V the year of his grandfather's death, Alexander was eight years old. It is unlikely that Mstislav had time to "have a hand" in the upbringing of his grandson. But, it is known that character, temperament are transmitted through the mysterious mechanism of heredity. And didn’t Alexander inherit his ardent courage, chivalrous carelessness from his grandfather - traits that were by no means characteristic of the Vladimir “autocrats”? (According to another hypothesis, the father of Alexander Nevsky, Yaroslav, had to fight in a fierce battle with the famous prince Mstislav the Udaly. Having defeated Yaroslav, Mstislav inflicted on Yaroslav “not only political and military damage. Enraged, Mstislav took away his daughter Rostislav from Yaroslav, who had been married off to the young prince shortly before.

Resigned to fate, Yaroslav ... married again. His new wife was Princess Theodosia, sister of the Ryazan prince Ingvar. In 1219, their first-born was born, at baptism he was named Fedor, like his father. And the following year, another son was born. They named him Alexander. “) As for the pedigree of the father, this line is seen more clearly. The ancestor of Alexander on the maternal and paternal lines was a glorious warrior, wise ruler and talented writer Vladimir Monomakh. His son Yuri, nicknamed Dolgoruky, became famous not only for military prowess, but also for cruelty. From 1176 to 1212 he was Prince of Vladimir younger son Yuri Dolgorukov Vsevolod. The author of “The Tale of Igor's Campaign” describes the power of this prince “You can splash the Volga with oars, or scoop out the Don with helmets (your soldiers)”. Vsevolod was nicknamed the Big Nest because he had many sons. After his death, the sons divided the principality into parts and waged fierce strife. One of them was Yaroslav Prince Pereslavl - Zalesky father of Alexander Nevsky.

Despite the ambiguity of the definition of the genealogical line through the mother, it can be said that one way or another, traits inherent in the princely estate of that time appeared in his character. “... The future of Alexander was predetermined from birth. He is a prince, and therefore a lawyer and legislator, a warrior and commander, a righteous Christian and a defender of the faith, a connoisseur of patterned arts and a generous patron of its creators, who worthily glorified God's and princely power.” Contributed to the formation of the character of the future Grand Duke and subsequent education, and the current course of events associated with his childhood years.
“The first years of the young prince were spent in Pereslavl. Boys then began to see little men early.” “You can think that at the age of three, an ancient princely rite was performed over him - as once over his father - “tons”, after which he was considered a full-fledged participant in military affairs - a warrior.

Alexander was transferred to the upbringing of the princely boyar Fedor Danilovich. He studied the rules of etiquette, writing and reading, the history of great ancestors. The ideas about human existence at that time were not completely reduced to the truths preached by the church. “Kind” and “nature” of a person are complex, he does not have innate properties: “Yes, we don’t say”, - it was written in educational literature, - that this one is “naturally good”, and that one is “evil by nature”. And the “good” is evil, and the evil one can “be good”. There are no complete righteous people: “There is no one who is righteous, who has nothing to sin, and there is no sinner who has nothing good.” There are three forces in the human soul - reason, feelings, will, “truth” struggles with “untruth” in it, and not all who know the truth create it.
The value of a person is determined by his “disposition” and “deeds”, and “noble” is made by “spiritual good deeds”, “thoughts” and “perfect life”, especially “love, humility, submission, brotherly love”.

Among the educated, self-knowledge was valued: “Try yourself more than your neighbors,” so you will bring benefit to yourself and your neighbors. Or: “Whoever looks to himself with a test, then he is like a mentor to his soul.” It can also be a sin for good - the motives by which actions are caused are important. In a word, it was the flexible morality of politicians.” Alexander began to be taken to the princely court, “to listen to the complaints of the plaintiffs and the explanations of the accused, to comprehend a series of laws and rules that is difficult for a young mind - “Russian Truth”, given to the people two centuries ago by Yaroslav the Wise, supplemented by his sons Yaroslavichi.” “... Knowledge, understanding and wisdom are different gifts, and they are not given at the same time. Alexander stocked up on knowledge, now it's time for understanding.

Alexander was trained in internal and external diplomacy in Novgorod under his father, comprehended the art of subordinating the boyars and waving the crowd, changeable and formidable. He learned this by being present at the veche, sometimes at the council, listening to his father's conversations.
Much more time was taken by the “man's business”. It obliged to keep order - and in the house, and in the church, and on the hunt - "and in the horsemen, and in the falcons, and in the hawks" to be knowledgeable. He liked the job and it came easy. Alexander studied with the same young squad given to him by his father.

But a special place in the training and education of the prince was given to military affairs. While he was taught “on horseback, in borne, 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. As in any art: some have a gift for it, others are deprived of it.” The young prince was preparing for military affairs. “Events were being prepared that drew Alexander into their cycle. They made him take a fresh look at the city. Not a fortress, not a shrine, but the cares and thoughts of the Novgorodians were revealed to him. Those were hard thoughts.”

Increasingly, the young prince traveled with his father's retinue to distant and nearby cities, to hunt, took part in the collection of princely tribute, and most importantly, in military battles. “He followed the usual path for a Russian knight, and the chime of combat swords, crossed either in the fight against an external enemy, or in internal strife, reached his ear early.” “With the upbringing of that time, strong characters developed in the princely environment very early. Sharp contrasting impressions caused by participation from childhood in campaigns in different, sometimes very dissimilar in terms of lifestyle, lands of Russia and its neighbors, spectacles of bloody battles, conflagrations, grief of frequent separations and early losses - all these experiences developed the need to know, developed observation, strengthened the ability to generalizations. In a word, they accelerated the formation of the personality of a broad-minded, alien to the miserable isolation of petty princelings, an all-Russian guardian. The political situation of the early Middle Ages, as already noted, assumed frequent hostilities and violent internal intrigues. This, in turn, was a good "visual aid" for the emerging commander. An example of ancestors obliged to be a hero.

Summing up, we can single out the following points that favor the development of the qualities of a legendary commander in the young Alexander Nevsky, which later played an exceptional role in his career as the Grand Duke of Vladimir. Firstly, it is the purposeful education of the future prince. Secondly, they acted as teachers, the events of which Alexander was a participant and witness, and the very spirit of the era of early feudalism. Finally, the third component is generosity and genetically embedded data that entailed opportunities. Here it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that “in that era the “old man” was the highest authority. People constantly looked back and compared their achievements with the labors of their ancestors.”

Thus, there are three main components that play, according to psychologists leading role in the development of personality:
1) genetically embedded data;
2) specifically - historical and individual experience;
3) the objectively existing situation in which the individual finds himself.

On May 30, 1220, in the family of Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich and Princess Theodosia, daughter of Prince Mstislav Udatny, the son Alexander, Novgorod (1236-1251) and Vladimir (since 1252) Grand Duke, was born. On the paternal side, he was the grandson of Vsevolod the Big Nest.

In 1228, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, who reigned in Novgorod, came into conflict with the townspeople and was forced to leave for his ancestral inheritance Pereyaslavl-Zalessky. Despite this, he left two young sons Fyodor and Alexander in the care of trusted boyars in Novgorod. After the death of Fedor in 1236, Alexander, as the eldest heir to Yaroslav, was placed in the reign of Novgorod. In 1239 he married Princess Alexandra Bryachislavna of Polotsk.

In the first years of his reign, the Russian prince was engaged in the fortification of Novgorod. On the river Sheloni he built several fortresses. Glory to the young prince was brought by a victory won in July 1240 at the mouth of the river. Izhora over the Swedish detachment, after which the Swedish aggression on the Novgorod-Pskov lands was stopped. It is traditionally believed that for this victory the prince began to be called Nevsky. However, according to Russian sources of the 14th century, some descendants of the prince also bore the nickname Nevsky.

The victory on the Neva strengthened the political influence of Alexander, but at the same time contributed to the aggravation of his relations with the boyars. As a result of clashes with disgruntled boyars, the prince was forced to leave Novgorod and go to Pereyaslavl-Zalessky. The Livonian Order, having gathered the German crusaders of the Baltic states and the Danish knights from Reval, invaded the Novgorod lands. In the spring of 1241, Alexander, having gathered a powerful army, recaptured the Koporye and Vodsk land occupied by the knights, and then drove the Livonian detachment out of Pskov. Novgorodians invaded the territory of the Livonian Order and began to ravage their settlements. Soon, a large cavalry army led by the master of the order came out against the Russian prince and forced him to withdraw his troops to the border of the Livonian Order, which passed along Lake Peipsi. On April 5, 1242, a decisive battle took place on the ice of Lake Peipus at the Voronye stone, which went down in history as “ Battle on the Ice". The German troops suffered a crushing defeat. The Livonian Order was forced to make peace, according to which the crusaders renounced their claims to Russian lands, and also transferred part of Latgale to the Russians. In the history of military art, this victory was of exceptional importance: the Russian foot army surrounded and defeated the knightly cavalry and infantry knechte detachments long before Western Europe infantry learned to prevail over mounted knights. The victory in this battle put Alexander Nevsky among the best commanders of that time.

In the future, Alexander Nevsky continued to strengthen the northwestern borders of Russia. In 1251, he sent an embassy to Norway, which resulted in the first agreement between Russia and Norway, and also made a successful campaign in Finland against the Swedes, who made a new attempt to close the Russian access to the Baltic Sea.

Alexander made a lot of efforts to strengthen the grand ducal power in the country. His political line contributed to the prevention of devastating invasions of the Tatars in Russia. Several times he himself went to the Golden Horde, having achieved the release of the Russians from the obligation to act as an army on the side of the Tatar khans in their wars with other peoples. In 1262, unrest broke out in the Suzdal cities, where the Khan's Baskaks were killed and the Tatar merchants were expelled. To appease the Tatar Khan, the prince personally went with gifts to the Horde. Khan kept him by his side all winter and summer, and only in the fall did the Russian prince get the opportunity to return to Vladimir, but on the way he fell ill and died on November 14, 1263 in Gorodets. His body was buried in the Vladimir Monastery of the Nativity of the Virgin.

In the 1280s. in Vladimir, the veneration of Alexander Nevsky as a saint began, and later he was officially canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.

In 1724, in St. Petersburg, in honor of the right-believing prince, Peter I founded a monastery (Alexander Nevsky Lavra), where the Russian autocrat ordered the remains of the holy prince Alexander to be transported. On May 21 (June 1), 1725, Empress Catherine I established the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky - one of the highest awards of the Russian Empire.

Lit.: Alexander Nevsky and the history of Russia: Proceedings of the scientific-practical conference. Novgorod, 1996; The same [Electronic resource]. URL : http:// bibliotekar. ru/rusNevskiy/; Vernadsky G. B. Two exploits of St.Alexander Nevsky // Eurasian Vremennik. Book. IV . Prague, 1925. S. 318-337; Resurrection N. A. Holy Blessed Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky; In memory of the king of the peacemaker: a brief biography. M., 1898; Danilevsky AND. N. Alexander Nevsky: Paradoxes of historical memory// "The chain of times": Problems of historical consciousness. M., 2005. S. 119-132; Life of Alexander Nevsky// Library of Literature of Ancient Russia. T. 5. St. Petersburg, 1997; The same [Electronic resource]. URL : http:// lib. pushkinskijdom. en/Default. aspx? tabid=4962; Konyavskaya E. L. The image of Alexander Nevsky in the early chronicles 2 (36); The same [Electronic resource]. URL : http:// www. old. ru/vyp/2009_2/part6. pdf; Kuchkin V. A. About the date of birth of Alexander Nevsky// Questions of history. 1986. no. 2; Pashuto V. T. Alexander Nevsky. M., 1974; Holy Blessed Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky and the Holy Trinity Alexander Nevsky Lavra: in memory of the bicentenary of the monastery, 1713-1913. SPb., 1913; Seleznev YU. B. The reign of Alexander Nevsky in 1252G.: political realities and their reflection in the Russian written tradition// Ancient Russia. Questions of medieval studies. 2009. No. 1 (35); The same [Electronic resource]. URL : http:// www. old. ru/vyp/2009_1/hist-3. pdf; Fennel J. The Crisis of Medieval Russia: 1200-1304: Per. from English. M., 1989; Khmyrov M. D. Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky, Grand Duke of Vladimir and all Russia: a historical and biographical essay. SPb., 1871; Cold G. M. The life and work of Grand Duke Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky in connection with the events in Russia in XIII century. Tambov, 1883; Tsamutali BUT. N. Prince Alexander Nevsky (according to Russian and foreign sources)// Star. 2007. No. 10. ;

Tikhonravov KN Vladimirsky Nativity Monastery of the XII century, where the holy relics of Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky rested, before being transferred to St. Petersburg. Vladimir, 1869 .

The history of our country contains many glorious battles. Some of them have gained particular notoriety. For example, almost anyone in a conversation about famous battles will mention Neva battle And Battle on the Ice. It is not surprising, because thanks to these events, Russia was once able to maintain and protect its borders. But both the Battle of the Neva and the Battle of the Ice could have ended more deplorably if not for the great commander who led our troops - Alexander Nevskiy.

short biography

began May 13, 1221. His father was Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, and his mother was Rostislava Mstislavna. The boy's childhood passed in Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, but it did not last long. Already at the age of nine, Alexander was sent to rule Novgorod along with his brother Fedor. In 1233, Fedor died, and three years later Yaroslav Vsevolodovich left for Kiev.

In this way, Alexander became the sole ruler of Novgorod at the age of 15.

Personal life

In 1239, the prince found family happiness in Toropets with Princess Alexandra of Polotsk. The wedding took place in the church of St. George. This marriage resulted in the birth of several children:

• Basil - 1240;
• Dmitry - 1250;
• Andrew - 1255;
• Daniel - 1261;
• Evdokia.

Neva battle

Alexander began to be called Nevsky, thanks to battle on the Neva. This battle brought the prince worldwide fame. The Battle of the Neva took place in 1240 on the banks of the Neva River. The battle was against the Swedes, who wanted to capture Pskov and Novgorod. It is noteworthy that Alexander's army, without the support of the main army, was able to defeat the enemy. Before the battle, the prince went out to the troops with words of support, which have survived to this day thanks to the annals.

These words inspired the warriors, and they were able to win a confident and crushing victory. The Swedes suffered huge losses and were forced to retreat.

In spite of successful outcome of the Neva battle, Alexander had a conflict with the Novgorodians, and the prince was forced to leave the city. But in 1241, the Livonian Order, consisting of German and Danish troops, invaded the territory of Novgorod. Novgorodians were forced to turn to the prince for help. Alexander did not disappoint - having come with his army, he liberated the cities captured by the Livonian Order, and then led his troops to the enemy border. There, on Lake Peipus, the decisive battle took place.

Battle on the Ice

April 5, 1242 on the ice of Lake Peipsi met the troops of Alexander Nevsky and the Livonian Order. Thanks to the cunning tactics of the prince, the enemy troops were surrounded from the flanks and defeated. The remnants of the detachments tried to escape from the battlefield, running away across the frozen lake. For 7.4 km they were pursued by princely troops.

There are several versions of this chase. Very popular information is that the soldiers of the Livonian Order were dressed in heavy armor. The thin ice of Lake Peipus could not bear their weight and cracked. Therefore, most of those enemies who survived drowned. However, Wikipedia mentions that this information appeared only in later sources. But in the records made in the coming years after the battle, nothing is said about this.

Anyway, The battle on the ice was decisive. After him, a truce was concluded and for the cities of Russia there was no longer a threat from the Order.

Years of government

Alexander became famous not only for victories in famous battles. He understood that battles alone were not enough to protect the country. Therefore, in 1247, after the death of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, Alexander went on a visit to the Horde Khan Batu. The negotiations were successful, so the prince received the Kiev principality in control, and his brother Andrei - Vladimir.

In 1252 Andrei renounced the principality of Vladimir and fled. This almost provoked a new conflict with the Tatar-Mongols, but Alexander again paid a visit to the Horde. Thus, he achieved the opportunity to manage the Vladimir principality.

In the future, Alexander continued to adhere to the same line of behavior. This policy is perceived in two ways by society. Many considered and consider Nevsky practically a traitor, not understanding why he was constantly in contact with the Horde. In addition, Nevsky not only visited the khans, but also contributed in every possible way to the implementation of their plans. For example, in 1257, Alexander helped the Horde to conduct a census of the population of Russia, against which the whole people were. And in general, in relations with the Tatar-Mongols, he showed humility and, without stint, paid tribute.

On the other hand, thanks to such a policy, he was able to free Russia from the obligation to provide the Horde with troops for military campaigns and saved the country from the Tatar-Mongol raids. The main thing for him was the survival, both of his own and of the whole people. And he successfully coped with this task.

Death

During the next visit to the Tatar-Mongols, which took place in 1262, Prince Alexander Nevsky became very ill. By the time he returned to his homeland, his condition was very serious. Before his death, the prince managed to accept Orthodoxy under the name of Alexy. His life ended on November 14, 1263, the funeral took place in the Vladimir Nativity Monastery.

Curious facts

Yaroslav (Theodore) Vsevolodovich, the third son of Vsevolod the Big Nest, was born in Vladimir-on-Klyazma on February 8, 1190. His mother Maria was a princess of Yassa. Under the year 1194, in the annals we find a mention of the solemn "monument" of Prince Yaroslav on April 27 (according to ancient custom, having accepted the boy from his mother's hands, the father cut off a lock of his hair and put him in the saddle). "And there was great joy in Volodimer." From now on, the child was entrusted to the "uncle" - this is how military education began. Attention is drawn to the early terms of the "vows" - in this case already in the fourth year: the princes of the Vladimir house were in a hurry to prepare assistants.
The childhood of the rulers then ended early. Yuri Dolgoruky arrived to reign in the Rostov land barely out of infancy. Vsevolod sent his ten-year-old son to distant Pereyaslavl, and in 1203 the young prince was already listed among the participants in the campaign against the Polovtsy of Roman Mstislavich of Kiev.
In his youth, Yaroslav did not acquire any noticeable military glory. However, it can be assumed that he did not drop hereditary honor either. In 1206, the inhabitants of the Carpathian Galich invited him to reign. Rurik Rostislavich of Kiev opposed this. No longer cherishing family relations with the mighty Zalessky matchmaker (the daughter-in-law of Verkhuslav Vsevolodovich - for his son Rostislav), he, together with the Chernigov allies, forced Yaroslav to leave. Soon the last of Pereyaslavl was driven out by the troops of Vsevolod Chermny, the Grand Duke of Chernigov.
Having gone to his father in Zalesye, Yaroslav, two years later, participated in the war with the Ryazan princes, after which he remained the governor in the conquered Ryazan, where he was unable to cope with the uprising. I had to resort to extreme measures, and as a result of a punitive raid by the Vladimirians, Ryazan was burned down.
Soon after the return of the troops from the banks of the Oka, Vsevolod sent his sons on a campaign to Novgorod in order to prevent Mstislav Mstislavich Udatny (Udaly) from reigning there. The campaign ended with negotiations, and the Novgorodians achieved their goal - the Prince of Udatny sat down on the Novgorod table.
After the death of his father, Yaroslav, who received Pereyaslavl Zalessky as an inheritance, supported Yuri in strife against his older brother Konstantin. The fighting at first was conducted without great bitterness and was interspersed with truces, until a bloody battle broke out near Rostov, somewhat sobering up the Vsevolodoviches.
However, in the same year, in 1215, Mr. Veliky Novgorod called Yaroslav Vsevolodovich to reign. The new prince (together with his brother Svyatoslav) began to rule in an unusually authoritative and harsh manner, even cruelly, and in material (fiscal) terms he oppressed worse than his own subjects.
Unrest arose, ending with the fact that the "head of administration" - the posadnik Yakov Zubolomich - was arrested and, chained "in iron", was sent to Tver. Of course, it would hardly have been possible for Yaroslav to sit in free Novgorod after this, and, having left the city, he stopped in Torzhok, blocking the supply of bread from the “Nizovsky land”.
Hunger has begun. Twice Novgorod dispatched “the best men” for negotiations, but they only replenished the number of hostages sent to Pereyaslavl, where they were treated rather harshly. This continued until Mstislav Udatny took the side of the townspeople.
This conflict was superimposed on the Vladimir strife. The illustrious commander, once in Novgorod, made an alliance with Konstantin and, having enlisted the support of the warlike brothers from Pskov and Smolensk, convened the Novgorod militia, burning with the desire to reckon with Yaroslav. In response, the Vsevolodovichs gathered a huge army, which, in addition to the squads and militias of the Upper Volga and Opole, included detachments of Murom vassals, as well as half-Turk steppe vagrants - "wanderers", that is, Cossacks1. In addition to gathering the rural militia, which had not been practiced in these relatively calm regions for a very long time, even serfs were put into operation.
In March, the vanguards clashed. Mstislav voivode Yarun (under Kalka he will also command the vanguard of his prince), having occupied the town of Rzhevka, fought off Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, after which Udatny occupied Zubtsov and from here sent people to Yaroslav in Torzhok, trying to negotiate peace. He, in arrogant and defiant terms, rejected the negotiations, starting to arrange impenetrable barriers on the road to Novgorod and even along the Tvertsa River ("Ouchinish firmament").
Novgorodians offered the princes another way to Tver, where Yarun again distinguished himself by defeating Yaroslav's "watchman" (outpost). Then the allies ravaged the entire upper Volga region with the cities of Ksnyatin, Dubna and Shosha. Having united with Konstantin, they came to Pereyaslavl, but Yaroslav was not in the city.
Finally, in mid-April 1216, countless armies concentrated on hilly fields near Yuryev Polsky, on the Lipitsa River. Here gathered the color of the Russian army. As part of the squad, or, as they have recently begun to say, the "court" of Mstislav Udatny, there were "men who are brave and great heroes, like lions and like bears, not to hear more at the meeting of wounds." Among them stood out "two braves, Dobrynya the Golden Belt and Alexander Popovich with his servant Torop, glorious heroes"2.
These were our first nobles - "servants of the court." However, at the same time, in relation to the unborn part of the "court", in contrast to the boyars, the ancient term "husbands" again came into use.
Vladimir princes camped on Avdova Gora, a steep slope facing the valley of the Tuneg stream. Behind the stream began the gently sloping St. George's Mountain. Regiments of Novgorodians, Rostovites, Smolensk and Pskovians lined up on it for battle.
The noble Mstislav, to whom Konstantin yielded leadership in the coalition, tried to end the matter amicably, but received an arrogant refusal. At the juicy Old Russian ambassador it was stated: "They have come and gone far, like fish to dry." It is possible that these words belong to Yaroslav as the most lively among the brothers. Nevertheless, the Vsevolodovichi were not going to attack. They surrounded their camp along the edges of the cliff with wattle and stakes and refused to leave it. Here the features of the already specifically Russian (North-Eastern) military art began to appear - the preference for defense in a fortified position over active attacking actions.
It is also felt that there was no strong-willed leader among the brothers. Yuri was not suitable for this role, and Yaroslav did not pass by age. This circumstance, however, did not prevent the Suzdal boyars from drunkenly boasting that they would "throw their saddles over" their opponents.
The cold, gloomy and rainy day of April 20 passed in small skirmishes, skirmishes and altercations. The coalition troops sluggishly attacked with small forces - rather, they carried out reconnaissance in battle: Mstislav Mstislavich groped for weaknesses in the enemy's defense, which subsequently allowed him to make effective decisions.
It was decided to strike the main blow with detachments of the Novgorodians, with the support of the Smolensk people, on the right flank of the Vsevolodovichi, where the banners of the combined regiment of Yaroslav stood. It was also true psychologically - to put the Novgorodians against him, burning with the desire to avenge the famine, requisitions, "insult" of the ambassadors. Mstislav brilliantly managed to turn the strength of the enemy - the security of the position and superior numbers - into his weakness. By concentrating troops along the edges of a horseshoe-shaped cliff, and placing a convoy in the center, the Vsevolodovichi deprived themselves of the opportunity to maneuver. The Vladimir-Suzdal squads could now be beaten in turn, concentrating selected units in the chosen direction3.
The next morning, Mstislav, "arranging the regiments," inspired them with a fiery speech. Novgorodians, according to the custom of their grandfathers, preferred to go into battle on foot. The Smolensk people also hurried. Having overcome the swampy, overgrown with bushes valley of the stream, under a hail of arrows they climbed a steep slope and hit the Yaroslav warriors. They managed to somewhat push Yaroslav away from the edge of the mountain. One of his seventeen banners was cut off. However, the townspeople, Muromites and wanderers subordinated to Yaroslav continued to resist fiercely. The noise of the battle was carried far away - in Yuryev, a few miles away, they heard "the cry of the living and the howling of the perforated."
To help the Novgorodians, Mstislav threw the Smolensk cavalry of the governor Ivor Mikhailovich. On rough terrain, the cavalry could not use its advantages, only pushed Yaroslav's regiment further. Another of his banners fell. But this did not bring the desired change. The battle became protracted. Then Mstislav led the attack best forces- your own yard.
Armed in steel, the "brave" passed over the bodies of the Pereyaslav and Murom warriors, "stinging like ears" of the grain-growers-militias. Mstislav with an ax and Alexander Popovich with a sword made bloody clearings in their ranks and, colliding near the enemy carts, almost hacked each other to death. In the end, the regiment of Yaroslav could not stand it and "splashed away", dooming the regiments of Yuri, Svyatoslav and Ivan Vsevolodovich, who continued to hold their positions, to extermination.
The battle turned into a massacre. No prisoners were taken. Those who fled died under swords and arrows, drowned wounded in the rivers. Russia lost more than nine thousand of its sons on that terrible day.
Vsevolodovichi fled from the battlefield in different directions. Yuri a few hours later found himself under the walls of Vladimir. Yaroslav, having driven four horses, rushed to his Pereyaslavl on the fifth and, burning with revenge, ordered the Smolensk and Novgorod merchants to be seized. Many of them, thrown into a narrow prison, suffocated there.
The winners approached Vladimir and put Konstantin on his father's table (Yuri went to the Volga, to the small town of Radilov), after which they moved to Pereyaslavl, where Yaroslav tried to sit out, "still in anger and breathing anger." In order to save the inheritance from ruin, he had to go out to meet his older brother and ask him for forgiveness and protection from Mstislav. Tents were pitched in front of the city; Yaroslav, treated and presented "dear guests". Mstislav, having accepted the gifts, sent people to the city, freed the surviving Novgorodians and Smolensk and took the Yaroslavl princess - his daughter. Yaroslav repeatedly repented ("in truth, the cross killed me"), begged to release at least the princess, - in vain. For about three years, Mstislav did not return her to her husband, forcing Vsevolodovich to subdue his pride with humiliation. Pereyaslavl remained untouched mainly due to the intercession of Constantine.
Meanwhile, Novgorod was losing one position after another in Estonia, which was once subject to it, especially after the departure of Mstislav Udatny from there. To fight the Order4, his own forces alone were not enough, and in 1221 Yaroslav again became the prince of Novgorod. He was, no doubt, already a different person, who had experienced a lot and changed his mind. Begins new stage in his military and political career. Fate entrusted Yaroslav Vsevolodovich to lead the defense of the country's northwestern borders against the expansion of Catholicism. Soon after his arrival in Novgorod, he set out on a campaign with a 20,000-strong army and laid siege to Wenden, the residence of the Master of the Order. It was not possible to take the stone castle - there was no experience necessary for this. I had to return - albeit with a lot of booty.
The following year, a powerful anti-Catholic uprising broke out across Estonia. Messengers were sent to Novgorod asking for help. Help was hastily gathered and dispatched, but proved insufficient. The entire first half of 1223 was spent in battles. The knight brothers pressed the Baltic pagans and their Orthodox allies. Only towards the end of August did the Grand Duke's regiments finally arrive in Novgorod, which had probably previously gone on a campaign to Kalka, but were late and therefore survived. The united army under the command of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich entered the borders of Estonia.
Yaroslav reinforced Yuryev's garrison, took Odenpe, the most important Estonian fortress, already captured by that time by the Order. Initially, it was supposed to go to Riga - the residence of the bishop and the center of German influence in the Baltic states, but the Ezel ambassadors persuaded the Novgorodians to first take Revel and put an end to the Danes. For four weeks, the Russian army, suffering significant losses from stone-throwers, besieged Revel, but to no avail. The Novgorodians retreated: Yaroslav was too busy with the situation that developed in Russia after the Battle of Kalka, and he hurried home, abandoning his allies. Shortly after his return, he left Novgorod.
In the winter of 1225, Russia, which had just survived the Kalki catastrophe, was struck by a new disaster. The force that had been accumulating for a long time in the forests near the Neman and had been troubling the most far-sighted Russian princes for more than a decade finally spilled out. “It’s great to fight, it hasn’t been from the beginning of the world,” the Novgorod chronicler commented on the invasion of the horde of Lithuanians into the very center of Russia: riders in animal skins on small skates raced through deserted watersheds, rapidly covering vast distances. Having flooded the entire region from Polotsk to Novgorod and Toropets, they were already intercepting merchants on the roads near Smolensk!
Yaroslav Vsevolodovich hastened from Pereyaslavl to help the Smolensk people. Toropchane, Novotorzhets and part of Novgorodians joined him. Lithuanians were overtaken near Usvyat. They lined up in battle formation on the ice of the lake and put up fierce resistance. Having cut into the Lithuanian ranks, Vasily, the swordsman of Yaroslav, and the Toropets prince Davyd, the nephew of Mstislav Udatny, were the first to fall. But the enemy was defeated. Lithuanian losses amounted to two thousand killed and captured. Their princes were taken prisoner.
This victory, of course, greatly raised the authority of the Pereyaslav prince. Novgorodians again began to call him to their table. Returning in 1226, Yaroslav immediately conceived a campaign against Riga in order to destroy Catholic influence in the Baltics. However, he failed to carry out this plan. The march on Riga, which had already become a prominent intermediary center of Baltic trade, was not supported either in Novgorod or in Pskov. The trade interests of not only boyar groups, but also broad merchant and artisan strata, who were striving for peace at any cost, had long suffered from wars.
Instead of Riga in the winter of 1227, Yaroslav led the Novgorodians to em - to the "land of darkness". Trips to the land were occasionally made before, but not in winter, through the Finnish forests covered with a meter layer of snow, where "it is not possible to be one from the Russian princes and capture their entire land." The Russians got rich booty, and the threat to Karelia from Sweden was also eliminated. The chronicler was especially pleased that "everyone returned in good health."
The following year, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich quarreled with the Novgorodians. Now - because of his desire to subdue Pskov. Leaving the city, he left two sons here - Fedor and Alexander, he himself soon took part in the campaign of Yuri Vsevolodovich against the Mordovians, after which he captured Volok and, as in his youth, began to threaten the free city with hunger, throwing the arrived ambassadors into prison.
Meanwhile, the state of affairs in the Baltic States forced the Novgorodians once again to seek military assistance from the Pereyaslavl prince as the most powerful ruler and experienced commander. There was practically no choice: the invitation of another candidate threatened an imminent war not only with Yaroslav, but also with the entire Vladimir "brotherhood" and their vassals from Ryazan and Murom. In addition, the Chernigov princes sank deeper and deeper into the South Russian political "mouse fuss" around Galicia and the completely decrepit Kiev, and Smolensk established such close trade ties with Riga that it became doubtful as an ally against the Germans. In addition, Lithuania, growing stronger every day and almost completely crushing the completely exhausted Polotsk, took away all the attention and strength from the local princes. Ruined Lithuania and Novgorod volosts (in 1229 - Lobnya, Moreva, Seliger). Yaroslav turned out to be simply indispensable as a guarantor of the most powerful - Vladimir support in the fight against the Order and the young raging people.
So in 1230, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich returned to the "city of his dreams" again.
The war of the Novgorodians against the Order resumed in 1233. The German knights, having taken Yuryev in 1224, and with it eastern Estonia, were not going to stop there - they captured Izborsk, staged a raid on Tesovo near Novgorod. The prisoners were put "in iron", demanding a ransom for them. The Pskovites returned Izborsk and were now burning with the desire to get even.
A year later, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich brought his regiments from Pereyaslavl to Novgorod and, "collecting the howls", entered the Chud land. Most likely, his son Alexander, the future Nevsky, also participated in this campaign. Yaroslav's army collided with German patrols and stopped before reaching Yuryev. Soon received information about the approaching enemy forced the Russians to come forward.
The battle took place on the ice of the Embakh River - "on Omyvzha", under the walls of Yuryev-Derpt. The "Great Pig" is a column of heavy cavalry, crowding in front of the Russian formation, "breaking off" under the ice "and slaughtering a lot of them." The surviving Teutons fled to the city and shut themselves up in it. Yaroslav did not starve the knights, they were not the main danger at that moment, and therefore the prince made peace with them "on all his truth", forcing Yuryev and the region to continue to pay an annual tribute, which symbolized the supreme power of Novgorod over Eastern Estonia.
In 1234, the Lithuanians attacked Rusa and captured the settlement, but were repulsed by the local feudal militia ("grydba", "firemen") and armed merchants. Having robbed a nearby monastery, the raiders retreated. Prince Yaroslav with mounted Novgorodians caught up with them "at Dubrovna", in the Toropets volost, and dispersed them, losing ten people in the process.
In 1236, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, at the request of Daniel of Galicia and his brother Yuri, took the Kiev throne and nominally became the Grand Duke, without making any effort at all. But it seems that he did not show himself in the south in any way. Obviously, all his interests and passions remained connected with Novgorod, where his son Alexander reigned for him.
With a high degree of certainty, although without direct indications in the sources, we can assume that in February-March of the fateful year 1237, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich was in Novgorod and organized its defense in the Vladimir direction. Why didn't he answer his brother's call and help Yuri out either in the City or before? Apparently, before the Ryazan tragedy, the Grand Duke of Vladimir counted on his own strength, and after the fall of Vladimir, the Novgorodians did not allow Yaroslav to dispose of the Zemstvo militia. Having assessed the scale of the invasion and realizing that the time for joining forces had been lost, Novgorod decided to defend their land, stopping on the Seliger route. Going to the rescue of Torzhok and further meant putting the fate of his fatherland at stake. One can imagine how the Pereyaslav warriors were eager to defend their homes (we add to this that Tver was defended by one of the sons of Yaroslav, whose name is unknown, who died during the capture of the city in February), but the appearance in the "Nizovo land" of the Novgorod forces in conditions when the best its troops have already perished near Kolomna and in Vladimir, hardly anything would have changed. As a result, cruel expediency won out.
Why didn't the prince of Novgorod come to the rescue in December-January? Didn't have time to return to Novgorod from Kiev? The chronicles "cleaned" and edited more than once during the years of the Tatar-Mongol yoke do not tell us anything about Yaroslav's actions - probably for fear of compromising him in the eyes of the winner and overlord. One thing is indisputable: any personal motives could not be decisive in this case. Although the relationship between Yaroslav and Yuri Vsevolodovich deteriorated in the thirties (it came to an open strife in 1232, however, without bloodshed), but not so much as to prevent the Novgorod prince from coming to the aid of his fatherland in a time of terrible misfortune.
In the spring, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich returned to the ashes of the capital city. The ruins of Vladimir were still littered with thousands of corpses, and the first concern was to collect and bury them. The inhabitants hiding in the woods began to return behind the prince. Axes clattered on new buildings.
The reprieve was short-lived. The following year, the Lithuanians attacked again, ruining most of the principality and threatening Smolensk. Yaroslav rushed there with all his available forces and unblocked the city, but at that time Murom flared up behind the forests with a huge fire - there was no one to repel the Tatar raid. From the Oka, the Tatars moved to the Lower Klyazma, with fire and sword walked through the surviving volosts east of Vladimir, and took Gorokhovets. The population fled in horror, not thinking about resistance.
In 1243, Batu demanded Yaroslav Vsevolodovich to his new capital on the Volga. He arrived in Sarai, and the son of Constantine had to be sent to Karakorum. The new lord of the Russian Land met his vassal with honor and graciously let him go, issuing a label for the reign of Vladimir.
In 1245, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich was forced to go to the Horde again. Now he himself had to leave Saray for the Far East. "A lot of languor" he experienced there. An intrigue was waged against the old prince with the participation of his close boyar Fyodor Yarunovich. At the feast before his departure, the prince took a bowl of poison from the hands of the khansha and set off on the way back already sick. September 30, 1246 Yaroslav Vsevolodovich died on the road, "lay down your soul for your friends and for the Russian land." His body was brought to Vladimir and buried in the Assumption Cathedral.
So the father and forerunner of Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky lived and died.

1. "Cossack" in Turkic means not only "rider", "light cavalry warrior", but also "tramp".
Taking into account the habit of our chroniclers to write foreign language terms in Russian, it can be assumed that the roamers called themselves in Kipchak - "Cossacks".
There is a well-founded hypothesis: wanderers lived on the Danube, and their very name means a person leading an aquatic lifestyle. But in this case, it is difficult to imagine that the inhabitants of the extreme South-West have climbed so far - to the opposite edge of Russia. Probably, these were the inhabitants of the Middle Don - the so-called Chervleny Yar.
2. Tver collection. 15th century source. PSRL. T.7. P.70. Here, on p.72, Dobrynya is named Ryazanich, and another outstanding warrior, Savely Dikun, is mentioned with him.
3. The so-called "epaminondas principle": "uneven distribution of forces along the front", in other words - "massage of forces in the direction of the main blow."
4. Order of the swordsmen. From 1188 to 1237 it was called the "Brotherhood of the Warriors of Christ" ("Fratris milites Dei"). In the spring of 1237, it was merged with the Prussian Order of the Virgin Mary under the name Teutonic. Since the 16th century - the Livonian Order.

THE HOLY BELIEVE PRINCE ALEXANDER NEVSKY (†1263)

Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky born May 30, 1220 in the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky. His father, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich (+ 1246), was the youngest son of Vsevolod III the Big Nest (+ 1212). The mother of St. Alexander, Theodosia Igorevna, the Ryazan princess, was the third wife of Yaroslav. The eldest son was the holy noble prince Theodore (+ 1233), who reposed in the Lord at the age of 15. Saint Alexander was their second son.

Origin of Alexander Nevsky (geneological tree)

Alexander's maternal and paternal ancestor was a glorious warrior and wise ruler Vladimir Monomakh . His son Yuri, nicknamed Dolgoruky, became famous not only for military prowess, but also for cruelty. From 1176 to 1212, Vsevolod, the youngest son of Yuri Dolgorukov, was Prince of Vladimir. Vsevolod was nicknamed the Big Nest because he had many sons. After his death, the sons divided the principality into parts and waged fierce strife. One of them was Yaroslav Prince Pereslavl - Zalesky father of Alexander Nevsky.

The first years of the young prince were spent in Pereslavl, where his father reigned. When Alexander was 5 years old, Prince Yaroslav inflicted on his son a "princely tonsure", after which an experienced voivode, boyar Fyodor Danilovich, began to teach him military affairs.

Alexander studied the rules of etiquette, writing and reading, the history of great ancestors. In Novgorod, under his father, he was trained in internal and external diplomacy, 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. Alexander learned to wield a horse, defensive and offensive weapons, to be a tournament knight and to know the foot and horse formation, the tactics of a field battle and the siege of a fortress.

Increasingly, the young prince traveled with his father's retinue to distant and nearby cities, to hunt, took part in the collection of princely tribute, and most importantly, in military battles. With the upbringing of that time, strong characters developed in the princely environment very early. The political situation of the early Middle Ages assumed frequent hostilities and violent internal intrigues. This, in turn, was a good "visual aid" for the emerging commander. An example of ancestors obliged to be a hero.

At the age of 14 in 1234. the first campaign of Alexander (under his father's banner) against the Livonian Germans took place (the battle on the river Emajygi (in present-day Estonia)).

In 1227, Prince Yaroslav, at the request of the people of Novgorod, was sent by his brother, the Grand Duke of Vladimir Yuri, to reign in Novgorod the Great. He took with him his sons, Saints Theodore and Alexander.

The daughter of St. Michael of Chernigov (+ 1246; Comm. 20 September), Theodulia, became engaged to St. Theodore, the elder brother of St. Alexander. But after the death of the groom in 1233, the young princess went to the monastery and became famous in the monastic feat as Saint Euphrosyne of Suzdal (+ 1250) .

In 1236, Yaroslav left to reign in Kiev and Alexander, who was already 16 years old, began to independently rule in Novgorod. Novgorodians were proud of their prince. He acted as a defender of orphans, widows, and was an assistant to the starving. The prince from his youth honored the priesthood and monasticism, i.e. was a prince from God and obedient to God. In the first years of his reign, he had to deal with the fortification of Novgorod, since the Mongols-Tatars threatened from the east. Alexander built several fortresses on the Sheloni River.

In 1239, Saint Alexander entered into marriage, taking as his wife the daughter of Prince Bryachislav of Polotsk.

Some historians say that the princess in holy Baptism was the namesake of her holy husband and bore the name of Alexander. Father, Yaroslav, blessed them at the wedding with a holy miraculous icon Feodorovskaya Mother of God (in Baptism, the father's name was Theodore). This icon was then constantly with St. Alexander, as his prayer image, and then in memory of him was taken from the Gorodetsky monastery, where he died, by his brother, Vasily Yaroslavich Kostroma (+ 1276), and transferred to Kostroma.

The historical situation at the time of the beginning of the reign of Alexander Nevsky

Map 1239-1245

The reign of Alexander Nevsky (1236-1263) coincided with one of the most difficult and tragic periods in Russian history: Mongol hordes, knightly hordes of "crusaders" (Swedes and German knights of the Livonian Order) were advancing from the west.The horror of this situation was expressed in the fact that, on the one hand, the threat of an invasion of the steppe nomads, the Mongols, loomed over the Russian lands, which certainly led to enslavement, at best, and destruction at worst. On the other hand, on the Baltic side, the best option promised the Russian people to renounce the Christian faith and kneel before the banners of Western Catholicism.

In addition, the XII - XIII century - a period of feudal fragmentation. Russia was weakened by the internecine wars that overwhelmed her. Each principality tried to exist in its own way. Brother went to brother. Everything was used: murder, entering into family ties with authoritative foreign families, incest, intrigues, flirting and simultaneous cruelty with the townspeople. The historical conditions of that period, in which the princes were placed, pushed them to certain actions.

The noble prince Alexander Nevsky became the central figure of the new one, reborn from the ruins of the petty princely appanages of Russia, and it was to him that the eyes were turned as to the defender and unifier of the lands in the face of the Golden Horde threat.

Battle of the Neva (1240)

The victory won by him on the banks of the Neva, near Lake Ladoga on July 15, 1240 over the Swedes, who, according to legend, was commanded by the future ruler of Sweden, Jarl Birger, brought universal fame to the young prince.

Alexander personally participated in the battle. It is believed that it was for this victory that the prince began to be calledNevsky . The battle itself has been called by historians.

Taking advantage of the invasion of Batu, the defeat of Russian cities, the confusion and grief of the people, the death of his best sons and leaders, the hordes of crusaders invaded the Fatherland.

Saint Alexander, he was not yet 20 years old, prayed for a long time in the church of Hagia Sophia, the Wisdom of God. Coming out of the temple, Saint Alexander strengthened the retinue with faith-filled words: "God is not in power, but in truth. Some with weapons, others on horses, but we will call on the Name of the Lord our God! They wavered and fell, but we rose and were firm."

With a small retinue, relying on the Holy Trinity, the prince hurried to the enemies - there was no time to wait for help from his father, who did not yet know about the attack of the enemies. Novgorod was left to itself. Russia, defeated by the Tatars, could not provide him with any support.

Alexander had only his small retinue and a detachment of Novgorod warriors. The lack of forces had to be made up for by a surprise attack on the Swedish camp.

The Swedes, tired of the sea passage, arranged for themselves a rest. Ordinary warriors rested on ships. The servants set up tents for the chiefs and knights on the shore.On the morning of July 15, 1240, he attacked the Swedes. The Swedes who were on the ships could not come to the aid of those who were on the shore. The enemy was divided into two parts. The squad, led by Alexander himself, dealt the main blow to the Swedes. A fierce battle ensued.

The small Russian army completely defeated the vastly superior enemy forces. Neither numerical superiority, nor military skill, nor the magic spells of the Swedish bishops could save the enemy from complete defeat. The leader of the invasion, Jarl Birger, was dealt a heavy blow to the face by Alexander with his spear.

The victory in the eyes of his contemporaries put him on a pedestal of great glory. The impression of the victory was all the stronger because it happened in a difficult time of adversity in the rest of Russia. In the eyes of the people on Alexander and Novgorod land, the special grace of God was manifested.

Nevertheless, the Novgorodians, always jealous of their liberties, in the same year managed to quarrel with Alexander, and he retired to his father, who gave him Pereslavl-Zalessky.

Novgorod especially stood out from the Russian cities of that time and occupied one of the dominant positions. It was independent of Kievan Rus.

Map of the Russian principalities at the beginning of the XIII century.

Back in 1136, it was established in the Novgorod land Republican government. According to the form of government, it was a feudal democratic republic with elements of an oligarchy. Upper class were boyars who owned land and capital and lent money to merchants. Institute government controlled there was a Veche, which called for and approved the princes of Novgorod from nearby principalities (as a rule, from the Vladimir-Suzdal principality).The figure of the prince in Novgorod was not so authoritative, he had to swear allegiance to the Novgorod Republic. The functions of the prince were civil court and defense, during the war he was also the chief military leader. The inhabitants of the city had the right to accept or not accept the prince. The opinion of the townspeople influenced certain political decisions. Naturally, the assessment of the significance of these decisions for the state was not always adequate. Their view proceeded from the problems of the present, everyday existence, as if from their own “everyday bell tower”. There was also the danger of a riot. Often there were conflicts between the boyars and the common people. A particular aggravation of contradictions was observed in economically unstable and politically disturbing moments. The reason could be a crop failure or the danger of military intervention by foreigners. Alexander Nevsky's father, Yaroslav, quarreled with Novgorodians all his life, then again got along with them. Several times the Novgorodians drove him away for his tough temper and violence, and several times they invited him again, as if they were not able to do without him. To please the Novgorodians meant to raise their authority among the entire Russian people.

Battle on the Ice on Lake Peipsi (1242)

Battle on the Ice

In 1240, while Alexander was fighting the Swedes, the German crusaders began to conquer the Pskov region, and in the next 1241, the Germans took Pskov itself. In 1242, encouraged by the successes, the Livonian Order, having gathered the German crusaders of the Baltic states, the Danish knights from Reval, enlisting the support of the papal curia and longtime rivals of the Novgorodians of Pskov, invaded the Novgorod lands.

Novgorodians turned first to Yaroslav, and then asked Alexander to protect them. Since the danger threatened not only Novgorod, but the whole Russian land, Alexander, forgetting for a while about past grievances, immediately set off to clear the Novgorod lands from German invaders.

In 1241, Alexander appeared in Novgorod and cleared his region of enemies, and the next year, together with his brother Andrei, he moved to the aid of Pskov, where the German governors were sitting.

Alexander liberated Pskov and from here, without wasting time, moved to the border of the Livonian Order, which passed along Lake Peipsi.

Both sides began to prepare for a decisive battle. It happened on the ice of Lake Peipus, near the Raven Stone April 5, 1242 and went down in history as Battle on the Ice . The German knights were defeated. The Livonian Order was faced with the need to make peace, according to which the crusaders renounced their claims to Russian lands, and also transferred part of Latgale.

They say that then Alexander uttered the words that became prophetic on Russian soil:"Whoever comes to us with a sword will die by the sword!"

After the Swedes and the Germans, Alexander turned his weapons on the Lithuanians and with a series of victories (in 1242 and 1245) showed them that it was impossible to raid Russian lands with impunity. According to the chroniclers, Alexander Nevsky instilled such fear in the Livonians that they began to "observe his name." So, in 1256, the Swedes tried again to take away the Finnish coast from Novgorod and, together with the subject Emyu, began to build a fortress on the river. Narova; but at one rumor about the approach of Alexander with the Suzdal and Novgorod regiments, they left. To frighten the Swedes, Alexander made a trip to the Swedish possessions, to the country of Emi (present-day Finland), subjecting it to devastation.

Around this time, in 1251. Pope Innocent IV sent an embassy to Alexander Nevsky with a proposal to accept Catholicism, allegedly in exchange for his help in the joint struggle against the Mongols. This proposal was rejected by Alexander in the most categorical form.

The fight against the Livonians and the Swedes was, in essence, a fight between the Orthodox East and the Catholic West. In the conditions of terrible trials that hit the Russian lands, Alexander Nevsky managed to find the strength to resist the Western conquerors, gaining fame as a great Russian commander.

The successful military actions of Alexander Nevsky ensured the security of the western borders of Russia for a long time, but in the east the Russian princes had to bow their heads before a much stronger enemy - the Mongol-Tatars.

Relations with the Golden Horde

Map of the Golden Horde in the XIII century.

Golden Horde - a medieval state in Eurasia, formed as a result of the division of the empire of Genghis Khan between his sons. Founded in 1243 by Batu Khan. Geographically, the Golden Horde occupied most of the forest-steppe zone of Western Siberia, the flat part of the Caspian and Turan lowlands, the Crimea, as well as the Eastern European steppes up to the Danube. The core of the state was the Kypchak steppe. The Russian lands were not part of the Golden Horde, but fell into vassalage - the population paid tribute and obeyed the orders of the khans. The capital of the Golden Horde was the city of Sarai, or Sarai-Batu, founded near the current Astrakhan.
In the period from 1224 to 1266, the Golden Horde was part of the Mongol Empire.

Khan's rate

Numerous raids of the Mongol-Tatars on Russian lands in 1227-1241. did not entail the immediate establishment of foreign domination. The Mongol-Tatar yoke, which lasted until 1480, began only in 1242. (since the Russian princes began to pay tribute).

In 1266, under Khan Mengu-Timur, it gained complete independence, retaining only a formal dependence on the imperial center. In the 13th century, paganism was the state religion, and for a part of the population, Orthodoxy. Since 1312, Islam has become the dominant and only religion.
By the middle of the 15th century, the Golden Horde had split into several independent khanates; its central part, which nominally continued to be considered supreme - the Great Horde, ceased to exist at the beginning of the 16th century.

In 1243 Batu Khan (grandson of Genghis Khan), the ruler of the western part of the Mongol state - the Golden Horde, handed the label of the Grand Duke of Vladimir to control the conquered Russian lands to Alexander's father - Yaroslav Vsevolodovich. The Great Khan of the Mongols Guyuk called the Grand Duke to his capital Karakorum, where on September 30, 1246 Yaroslav died unexpectedly (according to the generally accepted version, he was poisoned). Then, in 1247, at the request of Batu, his sons Alexander and Andrei were summoned to the capital of the Golden Horde, Sarai-Batu. Batu sent them to worship the great Khan Gayuk in Mongolia (Korakorum). While the Yaroslavichs were getting to Mongolia, Khan Guyuk himself died, and the new mistress of Karakorum Khansha Ogul-Gamish decided to appoint Andrei Grand Duke of Vladimir (Vladimir at that time was the largest political center of all Russian lands). It should be noted that Andrei did not come to the supreme power by seniority, bypassing several applicants to whom the grand-ducal throne belonged by right. Alexander received control of southern Russia (Kiev) and Novgorod, devastated as a result of raids. Kiev after the Tatar ruin lost all significance; so Alexander settled in Novgorod.

Alexander Nevsky clearly understood that to keep the northwestern borders of Russia intact, as well as to keep open exit in Baltic Sea it is possible only under the condition of peaceful relations with the Golden Horde - then Russia did not have the strength to fight against two powerful enemies. The second half of the life of the famous commander was famous not for military victories, but for diplomatic victories, no less necessary than military ones.

With the then small number and fragmentation of the Russian population in the eastern lands, it was impossible to even think about liberation from the power of the Tatars. Ruined and mired in poverty and feudal fragmentation, it was almost impossible for the Russian princes to muster any army to offer worthy resistance to the Tatar-Mongols. Under these conditions, Alexander decided to get along with the Tatars at all costs. It was all the easier because the Mongols, ruthlessly exterminating all who resisted them, were quite generous and indulgent towards the submissive peoples and their religious beliefs.

Not all Russian princes shared the views of Saint Alexander Nevsky. Among them were both supporters of the Horde and supporters of the West, who were inclined to introduce Catholicism in Russia and submit to Rome. Supporters of the pro-Western course of development in the fight against the Tatar yoke hoped for help from Europe. Negotiations with the Pope were conducted by St. Michael of Chernigov, Prince Daniel of Galicia, brother of St. Alexander, Andrei. But Saint Alexander knew well the fate of Constantinople, captured and destroyed in 1204 by the Crusaders. And his own experience taught him not to trust the West. Daniil of Galicia paid for the union with the pope, which gave him nothing, by treason to Orthodoxy - union with Rome. Saint Alexander did not want this for his native Church. Catholicism was unacceptable for the Russian Church, the union meant the rejection of Orthodoxy, the rejection of the source of spiritual life, the rejection of the historical future ordained by God, the doom of oneself to spiritual death.

Five years later, in 1252, in Karakorum, Ogul-Gamish was overthrown by the new great khan Mongke (Mengke). Taking advantage of this circumstance and deciding to remove Andrei Yaroslavich from the great reign, Batu handed the label of the Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky, who was urgently summoned to Saray-Batu, the capital of the Golden Horde.

But Alexander's younger brother, Andrei Yaroslavich, supported by his brother Prince Yaroslav of Tver and Prince Daniel Romanovich of Galicia, refused to obey Batu's decision and even stopped paying tribute to the Horde. But, the time has not yet come to repulse the Horde - there were not enough forces for this in the Russian lands.

To punish the recalcitrant princes, Batu sends the Mongol cavalry under the command of Nevruy. It was a terrible, bloody campaign, which remained in the annals as "Nevryuev's army" . Andrei, in alliance with his brother, Yaroslav of Tver, fought the Tatars, but was defeated and fled to Sweden through Novgorod to seek help from those who, with the help of God, were smashed on the Neva by his great brother. This was the first attempt to openly resist the Tatars in northern Russia. During the invasion of the "Nevryuev rati" Alexander Nevsky was in the Horde.

After the flight of Andrei, the great Vladimir principality, by the will of the khan, passed to Alexander Nevsky. He accepted this post from the hands of Sartak, the son of Batu, with whom he made friends during his first visit to the Horde. Sartak was a Nestorian Christian. Saint Alexander became the sovereign Grand Duke of all Russia: Vladimir, Kiev and Novgorod, and retained this title for 10 years, until his death.

F.A. Moskvitin. Alexander Nevsky and Sartak in the Horde.

In 1256, Alexander's ally Batu Khan died, and in the same year Batu's son Sartak was poisoned because of his sympathy for Christianity.

Then Alexander again went to Saray to confirm the peaceful relations of Russia and the Horde with the new Khan Berke.

The new khan (Berke), for a more accurate taxation of the population with tribute, ordered a second census in Russia (the first census was made under Yaroslav Vsevolodovich). Alexander was able to negotiate the payment of tribute in exchange for military assistance. The treaty with the Mongols can be called Alexander's first diplomatic victory. L. N. Gumilyov sees the significance of this treaty for the Russian princes in the fact that they retained great freedom of action, that is, they could solve internal problems at their own discretion. At the same time, "Alexander was interested in the prospect of receiving military assistance from the Mongols to counter the pressure of the West and internal opposition."

But it was the treaty that gave rise to a riot in Novgorod.Novgorod was not, like other Russian cities, conquered by Tatar weapons, and the Novgorodians did not think that they would have to voluntarily pay a shameful tribute.

At times Mongol invasion to Russia and the subsequent Mongol and Horde campaigns, Novgorod managed to avoid ruin due to the remote location of the republic. But the southeastern cities of the Novgorod possessions (Torzhok, Volok, Vologda, Bezhetsk) were plundered and devastated.

In 1259, an uprising began in Novgorod, which lasted about a year and a half, during which the Novgorodians did not submit to the Mongols. Even the son of Alexander, Prince Vasily, turned out to be on the side of the townspeople. The situation was very dangerous. The very existence of Russia was threatened again.

Alexander knew that he had to make the Novgorodians come to terms with the census. At the same time, the prince did not want to bring the matter to an armed clash with the Novgorodians, to shed Russian blood. The task facing Alexander as a commander and politician was extremely difficult: the proud Novgorodians swore to die rather than recognize the power of the “nasty” over themselves. It seemed that nothing could undermine their resolve. However, the prince knew these people well - as brave as frivolous, impressionable. Fast to the word, the Novgorodians were, in a peasant way, not hasty in deeds. Moreover, their resolve to fight was by no means unanimous. Boyars, merchants, wealthy artisans - although they did not dare to openly call for prudence, but in their hearts they were ready to pay off the Tatars.

Realizing that the obstinacy of the Novgorodians could cause the khan's wrath and a new invasion of Russia, Alexander personally put things in order by executing the most active participants in the unrest and obtained from the Novgorodians consent to the population census for a general tribute. Novgorod was broken and obeyed the order to send tribute to the Golden Horde. Few understood then that severe necessity forced Alexander to act in such a way that, had he acted differently, a new terrible Tatar pogrom would have fallen on the unfortunate Russian land.

In his desire to establish peaceful relations with the Horde, Alexander was not a traitor to the interests of Russia. He acted as his common sense told him to. An experienced politician of the Suzdal-Novgorod school, he was able to see the line between the possible and the impossible. Submitting to circumstances, maneuvering among them, he followed the path of the least evil. He was, first of all, a good owner and most of all cared about the well-being of his land.

Historian G.V. Vernadsky wrote: "... Two feats of Alexander Nevsky - the feat of warfare in the West and the feat of humility in the East - had a single goal - the preservation of Orthodoxy as a source of moral and political strength of the Russian people."

Death of Alexander Nevsky

In 1262 unrest broke out in Vladimir, Suzdal, Rostov, Pereyaslavl, Yaroslavl and other cities, where the Khan's Baskaks were killed and the Tatar tax-farmers were expelled. The Tatar regiments were already ready to move on Russia.

To appease the Golden Horde Khan Berke, Alexander Nevsky personally went with gifts to the Horde. He managed to avert trouble and even achieved benefits for the Russians in the delivery of military detachments for the Tatars.

Khan kept the prince at his side all winter and summer; only in the autumn did Alexander get the opportunity to return to Vladimir, but on the wayfell ill and fell ill in Gorodets on the Volga, where he received monastic tonsure and a schema with the name of Alexy. Alexander wanted to accept the great schema - the most complete form of monastic vows. Of course, he tonsured a dying man, and even to the highest monastic degree! - contradicted the very idea of ​​monasticism. However, an exception was made for Alexander. Later, following his example, many Russian princes accepted the schema before their death. It has become a kind of custom. Alexander Nevskiy died November 14, 1263 . He was only 43 years old.

G. Semiradsky. Death of Alexander Nevsky

His body was buried in the Vladimir Monastery of the Nativity of the Virgin. Numerous healings were noted during the burial.

"The Life of Alexander Nevsky" is remarkable in that it was written at the end of the 13th century. a contemporary of events, a person who personally knew the prince,and therefore has great value to understand how the personality of Alexander Nevsky was assessed in those distant times, and what was the significance of those events in which he was a participant.

Veneration and canonization

The people glorified Alexander Nevsky long before his canonization by the Church. Already in the 1280s, the veneration of Alexander Nevsky as a saint began in Vladimir.

The general church glorification of St. Alexander Nevsky took place under Metropolitan Macarius at the Moscow Council of 1547. Alexander Nevsky was the only Orthodox secular ruler not only in Russia, but throughout Europe, who did not compromise with the Catholic Church in order to maintain power.

History with the relics of Alexander Nevsky

In 1380, the imperishable relics of Alexander Nevsky were discovered in Vladimir and laid in a shrine on top of the earth. In 1697, Metropolitan Hilarion of Suzdal placed the relics in a new reliquary, decorated with carvings and covered with a precious cover.

Moskvitin Philip Alexandrovich. The transfer of the relics of the Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky by Emperor Peter I to St. Petersburg.

In 1724, by order of Peter I, the relics were transferred to St. Petersburg to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, where they still rest in the Trinity Church.

I.A. Ivanov. "Alexander Nevsky Lavra from the Neva" (1815).

In the middle of the 18th century, by order of Peter's daughter, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, a heavy silver reliquary was made for the relics. The first silver from the Kolyvan factories in Siberia was granted to the cancer. Raku was made at the St. Petersburg Mint by outstanding court masters of that time, it became the most striking work of art of that time and was mentioned in many literary works and travel notes of foreigners. Cancer was placed in a huge multi-tiered sarcophagus made of pure silver with a total weight of almost one and a half tons - nowhere in the world is there such a grandiose structure made of this precious metal. Chasing and cast medallions depicting the life and deeds of Alexander Nevsky were used in the ornament of the sarcophagus.

In 1922, during the period of violent expropriation of church wealth, the relics of the prince, enclosed in a many-pound silver sarcophagus, were removed from the cathedral and for a long time were kept in the Museum of Religion and Atheism. And the whole point was precisely in this sarcophagus, in which the Bolsheviks saw big piece precious silver- 89 pounds 22 pounds 1 with 1/3 of the spool. In May 1922, a group of working comrades mercilessly rolled this shrine off the pedestal. The autopsy was more like a public desecration...

The looting of the tomb of Alexander Nevsky by the Bolsheviks

She, like the priceless iconostasis of the Kazan Cathedral, was destined to be melted down. But the then director of the Hermitage, Alexander Benois, sent a desperate telegram to Moscow with a request to transfer the piece of jewelry art to the People's Museum. The iconostasis of the Kazan Cathedral then, alas, could not be defended, and the shrine was transferred to the Hermitage. For almost 20 years, she stood in the silver gallery, haunting many senior officials of the state apparatus. How - almost one and a half tons of silver are in vain in the halls! Letters from both business executives and defenders of the sarcophagus were periodically sent to Moscow. True, the ashes of Alexander had already been removed from him, he was moved to the Kazan Cathedral.

In June 1989, the relics of the Grand Duke were returned to the Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Today they are available for worship and are kept in a modest copper sarcophagus.

The story with the relics and shrine of the Grand Duke is not over yet. Prominent church leaders repeatedly appealed to the Russian government to transfer the silver shrine to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in order to place the relics of the holy prince there again.

Material prepared by Sergey SHULYAK

for the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity on Sparrow Hills