horde with joy and peace. It's hard to imagine a catch here.

In fairness, it should be admitted that there was still a conflict between Andrei and Alexander - at least in the eyes of Andrei. From near Pereyaslavl, the prince fled not just anywhere, but to the lands of his older brother (to Novgorod, to Pskov) - and tried to become a prince in them, and then went to his old enemy Birger, who had only recently conquered the lands of the Tavasts (Emi). Andrei could blame his brother for passivity during the period of his clash with Nevryuy - after all, at that time Alexander was actually among the Mongols.

In general, it should be recognized that the most reliable version of events seems to us as presented by A. A. Gorsky. There is no need to “accuse Alexander of insufficient loyalty to Orthodoxy or of betraying his brothers” - Prince Alexander Yaroslavich was and remained a “prudent, but not unprincipled politician.”
Most likely, in 1252 both brothers were invited to the Horde. Perhaps their trip was connected with the approval of the new great khan Mengu (Mongke), to whom he had to submit. However, Andrey did not go. Princes often got away with such “hooliganism” in the 1240s, but now it was a different time: Batu did not tolerate and probably did not listen to Alexander’s excuses. Andrei was severely punished and deprived of power. Alexander had no choice but to replace his brother - after all, he was Prince of Kyiv And supreme ruler in Russian land.

Punitive raid on Russian land.

In the winter of 1251 In the still unified empire of Genghis Khan, a kurultai was held, at which, contrary to all the laws of Yasa, Munke was proclaimed Great Khan. The legitimate heirs of Guyuk immediately organized a conspiracy to kill Batu's protege and assembled significant armed forces. Grand Duke of Vladimir Andrei Yaroslavovich took an active part in this conspiracy. Firstly, he personally owed the label for the Great Reign to precisely this branch of Temujin’s descendants. Secondly, in the brewing civil strife " central authorities» The Karakorum were interested in having a strong and independent principality in the rear of the Jochi Ulus. Promises of independence are always easy.

When choosing a new khan, all labels issued by the previous ruler require “updating”. Batu summoned his vassals, but Andrei had no illusions about his “reassignment”, and began active actions that surprisingly coincided in time with Shiremun’s conspiracy. What were these actions?

The united squads of Andrei and Yaroslav are part of Pereyaslavl Zalessky, the ancestral fiefdom of the elder Yaroslavovich (Nevsky). The latter avoided hostilities with his brothers (some will say that he did not shed the blood of Orthodox Christians in vain). Novgorod, where he reigned, declared neutrality; Pskov, which always gladly accepted rogue princes, in this case could not provide refuge for Alexander, including due to Nevsky’s anti-Catholic position.

Alexander, fulfilling the will of the Great Khan, goes to Batu to resolve the dispute with his brothers and hear new laws.

Batu probably already received news from Berke, who with his three tumens ensured the “coronation” of the new khan, about the defeat of the conspirators and the beginning of repressions in Karakorum. Orders were given (and troops were allocated) to replace the rulers of Transoxiana, Georgia and the Seljuk lands, loyal to the old government. Alexander's arrival was very opportune. Everything that the latter could tell about his brother’s machinations, Batu, of course, already knew from the testimony of the “conspirators.” The details about the plans for the interaction of Andrei’s troops with Daniil Galitsky could be interesting, but Nevsky might not know anything about them.

And then Andrei finds out that Alexander and the troops of the Ulus of Jochi came against him:

Lord, what will happen if we quarrel with each other and bring the Tatars against each other?

The fact of Nevsky’s presence in the Tatar army is taken from Tatishchev, as are Andrei’s words. In fact, he admits to plans to use the troops of Guyuk’s descendants on Russian territory for his own purposes.

The ruler of Ulus Jochi ordered his son Sartak, whose inheritance bordered on Russia, to gather troops. The army under the command of Tsarevich Nevruy (Russian chronicles were never mistaken about the belonging of the “princes” to the family of Genghis Khan. Another thing is that there was no Genghisid with that name; most likely, the chronicler distorted the name of Batyev’s blood relative), Kotyak-noyon and Alabuga-bagatura set out hike.

Andrei, who did not receive help from the Mongol allies and father-in-law Daniel (the latter had problems with Kuremshi’s army), fled to Pereyaslavl Zalessky to his brother Yaroslav. In the battle of Pereyaslavl, Russian troops were defeated. The assault on the fortress was very bloody, Yaroslav’s wife died, which is indirect evidence of Nevsky’s absence from Nevryuy’s troops. Yaroslav, leaving his family, fled to Pskov, Andrei even further, to Scandinavia, and did not appear in Rus' until Batu’s death. The fate of the Chingizid conspirators was known to him, if Batu did not spare his relatives!

But even the damage from the “allied” troops could not prevent Alexander’s triumph: finally, by right of the strong and eldest, he became the head of the Grand Duchy.

Nevryuev’s army is not at all the machinations of the nominal Grand Duke of Kyiv. This is a small episode in the struggle for power in the disintegrating empire of Genghis Khan. “Nevryu’s army” was the hardest blow for Rus'. Tens of thousands of Russian people were taken into slavery, thousands were subjected to torture and death. The earth experienced severe devastation: crops were trampled, livestock was taken away, only that rebuilt buildings. The words “Nevryuev’s army” were synonymous with grief and failure in the Vladimir region back in the 20th century.