In early July 1240, the Swedish knights landed on the banks of the Neva.
They gave the campaign a crusade character: they boarded the ships to the singing of religious hymns,
under the blessing of Catholic priests. Here they wanted to create a stronghold for the attack on Novgorod.
In an ancient legend, the appeal of the Swedish leader to the Novgorod prince has been preserved: “If you want to oppose me, then I have already come.
Come and bow, ask for mercy, and I will give it as much as I want. And if you resist, I will take captive and destroy everything and subjugate your land, and you will be my slave and your sons.
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 will not be able to offer them 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 patrolmen and immediately let Novgorod know.
Alexander decided to hit the enemy immediately, preventing him from gaining a foothold on the banks of the Neva.
He did not even have time to report the appearance of the Swedes to his father in Vladimir, so that he would send reinforcements.
There was no time to collect and the militia. On the banks of the Neva, Alexander led only his cavalry squad and foot soldiers.
Before the campaign, Alexander addressed the soldiers with a speech. There were also such words: God is not in power, but in truth!
July 15, 1240 Alexander attacked the Swedes. The sudden appearance of the Novgorod rati threw them into a panic.
Alexander's warriors burst into the camp, the combatant Savva cut down the support of the royal tent, and it collapsed, causing the jubilation of the Russian troops.
In the heat of battle, another warrior, right on horseback, rode down the gangplank to 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 courage. In a personal duel, he struck with a spear in the face of the leader of the Swedes - Birger.
The wounded Birger was taken 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 BATTLE ON ICE
In the spring of 1242, the army of the Livonian Order of Knights tried to invade the 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, which went down in history, under the name of the Battle of the Ice.
The Germans managed to break through the center of the battle order of the Novgorodians. Part of the Russian infantry even fled. But having stumbled upon the steep shore of the lake, the system of inactive knights mixed up and could not build on their success. At this time, the flank squads of the Novgorodians squeezed, like ticks, the German "pig" from the flanks.
Fight against the aggression of the crusaders. The attack on Russian lands was part of the predatory doctrine of the German chivalry "Drang nach Osten" (onslaught to the East). In the XII century. it began the seizure of lands belonging to the Slavs beyond the Oder and in the Baltic Pomerania. At the same time, an offensive was carried out on the lands of the Baltic peoples. The Crusaders' invasion of the Baltic lands and northwestern Rus' was sanctioned by the Pope and the German Emperor Frederick II. German, Danish, Norwegian knights and hosts from other northern European countries also took part in the crusade.
The coast from the Vistula to the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea was inhabited by Slavic, Baltic (Lithuanian and Latvian) and Finno-Ugric (Ests, Karelians, etc.) tribes. At the end of the XII-beginning of the XIII century. the peoples of the Baltic states are completing the process of disintegration of the primitive communal system and the formation of an early class society and statehood. These processes were most intense among the Lithuanian tribes. The Russian lands (Novgorod and Polotsk) exerted a significant influence on their western neighbors, who did not yet have a developed state of their own and church institutions (the peoples of the Baltic were pagans).
Knightly orders. In order to conquer the lands of the Estonians and Latvians, the knightly Order of the Sword-bearers was created in 1202 from the Crusaders defeated in Asia Minor. The knights wore clothes with the image of a sword and a cross. They pursued an aggressive policy under the slogan of Christianization: "He who does not want to be baptized must die." Back in 1201, the knights landed at the mouth of the Western Dvina (Daugava) River and founded the city of Riga on the site of the Latvian settlement as a stronghold for subjugating the Baltic lands.
In 1219, the Danish knights captured part of the Baltic coast, founding the city of Revel (Tallinn) on the site of an Estonian settlement. In 1224 the crusaders took Yuriev (Tartu).
To conquer the lands of Lithuania (Prussians) of the South Russian lands in 1226, the knights of the Teutonic Order, founded in 1198 in Syria during the Crusades, arrived. Knight 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. This forced the crusaders to join forces. In 1237, the swordsmen united with the Teutons, forming a branch of the Teutonic Order - the Livonian Order, named after the territory inhabited by the Liv tribe, which was captured by the Crusaders.
Neva battle. The offensive of the knights especially intensified due to the weakening of Russia, which bled in the fight against the Mongol conquerors.
In July 1240, the Swedish feudal lords tried to take advantage of the plight of Rus'. The Swedish fleet with an army on board entered the mouth of the Neva. Having risen along the Neva to the confluence of the Izhora River, the knightly cavalry landed on the shore. The Swedes wanted to capture the city of Staraya Ladoga, and then Novgorod.
Prince Alexander Yaroslavich, who was 20 years old at that time, with his retinue quickly rushed to the landing site. “We are few,” he turned to his soldiers, “but God is not in power, but in truth.” Covertly approaching the Swedes' camp, Alexander and his warriors hit them, and a small militia led by Misha from Novgorod cut off the Swedes' path along which they could flee to their ships.
Alexander Yaroslavich was nicknamed Nevsky by the Russian people for the victory on the Neva. Having won, the Russian troops did not allow the Swedes to cut off Novgorod from the sea and capture the coast of the Neva and the Gulf of Finland. In addition, the plan of joint actions of the Swedish and German knights was destroyed: now, after the victory, Novgorod could not be surrounded from two sides. However, because of the fear that after the victory the role of Alexander in the conduct of business could increase, the Novgorod boyars began to build all sorts of intrigues for the prince. Alexander Nevsky went to his father, but a year later the Novgorod residents again invited the prince to continue the war with the Livonian Order, which had approached Pskov.
Battle on the Ice (Battle on Lake Peipsi). In the summer of the same 1240, the Livonian Order, as well as Danish and German knights, attacked Rus' and captured the city of Izborsk. Soon, due to the betrayal of the posadnik Tverdila and part of the boyars, Pskov was taken (1241). Strife and strife led to the fact that Novgorod did not help its neighbors. And the struggle between the boyars and the prince in Novgorod itself ended with the expulsion of Alexander Nevsky from the city. Under these conditions, individual detachments of the crusaders found themselves 30 km from the walls of Novgorod. At the request of the veche, Alexander Nevsky returned to the city.
Together with his retinue, Alexander liberated Pskov, Izborsk and other captured cities with a sudden blow. Having received the news that the main forces of the Order were coming against him, Alexander Nevsky blocked the way for the knights, placing his troops on the ice of Lake Peipus. The Russian prince showed himself as an outstanding commander. The chronicler wrote about him: "Winning everywhere, but we won't win at all." Alexander deployed troops under the cover of a steep bank on the ice of the lake, eliminating the possibility of enemy reconnaissance of his forces and depriving the enemy of freedom of maneuver. Taking into account the construction of the knights as a “pig” (in the form of a trapezoid with a sharp wedge in front, which was heavily armed cavalry), Alexander Nevsky arranged his regiments in the form of a triangle, with a tip resting on the shore. Before the battle, part of the Russian soldiers were equipped with special hooks to pull the knights off their horses.
On April 5, 1242, a battle took place on the ice of Lake Peipsi, which was called the Battle of the Ice. The knight's wedge broke through the center of the Russian position and hit the shore. The flank strikes of the Russian regiments decided the outcome of the battle: like pincers, they crushed the knightly "pig". The knights, unable to withstand the blow, fled in panic. The Novgorodians drove them for seven versts across the ice, which by the spring had become weak in many places and collapsed under heavily armed soldiers. The Russians pursued the enemy, “flashed, rushing after him, as if through air,” the chronicler wrote. According to the Novgorod chronicle, "400 Germans died and 50 were taken prisoner" (German chronicles estimate the number of deaths at 25 knights). The captured knights were led in disgrace through the streets of the Lord Veliky Novgorod.
The significance of this victory lies in the fact that the military power of the Livonian Order was weakened. The response to the Battle of the Ice was the growth of the liberation struggle in the Baltic states. However, relying on the help of the Roman Catholic Church, the knights at the end of the thirteenth century. captured a significant part of the Baltic lands.
The crusader offensive was well organized and planned. According to the instructions of Ulrich von Jungingen, it was carried out from several points. The main blow was directed at the Dobzhyn land. The grand master himself and the chief marshal commanded this campaign. Dobzhyn was taken by storm, the garrison was slaughtered, the castle was burned, and the city was plundered. Then Rypin, Lipna and Bobrovniki were captured.
The garrison of Zlotaria put up stubborn resistance to the Crusaders. However, this castle, which was the last point of defense in the Dobzhyn land, capitulated on September 2.
At the same time, commanders from Tuchola and Chlukhava devastated Krajina - an area west of Bydgoszcz. Then they moved towards Bydgoszcz and in their reports to the Grand Master they reported that for 8 days they burned everything on their way. In Shvets, the Crusaders released from Polish captivity Komtur Heinrich von Plauen, the future savior of the Teutonic Order.
Shvets was taken by the crusaders without a fight - the gates of the castle were opened by traitors. On September 1, von Plauen, at the head of a large detachment, arrived in Bydgoszcz and prepared the local castle for defense. At the same time, Arnold von Baden, procurator of the New Marche, devastated the environs of Dresdenk on the northwestern frontier.
strip of Poland. Commanders of Astroda and Brandenburg devastated the possessions of Prince Janusz of Mazovia.
Here the crusaders encountered serious resistance. Janusz Mazowiecki's son Bolesław broke into Prussia, burned Soldau and devastated the neighborhood of Rastenburg.
The beginning of the war was a complete surprise for the Polish king. Vladislav hoped to drag out negotiations with the Teutonic Order for a longer period. On September 4, the Polish army was defeated by the knights near Velun on the territory of New Mark.
At the end of August, the Lithuanian army united with the forces of the Zemoit rebels. This was the first open step taken by the Grand Duke of Lithuania towards the annexation of Zhemoitia. The Lithuanians captured Fredenburg Castle. The knightly garrison left Dubysa, burning the castle before retreating.
Soon the Lithuanians captured the large port of Memel. However, the Memel castle remained in the hands of the Crusaders. To stop the further advance of the Lithuanian army, the Grand Marshal of the Teutons, together with the commanders of Balga and Brandenburg, assembled a new army. However, the Teutons were unable to meet Vitovt due to the fact that a period of continuous rains suddenly began. Diseases raged among the crusaders. Therefore, the Grand Marshal limited himself to defensive tactics, blocking the way for the Lithuanians into the interior of the country.
In the meantime, a new embassy militia had gathered near Lenchitsy. The chief marshal informed the Grand Master of the Teutons about a secret meeting that took place between Vitovt and Vladislav. At this meeting, the Polish king and the Grand Duke of Lithuania came to full agreement on further actions.
On September 23, the new Polish army set out on a campaign. Five days later, Bydgoszcz was besieged. On September 30, as a result of a successful assault, the knight's castle was taken. An embassy of the Czech king arrived in the camp of Vladislav, who demanded an immediate cessation of hostilities and a resolution of the dispute through the mediation court of King Wenceslas. October, the Grand Master proposed to conclude
a truce on the following terms - Jagiello-Vladislav lifts the siege from Bydgoszcz and agrees to the mediation of King Wenceslas. Vladislav wrote that he would gladly accept the offer, but only if the order withdraws its troops from the Dobzhyn land and, before the start of the trial, hands over its management to the representatives of the Czech king. On October 6, the Poles captured Bydgoszcz. This event accelerated the course of negotiations. Two days later, a truce was concluded between the representatives of the Polish king and the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order until sunset on June 24, 1410. According to the terms of this truce, both parties remained in the possessions that they had at the time of its signing.
The dispute between Poland and the crusaders was referred to Wenceslas of Czech. He had to announce his decision no later than the first week of Lent, which means February 9, 1410. The Polish side undertook an obligation in no way to support the rebels and those who help the pagans.
If one of the participants in the truce violated at least one of its conditions, the Czech king received the right to help his opponent by all means until peace was restored. This truce unleashed the hands of the crusaders for a new capture of Zhemoitia and a war with the Lithuanian principality.
The conclusion of this truce ended the first stage of the Great War of 1409-1411. It was characterized by the military and diplomatic success of the crusaders in Poland. Dobzhyn land remained in the hands of the Teutons. With an intermediary - the Czech king - Ulrich von Jungingen was going to negotiate with the help of a large bribe. The truce with the Kingdom of Poland gave the Teutonic Order the opportunity to finally crush Samoitija and the Lithuanian principality.
No one believed in a peaceful resolution of the conflict - neither the warring parties, nor the mediator himself. The agreement concluded between Poland and the Teutonic Order by no means ruled out the continuation of hostilities in Samoitija or Lithuania. However, having received a great opportunity to deal with their
enemies one by one, the Teutonic Order did not take advantage of this opportunity.
There are different opinions on this matter. Firstly, the crusaders did not want to fight before the announcement of the decision of the Czech king from diplomatic calculations - they were confident in the decision in their favor. Secondly, the mercenary army of the Teutons disbanded for the duration of the truce. The crusaders in an instant lost the army for direct combat operations. The main part of the actual troops of the Teutonic Order was dispersed over numerous castles.
During this period, the crusaders were not even able to organize a rebuff to the raid of the Lithuanians, who, after the conclusion of the truce, devastated the environs of Dzialdow and Nybork. Without opening hostilities against Lithuania, the order organized another attempt to unleash an internecine war in the principality.
As soon as a truce was concluded with the Polish king Vladislav, the Grand Master signed a secret treaty with his brother Svidrigail. The Teutons promised to help him get the throne of the Grand Duke and not make peace with Vytautas until this goal was achieved. Svidrigailo was going to secretly cross over to the territory of the order state in order to start a war against Prince Vitovt from there.
However, the letter of protection sent by the order authorities was intercepted by the Lithuanians. The plot was uncovered, and Svidrigailo was arrested. His fate was decided at a personal meeting between Vitovt and Vladislav. Vladislav imprisoned his brother in order to use him in the future as a likely candidate for the throne of the Principality of Lithuania.
The time for the announcement of the decision of Wenceslas of Czech was approaching. Lithuanian, Polish, Mazovian and German ambassadors came to Prague. King Wenceslas did not meet the deadline. His decision was announced not on February 9, but on February 15. The ambassadors of the Teutonic Order - the great hospitaller Werner von Tezzingen and the commander of Torun Count Albrecht Schwarzburg - brought Wenceslas 60 thousand florins "compensation for friendly mediation."
Wenceslas of Czech's decision was as follows -
^ each of the warring parties remains with those lands that it had before the start of the war and to which it has the right according to the documents of the Pope, the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, kings and princes. Dobzhyn land was returned to the Kingdom of Poland, and Zhemoitia - to the Teutonic Order.
However, Vladislav received the Dobzhyn land not earlier than the crusaders completely seized Zhemoytia. Until that time, Dobzhyn will be ruled by representatives of the Czech king. If the conditions associated with Zhemoitia are met properly, then the Dobzhyn land will be returned to the Polish king, if not, it will remain with the Teutonic Order.
All the earlier dorovors of Poland and the crusaders remained in force. None of the warring parties had the right to use the help of the pagans or help them. The ambassadors of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were expelled from the negotiations, Vitovt's letters were rejected and destroyed in front of all participants.
This decision was clearly in favor of the Teutonic Order. The crusaders could always show documents for the possession of Pomerania, and Poland did not want to accept the loss of this area. The Teutons also had documents, signed by Prince Mindovg, on the possession of the Lithuanian principality.
By linking the transfer of the Dobzhyn land to the Kingdom of Poland with the acquisition of the Zemoitia order, Wenceslas of Czech created a precedent for disagreements between Vladislav and Vitovt. But the Polish delegation did not agree with this decision. Even during its reading, the representatives of the Polish king and the Mazovian prince left the meeting hall in protest against the fact that the document was read in German.
In early June 1410, the crusaders received from Wenceslas confirmation of the decision and evidence that they adhered to the terms of the truce, unlike the Poles. In connection with the failure of the Polish side to fulfill its obligations, the Teutonic Order also considered itself free from further fulfillment of the terms of the armistice.
The continuation of the war became an inevitable reality. Each side deployed reinforced military
and diplomatic training. A new rivalry began between Poland and the crusaders for an alliance with the powerful Hungarian king.
And although Sigismund of Hungary had a peace treaty with the Poles before 1413, he began to lean towards an alliance with the Teutons. For this betrayal, Sigismund received a large bribe from the Teutonic Order. At the same time, the Hungarian king did not reveal his true intentions to Vladislav, getting rid of him with meaningless promises. Sigismund even agreed to accept rich gifts from the Lithuanian prince Vitovt, including 12 horses shod with golden horseshoes.
Vytautas handed over these gifts personally at a meeting with Sigismund in Kezmarka. Or the Hungarian king was asked only one thing - to keep peace until 1413. Sigismund accepted the gifts, but then made it clear that in the event of an escalation of the war between the Poles and the crusaders, he would not keep the peace. In a confidential conversation, Sigismund suggested that Vitovt change his princely title to the royal crown and conclude an alliance against Vladislav.
The Lithuanian prince flatly refused this proposal. When Vitovt returned to the courtyard where the Lithuanian delegation was located, a fire suddenly broke out in this part of the city. There was a panic, during which there was an attempt to kill the Lithuanian prince. Vitovt immediately left the city.
A mile from Kezhmark, the Hungarian king caught up with the Lithuanian prince and said goodbye to him, but did not enter into further negotiations. After returning from Kezhmark, the Lithuanian prince met with Vladislav. The Polish king and Vytautas discussed in detail further actions against the crusaders, after which the ruler of Lithuania hurried to his homeland.
Already on the fourth day of the journey, Vitovt arrived in Brest, from where he sent out an order to all Lithuanian lands to prepare a militia for the war with the crusaders. In Brest, Vitovt held a meeting with the Lithuanian and Mazovian princes, after which he rushed to Slonim.
At this time, the great marshal of the crusaders carried out a swift and daring raid on Brest with the aim of capturing Vitovt. March 16, 1410 unexpected
By this assault, the knights captured Volkovysk, burned it and killed the people who had gathered for worship. But the Teutons failed to capture the Lithuanian prince, who had already reached Slonim.
In May, the Teutonic Order offered the Grand Duke of Lithuania a truce. It was adopted until June 24, as with Poland. Ambassadors of the warring parties went to all European courts with valuable gifts and eloquent letters. In the letters, which were diligently distributed by the ambassadors, the enemy was showered with the most unflattering epithets.
However, only those accusations that were backed up by hard currency were successful. The advantage of the Teutonic Order in the financial field was too obvious. Crusader ambassadors actively recruited mercenaries in the Czech Republic, Austria, Meissen, Silesia and Switzerland. The ambassadors of the Polish king Vladislav recruited mercenaries in the same place.
Thus, it turned out that the Swiss mercenaries fought against each other on the side of the Germans and Slavs. There were cases when Polish recruiters bought entire military detachments from the Germans. The opposite happened as well. The Grand Duke of Lithuania sent Vladislav a large sum of money to recruit professional mercenaries.
The Teutonic Order had a real opportunity, with the help of its Livonian branch, to prevent the active actions of the Lithuanians in Prussia. The plan of Ulrich von Jungingen provided that the Livonian swordsmen would attack the Lithuanian army from the northwest while the Prussian army would defeat the army of the Polish king.
In May, the Grand Master sent an order to the Livonian Landmaster - in case of failure of the June negotiations, to declare war on the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Landmaster of the Sword Konrad von Fetinghoff replied that, under the terms of the peace treaty with Lithuania, the war could begin only three months after receiving its official announcement.
It turned out that if Fetingof declared war on Vitovt in early June, then hostilities could only begin in early September. This was explained by the fact that the local interests of the Livonians, who were not
interested in the war, took precedence over the common cause of the order.
At the end of 1409, the Grand Duke of Lithuania established friendly relations with the Novgorod and Pskov republics. The sword-bearers feared this Lithuanian-Novgorod-Pskov union. Fetinghoff was forced to keep his army in constant combat readiness, so he did not even send reinforcements to Prussia.
This delay was one of the main reasons for the defeat of the Teutonic Order. The three-month period between the declaration of war and its beginning made it possible for the Poles and Lithuanians to win the Battle of Grunwald. The Livonian swordsmen landed in Prussia only at the beginning of September.
In the spring of 1410, Sigismund of Hungary offered his mediation to Vladislav and Ulrich von Jungingen for a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Both sides agreed to start negotiations in Torun June. But preparations for the decisive battle were already in full swing.
The economic potential of the Prussian state was certainly higher than in the Kingdom of Poland and the Principality of Lithuania combined. The economic system of the Teutonic Order was exemplary. The treasury in Marienburg had significant funds in full-fledged coinage. In addition, some Teutonic dignitaries also possessed significant treasures. The chief order economists - Marienburg and Koenigsberg - had large funds. The Teutonic Order maintained a huge mercenary army for those times.
Polish and Lithuanian treasuries did not have such a volume of free money. Ho allies had a number of other advantages. First of all, the advantage was in the number of population and the size of the territory. This was especially true of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, whose borders were steadily expanding from the Baltic to the Black Seas. Unlike little Prussia, Poland and Lithuania were too large “pieces” to be easily “swallowed” by the Teutons.
Another advantage of the opponents of the crusaders was the opposition to the Teutonic Order from
Prussian nobility. The caste of the order, fiscal policy and isolation from the population of the rest of Prussia caused strong discontent among the nobles.
The Teutonic Order enjoyed significant support in Western Europe, especially in the German lands. The backbone of the Teutonic Order was made up of the younger sons of the nobles of the Holy Roman Empire. In many German principalities there were branches of the Teutonic Order with their own possessions and castles. These branches also had significant economic potential and they spent their money on a propaganda campaign, as well as on mobilization for the needs of the Teutonic Order.
The mobilization and combat unit of this time was the lt; spear. It consisted of a heavily armed knight who had two horses, with a pike, sword and shield, one or two lightly armed squires, an arrow with a bow or crossbow. Two more servants of the knight were in the camp.
The squire, like the knight, was a nobleman. The shooter could be a tradesman or a peasant. In fact, the "spear" included at least three riders. Wealthy knights in their "spear" had more squires and shooters.
"Spears" made up regiments, or banners. The number of spears in the regiments could be from 20 to 150. The main striking force of the spear was the knight himself in steel armor and with heavy weapons. A squire in lighter armor was obliged to fight next to him. The arrows had shells or half shells.
The cavalry of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland, unlike the Teutonic one, consisted of lightly armed horsemen. She was indispensable in reconnaissance or in pursuit of a retreating enemy. The Tatar cavalry in the Allied army was divided into heavy and light.
The heavy cavalry had armor made of fire-hardened buffalo skin, helmets with a collar that protected the neck from blows from behind and from the sides, made of the same skin. She was armed with sabers, lances, lasso and coinage.
Lightly armed Tatar cavalrymen did not wear armor. They had only sabers, lasso,
spears and two bows. The infantry in the Polish army consisted exclusively of philistines and peasants. The infantrymen were mainly at the wagon train, in the convoy guard. There was approximately one spearman per driver. The Polish infantrymen were armed with pikes, bows, crossbows, axes and shields.
The Teutonic infantrymen were much better armed. They had half-shells, iron helmets with collars. In addition to conventional weapons, the crusaders also had halberds.
During the Middle Ages and the Early Renaissance, depending on the circumstances, from 3 to 30 percent of the country's population was mobilized for war. In 1410, the Teutonic Order carried out the maximum possible mobilization. The united crusader army consisted of the order's own army, the troops of 4 Prussian bishops, the Prussian land militia, the militia of Prussian cities, mercenary contingents, the troops of Pomeranian princes and "friendly regiments" - European knights.
The total number of the Teutonic army near Grunwald, according to Polish historians, amounted to 33 thousand people. Of these, 21 thousand were horsemen,
b thousand - foot soldiers, and b thousand - servants. In addition, part of the knightly troops remained in the castle garrisons. On the left bank of the Vistula, a large group of crusaders under the command of Heinrich von Plauen was based to cover the direction of a possible strike. Contrary to the expectations of Ulrich von Jungingen, they did not send the promised reinforcements of the land of New Mark and Livonia.
The mobilization possibilities of the Kingdom of Poland and the Principality of Lithuania were incomparably greater. So, the Grand Duke of Lithuania took with him on a campaign a smaller part of his army. Most of the Lithuanian troops remained to cover the vast borders of the southeastern part of the state from the Oka River to the Black Sea, as well as the northern and western borders with Livonia. Numerous garrisons remained in the castles.
Due to the fact that the Lithuanian army did not have non-mobile infantry and artillery, it managed to make a quick march and join the army
^Polish king. Vitovt's army for the most part consisted of cavalry. It numbered 11 thousand ¦ people, which accounted for one third of the entire army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
The Polish army near Grunwald consisted of thousands of cavalry, 3 thousand infantrymen and 18 thousand people in the train. Lithuanian infantry was only 500 people. Later they were joined by detachments of professional mercenaries recruited by the Polish king with the money of the Lithuanian prince.
Each regiment of the Allied army took with them food for 5 weeks. In addition to grub, they transported tents, uniforms, spare weapons, and kitchen utensils. In total, the united army had 10,000 carts. This convoy mass significantly slowed down the movement of the allies.
The number of Tatars who participated in the campaign against Grunwald amounted to 2 thousand horsemen. They were led by Khan Jalal-ad-Din, who counted on the help of Vladislav and Vitovt in the internecine struggle for power in the Golden Horde. The Polish army also included a detachment of Moldavian knights.
The Polish historian Jan Dlugash, who wrote about the Great War half a century after its end, reported that 50 Polish and 48 Lithuanian regiments took part in this campaign.
On the side of the Teutonic Order, Germans from all the lands of the Holy Roman Empire took part in the hostilities. In the order's army there were also Poles from Prussia, Catholic Prussians and detachments from the West Pomeranian lands under the command of Prince Casimir Szczecinski. Mercenary units of the crusaders were formed from Czechs, Moravians and Swiss.
Thus, the Battle of Grunwald can rightly be called the "battle of the peoples."
The opposing armies also had artillery. However, it did not have a significant impact on the course of the war. Mostly, bombards were used, which fired stone cannonballs of various calibers. Light bombards were those that fired fist-sized cannonballs and weighed up to 10 pounds. Medium kernels weighed between 10 dr and 25 lbs. Bombards were considered large,
which fired cannonballs the size of a human head—over 25 pounds.
In addition, the crusaders had cannons that fired lead cannonballs. They had small, rarely medium calibers. The smallest of these were hand cannons. The Teutonic Order owned a hundred of these guns.
In 1408, a particularly large bombard was cast in the Marienburg foundry. For its manufacture, about 231 centners of metal were used - a mixture of copper, tin and lead. The bombard fired cannonballs weighing 9 centners. The combat reserve of the bombard during the campaign of 1409 was 14 cores. Each core was carried on a separate wagon. This bombard contributed to the capture by the Teutons of Polish castles in the Dobzhyn land.
The Poles had much less artillery. The Lithuanian prince vooby $ e "ye took artillery with him on a campaign, with the exception of hand and light bombards.
In early December 1409, the Polish king Vladislav arrived in Brest for a secret meeting with Prince Vytautas. In addition to plans for the campaign of 1410, the fate of Vladislav's brother Svidrigailo was also discussed. The Polish king did not agree to the execution of his brother, but promised, as compensation after the war, to give Podolia to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - the region that supported the rebellious Svidrigailo.
The plan for the continuation of the war was developed in detail by Vladislav. The strategic planning of the Polish king far exceeded the level of his time. The main, and sometimes the only goal of medieval wars was almost always the capture of some border region. This time, the King of Poland conceived and brilliantly carried out a large-scale operation to defeat the military power of the entire Teutonic Order.
At the Brest meeting, the place and time of the concentration of the allied armies, their formations, as well as the direction of the march, the means of the most important crossings were agreed. The combination of the Polish and Lithuanian troops into one army and an unexpected blow to the center of the order state - to Marienburg, gave a number of advantages to the allies.
First, the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duke
From the very beginning, the Lithuanian state took the initiative to conduct hostilities into their own hands. Secondly, hostilities were transferred to enemy territory. Thus, Lithuania and Poland were protected from the devastation of wartime. Thirdly, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order was forced to concentrate all his forces in one place in order to interfere with the Allied march. As a result of this maneuver, a decisive battle was to take place, during which the numerical superiority of the allied army over the order one was to be manifested.
The fulfillment of the plan largely depended on whether Vladislav and Vitovt would be able to keep their plan secret until the appointed time, when the Polish and Lithuanian troops were brought to full combat readiness. In order to hide the true intentions, the Polish king staged demonstrations of military force on the border with Prussia.
The Grand Master of the Teutonic Order chose defensive tactics. Ulrich von Jungingen operated with the categories of his time and expected the same from his opponents. He was preparing for massive attacks from Poland or Mazovia. The crusaders were determined to repel these blows and keep the Dobzhyn land and, possibly, even the Kuyavy.
The Teutons energetically prepared for defense in their castles and cities. On the borders with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the defense was to be held by the commanders of Ragneta, Ryn and Memel. The procurator of Novaya Marka, Mikhail Kukhmeister, was appointed to defend Novaya Marka and Dresdenek; The Dobzhyn and Mikhailovskaya lands were guarded by the commander of Bezhglov, and the line along the Drventsy River was guarded by the commanders of Brodnitsa and Astroda.
The main forces of the Teutonic Order, led by the Grand Master, were concentrated near Shvets. The actions of the crusaders were adjusted depending on the changing situation.
Meanwhile, the end of the truce was approaching. By his activity on the border with Pomerania and New Mark, the Polish king in every possible way demonstrated his desire to strike at the Gdansk Pomerania. Com-
Tours from the Lithuanian border reported to the Grand Master about the concentration of Vitovt's troops and his intention to strike at Ragnet or Astroda.
On May 26, the Grand Duke of Lithuania confirmed the armistice with the Teutonic Order. On May 28, Vytautas received the Hungarian ambassador, in a conversation with whom he confirmed his peaceful intentions. The Lithuanian cavalry, meanwhile, was already moving towards Zhemoitia.
At the beginning of June, the Lithuanian army was assembled near the Narew River. From there, Grand Duke Vitovst led the march to join the Polish army. The crusaders, meanwhile, continued to fortify the border castles. The knightly army began to gather near Shvets. On June 10, Ulrich von Jungingen arrived at Engelburg near Schwetz.
With the sunset of June 24, the truce of the Teutonic Order with the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania officially ended. On this day, the mercenary detachments of King Vladislav united near Volba, near Petrikovo, with the militia of Malopolypa. From the west, the militia of Velikopolypi went to join them. The Masurian militia was preparing for the campaign.
With an unexpected raid, the Poles devastated the environs of Torun. The army left by Prince Vitovt in Lithuania made a campaign near Yurborg and Klaipeda. The Lithuanian prince himself at that time was on the march between the Bug and the Narew. The Grand Master of the Teutonic Order arrived in Torun and sent an embassy to the Polish king with a proposal to extend the truce until July 4th. Vladislav readily agreed. This agreement did not concern the Lithuanians.
On June 26, an army led by Vladislav made a rush to the north in the direction of Lyubohnia. The knightly commanders of Chlukhov and Tukh Aly made a raid on the Polish border regions. The Polish king, meanwhile, proceeded through Vysokinitsy and Seimitsy. On June 29, Vladislav entered Kozlovo, where he received a message from the Lithuanian prince, who reported that he had already arrived at the place where the Narew flows into the Vistula.
On June 30, Vladislav's army united with the militia of Velikopolis in Chervensk. The Polish army crossed the wide Vistula on floating bridges. The next day, join Vladislav
the Lithuanian army and the Masurian militia were gone. July 2 ended the concentration of the allied army. The Crusaders, meanwhile, marched to the fords on the Drventsy River near Kuzhetnik and began to fortify them.
On July 3, the allied army began a campaign to the border of the order state. The head of the Polish garrison in Bydgoszcz crossed the border and defeated the crusader army under the command of von Plauen. On July 4, a new truce ended, which both sides no longer considered it necessary to extend. Von Plauen's army received strong reinforcements - 600 copies of mercenaries.
On July 5, the ambassadors of the Hungarian king arrived at the camp of the allied army near Yezhev, who continued to mediate in this conflict. They asked to be informed of the conditions under which the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania would agree to peace with the Teutonic Order. Vladislav told them the following: Dobzhyn land should be returned to Poland, Zhemoitia - to Lithuania.
The next day, the Polish king and the Grand Duke of Lithuania held a review of their troops in front of the ambassadors. On July 7, the allied army reached the Vkra River. July, the allies made the last halt before crossing the Prussian border. On July 9, the Poles and Lithuanians crossed the border of the Order, stormed and destroyed Lautenburg.
A detachment of crusaders headed from Soldy to Kyzhetnik. The allied army also rushed there. In July, the Polish-Lithuanian army unexpectedly turned towards Lindbark and made a march on Deldovo. On July 12, Vladislav and Vitovt received a notification from Sigismund of Hungary about the start of hostilities against the Kingdom of Poland. This news was not communicated to the troops, so as not to undermine morale.
On the same day, the crusaders crossed to the left bank of the Drventsa in 12 places near Bratyan and marched in a northeast direction. On the evening of July 13, the order army reached Frygnov, which was 10 miles from Dubrovna. The next day, the Grand Master gave the order to prepare positions for the upcoming battle.
The Polish-Lithuanian army, meanwhile, captured Dubrovno and rested there. The actions of the Polish king and the Grand Duke of Lithuania took place according to a previously developed plan. In order to hide the unification of their armies until the last moment, the Allies demonstrated their intention to fight one by one.
Vladislav concentrated troops on the border with New Mark, as if to strike at the Gdansk Pomerania. That part of the Lithuanian army, which was left by Vitovt, made a raid into Prussia.
The main part of the Polish-Lithuanian plan - the unification of the armies - was carried out brilliantly. Having concluded a truce with the Teutonic Order, the Lithuanian prince led his army unhindered along the route of 600 miles along the Prussian border to Poland.
The union of the Polish and Lithuanian armies came as a complete surprise to the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order. This incident demonstrated not only the success of Vitovt's diplomacy, but also the complete collapse of the Teutonic intelligence system. When one of the witnesses of the allied army crossing the Vistula swore to Ulrich von Jungingen that he saw the Lithuanian prince there, he did not want to believe. The Grand Master laughingly addressed the Hungarian ambassadors who were present at the same time: This is nothing. Everything that this man dared to say is very similar to fiction. ^Because our most reliable scouts brought the news that the Polish king is and is driving around the Vistula River and trying what is true, but cannot cross it. Many of his warriors had already died in the waves while trying to ford it. Vitovt, on the other hand, stands by the Narew River and does not dare to cross it.
It was not by chance that the Polish king and the Lithuanian prince chose Chervensk as the place of connection of their armies. He was far enough from the Prussian frontier not to fear an unexpected blow. The concentration of the allied army at Chervensk could indicate the intention to strike in any direction. This was done to confuse Crusader intelligence.
Immediately after the connection at Chervensk, the Poles and Lithuanians rushed to the campaign against Marienburg. Allies
well thought out and organized a crossing over the Vistula. Made during the winter and spring, the pontoon bridge was prepared for the approach of troops on June 30th. After the crossing, the bridge was dismantled and floated to Plock to be used on the way back.
The Polish king was excellently oriented in circumstances that changed daily, and always made the right decisions. When Vladislav saw that the battle at the ford near Kuzhetnik put the allied army at a disadvantage in advance, he ordered to retreat and turned back to the old route. Vladislav understood that the order army would still try to block the way to the capital. Thus, the path to Marienburg was calculated so as not to cross the river, because it was clear that the crusaders would not allow this to be done without a fight. During this crossing, the Poles and Lithuanians could suffer significant losses, which would make further advancement into the depths of the order state meaningless.
The defensive version of Ulrich von Jungingen, approved by the Teutonic military council, had many shortcomings. The unification of the Polish and Lithuanian armies into a significant force could only be prevented by a decisive offensive by the crusaders. The dispersal of a part of the order's troops in numerous castles to protect the borders led to the fact that the powerful groups of Heinrich von Plauen and Mikhail Kuhmeister did not take part in the decisive battle.
The assembly point of the order's army - Shvets - was chosen based on the experience of conducting previous wars. Ulrich von Jungingen expected a probable blow from the enemy in the direction to the west of the Vistula. It so happened that the crusaders fortified the fords at Kuzhetnik in vain, although thanks to the data of the order intelligence, the time of the enemy’s arrival there was accurately calculated.
The banks of the Drventsa were fortified with palisades and earthen ditches, behind which guns were placed. Ulrich von Jungingen planned to fight in this advantageous place. However, this road was not the only one to Marienburg. After the retreat of the Polish-Lithuanian army from the fords, the Grand Master sent his army to block the direction to the capital, to the area between Lake Luben
and the village of Tanenberg. The crusaders managed to gain a foothold in the positions indicated by Jungingen.
Who will come to us with a sword,
by the sword and die.
On that stood, stands and stand
will be Russian land.
Alexander Nevskiy
Europe and Rus' entered the thirteenth century in a complex political, religious and military environment. After the great crusades, the authority of the papacy and the Roman priests was shaken. The main relics of Christianity, its material objects associated with the activities of Jesus Christ - the Miraculous icon of the Virgin, the lid of the Holy Sepulcher with the image of Christ himself, carved by the Angel of God, the inextinguishable lamp that burned in front of the Holy Sepulcher, the shroud and the famous Veronica - plates with the miraculous image of the Savior, others relics that had been kept for many centuries in the Church of the Resurrection of the Lord in Jerusalem were unexpectedly lost. For the sake of taking possession of them, the papal confessors started crusades. They dreamed of transferring the above-mentioned shrines to Rome, in order thereby to glorify this city and the papacy, to make Rome the world capital of Christianity. But after the crusade, the shrines disappeared. Only a few leaders of the papal curia and the highest ranks of the Orthodox Church knew about their fate.
And here's what happened. The participants in the first crusade needed funds. Before leaving for Palestine, the knights took a large loan from the Byzantine emperor Isaac Komnenos. And he, as soon as the crusaders took Jerusalem, asked to pay off his debts. In their payment, the crusaders gave away the shrines. A tombstone with the image of the Savior and many other holy relics were sent to Constantinople. Roman priests "were left with a nose" and did not receive the coveted shrines. They got only the tombs of the apostles Peter and Paul and the relics of saints of lower ranks.
Orthodox Constantinople, having received from the crusaders the main shrines taken from Palestine, continued to be the world center of Christianity. His position even increased, which the Catholics of Rome did not want. This infuriated the papal priests. They organized a crusade against Orthodox Constantinople. In 1204 Constantinople fell.
But the papal missionaries did not get what they expected there either: the great relics of Christianity again eluded them. According to the testimony of the knight Robert de Clary, during the storming of the city they became the prey of the Venetians and were sold by them to someone.
But soon, in the first Novgorod Chronicle of those years, Dobrynya Yadreykovich's story was recorded about the fall of the great Constantinople, which was witnessed by the Novgorod politician and boyar. And a postscript was made to his story that Dobrynya Yadreikovich brought a piece of the Holy Sepulcher to the Novgorod church of Hagia Sophia!
This record can explain a lot in European history, as well as in the history of the Novgorod land in the first half of the thirteenth century. The Soviet historian, researcher of chivalry Dmitry Zenin believes, for example, that, having acquired a piece of the Holy Sepulcher, a particle of the main shrine, Veliky Novgorod immediately became in line with the largest world centers of Christianity - Jerusalem, Constantinople and Rome, and therefore automatically - the first city in Rus'. Apparently, the most valuable acquisition also served the fact that Dobrynya Yadreykovich was soon proclaimed Archbishop of Novgorod - Anthony the Second, and the Novgorod Archdiocese from that time began to consider it not obligatory for itself to follow the instructions of the Kiev Metropolis.
Europe still continued to roam with the hops of the Crusades, and from the east a formidable wave of the Mongol invasion was already rolling towards its borders. Hordes of nomads were already pushing the Volga Bulgars and Polovtsy from the Black Sea steppes, plundering and devastating the southern Russian lands. It is in these situations that it is necessary to consider the role and significance of Alexander Yaroslavovich in Russian and European history, in relations with two spiritual and knightly orders that neighbored the Novgorod lands.
Even Alexander's grandfather, Vsevolod the Big Nest, a friend of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Frederick Barbarossa, at his request at one time approved the creation of knightly orders in the Prussian and Lithuanian lands. It was from Vsevolod that Lithuania and Prussia received the Livonian Order of the Sword and the Teutonic Order that returned from Palestine. Both of these orders were vassals of the Russian Orthodox prince until his death in 1212. With their help, Vsevolod hoped to defend himself against nomadic invasions in the event of a threat.
In 1236 both orders united. Grandmaster of the Teutonic Order Hermann von Seltz, who appointed his comrade-in-arms in Palestine, Andrei von Welfen, as the master of the Livonian Order, became their leader. In 1238, after confirming the vassal oath to Alexander's father, Grand Duke of Vladimir Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, von Wolfen, on his way back, drove to Novgorod to Alexander in order to "settle" with him. What they talked about will forever remain a mystery. But, as the Novgorod chronicles and Livonian chronicles testify, the highly experienced warrior, white with gray hair, was surprised and delighted with the talents of his overlord's son. Returning to Riga and gathering his knights and people of all classes, Wölfen spoke about his meeting with Prince Alexander of Novgorod, ending his speech with the words: "He has no equal in the whole world." He wrote von Seltz just as commendably about Alexander.
That year, the legates of Pope Gregory IX became frequent guests in Rus', who decided that the fertile time had come for the decisive successes of Catholicism in the east of Europe. Some South Russian princes had already fled from the Tatars to Austria, Hungary, Bohemia and Moravia. The legates of Gregory IX also negotiated a conversion to Catholicism with Alexander's father, Grand Duke Yaroslav of Vladimir, and, as the historian Dmitry Zenin believes, persuaded him to transfer to Rome a sacred piece of the Holy Sepulcher. The Grand Duke allegedly evaded the answer, saying that he was not free to dispose of the property of the Novgorod Church.
In May 1240 subtle politicians arrived in Novgorod, the Catholic cardinals Geld and Gemond. It was officially stated that they had come to talk with the young prince about faith. Indeed, in the annals there is no mention of the meeting of the legates with the Archbishop of Novgorod, but they instead say that after a conversation with the papal ambassadors, Prince Alexander held a private council with the archbishop, and then, having invited the papal ambassadors, he said to them only one phrase: "From you doctrine is unacceptable."
After visiting Novgorod, the Catholic cardinals went ... to Sweden. And not by accident. The Pope's enemy, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, forbade all his subjects to participate in any undertakings carried out by the Catholic Church, under the threat of confiscation of all land holdings of the guilty. And this chilled the most ardent supporters of the pope.
The German knightly orders, being vassals of Yaroslav of Vladimir, did not dare then to oppose his son. The call of the pope to go to Novgorod for the shrine could only be answered in Sweden, where the internecine war had just ended and Jarl Birger, who had distinguished himself in the fight against the legitimate sovereign, was in great need of absolution. Participation in the campaign against Novgorod, consecrated by the head of the Catholic Church, allowed Birger to count on the forgiveness of his great sins and on the fact that his descendants would be assigned the right of succession to the throne in the Kingdom of Sweden. In addition, Birger hoped for an easy victory, knowing that Alexander had nowhere to wait for help. Near Kiev are the rati of Khan Gayuk, many of the lands of the Russians were badly damaged by the Mongol raids. And in Novgorod itself, the authority of the Pope was quite impressive.
According to the papal legates, and even Birger himself, it was enough just to land in Rus' with a solid military force and read the papal bull to the Novgorodians, and everything would be settled without much resistance. To reinforce the papal bull, the practical Birger included in his army the candidate for the Novgorod archiepiscopal see, Bishop Thomas. The situation was critical.
But it was not in vain that von Wolfen said about the Novgorod prince Alexander that "he has no equal in the whole universe." The prince understood that the threat of enslavement hangs over Russia not only from the east, but also from the west. And if it was possible to pay off the threat from the east with a large tribute, then the crusaders demand the soul of the people, their holy faith, and then the land as tribute. He especially felt this after his marriage to the daughter of the Polotsk prince Bryacheslav, on whose land the Lithuanian princes coveted. So, along with the bride and dowry, Alexander also received the obligation to protect the new relatives from the enemy and the land. He understood that the raids of the papal ambassadors would not end with persuasion, they could be followed by attempts to come to Rus' by force.
In 1239, Alexander began building fortifications on the banks of the Shelon, on the routes leading to Novgorod from the west. The former watch towns were repaired, a new fortress Gorodets was founded. It was surrounded by a moat, a rampart and a log fence. In the same year, the Novgorod prince organized a guard at the confluence of the Neva into the Gulf of Finland. The elder of the Izhorian tribe Pelgusius, who lived here, was appointed head of the guard. All this was not easy for Alexander to do. It took a long time to persuade in order to make them understand the need for tight-fisted Novgorod boyars, to give money for the construction of fortifications and the maintenance of outposts.
Today one can only marvel at the wisdom and foresight of Alexander. In July 1240, a Swedish fleet of a hundred sailing and oared ships entered the Neva from the Gulf of Finland. This path was not new for the Swedes, it had been practiced for centuries, as part of the waterway "from the Varangians to the Greeks."
But this time the Swedes were in no hurry to the Black Sea. They were seduced by the riches of Novgorod. The possessions of Novgorod stretched from the Baltic to the Arctic Sea and to the Riphean Mountains, numerous peoples traded in furs, many crafts, and carried on a great trade with distant countries. Even if you fail to capture Novgorod, you can be satisfied with the capture of the Neva banks and the fortress of Ladoga, which would mean depriving the trading city of the sea, and this is tantamount to living with a noose around your neck. You could also ask for a large ransom.
But the Swedes did not even think about the serious resistance of the Russians. Their flotilla passed along the Neva. It was decided to make a temporary stop at Izhora. Some ships entered its mouth, and most moored to the banks of the Neva. Gangways were thrown from the ships onto the shore. The Swedish military and spiritual nobility, including Birger, Jarl Ulf Fasi, accompanied by Catholic bishops, including Thomas, descended to Russian soil. Birger's servants pitched a large tent for him, embroidered with gold. The Swedish commander, "boasting of his madness," as the chronicle says, sent envoys to Novgorod to tell the prince: "If you can resist me, then here I am, capturing your land." Birger had no doubts about success. However, he miscalculated.
The head of the Izhora guard, Pelgusy, saw the entire Swedish caravan, counted the ships, remembered how they lined up along the banks of the Izhora and the Neva, and quickly sent a messenger to Novgorod to report to the prince. The messenger did not spare the horses. And he managed to report everything before the arrival of the embassy of Jarl Birger.
The message of Pelgusius, although it struck Alexander, did not take him by surprise. The hour has come, for which for years he has exhausted himself with great difficulty in the service of the squad, as a boy he participated in his father's campaigns, diligently listened to experienced gunmen and governor at military councils. Now Alexander had to independently lead his squad into the first battle, to become the head of the entire army. And the fight was not for someone else's throne - for the Russian land, with cruel and experienced invaders.
Alexander Yaroslavich was secretly ardent in temperament. His gray eyes often darkened to black. Changeable in movements, in the game of the mind, he gave the impression, above all, of stability. His entire being radiated energy. Broad-shouldered, with heavy palms, a powerful chest, on which not a single foreign armor was suitable, but only chain mail, assembled according to his personal measurements, ring to ring. Alexander Yaroslavich was not tall, but "well-cut and well-tailored," as they say about such people among the people.
Alexander was trained in internal and external diplomacy in Novgorod under his father, comprehended the art of subordinating the boyars and commanding the crowd, changeable and formidable. He learned this by being present at the veche, sometimes at the council, listening to his father's conversations.
But a special place in the training and education of the prince was given to military affairs. While he was taught "by those on horseback, in armor, for shields, with a spear, as if to fight" - years passed. To own a horse, defensive and offensive weapons, to be a tournament knight, and to know the formation on foot and on horseback, the tactics of a field battle and the siege of a fortress - this is a whole world, a kind of art.
Owning a horse meant handling a saddle, a bridle, efforts, bits, stirrups, a comb, fetters, a whip, spurs.
The old Russian professional warrior knew how to do everything - he fought both on horseback and on foot. The prince-voevoda appears as a heavily armed horseman, who owns chopping, piercing, shock weapons, he is a spearman, gunsmith, branistarets: a spear, a sword, a spear-dart, a bow with arrows, a bludgeon, a mace, a battle ax, a helmet with an aventail fastened to it, to protect the neck and the back of the head, chain mail, a shield - these are his weapons. In addition, a scabbard, an ax case, a quiver, mittens, belts - and all this must be fitted, adjusted. An experienced horse archer made 6 aimed shots per minute at a range of up to 200 meters, aimed instantly, pulling the bowstring. There were dozens of types of spear and arrowheads, you had to get used to it, choose your favorite ones.
It was not enough to put on and carry all this pood weapons. When the archers, showering the enemy with a cloud of arrows, reconnoitered in battle, the prince was to lead the army and, pressing a spear to his hip, merge into a dense mass with the squad, and when your army collides with the enemy on the move, overturn it and complete the battle with swords in hand-to-hand combat. Pawns, archers-archers finish the rest.
Speed, perfect possession of a horse, strength and courage - that's what you need. With a good start, it was possible to win the battle in the first minutes. The battles were fierce, furious, fleeting. They demanded personal courage from the soldiers.
It depended only on the knowledge and ingenuity of the prince which army to take into action: a hastily raised lightly armed cavalry detachment - in pursuit of dashing Lithuanians in a raid; carefully assembled heavily armed urban infantry and rural footmen - on a large campaign with the upcoming sieges.
The prince must know how to make digs to divert water, build siege throwing machines - vices (from the word "prak" - a sling), take away fortresses, throw up ladders, jump ramparts and walls, and if necessary, then sit on the defensive, from the walls shooting enemy pawns and crushing them in sorties. Finally, to cope with the carts is also a matter of war, otherwise you will be left without a weapon or miss the booty.
The prince must take care of the guard - patrol, remember about the ambush; to know how to spread wide, bright, multi-colored tents fastened on a thick pillar - in a word, to set up a camp conveniently and safely.
The prince must be able to skillfully arm himself and distribute weapons to the squad and regiments in time, build them for battle and stand in such a way that everyone can see the lion on the highly raised colored princely banner, his golden helmet, a sword with a golden handle and shiny helmets and red shields of his governor. As long as helmets shine and banners flutter, the army will be unshakable.
For all this, it was necessary to truly be "under the helmet, fed from the end of the spear."
Alexander's idea to go immediately to the Neva and repulse the Swedes - the boyar council approved, he knew what he was doing: the young prince grew up before the eyes of the Novgorodians and earned their trust with his intelligence and courage. Standing with a retinue dressed in combat armor at prayer in St. Sophia Cathedral and listening to the blessings on the campaign of Vladyka Spiridon, twenty-year-old Alexander for the first time did not see his father's familiar and familiar figure in front of him. It was exciting, but it also inspired responsibility and determination in my soul.
After the church service, the prince gathered his retinue on Sophia Square and "began to strengthen it with a speech that you finished: We are few, but the enemy is strong. But God is not in strength, but in Truth." , . Alexander had a small squad of his own, and a detachment of Novgorod warriors. The lack of forces had to be compensated by the surprise of the attack, skillful combat tactics and the courage of the soldiers. He reminded the warriors of the victory accomplished by the Novgorodians half a century ago, as a punishment for the robbery raids of the Swedes on the Novgorod lands. The Novgorod warriors then made a sea voyage to the Swedish capital Sigtuna, took it, destroyed it to the ground fortifications, and as a memorable trophy, the winners brought the famous Sigtuna copper gates with them to Novgorod and installed them in St. Sophia Cathedral. Cast lion heads looked at the warriors from the gates and, as it were, asked the soldiers passing by - should the gates stand here and further or, having won, the Swedes will take them to their place across the sea?
God is with us. Let's go to the enemies - and we will win, - Alexander turned to the rati.
And the square answered him:
Wherever you turn your eyes, prince, our heads will be there.
And he answered them:
Let's get strong. Let no one look back. Whoever does not die will remain alive.
Self-confident Alexander did not need to convince for a long time. In decisive moments, he merged with the people: people thought in his thoughts, he spoke their language. A loud voice from the crowd of warriors shouted:
Yes, I will fall for you, prince, first! Alexander turned his head towards the voice and objected:
We are few, there are four times as many enemies. I do not give anyone the right to die until we win!
The young prince knew how to appreciate the righteous word of the church, but no less - the courage of his judgments and actions. He realized early on that the value of a leader is determined by his temper, determination and deeds.
Alexander's squad hastily moved along the Volkhov to Ladoga. Here, a detachment of Ladoga residents joined the army, then the Izhora warriors joined. By the morning of July 15, the entire army, having overcome about 150 kilometers of the way, approached the enemy camp. And just in time! The arrogant knights behaved imposingly, frolicked, did not even put up guards. Birger, feasting in a gold-woven tent, did not even think that the Russian army had already approached the flight of an arrow and was quietly taking its starting positions for striking.
No wonder Alexander read a lot and thought about the military campaigns of the great Greek Alexander the Great, as a boy he participated in his father’s campaigns, listened to his reasoning and advice with governors before battles. Now, hiding at the edge of the forest, he watched the location of the Swedes and immediately discovered their positional weakness. It consisted in the fact that part of the army was on the shore, and the other part was on the ships. The ships were connected to the steep bank by gangways. If they are pushed into the water at the very beginning of the battle, then the Swedes will immediately lose their superiority in the number of troops. It will be disconnected.
If you hit the enemy along the banks of the Izhora in the center of the location of the Swedish troops and at the same time advance along the banks of the Neva, throwing off the gangway and smashing the ships, then the enemy regiments will be squeezed into a corner, they will lose their maneuver and freedom of action. These plans of Alexander were supported by the prince's advisers.
Novgorodians prepared for the attack. The battle horn sounded. The cavalry detachment of Gavrila Oleksich jumped out of the forest and rushed along the Neva, knocking down the gangway into the water and preventing the warriors from the ships from going ashore.
Alexander's warriors, together with the prince, struck along Izhora at the center of the Swedish army. Frightened knights jumped out of the tents. The more daring grabbed their armor and ran to the horses, the weak in spirit rushed headlong to the sides of the ships to take cover there. Birger himself with a retinue rushed towards the Novgorod prince, but was defeated by the blow of his spear and fell into the hands of the squires. The Novgorod chronicle says that Prince Alexander "... put a seal on Birger's face with his sharp copy."
Such a beginning foreshadowed a good outcome of the battle. The combatant Savva on horseback made his way through the Swedish ranks to Birger's tent and cut down the pillar of its foundation. The tent collapsed before the eyes of all the soldiers. This had such an effect - as if the main banner of the Swedish army collapsed. Russian soldiers, seeing "the fall of the tent, rejoiced." Over the Neva there were exclamations: "For the Russian land! For the Truth of Novgorod!"
Russian warriors everywhere pressed the Swedes. Tavrilo Oleksich fought near the coast, not letting the retreating Swedes into the ships, but from the ships to the ground. When he saw that the Swedes were taking the prince Birger to the ship, he followed his retinue on horseback along the gangplank. He and his horse were thrown into the water, but having got ashore, the brave combatant continued the fight. Here again "Naekha, and fought with the governor himself in the midst of their regiment", "beat him and killed the bishop" - a contender for the highest Novgorod spiritual authority. Novgorodian Sbyslav Yakunovich fought next to Alexander, “having run into their regiment many times and beats with a single ax, having no fear in his heart.
Russian soldiers under the command of Misha (except for the name of the hero about his pedigree, nothing else is known) with axes in their hands broke into the ships of the Swedes, chopped sail masts, cut through the sides below the waterline and sank ships.
Alexander's huntsman, who only recently came to Novgorod along with the court of a young princess from Polotsk, Yakov - "hit a Swedish regiment with a sword, and courage" so that the prince "praised him."
His servant Rotmir, who did not leave Alexander, "fought on foot, and many Swedes surrounded him," and after a fierce battle, he "fell from many wounds, died."
In the evening the battle ended. The surviving Swedes quickly raised the sails, and whoever oars hurried to move away from the coast into the waters of the Gulf of Finland. The battlefield was littered with the corpses of the invaders. Dead knights loaded two ships abandoned in a panic by the enemy and launched with raised sails after the fugitives. But not all the dead had enough space on the mournful ships. Losses in the Novgorod rati were surprisingly small: two dozen soldiers died.
The return to Novgorod of Prince Alexander and his retinue was triumphant - the clergy, boyars, merchants, ordinary people poured out of the city walls and stormily greeted the winners. Alexander's baptism of fire took place. It revealed in the prince a great military talent, determination, organizational will. For the courage and personal courage shown in the battle, the people called Prince Alexander Yaroslavich a powerful and glorious nickname - "Nevsky". Since that time, Russian people with pride and excitement in their hearts call the famous commander - Alexander Nevsky.
The victory over foreign invaders on the Neva was, however, only a part of the great work of Alexander Yaroslavich for the protection of the Russian land and the Orthodox faith - its first brilliant page. Among the rich trophies abandoned by the Swedes on captured ships, even biskupes were found, in which the Catholics hoped to baptize the Russians in the Roman faith. Metropolitan Kirill of Kiev wrote to Alexander in Novgorod that at last Orthodoxy had found a defender "who has no equal and never will."
After the campaign, the captive crusaders were put on their knees near the walls of Sophia Cathedral, and the lord, by the decision of Prince Alexander, sternly but with dignity, proclaimed: "Go in peace, but remember that you are defeated by Novgorod."
The glory of the Neva victory spread throughout the Christian world. The authority of the Roman crusaders suffered an impressive damage. But for the deeds, these Russians began to call Prince Alexander - a saint.
Prince Alexander understood that the pope and the crusaders might underestimate the lesson on the Neva, fail to draw the right conclusions from it, and try to encroach on Rus' and the Orthodox faith again. He demanded from the boyars and merchants new significant funds to strengthen the borders and increase the size of the squad, and for himself - more power and independence. The boyars did not agree. It seemed to them that the threat to the city had passed for a long time.
Alexander was a determined man, like his father. He took the risk. It was not in vain that his father taught him the subtleties in politics in relations with the Novgorod nobility. With his retinue, he returned to his homeland, to his father in Pereyaslavl-Zalessky.
Novgorod in Rus' was a special city with its own democratic way, at first glance. The prince did not occupy an all-powerful position here. The Novgorodians themselves called for and appointed princes, stipulating their rights and obligations in treaties. Somehow, the Grand Duke of Kiev Svyatopolk wanted to plant to reign in. Novgorod his son without the consent of the Novgorod veche. Proud Novgorodians answered this like this: "If, prince, your son has two heads, then send him to us."
There were cases when the Novgorodians, disregarding the treaty, drove out the princes who became objectionable to them. But it was dangerous for Novgorod to remain completely without a prince: there would be constant applicants for a princeless city, and this threatened with war, strife, and constant unrest.
It was even beneficial to have a prince, and even with a good pedigree, great family ties. In the event of a military disaster, relatives could come to the rescue with their regiments. And this meant that it was not necessary to have your own numerous army, the maintenance of which cost a lot of money. Therefore, most often in Novgorod, the descendants of the Vladimir-Suzdal princes, the most influential and wealthy in Rus', reigned. This is about the vigilantes of Alexander's grandfather, Vsevolod the Big Nest, it is said in the "Word of Igor's Campaign" that they can splash the Volga with oars, and scoop out the Don with helmets!
Many considered it an honor to make friends with the Vladimir-Suzdal princes, and even more so to intermarry. When the danger of Turkish enslavement hung over Georgia, the Vladimir-Suzdal prince George was called there. And the queen of Georgia, the proud beauty Tamara, married him, thus providing her country with the powerful support of the Russian principalities. The great friendship with Vsevolod the Big Nest of the Emperor of the Great Empire Frederick Barbarossa has already been mentioned above.
A little more than a month had passed after Alexander's departure from Novgorod, as the threat from the west to the Russian lands resumed. The defeat on the Neva painfully stung the Pope and his crusaders. German knights gathered from all the fortresses of Livonia - from Odenium, Derpt, Fellin and others, as well as Danish knights from Reval under the leadership of Knut and Abel, the sons of King Valdemar II, started a great campaign against Rus'. Diplomats of the papal curia spared no effort and money on him. The Livonian Order then had a 20,000-strong army. The papal legates encouraged his decision with financial means and blessings.
The fortress city of Iz-borsk was the first to fall under the onslaught of the Crusaders. From it to Pskov is only 30 kilometers. When the people of Pskov found out about the invasion, they quickly gathered a militia. It included "every one" combat-ready people, as the chronicle says, and went to rescue a neighbor who had suffered from enemies. But it was not possible to free Izborsk. Having lost more than five hundred warriors and their governor Gavrila Gorislavich in battle, the Pskovites, having retreated, could hardly break through to their native city.
The Crusaders set fire to the settlement, laid siege to Pskov and stormed it for a whole week. But the city persevered. Alexander became aware of this. He hoped that the Pskovites had everything to repel the invaders. The German chronicler of the chronicles, himself a military man, also believed that the Pskov fortress, with the unity of its defenders, was impregnable. But this time there was no unity.
There were supporters of the Order among the boyars in Pskov. Among them was the posadnik Tverdilo Ivankovich. These seditious, that "the coup is stronger with the Germans," first obtained from the veche consent to give the children of the boyars and wealthy merchants as collateral to the crusaders, and then Tverdilo and his henchmen "brought" the knights to Pskov.
So the city, not taken by battle, was in the hands of the enemy. Rumors of easy prey quickly flew to Germany. New knightly detachments and all sorts of robber gangs were drawn to Rus'.
In winter, the crusaders occupied Kaporye, not far from the Gulf of Finland, and began to build a stone fortress there. . . an outpost for an attack on Novgorod from the north. Soon they captured Luga. Detachments of invaders scoured the roads near Novgorod. They took bread and cattle from the peasants, horses for their army. There was a threat that in the spring there would be nothing to plow the land and sow the fields.
The boyar council in Novgorod, frightened by the invasion of the crusaders, judged for a long time what to do in order to punish the enemies and not give up their pride. The Council did not want to send ambassadors to bow to Prince Alexander, but the people pressed on, demanded that Nevsky be returned to reign in Novgorod.
Did Alexander Nevsky expect to be asked to return to Novgorod? Waited. He regularly received news of the atrocities of the crusaders - "dogs of the knights", as the common people called them. And he himself, as a man of a bright mind, rare intuition, a great strategist, foresaw future events. And the embassy from Novgorod came for him. It was headed by Archbishop Spiridon himself. The ambassadors begged Prince Yaroslav to release his son Alexander to reign in Novgorod.
This time, Prince Alexander Nevsky made it a condition of the agreement that he should have power - both over the treasury and over people, he should have the right to dispose of forces and means without long discussions and negotiations with the boyar council. His conditions, not without creaking and obstinacy, were accepted.
In the summer of 1241, Alexander Nevsky returned to Novgorod. The arrival of the courageous prince was "welcome by the people of Novgorod." The firm hand of Nevsky again fell on the urban boyars. Prince Alexander did not dedicate the boyars to his distant plans, but demanded the fulfillment of the contract. The boyar assembly had no choice. The prince was an excellent connoisseur of military affairs, and in courage, determination, foresight - he had no equal not only within Novgorod - throughout Rus'.
The peculiarity of Alexander Nevsky was also that his memory did not hold grudges. They did not sharpen his soul, did not call for settling accounts. Returning to Novgorod, he seemed to sweep away its stagnant air. Governors, centurions, militias - everything fell into place, took on a meaningful harmony and stamina.
Prince Alexander immediately set to work. His combatants, together with the equestrian Novgorodians, began to vigorously clear the lands and roads close to the city from German champions. The invaders, fearing reprisals, left the villages, went to Pskov and the villages adjacent to it.
Having replenished his forces with volunteers from Ladoga, Karelians and Izhorians, Alexander thought: where to direct the first blow? The Germans fortified in three places: in the north-west of Novgorod in the Kaporye fortress, in the west - in Yuryev, in the south-west - in Pskov. It is dangerous to go west with small forces, they can be cut off from their rear. It is better to start smashing the enemy on Russian lands. Kaporye or Pskov? Pskov stands on the border with the Livonian lands. Here, help to the knights can come quickly. To Kaporye is the surest way. The squad of Prince Alexander approached Kaporye. The strongest fortress was taken and destroyed to the ground. Among the captured Teutons, the prince noticed one, not that more courageous than others, but with a haughty look. Alexander waved his hand to bring the knight closer. For a few seconds they looked at each other furiously. “Here it is, the greedy chivalry,” thought the prince, “ready to destroy the local tribes and Russians in order to “clear the land in the east for“ Strong Blood ”, as their father admonished them. The pupil of the German seemed to be cut by an instant line: fear pressed aside impudence. No matter how fleeting the expression was, the prince caught it. The prisoner realized that it had been seen.
Dogs of the knights on foot and bare-haired, in chains, drive to Novgorod, - said Nevsky. - Local cross-countrymen who flatteringly served them, hang up on the ropes!
The capture and defeat of Kaporie was the first step in the plans of Prince Alexander. But already the first success of the Russians was reflected in the situation in the Baltic states. The inhabitants of the island of Saarema rebelled against the oppression of the crusaders. They killed the knights and Catholic priests. Andrei von Wolfen was forced to sign an agreement with the Saarems, according to which the dependence of the island on the crusaders became minimal.
The second task for Prince Alexander was the liberation from the German knights of Pskov. But for this, he did not have enough strength. I had to turn to my father for help. And he sent his "lower" regiments, led by Alexander's brother Andrei. The total number of Russian troops reached twenty thousand. With this force, it was possible to start a serious military campaign against the crusaders.
Alexander Nevsky blocked with his patrols all the roads leading to Pskov, sent his regiments to the lands of the Estonians, supporting the German crusaders. From there, unexpectedly, Alexander turned his army to Pskov. He managed to immediately break into the fortress and, in a fierce battle, liberate the city from the traitors of the boyars and the Germans. The posadnik Tverdilo and his henchmen were hung up on the gallows, and the knights, chained, were sent to Novgorod.
The Livonian Order was shocked by the loss of Pskov. The crusaders believed that they had mastered it forever. The losses of the knights killed were so great that they covered the largest losses in the greatest battles. In a rage of anger, the order vowed to take revenge on the Novgorod prince Alexander and began to gather its forces into a fist.
Alexander was not expected to sit in Pskov for a long time. He understood that a decisive battle with the crusaders was coming, but he did not want it to affect the Novgorod land, to bring ruin to the Russian villages. And he went on a campaign to the land of the Estonians, to Dorpat. This road was familiar to him from his father's campaign to Emajõge.
To the north of Pskov lies Pskov Lake, and even to the north - Chudskoye. Alexander's army moved to Izborsk and, having rounded Lake Pskov from the south, went to Peipsi. To the west, his troops stopped to replenish fodder and food. Reconnaissance detachments went further to identify the enemy, reconnaissance of his forces and location.
Near the village of Mooste, an equestrian detachment led by Domash Tverdislavich and the Tver governor Kerbet reached the main forces of the crusaders. A hot and hard fight ensued. In the annals it is said about him that "enemies killed the husband of Chesna Domes and others with him, and others with the hands of izoimasha", the rest "ran to the prince in the regiment." The Russian detachment suffered significant losses, but the location of the crusaders, their forces have now become known. "How and where to meet the Germans, whether to meet them or | line up in battle formation and wait?" - Prince Alexander thought about these problems. At the site of the Russians' camp, the wooded and marshy surroundings did not allow the deployment of battle formations. In those days, they usually searched for for battle, the place is level and open.
Heavy thoughts seized Alexander Nevsky. He knew well that the crusaders had a strong, well-organized and armed army. Each knight, entering the order, vowed to be unquestioningly obedient and steadfast to the end. In the course of many battles, the crusaders developed a special army formation. It represented a wedge or a trapezoid facing the enemy with a sharp end. This tip and flanks consisted of knights clad in iron armor and their horses, and inside this living and mobile armor - infantry. Such a wedge - a "boar's head" - moves menacingly and irresistibly towards the enemy, scattering and cutting his system, crushes it into pieces and destroys it. Alexander saw this system in his father's campaigns and knew his strengths.
The combat formation of the Russian troops is a strong center of a large regiment (brow) and two less strong regiments on the flanks (wings). So Alexander was taught by the governors. He saw this construction in the campaigns and battles of his father.
But what will happen if the knights crush and pierce the “brow” of the Russians with their iron, how many times they did this with detachments of Livs, Letts and Estonians?
And again thoughts turned the prince's head. It was necessary to oppose the German "pig", as they called this construction of the crusaders in Rus', something new, their own "trap". Courage alone will not achieve victory over the crusaders.
It was necessary to change tactics so that "the pig, having passed through the center, like clockwork, got bogged down, stalled, could not turn around, and strong" wings "of the Russian troops would fall on its flanks. And it was best to do this in an open place, on ice .
Prince Alexander retreated to the ice of Lake Peipsi. The crusaders went there. Now it was necessary to choose an advantageous position. The whole day Alexander explored Lake Peipus, its shores, channels. I found a good place - the Uzmen channel, connecting the Pskov and Peipsi lakes. This place was more than once a pretext for skirmishes between the Russians and the Order, whose possessions on the other side were now clearly visible to the prince from the Raven Stone - a block towering fifteen meters above the lake.
Alexander Nevsky decided to put his army on the right bank of the Uzmeni shoal, frozen to the bottom, two kilometers from the Raven Stone. His battle formation was almost adjacent to the wooded eastern shore. The right roof was covered by Sigovitsa, covered with weak ice. In front of the left - there was a distant icy view. When attacked, the crusaders will be visible at a glance. Their formation, forces, the direction of the main attack will be completely viewed by the Russians.
Acute times demanded unmistakable decisions. Alexander decided to make changes in the formation of the troops. Its center will consist of militias - townspeople and villagers armed with spears, axes, swords. In front of him he will place archers who should shower the advancing crusaders with clouds of arrows.
Battle-hardened, well-armed warriors and squads of princes will stand on the flanks. Behind the central regiment, in order to deprive the German cavalry of maneuver, he decided to put hundreds of convoy sledges, it was easy to jump into them in the heat of battle, but it was difficult for the cavalry to turn around here or fight. And after the sleigh, the shore is densely strewn with large stones. Here it was also very difficult for a knight on horseback to fight, but a foot warrior could maneuver well and take cover. The German "pig" was supposed to break its snout here, turn back or retreat onto the thin ice of Sigovica, which was very risky for the iron-clad horsemen. This trick was suggested to Alexander by his father's experience: eight years ago, Prince Yaroslav, during a battle, lured the crusaders onto the thin ice of the Emai-ygi river and the ice could not stand it, failed. Many knights then drowned. It was hard to believe that the knights had forgotten about this lesson, but...
The German crusaders also knew well the rule of building the Russian army and saw no difficulty in defeating it. At dawn on April 5, 1242, Alexander, standing on a dais, saw how the iron army of the crusaders went out onto the ice. Clad in armor, wearing helmets with horns, clawed paws and other frightening decorations, in white cloaks with black crosses, with long spears pressed to the hip, hiding behind shields, the knights moved like a battering ram. Forged muzzles worn on horses made them also frightening monsters. In the middle of the wedge, trying to keep up with the horsemen, armed with short swords and axes, knightly servants and infantry fled.
Having let the Crusaders in about two hundred meters, the archers showered the "German pig" with a cloud of arrows. Under their hail, the wedge seemed to thicken, narrowed, but its ramming blow did not decrease. The center of the Russian defense parted under his onslaught. "The Germans and the Chud came to the regiment and pushed the pig through the regiment ..." - this is how the chronicler captured this moment in the Novgorod Chronicle. Now the knights, according to their tactics, should have dismembered the Russian army into parts and exterminated.
But the retreating Russians ran behind the convoy sleigh and did not go further. The knights at a gallop crashed into the sleigh. Their horses fell, breaking their legs, and Alexander's foot warriors flogged the crusaders who had flown off their horses with axes, beat them with shafts, and dragged them from their saddles with hooks.
At the command of Alexander, the main Russian forces hit the crusaders from the flanks. The squad fell on the knights from the rear. The crusader army was encircled. Mounted knights mixed up with their infantry and prevented each other from fighting. This has not happened in other battles. Under the weight of the knights huddled together and their horses clad in iron, the ice began to break. Many knights drowned in holes and breaches. Seeing this, the crusader forced soldiers rushed to their heels, tried to break through the ring and jump out onto the shore. Soon the knights, breaking their vow to be steadfast to the end, rushed after their knights. Alexander ordered the pursuit of the fugitives. As far as the opposite bank of the channel, the ice was littered with the corpses of the invaders.
It was a complete victory. Four hundred killed knights were picked up on martial ice, fifty were taken prisoner, many drowned. But the most shameful thing for the crusaders was that some of the knights fled from the battlefield, leaving their weapons, throwing off not only military armor, but also shoes.
"Prince Oleksandr returned with a glorious victory." The knights are "led by barefoot beside the horses." The army was returning home, as it has long been customary: "... the regiment along the regiment, beating tambourines and trumpets into pipes and snots." Following was a convoy with military trophies. The winners were greeted nationwide with the singing of prayers and toasts to the prince and the "good" soldiers.
The author of the "Life" understood with his soul and heart the significance of the victory over the crusaders as a fateful, holy deed. From that time, he wrote, "beginning to hear his name in all countries and to the sea of Egypt, and to the mountains of Ararat, and on the other side of the Varangian sea and to the great Rome."
Of course, in the two-year war with the German invaders who encroached on Russian land, and ended in the complete defeat of the crusaders on Lake Peipus, the talents of Alexander Nevsky as a commander and politician were revealed clearly and convincingly. If his Neva victory determined the fate of Novgorod and Orthodoxy in Rus', then the Battle of the Ice confirmed that there was no place for foreign enslavers on Russian soil, it also showed the leading place of the Vladimir-Suzdal Vsevolodovich dynasty in deciding the future fate of the entire Russian people. Maybe they laid the first stones in the foundation of Great Russia.
In the summer of 1242, ambassadors from the Order came to Alexander in Novgorod and asked the prince for eternal peace. The world was closed. They say that it was then that Alexander Nevsky uttered his famous prophetic words: "Whoever comes to us with a sword will die by the sword!" The victory on Lake Peipsi stopped the Germans at the western borders of Rus' for centuries.
Echoes of the Battle of the Ice were uprisings against the crusaders of the Curonian and Prussian tribes. They were helped in the fight against the invaders by the Lithuanian prince Mindovg and the Polish prince Svyatopolk. This time, the knights were beaten at Reizen Lake. Unfortunately, in the future, these peoples could not unite against the pressure of the Germans and were almost completely exterminated. On their lands, the Germans created Prussia, where the German military nobility settled for centuries. Here, everything, even houses, outbuildings were erected in such a way that they could be adapted at any time for the lines and knots of defense. From this fortress state, the German enslavers threatened the Slavs for many centuries, until the spring of 1945, when Soviet troops liquidated this dangerous stronghold of the German aggressive spirit.
The service to the Fatherland of Alexander Yaroslavich was highly appreciated by the Russian people and the Orthodox Church. Even during his lifetime, he was called the Russian Saints by the people, and after his death he was canonized by the Orthodox Church. His image as a fearless and talented fighter for the interests of the Fatherland in all ages serves as an example for Russians. In 1725, Catherine the Great established the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky to reward officers and generals for major military successes and distinctions.
In the most difficult period of the Great Patriotic War with the Nazi invaders, on July 29, 1942, the Soviet government re-established the military order of Alexander Nevsky. It was received by commanders for choosing "the right moment for a sudden, bold and swift attack on the enemy and inflicting a major defeat on him with low losses for his troops." These words, taken from the statute of the order, reveal the main thing in the military talent of Prince Alexander Nevsky.
It is noteworthy that during the war years, the name of Alexander Nevsky sounded many times from the lips of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of our country, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, who called on the peoples of the Fatherland to smash the German occupiers, as Alexander Nevsky and the era combatants did.
In 1942, the artist Pavel Korin painted a triptych painting for the exhibition "The Great Patriotic War" with the image of Prince Alexander Nevsky in the center. Postcards and envelopes appeared depicting the victory of the Russian squad over the crusaders on Lake Peipus. Soldiers from the front sent letters in these envelopes home, assuring relatives and friends that they would smash the enemy, as Alexander Nevsky did.
At the same time, the feature film "Alexander Nevsky" was released. The image of the heroic Prince Alexander inspired millions and millions of soldiers to fearlessness in the fight against the German invaders in the name of victory, in the name of freedom, in the name of the Motherland.
For the people of Kurgan, the image of Alexander Nevsky is also dear to the fact that the holy prince is the patron of our city. That is why on June 15, 1896, the laying of the church named after him in the city of Kurgan was carried out with the blessing of His Grace Agafangel by the rector of the Grado-Kurgan Mother of God-Nativity Cathedral, Archpriest John Volkov. For more than a century, the bright image and spirit of the heroic ancestor of the Russian army overshadows us and blesses us for good peaceful and military deeds for the glory and strengthening of the Fatherland.
Since 1993, it has become a tradition in Kurgan to celebrate the day of memory of the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky. Every year, in his honor, the city hosts a festival of Russian sacred music. It sounds not only within the walls of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, but also in many halls of educational institutions, clubs, houses of culture.
And so not only in Kurgan - throughout the great Rus'. The memory of the glorious deeds and exploits of Alexander Yaroslavich is alive among the people. And it will be forever!
Let us also bow to the great ancestor. Let us strengthen our character with his courage in order to become worthy sons of the Fatherland.
Gennady Ustyuzhanin
Fighting the Crusaders
Almost simultaneously with the Mongol invasion, the enemies launched an offensive against Rus' from the west. Swedes, Germans, Danes moved to Russian lands. And only the courage of the inhabitants of Russian cities and the military skills of Prince Alexander Nevsky thwarted the aggressive plans of the crusader knights.
LIVO?NIYA ( lat. Livonia), Livonia (from the 17th century; German Livland) - the area of settlement of Livs in the lower reaches of the river. Daugava and Gauja at 12 - early. 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 crusader knights, several feudal states formed on the territory of Livonia, which concluded confederal agreements among themselves: the Livonian Order, the Archbishopric of Riga, the Courland, Derpt 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 Commonwealth and Sweden, who repeatedly fought because of them in the end. 16th and 17th centuries V.V.
TEUTO?NSKY ORDEN, German order ( German The Deutscher Orden is a spiritual and knightly order created during the Crusades in 1198.
In 1211, he received the order from the Hungarian king Andrew II as a fief of land in Semigradje. At the request of Duke Konrad Mazowiecki, a special order commander's office 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 thwarted by the Novgorod prince Alexander Nevsky, who defeated the knights in the Battle of the Ice in 1242. defeat in the 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 was ceded to the Electorate of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia, which formed the Brandenburg-Prussian state (since 1701, the Kingdom of Prussia). N. L.
ALEXA? NDR YAROSLA? VICH NE? VSKII (1220–11/14/1263) - Prince of Novgorod from 1236, Grand Duke of Vladimir from 1252, Orthodox saint.
The son of the Grand Duke of Vladimir Yaroslav Vsevolodovich. In 1228, Alexander was sent by his father to Novgorod, but he could not stay there and fled. In 1236 he returned to Novgorod. Having entered into a marriage in 1239 with the daughter of the Polotsk prince Bryachislav, he strengthened his position in the North-West of Rus'.
Alexander Yaroslavich had a great merit in repulsing the aggression of Sweden and the Livonian Order on the lands of North-Western Rus', which unfolded simultaneously with the Tatar-Mongol invasion. In 1240, he won the battle on the river. Neva over the Swedish detachment that invaded the Russian lands. For this victory, Alexander Yaroslavich was given the nickname Nevsky. However, the Novgorod boyars were alarmed by the rapid growth in popularity of the twenty-year-old prince, and Alexander Yaroslavich was removed from the city.
But less than two years later, a new threat loomed over Novgorod - from the Livonian Order. Novgorodians were forced to invite Alexander Yaroslavich to reign again. In 1241, he returned Koporye, captured by the knights, and soon, with a surprise attack, he took Pskov, whose inhabitants had recently surrendered the city to the knights of the order.
On April 5, 1242, in the decisive battle on the ice of Lake Peipus, called the Battle of the Ice, the united Novgorod and Vladimir-Suzdal army under the command of
Alexander Nevsky defeated the Livonian knights.
Shortly thereafter, Alexander Yaroslavich repulsed the raid of the Lithuanian army and defeated him at Toropets and the village of Zhizhitsa.
In relations with the Golden Horde, Alexander Nevsky proved to be a subtle diplomat. During the first trip to the Horde and Karakorum in 1249-1250. he managed to establish good relations with Batu Khan and his son Sartak. With the latter, according to legend, he even fraternized. Alexander Yaroslavich received a label to reign in Kyiv, completely devastated. Returning to Rus', he established close relations with Metropolitan Kirill. Cyril supported the line of Alexander Yaroslavich to establish peaceful relations with the Khan and consolidate the Russian princes.
In 1252, when Alexander Nevsky was once again in the Horde, his younger brother Andrei Yaroslavich, with the support of his third brother Yaroslav Yaroslavich, revolted against the power of the Tatars. Batu sent the punitive army of Tsarevich Nevryuy to Rus', and the princes, after a crushing defeat near Pereyaslavl, were forced to flee "beyond the sea." Alexander returned to the devastated lands, having received a label for the great reign of Vladimir. Instead of himself, 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 there was a sharper conflict with the Golden Horde Khan. Officials were sent from the Horde to Rus' to recount the entire population in order to tax the Horde "exit". Novgorodians resolutely opposed this, and the son of Alexander Nevsky, Vasily, came out on their side. The case went to a new punitive expedition to Rus'. Alexander Yaroslavich personally came to Novgorod and forced its inhabitants to submit. He brought his rebellious son off the Novgorod table, and executed his combatants 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 an uprising began in many cities of North-Eastern Rus' against the Horde "numerals", Alexander Yaroslavich went on his last trip to the Horde "to pray people out of trouble" and, in particular, to agree on the cancellation of the decision to recruit in Rus' troops to participate in the war of the Horde 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 very popular in Rus'. In 1547 he was canonized. One of the brightest 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? KSICH (13th century) - boyar, combatant of Alexander Nevsky.
According to the family tradition, Gavrila Oleksich was a descendant of Ratsha, who "came from a German." Traces of Ratsha and his children could not be found 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 dragged by the arms, rode up to the ship along the gangway along which they ran with the prince; those pursued by him seized Gavrila Oleksich and threw him off the gangway along with his horse. But by the grace of God, he emerged from the water unharmed, and again attacked them, and fought with the governor himself in the midst of their army. Many noble families descended from Gavrila Oleksich, A. S. Pushkin considered him his ancestor. K.K.
STEPA?N TVERDISLA?VICH (? - 08/16/1243) - boyar, Novgorod posadnik in 1230-1243.
The son of the posadnik Tverdislav Mikhalkovich. In the 20s. 13th c. 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 posadnik Vnezd Vodovik, who relied on the Chernigov prince Mikhail Vsevolodovich. On December 9, 1230, in the absence of Vodovik's Vnezd, Stepan Tverdislavich was elected posadnik. Yaroslav Vsevolodovich was called to reign; in 1236, his 16-year-old son Alexander Yaroslavich (the future Alexander Nevsky) became Prince of Novgorod.
Stepan Tverdislavich proved to be a strong, powerful ruler. The power of the posadnik was not shaken even by the famine pestilence of 1231.
Stepan Tverdislavich supported Prince Alexander Yaroslavich in his actions against the Swedes and the Livonian knights, having managed to rally the Novgorod boyars and all Novgorod estates in the face of the conquerors.
Stepan Tverdislavich was buried in St. Sophia Cathedral. Sun. IN.
DOVMO?NT (in baptism - Timothy) (? -20.05.1299) - Prince of Pskov since 1266, Orthodox saint.
A relative of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Mindovg. In 1263, Dovmont killed Mindovg, after which he was forced to flee Lithuania. In 1266 he came to Pskov, was baptized and became a prince of Pskov. Dovmont became famous as a brilliant commander who repeatedly saved the city and the entire North-Western Rus' from the raids of the Crusaders and Lithuania. In 1266, on the Dvina, he defeated the superior forces of the Lithuanian prince Gerden and killed him, losing only one person 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 the last battle, the enemy managed to break into the city, but Dovmont, using houses and cramped streets, organized defenses and defeated the crusaders. A few weeks later he died of pestilence. The whole city buried the prince.
The memory of Dovmont is preserved in Pskov to this day: a part of the city is still called by the Pskovites "Dovmont's city". The local veneration of the prince as a saint began in Pskov in the 14th century, and in 1374 the first church was built in his name. Memorial Day - May 20 (June 2). K.K.
NE? VSKAYA B? TVA - the battle of Russian troops under the command of the Novgorod prince Alexander Yaroslavich with the Swedish detachment on July 15, 1240
Rus', weakened by the Mongol-Tatar invasion, seemed easy prey to its northern neighbors. In 1240, the Swedish army moved to the Russian shores. At the mouth of the river Izhora, at its confluence with the Neva, an enemy landing landed. This was reported to the Novgorod prince Alexander Yaroslavich by the Izhorian elder Pelgusy. At the same time, the leader of the Swedish detachment sent a message to Alexander, in which he stated: “If you can resist me, the king, then I’m already here and captivate your land.” Alexander Yaroslavich did not wait for the collection of the entire army and the help of his father. With a small retinue, he set out to meet the enemy.
At dawn on July 15, 1240, Alexander Yaroslavich approached the Swedish camp and attacked him on the move. The princely cavalry hit the center of the Swedes. Alexander himself and his soldiers showed courage and determination. Novgorodian Misha with a detachment defeated three ships of the invaders. Gavrila Oleksich, whom A.S. Pushkin considered his ancestor, rushed on horseback onto a Swedish ship. 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 the Izhora, where Aleksandrov'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 BATTLE ISCHE - a battle on the ice of Lake Peipsi on April 5, 1242 between the united Novgorod and Vladimir-Suzdal troops 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 the lands in the Eastern Baltic, tried to subjugate the northwestern lands of Rus' to their influence. The invasions of the knights of the Livonian Order into the Russian lands, the main purpose of which was the spread of Catholicism in Rus', were considered in Western Europe as the Crusades.
In 1240 German knights captured the Russian
Izborsk. The inhabitants of Pskov voluntarily recognized the authority of the Livonian Order. Novgorod began to prepare for a rebuff. But there was no prince in the city at that time - Alexander Yaroslavich, having quarreled with the Novgorodians, left for his family nest -
Pereyaslavl-Zalessky. Having humbled their pride, the Novgorodians asked the prince to return. Alexander hurried to Novgorod and already in 1241 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 that, 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 up against each other at the Raven Stone on the ice of Lake Peipsi.
Alexander Nevsky skillfully built his battle formations: in the center, not very powerful, - infantry, on the flanks - the main, strongest regiments. The knights lined up in a wedge; in Rus', this military system was called "pig". As Alexander expected, the Livonians hit the center of the Russian army and crushed it - "they made their way through the regiment like a pig." But then the Russian troops struck from the flanks. The central regiment also went on the attack. The knights were surrounded, 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, captured, the rest barely escaped. The regiments of Alexander Nevsky drove the invaders seven miles away. The captives, tied by horse tails, were led through the streets of Novgorod. S. P.
WEAPON. In the 13th-14th centuries, after the heavy defeats of Russian troops from the Mongol-Tatar troops, significant changes took place in various types of weapons. Soldiers' personal protective equipment has been strengthened. From the 2nd floor. 13th c. plate and scaly armor appear in Rus'. The chain mail is also modified. From the 14th century the use of baydana is known - chain mail from large flat rings, which reliably protected the warrior. But bakhterets and yushman, which combined the use of chain mail protection with armor, became much more popular during this period. The plates were fastened in the most vulnerable places, for the Bahtera they covered the back and chest, for the Yushman - the back, chest and sides. A variation of the bakhterets, but without sleeves, was the kolontar. In the 16th and 17th centuries additional protective weapons appear - a mirror worn over chain mail and consisting of four large steel plates covering the warrior's back, chest and sides. The plates were connected by straps and rings.
Among the poor warriors up to the 17th century. non-metallic armor was common - tegilai, which were 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 protective weapons caused a change in the means of destruction. Swords began to be made tapering towards the point and were intended mainly not for chopping, but for stabbing. The maces were replaced by six-pointers, the plates of which could destroy the belt base of the armor and seriously injure the enemy. On the southern borders of the country, not a sword, but a saber of the Tatar type was increasingly used. Crossbows were used more widely, noticeably improved in comparison with the first crossbows that appeared in the Russian lands as early as the 12th century. In the 1st floor. 17th century the spear is replaced by a lance equipped with a narrow faceted tip.
The berdysh was borrowed from the Poles - a kind of large ax, equipped with a long, up to 80 cm, blade. Along with the squeaker and saber, the berdysh 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' in con. 14 - beginning. 15th century barrel firearms. A certain role in improving the quality of Russian artillery pieces was played by Italian and German craftsmen who worked in the con. 15 - beginning. 16th centuries in the Moscow Cannon hut. The builder of the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin, the architect Aristotle Fioravanti, became famous for his art of pouring cannons and firing them. In the campaign of 1485 to Tver, the old master was with the regimental "outfit".
Other cannon masters are also mentioned in the documents of that era: Pavlin Debosis, who cast the first large-caliber cannon 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. The most famous of them is Andrey Chokhov, who cast several dozen cannons and mortars, many of which ("Tsar Cannon" and others) became masterpieces of foundry.
The presence of its own skilled craftsmen capable of manufacturing weapons of various types and calibers, as well as the actions of a number of border states that sought to limit the penetration of European military technology into the Russian state, forced the Moscow government to rely on its own forces in creating new types of artillery weapons. This does not mean that, if necessary, the Russian authorities refused to use the newly invented artillery systems in Europe. In the years leading up to the Smolensk War of 1632-1634, Swedish craftsmen were working 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 cannons cast in Russia made it possible to start exporting some artillery systems: in 1646, 600 Russian guns were taken to Holland.
The guns themselves in Russia received different names, depending on the purpose: mattresses - small, firing stone and metal shot; mozhzhirs (mortars), mounted cannons, long-barreled squeaking cannons, etc.
In Rus', the first samples of hand firearms appeared - “handguns”, 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 structurally similar to them "self-propelled guns" and "undersized", were rapidly improved. In con. 15th c. the first matchlock gun appeared, which had a special side shelf and butt. Later, 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.
KOPO? RIE - an ancient Russian city on the banks of the river. Koporka in the Novgorod land (now a village in the Leningrad region).
First mentioned in 1240 in connection with the construction of a fortress by German knights in the Koporsky churchyard; 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 attempts to capture Koporye were made by Swedish and German troops. In con. 15 - beginning. 16th centuries the fortress was significantly rebuilt, the walls were fortified, the thickness of which was about 5 m, several towers were built. The fortress served as an important defensive outpost on the northwestern borders of the Russian state.
In con. 15 - beginning. 16th centuries Koporye was twice captured by the Swedes. According to the Stolbovsky Peace of 1617, it was assigned to Sweden. In 1703, during the Northern War of 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 the Gorodishchenskoye Lake.
It was first mentioned in chronicles under 862 as a city that Rurik's younger brother Truvor took control of. Izborsk represented the strongest fortress on the western borders of the Pskov land. In 1233 it was taken by the 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 Peipus. 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 14-16 centuries. strengthened many times. The area of the fortress is about 15 thousand m2. Its walls and towers are made of limestone. Fortifications of the fortress repeatedly protected the city from the attacks of the knights of the Livonian Order. In 1510, along with the entire Pskov land, Izborsk was annexed to Moscow. After the Northern War of 1700–1721 lost its military importance. A.K.
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