The battle of northwestern Rus' with the crusaders. Great War

Early July 1240 Swedish knights landed on the banks of the Neva.

They gave the campaign a crusading character: they boarded ships while singing religious hymns,

under the blessing of Catholic priests. Here they wanted to create a stronghold for the attack on Novgorod.

IN ancient legend The Swedish leader’s appeal to the Novgorod prince has been preserved: “If you want to resist me, then I have already come.

Come and bow down, ask for mercy, and I will give it as much as I want. And if you resist, I will captivate and destroy all and enslave your land, and you and your sons will be my slave.”

It was an ultimatum. The Swedes demanded unconditional obedience from Novgorod.

They were convinced of their success. According to their concepts, Rus', broken by the Mongols, would not be able to provide them with serious resistance.

However, events did not unfold at all as the Swedish crusaders expected.

Even at the entrance to the Neva, their ships were noticed by Izhora patrols and immediately let Novgorod know.

Alexander decided to strike the enemy immediately, preventing him from gaining a foothold on the banks of the Neva.

He didn’t even have time to inform his father in Vladimir about the appearance of the Swedes so that he would send reinforcements.

There was no time to gather the militia either. Alexander led only his cavalry squad and peshtsev (foot soldiers) to the banks of the Neva.

Before the campaign, Alexander addressed the soldiers with a speech. There were also these words: God is not in power, but in righteousness!

On July 15, 1240, Alexander attacked the Swedes. The sudden appearance of the Novgorod army plunged them into panic.

Alexander's warriors burst into the camp, Savva's warrior cut down the support of the royal tent, and it collapsed, causing the Russian army to rejoice.

In the heat of battle, another warrior rode directly on horseback along the gangplank onto a Swedish ship, was thrown from there, got out of the water and again rushed into the battle.

The nineteen-year-old prince also showed an example of courage and boldness. In a personal duel, he struck the leader of the Swedes, Birger, in the face with a spear.

The wounded Birger was carried to the ship.

The defeat of the Swedes was complete. Alexander Yaroslavich returned to Novgorod in triumph. The whole city came out to meet him.

A solemn prayer service was served. In honor of the victory on the Neva, the prince received the nickname Nevsky

STAGES OF THE ICE BATTLE

In the spring of 1242, the Livonian army knightly order tried to invade Russian lands. Russian squads led by Prince Alexander Nevsky met the aggressor on the ice of Lake Peipsi. Here, on April 5, 1542, a battle took place that went down in history as the Battle of the Ice.

The Germans managed to break through the center of the battle formation of the Novgorodians. Some of the Russian infantry even fled. But having stumbled upon the steep shore of the lake, the formation of sedentary knights got mixed up and was unable to develop their success. At this time, the flank squads of the Novgorodians pinched the German “pig” from the flanks, like pincers.

To the question of the struggle of Rus' with the crusaders in the 13th century: Alexander Nevsky asked by the author Flush the best answer is ALEXANDER NEVSKY (1221(?)-1263), Prince of Novgorod in 1236-51, Grand Duke of Vladimir from 1252. Son of Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich. With victories over the Swedes (Battle of the Neva 1240) and the German knights of the Livonian Order (Battle of the Ice 1242), he secured the western borders of Rus'. Canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.
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ALEXANDER Yaroslavich (Feodorovich) NEVSKY - (May 13, 1221? - November 14, 1263), Prince of Novgorod (from 1236), Grand Duke of Vladimir (from 1252).
Origin. The beginning of the reign
Born into the family of Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich and Princess Feodosia, daughter of Prince Mstislav Udatny (Udaly). Grandson of Vsevolod Big Nest. The first information about Alexander dates back to 1228, when Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, who reigned in Novgorod, came into conflict with the townspeople and was forced to leave for Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, his ancestral inheritance. Despite his departure, he left his two young sons Fyodor and Alexander in the care of trusted boyars in Novgorod. After the death of Fyodor, Alexander becomes the eldest son of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich. In 1236 he was placed under the reign of Novgorod, and in 1239 he married the Polotsk princess Alexandra Bryachislavna.
In the first years of his reign, he had to strengthen Novgorod, since the Tatar Mongols threatened from the east. Alexander built several fortresses on the Sheloni River.
Victory on the Neva. Battle on the Ice
Universal glory to the young prince brought the victory he won on the banks of the Neva, at the mouth of the Izhora River on July 15, 1240 over a Swedish detachment, which, according to legend, was commanded by the future ruler of Sweden, Earl Birger (however, in the Swedish Chronicle of Eric of the 14th century about the life of Birger, this campaign is not mentioned at all). Alexander personally participated in the battle, “put a seal on the face of the king himself with your sharp spear.” It is believed that it was for this victory that the prince began to be called Nevsky, but for the first time this nickname appears in sources only from the 14th century. Since it is known that some of the prince’s descendants also bore the nickname Nevsky, it is possible that in this way possessions in this area were assigned to them. It is traditionally believed that the battle of 1240 prevented Russia from losing the shores of the Gulf of Finland and stopped Swedish aggression on the Novgorod-Pskov lands.
Upon returning from the banks of the Neva, due to another conflict, Alexander was forced to leave Novgorod and go to Pereyaslavl-Zalessky. Meanwhile, a threat from the west loomed over Novgorod. Livonian Order, having gathered the German crusaders of the Baltic states, the Danish knights from Revel, enlisting the support of the papal curia and the long-time rivals of the Novgorodians, the Pskovs, invaded the Novgorod lands.
An embassy was sent from Novgorod to Yaroslav Vsevolodovich asking for help. He sent an armed detachment to Novgorod led by his son Andrei Yaroslavich, who was soon replaced by Alexander. He liberated Koporye and Vodskaya land, occupied by the knights, and then drove the German garrison out of Pskov. Inspired by their successes, the Novgorodians invaded the territory of the Livonian Order and began to destroy the settlements of the Estonians, tributaries of the crusaders. The knights who left Riga destroyed the advanced Russian regiment of Domash Tverdislavich, forcing Alexander to withdraw his troops to the border of the Livonian Order, which ran along Lake Peipsi. Both sides began to prepare for the decisive battle.
It happened on the ice of Lake Peipsi, near the Crow Stone on April 5, 1242 and went down in history as the Battle of the Ice. The German knights were defeated. The Livonian Order was faced with the need to conclude a peace, according to which the crusaders renounced their claims to Russian lands, and also transferred part of Latgale.
In the summer of the same year, Alexander defeated seven Lithuanian detachments attacking the northwestern Russian lands, in 1245 he recaptured Toropets, captured by Lithuania, destroyed a Lithuanian detachment near Lake Zhitsa and, finally, defeated the Lithuanian militia near Usvyat.
Alexander and the Horde
The successful military actions of Alexander Nevsky ensured the security of the western borders of Rus' for a long time, but in the east

Answer from Mikhail Basmanov[expert]
Prince Alexander, nicknamed Nevsky, lived in the 13th century. Prince Alexander, nicknamed Nevsky, for his victory in the battle on the Neva River in 1240, won with the people in the battle on Lake Peipsi in 1242. Prince Alexander, nicknamed Nevsky, had another non-Christian name, because he was a prince in the Slavic-Aryan empire, in which the prince is an elected position. Therefore, he is Kiev and Novgorod and Pereyaslav and Vladimir. They invited him as a military leader - a prince, to conduct military operations to protect the Slavic-Aryan empire. There were no religions in the Slavic-Aryan empire, so Prince Alexander, nicknamed Nevsky, was not a Christian. Religion needed heroes to attract people to religion, so they presented Prince Alexander, nicknamed Nevsky, as a Christian.

IN beginning of XII V. Rus' entered the period political fragmentation. Weakened internecine wars the country's territory became the target of attacks. From the north, attempts to seize cities and lands by the descendants of the Varangians - the Swedes - continued; from the eastern steppes, a wave of nomads - the Mongol-Tatars, enemies more terrible, stronger and cruel than their predecessors - the Pechenegs and Polovtsians, rolled in, and western borders active military-colonial The activities were launched by German knights.

In the XI – XIII centuries. Western Europe was experiencing a period of aggravated internal contradictions, a struggle between secular and spiritual authorities, emperors and popes. The conflict was not limited to European continent, and started expansion to other countries known as "Crusades".

The arena of the struggle of the Roman Catholic Church against the “pagans” with the aim of converting them to “ true faith» became Finland and the Baltic territories, where Christianity was not widespread. With the aim of seizing land in 1128, it was founded Warband. In 1200, the Pope and the German Emperor Frederick II announced the start of a crusade against the lands of the Prussians, Estonians, Livonians, Lithuanians, Finns, Karelians and Yatvingians with the aim of converting them into Catholicism. German, Danish, Norwegian knights and troops from other countries took part in the crusade northern countries Europe, striving for capture new territories.

Advancing into the Baltic lands, the Germans subjugated the Pomeranian Slavs and invaded the territory of the Livonians (hence Livonia), where in 1201 they founded the city of Riga. To capture the Baltic states and Christianize local population was founded in 1202 Order of the Sword, which conquered most of the Baltic tribes within a decade and began to advance on Russian lands.

In 1204, the crusaders captured and ravaged Constantinople, which was the beginning of the war Orthodox world against Roman Catholic. The peoples of the Baltic states and Rus' united to fight the Germans. In 1212, the Novgorodians, at the request of the Estonians, undertook their first campaign to Baltic Sea. However, this did not stop the invaders. In 1219, the city of Revel (Tallinn) was founded in the Baltic lands, and in 1224 the city of Yuryev (Tartu) was captured and Izborsk was occupied, which created a threat to Pskov and Novgorod. Knights of the Teutonic Order arrived in 1226 to conquer the lands of Lithuania (Prussians) and southern Russian lands. Knights - members of the order wore white cloaks with a black cross on the left shoulder.

In 1234, the Swordsmen were defeated by the Novgorod-Suzdal troops, and two years later - by the Lithuanians and Semigallians. In 1234 - 1236 they were again defeated by the squads of Novgorod and Principality of Vladimir. At the same time, the Order of the Swordsmen suffered a crushing defeat in Lithuania. Further promotion The Germans demanded a unification of forces, and in 1237 part of the Teutonic Order and the remnants of the Order of the Swordsmen united into the Livonian Order (named after the captured territory where the Livonians lived), which further increased the danger of the capture of Rus', which was subjected to the Mongol-Tatar invasion. In 1239, the knights of the Livonian Order again captured Izborsk, and in 1240, thanks to treason, they occupied Pskov.

In the same year, the Swedes appeared on the Neva, competing with Russia for the lands of the Neva and Ladoga regions. So, back in 1164 large fleet The Swedes appeared at the walls of Ladoga (a suburb of Novgorod), but were defeated by the Novgorodians. In 1240, the Swedes, prompted by messages from the Pope, undertook a crusade against Rus'. Rus', weakened by the Tatars, could not provide Novgorod with any support. Confident of victory, the leader of the Swedes, Jarl Birger, entered the Neva on ships. The ultimate goal The campaign was the conquest of the Novgorod land. Warned by the elder of the friendly Izhora tribe Pelgusius, the 19-year-old Novgorod prince Alexander and his squad approached the mouth of the Izhora, where the enemies stopped to rest, and on July 15, 1240 they suddenly attacked them. There was a battle on the river. Neve. Suddenness and swiftness decided its outcome in favor of the Novgorodians. Later Prince Alexander received the honorary nickname Nevsky. As the chronicle testifies, “the losses of the Novgorodians were very insignificant, only twenty people with the Ladoga residents.”

However, soon the Novgorodians quarreled with Alexander, who sat down to reign in the Suzdal land. At this time, the offensive of the Livonian knights was launched again on Novgorod. By decision of the veche, the previously exiled Prince Alexander Yaroslavovich was returned to the city. Having gathered the city militia and his squad after lengthy disputes with the Novgorod boyars, Alexander Nevsky liberated Pskov and Izborsk, after which he transferred military operations to the territory of the Livonian Order. On April 5, 1242, a battle took place on the melted ice of Lake Peipsi, which became known as the Battle of the Ice. Its success was predetermined by the military skill of Alexander Nevsky, who managed to take into account a number of circumstances of a military and geographical nature. This is how the historian R. G. Skrynnikov describes the events of 1241 - 1242: “...Novgorod was threatened military defeat and hunger. Under such circumstances, the local archbishop hastily went to Prince Yaroslav in Vladimir and begged him to let Alexander go to Novgorod to reign. In 1241, Alexander arrived in Novgorod, gathered a militia... and expelled the Germans from the Novgorod borders. The prince ordered the captured “perevetniks” - Vod and the “miracle” - to be hanged... Some of the knights captured in Koporye were released... Preparing for the campaign against Pskov, he called the Suzdal regiments to Novgorod. But he did not have to besiege Pskov. As soon as the Suzdal army approached the city, the mayor Tverdilo was removed. The Pskovites opened the gates of the fortress. The German garrison was unable to offer resistance. Captured knights and Chud in shackles were taken to Novgorod and imprisoned. In the spring of 1242, Alexander Nevsky invaded the possessions of the Livonian Order. By joining west bank Lake Peipus, the prince “let the entire regiment prosper.” The regiments went on campaign without convoys, and the warriors had to obtain food for themselves by “prosperity,” i.e. robbery of the population. The campaign in Livonia began with a major failure. The detachment of Domash Tverdislavich, the brother of the Novgorod mayor, being “in dispersal”, was suddenly attacked by knights and miracles. The voivode and many of his warriors were killed. The surviving warriors fled to Prince Alexander's regiment and warned him of the approach of the knights. Alexander hastily retreated to his possessions on the Novgorod shore of Lake Peipsi. There he was joined by soldiers who were “in dispersal” and fled from the German advance. On April 5, 1242, the Order's army and Chud detachments attacked the Russians on the ice of the lake near the Crow Stone... According to Novgorod data, 50 Germans were captured by the Russians, and 400 people died on the battlefield. The losses were clearly exaggerated. The united German order in the Baltic states numbered about a hundred knights. But they had with them a significant number of squires, servants and baggage servants. German chronicles report the death of 25 warriors of the order.”

In the context of the outbreak of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, the victories of Alexander Nevsky stopped the expansion of the Livonian Order to the East, as a result of which North-Western Rus' was saved from Germanization, Catholicism and enslavement. After the defeat on Lake Peipus, the military power of the order weakened, after which the Livonians active actions they did not undertake any measures on the eastern borders of the country. The response to the Battle of the Ice was the growth liberation struggle in the Baltics.

However, it cannot be argued that it was the Battle of the Ice that drained the strength of the order: six years before it, according to German chronicles, in 1236 the Lithuanians killed twice as many knights in the Battle of Siauliai. The influx of new crusader volunteers from the west could hardly make up for such large losses. In 1243, the Livonian knights concluded a peace treaty with Novgorod. Relying on the help of the Roman Catholic Church, the knights at the end of the 13th century. captured a significant part of the Baltic lands.

Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky in 1246, after the death of his father, entered into the struggle for the great reign with his older brother Andrei, who advocated active resistance to the Horde. However, Alexander was a supporter of “peace” with the Mongols and repeatedly suppressed anti-Horde protests (1252, 1257 – 1259, 1262), which earned him the favor of Batu Khan. Orthodox Church highly appreciated the role of Alexander Yaroslavich in the fight against Catholic expansion, canonizing him in 1547.

Questions for self-control

1. What was the danger of invasion? European knights? Which Russian cities did they manage to capture?

2. Determine the main stages of the fight against the invasion of the Crusaders. What do you know about the battle on the Neva and Lake Peipsi?

3. Name the reasons for the defeat of Western European knights. What role did the Novgorod militia play in the victories?

4. Why didn’t Alexander Nevsky try to conclude an alliance with the crusader knights against the Mongol conquerors?

5. What is the historical significance of the struggle of the Russian people against Western aggression?

6. Why during the years of the Great Patriotic War Was the Order of Alexander Nevsky established?

Related information.

Fighting the Crusaders

Almost simultaneously with Mongol invasion The enemies began an attack on Rus' from the west. Swedes, Germans, Danes moved to Russian lands. And only the courage of the inhabitants of Russian cities and the military leadership of Prince Alexander Nevsky thwarted the aggressive plans of the crusading knights.

LIVO?NIYA ( lat. Livonia), Livonia (from the 17th century; German Livland) is the area of ​​settlement of the Livs in the lower reaches of the river. Daugava and Gauja at 12 – beginning. 13th centuries In the 13th–16th centuries. Livonia included the territory of modern Latvia and Estonia. After the conquest of the Baltic states by German and Danish knights-crusaders, several feudal states were formed on the territory of Livonia, which entered into confederal agreements among themselves: the Livonian Order, the Archbishopric of Riga, the Courland, Dorpat and Ezel-Vik bishoprics. After the defeat of the Livonian Order by Russian troops in the Livonian War of 1558–1583. these territories were included in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden, which repeatedly fought over them in the end. 16th and 17th centuries V.V.

TEVTO?NSKY ORDER, German Order ( German Deutscher Orden) is a spiritual knightly order created during the Crusades in 1198.

In 1211, the order was received from the Hungarian King Andrew II as a fief of land in Semigradye. At the request of Duke Konrad of Mazovia, a special commander of the order was formed in the Baltic states to fight the Prussians. The bulk of the Prussian tribes were exterminated by the knights. In 1237, the Teutonic Order merged with the Order of the Sword. The resulting Livonian Order waged constant wars for dominance in the Baltic states. Attempts to seize the Pskov and Novgorod lands were stopped by the Novgorod prince Alexander Nevsky, who defeated the knights in the Battle of the Ice in 1242. The order undertook constant military campaigns against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until 1410, when the combined forces of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas and Polish king Jagiello inflicted a crushing defeat on him Battle of Grunwald. At one time, the order state was a vassal of the Polish king. In 1525, the master of the order, Albrecht, introduced the Reformation and transformed the order into a secular duchy. In 1618, the territory of the order went to the Electorate of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia, which formed the Brandenburg-Prussian state (from 1701 - the Kingdom of Prussia). N.L.

ALEXA?NDR YAROSLA?VICH NE?VSKY (1220–14.11.1263) – Prince of Novgorod from 1236, Grand Duke of Vladimir from 1252, Orthodox saint.

Son of the Grand Duke of Vladimir Yaroslav Vsevolodovich. In 1228, Alexander was sent by his father to Novgorod, but could not stay there and fled. In 1236 he returned to Novgorod. By marrying the daughter of the Polotsk prince Bryachislav in 1239, he strengthened his position in the North-West of Rus'.

Alexander Yaroslavich deserves great credit for repelling the aggression of Sweden and the Livonian Order on the lands of North-Western Rus', which unfolded simultaneously with Tatar-Mongol invasion. In 1240 he won the battle on the river. Neva over the Swedish detachment that invaded Russian lands. For this victory, Alexander Yaroslavich was awarded the nickname Nevsky. However, the Novgorod boyars were alarmed by the rapid growth in the popularity of the twenty-year-old prince, and Alexander Yaroslavich was removed from the city.

But less than two years had passed before a new threat loomed over Novgorod - from the Livonian Order. The Novgorodians were forced to again invite Alexander Yaroslavich to reign. In 1241, he returned Koporye, captured by the knights, and soon with a surprise attack he took Pskov, whose inhabitants had shortly before surrendered the city to the knights of the order.

April 5, 1242 decisive battle on the ice of Lake Peipus, called the Battle of the Ice, the united Novgorod and Vladimir-Suzdal army under the command

Alexander Nevsky defeated the Livonian knights.

Soon after this, Alexander Yaroslavich repelled the raid of the Lithuanian army and defeated it at Toropets and the village of Zhizhitsa.

In relations with the Golden Horde, Alexander Nevsky proved himself to be a subtle diplomat. During the first trip to the Horde and Karakorum in 1249–1250. he managed to install a good relationship with Khan Batu and his son Sartak. According to legend, he even fraternized with the latter. Alexander Yaroslavich received a label to reign in Kyiv, which was devastated to the ground. Returning to Rus', he established close relations with Metropolitan Kirill. Kirill supported Alexander Yaroslavich’s line of establishing peaceful relations with the khan and consolidating the Russian princes.

In 1252, when Alexander Nevsky was once again in the Horde, he younger brother Andrei Yaroslavich, having enlisted the support of his third brother Yaroslav Yaroslavich, rebelled against the power of the Tatars. Batu sent the punitive army of Tsarevich Nevryuy to Rus', and the princes, after a crushing defeat at Pereyaslavl, were forced to flee “overseas.” Alexander returned to the devastated lands, having received the label for the great reign of Vladimir. In his place, the prince sent his son Vasily to Novgorod, but in 1255 the Novgorodians expelled him. Alexander had to intervene, conclude a new treaty with Novgorod and organize a campaign in Finland. But a year later a more acute conflict arose with Golden Horde Khan. Officials were sent from the Horde to Rus' to count the entire population in order to tax the Horde “exit”. The Novgorodians resolutely opposed this, and the son of Alexander Nevsky, Vasily, took their side. Things were heading towards a new punitive expedition to Rus'. Alexander Yaroslavich personally came to Novgorod and forced its inhabitants to submit. He removed his rebellious son from the Novgorod table, and executed his warriors and organizers of the rebellion. Relations with Novgorod became seriously complicated, but the strength and authority of Alexander Yaroslavich made it possible to keep the city in obedience.

In 1262, when in many cities North-Eastern Rus' An uprising against the Horde “numerals” began, Alexander Yaroslavich went on his last trip to the Horde “to pray people out of trouble” and, in particular, to agree to cancel the decision to recruit troops in Rus' to participate in the Horde war in the Caucasus. The negotiations were successful, but Alexander died on the way to Rus'; some researchers suggest that he was poisoned in the Horde.

The name of Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky was extremely popular in Rus'. In 1547 he was canonized. One of the most striking monuments of Russian literature of the 13th century is dedicated to the prince. – “The Life of Alexander Nevsky”, compiled by his associate Metropolitan Kirill.

GAVRI?LA OLE?KSIC (13th century) – boyar, warrior of Alexander Nevsky.

According to family tradition, Gavrila Oleksich was a descendant of Ratsha, who “came from a German.” It was not possible to find traces of Ratsha and his children in the sources. Gavrila Oleksich distinguished himself during the Battle of the Neva in 1240 with the Swedes. According to the chronicler, “he attacked the auger, and, seeing the prince being dragged by the arms, rode all the way to the ship along the gangplank along which they were running with the prince; those pursued by him grabbed Gavrila Oleksich and threw him off the gangplank along with his horse. But by God’s mercy he came out of the water unharmed, and again attacked them, and fought with the commander himself in the midst of their army.” A lot has come from Gavrila Oleksich noble families, A.S. Pushkin considered him his ancestor. K.K.

STEPA?N TVERDISLA?VICH (?– 08/16/1243) – boyar, Novgorod mayor in 1230–1243.

Son of mayor Tverdislav Mikhalkovich. In the 20s 13th century gained fame as a supporter of an alliance with the Vladimir-Suzdal princes to repel aggression from their western neighbors - Lithuanians, Swedes and German knights.

In 1230, Stepan Tverdislavich opposed the mayor of Vnezd Vodovik, who relied on Prince of Chernigov Mikhail Vsevolodovich. On December 9, 1230, in the absence of Vnezd Vodovik, Stepan Tverdislavich was elected mayor. Yaroslav Vsevolodovich was called to reign; in 1236, his son, 16-year-old Alexander Yaroslavich (future Alexander Nevsky), became the prince of Novgorod.

Stepan Tverdislavich proved himself to be a strong, imperious ruler. Even the famine of 1231 did not shake the power of the mayor.

Stepan Tverdislavich supported Prince Alexander Yaroslavich in his actions against the Swedes and Livonian knights, managing to rally the Novgorod boyars and all Novgorod classes in the face of the conquerors.

Stepan Tverdislavich was buried in St. Sophia Cathedral. Sun. IN.

DOVMO?NT (baptized Timothy) (?–05/20/1299) – Prince of Pskov from 1266, Orthodox saint.

A relative of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Mindaugas. In 1263, Dovmont killed Mindaugas, after which he was forced to flee Lithuania. In 1266 he came to Pskov, was baptized and became the Pskov prince. Dovmont became famous as brilliant commander, who repeatedly saved the city and the whole Northwestern Rus' from the raids of the Crusaders and Lithuania. In 1266 on the Dvina he defeated superior forces Lithuanian prince Gerdenya and killed him, losing only one man in his army.

In 1268, the Pskov prince commanded the Russian army in the battle with the German knights near Rakovor.

In 1269, 1273 and 1299. he repelled the attacks of the knights on Pskov. During last battle The enemy managed to break into the city, but Dovmont, using houses and cramped streets, organized a defense and defeated the crusaders. A few weeks later he died of pestilence. The whole city buried the prince.

The memory of Dovmont is still preserved in Pskov: part of the city is still called “Dovmont City” by Pskov residents. Local veneration of the prince as a saint began in Pskov in the 14th century, and in 1374 the first church was created in his name. Memorial Day – May 20 (June 2). K.K.

NE?VSKAYA BI?TVA - the battle of Russian troops under the command of Prince of Novgorod Alexander Yaroslavich with a Swedish detachment July 15, 1240

Rus', weakened by the Mongol-Tatar invasion, seemed like easy prey to its northern neighbors. In 1240, a Swedish army moved to the Russian shores. At the mouth of the river Izhora, at its confluence with the Neva, an enemy landing force landed. The Izhora elder Pelgusy informed the Novgorod prince Alexander Yaroslavich about this. At the same time, the leader of the Swedish detachment sent Alexander a message in which he stated: “If you can resist me, the king, then I’m already here and will capture your land.” Alexander Yaroslavich did not wait for the entire army to gather and for the help of his father. With a small squad he set out to meet the enemy.

At dawn on July 15, 1240, Alexander Yaroslavich approached the Swedish camp and attacked it on the move. The princely cavalry struck the center of the Swedes. Alexander himself and his soldiers showed courage and determination. Novgorodian Misha and his detachment defeated three ships of the invaders. Gavrila Oleksich, whom A.S. Pushkin considered his ancestor, burst onto a Swedish ship on horseback. Savva, cutting into the Swedish ranks, reached the tent of their leader and cut it down.

According to the chronicler, the Swedes lost many soldiers, but most of them fell on the opposite bank of Izhora, where Alexandrov’s regiment “was impassable.” According to some historians, they were killed by local tribes. The next morning, having buried the dead (the chroniclers mention two pits filled with the bodies of the fallen, and two ships with noble Swedes who died in the battle), the enemy left the Izhora coast.

For this victory, Prince Alexander Yaroslavich received the nickname Nevsky. S.P.

ICE?VOYE POBO?ISCHE - battle on the ice of Lake Peipsi on April 5, 1242 between the united Novgorod and Vladimir-Suzdal army under the command of the Novgorod prince Alexander Nevsky and the German knights of the Livonian Order.

During the years of the Mongol-Tatar invasion, the knights of the Livonian Order, which seized lands in the Eastern Baltic, tried to subjugate the northwestern lands of Rus' to their influence. Invasions of the knights of the Livonian Order into Russian lands, main goal which was the spread of Catholicism in Rus', were considered in Western Europe like the Crusades.

In 1240, German knights captured the Russian

Izborsk. Residents of Pskov voluntarily recognized the authority of the Livonian Order. Novgorod began to prepare for resistance. But there was no prince in the city at that time - Alexander Yaroslavich, having quarreled with the Novgorodians, went to his family nest -

Pereyaslavl-Zalessky. Having humbled their pride, the Novgorodians asked the prince to return. Alexander hurried to Novgorod and already in 1241 he stormed the stronghold of the German knights, the Koporye fortress, then, having gathered a united army from the Novgorod and Vladimir-Suzdal regiments, he liberated Pskov. After this, Alexander Yaroslavich invaded the lands of the order, but was forced to retreat.

On April 5, 1242, the knightly army and the regiments of Alexander Nevsky stood against each other at the Crow Stone on the ice of Lake Peipsi.

Alexander Nevsky skillfully built his battle formations: in the center, which was not very powerful, there was infantry, on the flanks there were the main, strongest regiments. The knights lined up in a wedge; in Rus' this military formation was called a “pig”. As Alexander expected, the Livonians struck the center of the Russian army and crushed it - “they fought their way through the regiment like a pig.” But then Russian troops attacked from the flanks. The central regiment also went on the attack. The knights were surrounded and their beating began. The ice cracked under the heavily armed knights, and many of them drowned in the icy water. Hundreds of Livonians were killed and captured, the rest barely escaped. The regiments of Alexander Nevsky drove the invaders seven miles. The prisoners, tied by their horse tails, were led through the streets of Novgorod. S.P.

WEAPON. In the 13th–14th centuries, after heavy defeats of the Russian armies from the Mongol-Tatar troops, significant changes took place in different types weapons. Funds have increased personal protection warriors From the 2nd half. 13th century Lamellar and scale armor appeared in Rus'. The chain mail also changes. From the 14th century the use of a baidana is known - chain mail made of large flat rings, which reliably protected the warrior. But much more popular armor during this period became the bakhterets and yushman, which combined the use of chain mail protection with armored armor. The plates were attached in the most vulnerable places; for the bakhterets they covered the back and chest, for the yushman they covered the back, chest and sides. A variation of the bakhterets, but without sleeves, was the kolontar. In the 16th–17th centuries. additional protective weapons appear - a mirror, worn over chain mail and consisting of four large steel plates that covered the warrior’s back, chest and sides. The plates were connected by straps and rings.

Among poor warriors until the 17th century. non-metallic armor was widespread - tegilyai, which was made in the form of caftans quilted on cotton wool or hemp, and fragments of chain mail and shells were sewn into the lining.

The change in defensive weapons caused a change in means of destruction. Swords began to be made tapering towards the tip and were intended mainly not for chopping, but for stabbing. Maces were replaced by six-feathers, the plates of which could destroy the belt base of the armor and seriously wound the enemy. On the southern borders of the country, not the sword, but the Tatar-type saber was increasingly used. Crossbows were more widely used, noticeably improved compared to the first crossbows that appeared in Russian lands back in the 12th century. In the 1st half. 17th century the spear is replaced by a pike equipped with a narrow faceted tip.

The Poles borrowed the berdysh - a type of large axe, equipped with a long blade, up to 80 cm. Along with the arquebus and the saber, the reed became an indispensable attribute of the weapons of the Moscow archers, who used it not only to directly defeat the enemy, but also as a stand for a heavy matchlock gun.

A decisive revolution in military affairs was made by the appearance in Rus' of the horse. 14 – beginning 15th centuries barrel firearms. A definite role in improving the quality of Russians artillery pieces played by Italian and German masters who worked in the horse industry. 15 – beginning 16th centuries in the Moscow Cannon Hut. The builder of the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin, architect Aristotle Fioravanti, became famous for his art of casting and firing cannons. During the 1485 campaign against Tver, the old master was part of the regimental “outfit”.

Documents of that era also mention other cannon masters: Pavlin Debosis, who cast the first large-caliber gun in Moscow back in 1488; Peter, who came to Rus' in 1494 together with the architect Aleviz Fryazin; Johann Jordan, who commanded the Ryazan artillery during the Tatar invasion of 1521. Russian masters Bogdan Pyatoy, Ignatius, Semyon Dubinin, Stepan Petrov also worked together with foreigners. Of these, the most famous is Andrei Chokhov, who cast several dozen cannons and mortars, many of which (“Tsar Cannon” and others) became foundry masterpieces.

Availability of our own qualified craftsmen capable of making tools different types and calibers, as well as the actions of a number of border states that sought to limit penetration into Russian state European military technology, forced the Moscow government to rely on its own strength in creating new types of artillery weapons. This does not mean that, if necessary, the Russian authorities refused to use artillery systems newly invented in Europe. In the years leading up to Smolensk War 1632–1634, Swedish craftsmen worked in Moscow, sent by King Gustav II Adolf to organize the production of light field guns - weapons, thanks to which the Swedes won many of their high-profile victories. K ser. 17th century The number of guns cast in Russia made it possible to begin the export of some artillery systems: in 1646, 600 Russian guns were exported to Holland.

The guns themselves were received in Russia different names, depending on the purpose: mattresses - small, shooting stone and metal shot; mozhirs (mortars), mounted cannons, long-barreled squeaker cannons, etc.

The first examples of hand-held firearms, “hand-held weapons,” appeared in Rus', the oldest surviving examples of which date back to the very beginning of the 15th century. Short-barreled and large-caliber handguns, as well as the structurally similar “self-propelled guns” and “undersized guns,” were quickly improved. In the end 15th century The first matchlock gun appeared, which had a special side shelf and butt. Subsequently, pistols, cavalry carbines, muskets appeared in the arsenal of the Russian army, and at the very beginning of the 18th century. flint fusees. V.V.

COPO?RIER – ancient Russian city on the bank of the river Koporka in Novgorod land(now a village in the Leningrad region).

It was first mentioned in 1240 in connection with the construction of a fortress in the Koporye churchyard by German knights; in 1241 the fortress was destroyed by the Novgorod army of Prince Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky.

In 1280, the Novgorodians built a stone fortress in Koporye, which was also destroyed two years later. In 1297, a new fortress was built on the site of the destroyed one. In the 14th century Swedish and German troops made attempts to capture Koporye. In the end 15 – beginning 16th centuries The fortress was significantly rebuilt, the walls, whose thickness was about 5 m, were strengthened, and several towers were built. The fortress served as an important defensive outpost on the northwestern borders of the Russian state.

In the end 15 – beginning 16th centuries Koporye was captured by the Swedes twice. According to the Stolbovsky Treaty of 1617, it was assigned to Sweden. In 1703, during Northern War 1700–1721 Russian troops captured Koporye. In the 18th century The defensive value of the fortress fell.

The walls and towers of the fortress have been partially preserved to this day. Vl. TO.

IZBO?RSK is an ancient Russian city 30 km from Pskov on Lake Gorodishchenskoye.

It was first mentioned in the chronicles in 862 as a city that was taken over by Rurik’s younger brother Truvor. Izborsk was the strongest fortress on the western borders of the Pskov land. In 1233 it was taken by German knights, but was soon recaptured by the Pskovites. In 1240 it was again captured by the knights and returned only in 1242, in connection with the victory of Prince Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky over the knights in the Battle of the Ice on Lake Peipsi. In 1303 it was moved to a new location 250 m east of the old city. In 1330, a stone fortress was built in Izborsk, which in the 14th–16th centuries. strengthened several times. The area of ​​the fortress is about 15 thousand m2. Its walls and towers are made of limestone. The fortifications of the fortress repeatedly defended the city from attacks by the knights of the Livonian Order. In 1510, together with the entire Pskov land, Izborsk was annexed to Moscow. After the Northern War 1700–1721 lost his military significance. A.K.