As a rule, they are associated with an attempt to expand Christianity into the Middle East, and the fight against Muslims, but this interpretation is not entirely correct.

As the series of crusades began to gain momentum, the papacy, which was their main initiator, realized that these campaigns could serve Rome to achieve political goals not only in the fight against Islam. This is how the multi-vector nature of the crusades began to take shape. Expanding their geography, the crusaders turned their gaze to the north and northeast.

By that time, a fairly strong stronghold of Catholicism had formed near the borders of Eastern Europe in the person of the Livonian Order, which was the product of the merger of two German spiritual Catholic orders - the Teutonic and the Order of the Sword.

Generally speaking, the prerequisites for the advance of German knights to the east existed for a long time. Back in the 12th century, they began to seize Slavic lands beyond the Oder. Also within their sphere of interests was the Baltic region, inhabited by Estonians and Karelians, who at that time were pagans.

The first germs of the conflict between the Slavs and the Germans took place already in 1210, when the knights invaded the territory of modern Estonia, entering into a struggle with the Novgorod and Pskov principalities for influence in this region. The retaliatory measures of the principalities did not lead the Slavs to success. Moreover, the contradictions in their camp led to a split and a complete lack of interaction.

The German knights, the backbone of which were the Teutons, on the contrary, managed to gain a foothold in the occupied territories and began to consolidate their efforts. In 1236, the Order of the Swordbearers and the Teutonic Order united into the Livonian Order, and the following year they authorized new campaigns against Finland. In 1238, the Danish king and the head of the order agreed on joint actions against Rus'. The moment was chosen most appropriately, because by that time the Russian lands had been drained of blood by the Mongol invasion.

The Swedes also took advantage of this and decided to capture Novgorod in 1240. Having landed, they met resistance in the person of Prince Alexander Yaroslavich, who managed to defeat the interventionists and it was after this victory that he began to be called Alexander Nevsky. The Battle of Lake Peipsi became the next important milestone in the biography of this prince.

However, before this, there was a fierce struggle between Russia and the German orders for two more years, which brought success to the latter; in particular, Pskov was captured, and Novgorod was also under threat. It was under these conditions that the Battle of Lake Peipus took place, or, as it is commonly called, the Battle of the Ice.

The battle was preceded by the liberation of Pskov by Nevsky. Having learned that the main enemy units were heading towards the Russian forces, the prince blocked the path to the lake.

The Battle of Lake Peipus took place on April 5, 1242. The knightly forces managed to break through the center of the Russian defense and ran into the shore. Attacks from the flank by the Russians took the enemy in a vice and decided the outcome of the battle. This is exactly how the battle on Nevsky ended and reached the peak of its glory. He remained in history forever.

The Battle of Lake Peipus has long been considered almost a turning point in the entire struggle of Rus' against the Crusaders, but modern trends call into question such an analysis of events, which is more typical of Soviet historiography.

Some authors note that after this massacre the war became protracted, but the threat from the knights remained still tangible. In addition, even the role of Alexander Nevsky himself, whose successes in the Battle of the Neva and the Battle of the Ice raised him to unprecedented heights, is disputed by historians such as Fenell, Danilevsky and Smirnov. The Battle of Lake Peipus and, according to these researchers, are embellished, however, as is the threat from the crusaders.

Myths about the Battle of the Ice

Snowy landscapes, thousands of warriors, a frozen lake and crusaders falling through the ice under the weight of their own armor.

For many, the battle, which according to the chronicles took place on April 5, 1242, is not much different from the footage from Sergei Eisenstein’s film “Alexander Nevsky.”

But was it really so?

The myth of what we know about the Battle of the Ice

The Battle of the Ice truly became one of the most resonant events of the 13th century, reflected not only in “domestic” but also in Western chronicles.

And at first glance, it seems that we have enough documents to thoroughly study all the “components” of the battle.

But upon closer examination, it turns out that the popularity of a historical plot is not at all a guarantee of its comprehensive study.

Thus, the most detailed (and most quoted) description of the battle, recorded “hot on its heels,” is contained in the first Novgorod chronicle of the older edition. And this description is just over 100 words. The rest of the mentions are even more succinct.

Moreover, sometimes they include mutually exclusive information. For example, in the most authoritative Western source - the Elder Livonian Rhymed Chronicle - there is not a word that the battle took place on the lake.

The lives of Alexander Nevsky can be considered a kind of “synthesis” of early chronicle references to the clash, but, according to experts, they are a literary work and therefore can be used as a source only with “great restrictions.”

As for the historical works of the 19th century, it is believed that they did not bring anything fundamentally new to the study of the Battle of the Ice, mainly retelling what was already stated in the chronicles.

The beginning of the 20th century is characterized by an ideological rethinking of the battle, when the symbolic meaning of victory over “German knightly aggression” was brought to the fore. According to historian Igor Danilevsky, before the release of Sergei Eisenstein’s film “Alexander Nevsky,” the study of the Battle of the Ice was not even included in university lecture courses.

The myth of a united Rus'

In the minds of many, the Battle of the Ice is a victory of the united Russian troops over the forces of the German crusaders. This “generalizing” idea of ​​the battle was formed already in the 20th century, in the realities of the Great Patriotic War, when Germany was the main rival of the USSR.

However, 775 years ago, the Battle of the Ice was more of a “local” rather than a national conflict. In the 13th century, Rus' was experiencing a period of feudal fragmentation and consisted of about 20 independent principalities. Moreover, the policies of cities that formally belonged to the same territory could differ significantly.

Thus, de jure Pskov and Novgorod were located in the Novgorod land, one of the largest territorial units of Rus' at that time. De facto, each of these cities was an “autonomy”, with its own political and economic interests. This also applied to relations with its closest neighbors in the Eastern Baltic.

One of these neighbors was the Catholic Order of the Sword, which, after the defeat at the Battle of Saul (Šiauliai) in 1236, was annexed to the Teutonic Order as the Livonian Landmaster. The latter became part of the so-called Livonian Confederation, which, in addition to the Order, included five Baltic bishoprics.

As historian Igor Danilevsky notes, the main cause of territorial conflicts between Novgorod and the Order was the lands of the Estonians who lived on the western shore of Lake Peipsi (the medieval population of modern Estonia, who appeared in most Russian-language chronicles under the name “Chud”). At the same time, the campaigns organized by the Novgorodians practically did not affect the interests of other lands. The exception was the “border” Pskov, which was constantly subject to retaliatory raids by the Livonians.

According to historian Alexei Valerov, it was the need to simultaneously resist both the forces of the Order and Novgorod’s regular attempts to encroach on the city’s independence that could force Pskov to “open the gates” to the Livonians in 1240. In addition, the city was seriously weakened after the defeat at Izborsk and, presumably, was not capable of long-term resistance to the crusaders.

At the same time, as the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle reports, in 1242 there was not a full-fledged “German army” present in the city, but only two Vogt knights (presumably accompanied by small detachments), who, according to Valerov, performed judicial functions on controlled lands and monitored the activities of the “local Pskov administration”.

Further, as we know from the chronicles, the Novgorod prince Alexander Yaroslavich, together with his younger brother Andrei Yaroslavich (sent by their father, the Vladimir prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich), “expelled” the Germans from Pskov, after which they continued their campaign, going “to the chud” (i.e. e. in the lands of the Livonian Landmaster).

Where they were met by the combined forces of the Order and the Bishop of Dorpat.

The myth of the scale of the battle

Thanks to the Novgorod Chronicle, we know that April 5, 1242 was a Saturday. Everything else is not so clear.

Difficulties begin already when trying to determine the number of participants in the battle. The only figures we have tell us about losses in the ranks of the Germans. Thus, the Novgorod First Chronicle reports about 400 killed and 50 prisoners, the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle reports that “twenty brothers were killed and six were captured.”

Researchers believe that these data are not as contradictory as they seem at first glance.

Historians Igor Danilevsky and Klim Zhukov agree that several hundred people took part in the battle.

So, on the German side, these are 35–40 brother knights, about 160 knechts (an average of four servants per knight) and mercenaries-ests (“Chud without number”), who could “expand” the detachment by another 100–200 warriors . Moreover, by the standards of the 13th century, such an army was considered a fairly serious force (presumably, in its heyday, the maximum number of the former Order of the Swordsmen, in principle, did not exceed 100–120 knights). The author of the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle also complained that there were almost 60 times more Russians, which, according to Danilevsky, although an exaggeration, still gives reason to assume that Alexander’s army was significantly superior to the forces of the crusaders.

Thus, the maximum number of the Novgorod city regiment, the princely squad of Alexander, the Suzdal detachment of his brother Andrei and the Pskovites who joined the campaign hardly exceeded 800 people.

From chronicle reports we also know that the German detachment was lined up as a “pig”.

According to Klim Zhukov, we are most likely not talking about a “trapezoidal” pig, which we are used to seeing in diagrams in textbooks, but about a “rectangular” one (since the first description of a “trapezoid” in written sources appeared only in the 15th century). Also, according to historians, the estimated size of the Livonian army gives reason to talk about the traditional formation of the “hound banner”: 35 knights making up the “wedge of banners”, plus their detachments (totalling up to 400 people).

As for the tactics of the Russian army, the Rhymed Chronicle only mentions that “the Russians had many riflemen” (who, apparently, made up the first formation), and that “the army of the brothers was surrounded.”

We don't know anything else about it.

The myth that the Livonian warrior is heavier than the Novgorod one

There is also a stereotype according to which the combat clothing of Russian soldiers was many times lighter than the Livonian one.

According to historians, if there was a difference in weight, it was extremely insignificant.

After all, on both sides, exclusively heavily armed horsemen took part in the battle (it is believed that all assumptions about infantrymen are a transfer of the military realities of subsequent centuries to the realities of the 13th century).

Logically, even the weight of a war horse, without taking into account the rider, would be enough to break through the fragile April ice.

So, did it make sense to withdraw troops against him under such conditions?

The myth of the battle on ice and drowned knights

Let us disappoint you right away: there are no descriptions of how German knights fall through the ice in any of the early chronicles.

Moreover, in the Livonian Chronicle there is a rather strange phrase: “On both sides the dead fell on the grass.” Some commentators believe that this is an idiom meaning “to fall on the battlefield” (version of the medievalist historian Igor Kleinenberg), others - that we are talking about thickets of reeds that made their way from under the ice in the shallow waters where the battle took place (version of the Soviet military historian Georgy Karaev, shown on the map).

As for the chronicle references to the fact that the Germans were driven “across the ice,” modern researchers agree that this detail could have been “borrowed” by the Battle of the Ice from the description of the later Battle of Rakovor (1268). According to Igor Danilevsky, reports that Russian troops drove the enemy seven miles (“to the Subolichi shore”) are quite justified for the scale of the Rakovor battle, but look strange in the context of the battle on Lake Peipsi, where the distance from shore to shore in the supposed location the battle is no more than 2 km.

Speaking about the “Raven Stone” (a geographical landmark mentioned in part of the chronicles), historians emphasize that any map indicating a specific location of the battle is nothing more than a version. No one knows where exactly the massacre took place: the sources contain too little information to draw any conclusions.

In particular, Klim Zhukov is based on the fact that during archaeological expeditions in the area of ​​Lake Peipsi, not a single “confirming” burial was discovered. The researcher associates the lack of evidence not with the mythical nature of the battle, but with looting: in the 13th century, iron was very highly valued, and it is unlikely that the weapons and armor of the dead soldiers could have remained intact to this day.

The Myth of the Battle's Geopolitical Significance

In the minds of many, the Battle of the Ice “stands apart” and is perhaps the only “action-packed” battle of its time. And it really became one of the significant battles of the Middle Ages, “suspending” the conflict between Rus' and the Livonian Order for almost 10 years.

Nevertheless, the 13th century was rich in other events.

From the point of view of the clash with the crusaders, these include the battle with the Swedes on the Neva in 1240, and the already mentioned Battle of Rakovor, during which the united army of seven Northern Russian principalities came out against the Livonian Landmaster and Danish Estland.

Also, the 13th century is the time of the Horde invasion.

Despite the fact that the key battles of this era (the Battle of Kalka and the capture of Ryazan) did not directly affect the North-West, they significantly influenced the further political structure of medieval Rus' and all its components.

Moreover, if we compare the scale of the Teutonic and Horde threats, the difference is calculated in tens of thousands of soldiers. Thus, the maximum number of crusaders who ever participated in campaigns against Rus' rarely exceeded 1000 people, while the estimated maximum number of participants in the Russian campaign from the Horde was up to 40 thousand (version by historian Klim Zhukov).

TASS expresses gratitude for the assistance in preparing the material to the historian and specialist on Ancient Rus' Igor Nikolaevich Danilevsky and the military historian and medievalist Klim Aleksandrovich Zhukov.

© TASS INFOGRAPHICS, 2017

Worked on the material:

Battle on the Ice (briefly)

Brief description of the ice battle

The Battle of the Ice takes place on April 5, 1242 on Lake Peipsi. This event became one of the most important battles in the history of Rus' and its victories. The date of this battle completely stopped any military actions on the part of the Livonian Order. However, as often happens, many facts that are associated with this event are considered controversial among researchers and historians.

As a result, today we do not know the exact number of soldiers in the Russian army, because this information is completely absent both in the Life of Nevsky himself and in the chronicles of that time. The estimated number of soldiers who took part in the battle is fifteen thousand, and the Livonian army has at least twelve thousand soldiers.

The position chosen by Nevsky for the battle was not chosen by chance. First of all, it made it possible to block all approaches to Novgorod. Most likely, Nevsky understood that knights in heavy armor were the most vulnerable in winter conditions.

Livonian warriors lined up in a fighting wedge, popular at that time, placing heavy knights on the flanks and light knights inside the wedge. This formation was called the “great pig” by Russian chroniclers. How Alexander positioned his army is unknown to historians. At the same time, the knights decided to advance into battle without having accurate information about the enemy army.

The guard regiment was attacked by a knightly wedge, which then moved on. However, the advancing knights soon encountered many unexpected obstacles on their way.

The knight's wedge was clamped in pincers, losing its maneuverability. With the attack of the ambush regiment, Alexander finally tipped the scales to his side. The Livonian knights, who were dressed in heavy armor, became completely helpless without their horses. Those who were able to escape were pursued according to chronicle sources “to the Falcon Coast.”

Having won the Battle of the Ice, Alexander Nevsky forced the Livonian Order to renounce all territorial claims and make peace. Warriors who were captured in the battle were returned by both sides.

It should be noted that the event called the Battle of the Ice is considered unique. For the first time in history, a foot army was able to defeat heavily armed cavalry. Of course, quite important factors that determined the outcome of the battle were surprise, terrain and weather conditions, which the Russian commander took into account.

Fragment of video illustration: Battle on the Ice

The Battle of the Ice occurred on April 5, 1242. The battle brought together the army of the Livonian Order and the army of North-Eastern Rus' - the Novgorod and Vladimir-Suzdal principalities.
The army of the Livonian Order was headed by the commander - the head of the administrative unit of the Order - Riga, Andreas von Velven, the former and future Landmaster of the Teutonic Order in Livonia (from 1240 to 1241 and from 1248 to 1253).
At the head of the Russian army was Prince Alexander Yaroslavovich Nevsky. Despite his youth, he was 21 years old at the time, he had already become famous as a successful commander and brave warrior. Two years earlier, in 1240, he defeated a Swedish army on the Neva River, for which he received his nickname.
This battle got its name, “Battle of the Ice,” from the location of this event – ​​the frozen Lake Peipsi. The ice at the beginning of April was strong enough to support a horse rider, so the two armies met on it.

Causes of the Battle of the Ice.

The Battle of Lake Peipus is one of the events in the history of territorial rivalry between Novgorod and its western neighbors. The subject of dispute long before the events of 1242 were Karelia, the lands near Lake Ladoga and the Izhora and Neva rivers. Novgorod sought to extend its control to these lands not only to increase the territory of influence, but also to provide itself with access to the Baltic Sea. Access to the sea would greatly simplify trade with its western neighbors for Novgorod. Namely, trade was the main source of the city’s prosperity.
Novgorod's rivals had their own reasons to dispute these lands. And the rivals were all the same western neighbors, with whom the Novgorodians “both fought and traded” - Sweden, Denmark, the Livonian and Teutonic Orders. All of them were united by the desire to expand the territory of their influence and take control of the trade route on which Novgorod was located. Another reason to gain a foothold in the lands disputed with Novgorod was the need to secure their borders from raids by the tribes of Karelians, Finns, Chuds, etc.
New castles and strongholds in new lands were to become outposts in the fight against restless neighbors.
And there was another, very important reason for the zeal to the east - ideological. The 13th century for Europe is the time of the Crusades. The interests of the Roman Catholic Church in this region coincided with the interests of the Swedish and German feudal lords - expanding the sphere of influence, obtaining new subjects. The conductors of the policy of the Catholic Church were the Livonian and Teutonic Orders of Knighthood. In fact, all campaigns against Novgorod are the Crusades.

On the eve of the battle.

What were Novgorod's rivals like on the eve of the Battle of the Ice?
Sweden. Due to the defeat by Alexander Yaroslavovich in 1240 on the Neva River, Sweden temporarily dropped out of the dispute over new territories. In addition, at this time a real civil war for the royal throne broke out in Sweden itself, so the Swedes had no time for new campaigns to the east.
Denmark. At this time, the active king Valdemar II ruled in Denmark. The time of his reign was marked for Denmark by an active foreign policy and the annexation of new lands. So, in 1217 he began expansion into Estland and in the same year founded the Revel fortress, now Tallinn. In 1238, he entered into an alliance with the Master of the Teutonic Order Herman Balk on the division of Estonia and joint military campaigns against Rus'.
Warband. The Order of German Crusader Knights strengthened its influence in the Baltic states by merging in 1237 with the Livonian Order. In essence, the Livonian Order was subordinated to the more powerful Teutonic Order. This allowed the Teutons not only to gain a foothold in the Baltic states, but also created the conditions for the spread of their influence to the east. It was the knighthood of the Livonian Order, already as part of the Teutonic Order, that became the driving force behind the events that ended with the Battle of Lake Peipsi.
These events developed in this way. In 1237, Pope Gregory IX announced a Crusade to Finland, that is, including the lands disputed with Novgorod. In July 1240, the Swedes were defeated by the Novgorodians on the Neva River, and already in August of the same year, the Livonian Order, picking up the banner of the Crusade from weakened Swedish hands, began its campaign against Novgorod. This campaign was led by Andreas von Velven, Landmaster of the Teutonic Order in Livonia. On the side of the Order, this campaign included the militia from the city of Dorpat (now the city of Tartu), the squad of the Pskov prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich, detachments of Estonians and Danish vassals. Initially, the campaign was successful - Izborsk and Pskov were taken.
At the same time (winter of 1240-1241), seemingly paradoxical events took place in Novgorod - the Swedish winner Alexander Nevsky left Novgorod. This was the result of the intrigues of the Novgorod nobility, who rightly feared competition in the management of the Novgorod land from the side, which was rapidly gaining popularity of the prince. Alexander went to his father in Vladimir. He appointed him to reign in Pereslavl-Zalessky.
And the Livonian Order at this time continued to carry the “word of the Lord” - they founded the Koropye fortress, an important stronghold that allowed them to control the trade routes of the Novgorodians. They advanced all the way to Novgorod, raiding its suburbs (Luga and Tesovo). This forced the Novgorodians to think about defense seriously. And they couldn’t come up with anything better than inviting Alexander Nevsky to reign again. He did not take long to persuade himself and, having arrived in Novgorod in 1241, energetically set to work. To begin with, he took Koropje by storm, killing the entire garrison. In March 1242, united with his younger brother Andrei and his Vladimir-Suzdal army, Alexander Nevsky took Pskov. The garrison was killed, and two governors of the Livonian Order, shackled, were sent to Novgorod.
Having lost Pskov, the Livonian Order concentrated its forces in the area of ​​Dorpat (now Tartu). The command of the campaign planned to move between the Pskov and Peipus lakes and move to Novgorod. As was the case with the Swedes in 1240, Alexander attempted to intercept the enemy along his route. To do this, he moved his army to the junction of the lakes, forcing the enemy to go out onto the ice of Lake Peipsi for a decisive battle.

Progress of the Battle of the Ice.

The two armies met early in the morning on the ice of the lake on April 5, 1242. Unlike the battle on the Neva, Alexander gathered a significant army - its number was 15 - 17 thousand. It consisted of:
- “lower regiments” - troops of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality (squads of the prince and boyars, city militias).
- the Novgorod army consisted of Alexander’s squad, the bishop’s squad, the townsman’s militia and private squads of boyars and rich merchants.
The entire army was subordinated to a single commander - Prince Alexander.
The enemy army numbered 10 - 12 thousand people. Most likely, he did not have a single command; Andreas von Velven, although he led the campaign as a whole, did not personally participate in the Battle of the Ice, entrusting the command of the battle to a council of several commanders.
Adopting their classic wedge-shaped formation, the Livonians attacked the Russian army. At first they were lucky - they managed to break through the ranks of the Russian regiments. But having been drawn deep into the Russian defense, they got stuck in it. And at that moment Alexander brought reserve regiments and a cavalry ambush regiment into battle. The reserves of the Novgorod prince hit the flanks of the crusaders. The Livonians fought bravely, but their resistance was broken, and they were forced to retreat to avoid encirclement. Russian troops pursued the enemy for seven miles. The victory over the Livonians by their allies was complete.

Results of the Battle of the Ice.

As a result of its unsuccessful campaign against Rus', the Teutonic Order made peace with Novgorod and renounced its territorial claims.
The Battle of the Ice is the largest in a series of battles during territorial disputes between northern Russia and its western neighbors. Having won it, Alexander Nevsky secured most of the disputed lands for Novgorod. Yes, the territorial issue was not finally resolved, but over the next few hundred years it boiled down to local border conflicts.
The victory on the ice of Lake Peipus stopped the Crusade, which had not only territorial but also ideological goals. The question of accepting the Catholic faith and accepting the patronage of the Pope in northern Russia was finally removed.
These two important victories, military and, as a consequence, ideological, were won by the Russians during the most difficult period of history - the invasion of the Mongols. The Old Russian state virtually ceased to exist, the morale of the Eastern Slavs was weakened, and against this background, the series of victories of Alexander Nevsky (in 1245 - victory over the Lithuanians in the battle of Toropets) had important not only political, but also moral and ideological significance.

The Battle of the Ice or the Battle of Peipus is the battle between the Novgorod-Pskov troops of Prince Alexander Nevsky and the troops of the Livonian knights on April 5, 1242 on the ice of Lake Peipus. In 1240, the knights of the Livonian Order (see Spiritual Knightly Orders) captured Pskov and advanced their conquests to Vodskaya Pyatina; their travels approached 30 versts to Novgorod, where at that time there was no prince, because Alexander Nevsky, having quarreled with the veche, retired to Vladimir. Constrained by the knights and Lithuania, which had raided the southern regions, the Novgorodians sent envoys to ask Alexander to return. Arriving at the beginning of 1241, Alexander cleared the Vodskaya Pyatina of the enemy, but decided to liberate Pskov only after combining the Novgorod detachments with the grassroots troops that arrived in 1242 under the command of his brother, Prince Andrei Yaroslavich. The Germans did not have time to send reinforcements to their small garrison, and Pskov was taken by storm.

However, the campaign could not be ended with this success, since it became known that the knights were preparing for the fight and that they were concentrated in the Dorpat (Tartu) bishopric. Instead of the usual waiting for the enemy in the fortress, Alexander decided to meet the enemy halfway and inflict a decisive blow on him with a surprise attack. Having set out along the well-worn path to Izborsk, Alexander sent a network of advanced reconnaissance detachments. Soon one of them, probably the most significant, under the leadership of the mayor's brother Domash Tverdislavich, came across the Germans and Chud, was defeated and forced to retreat. Further reconnaissance discovered that the enemy, having sent a small part of his forces to the Izborsk road, moved with his main forces straight to the ice-covered Lake Peipsi in order to cut off the Russians from Pskov.

Then Alexander “backed towards the lake; The Germans just walked over them,” that is, with a successful maneuver, the Russian army avoided the danger that threatened it. Having turned the situation in his favor, Alexander decided to take the fight and remained near Lake Peipus on the Uzmen tract, at the “Voronei Kameni”. At dawn on April 5, 1242, the knightly army, together with the contingents of the Estonians (Chudi), formed a kind of closed phalanx, known as the “wedge” or “iron pig”. In this battle formation, the knights moved across the ice towards the Russians and, crashing into them, broke through the center. Carried away by their success, the knights did not even notice that both flanks were being encircled by the Russians, who, holding the enemy in pincers, defeated him. The pursuit after the Battle of the Ice was carried out to the opposite Sobolitsky shore of the lake, at which time the ice began to break under the crowded fugitives. 400 knights fell, 50 were captured, and the bodies of the lightly armed miracle lay 7 miles away. The astonished master of the order waited with trepidation for Alexander under the walls of Riga and asked the Danish king for help against “cruel Rus'.”

Battle on the Ice. Painting by V. Matorin

After the Battle of the Ice, the Pskov clergy greeted Alexander Nevsky with crosses, the people called him father and savior. The prince shed tears and said: “People of Pskov! If you forget Alexander, if my most distant descendants do not find a faithful refuge in your misfortune, then you will be an example of ingratitude!”

The victory in the Battle of the Ice was of great importance in the political life of the Novgorod-Pskov region. The confidence of the pope, the Bishop of Dorpat and the Livonian knights in the quick conquest of the Novgorod lands crumbled for a long time. They had to think about self-defense and prepare for a century-long stubborn struggle, which ended with the conquest of the Livonian-Baltic Sea by Russia. After the Battle of the Ice, the order's ambassadors made peace with Novgorod, abandoning not only Luga and the Vodskaya volost, but also ceding a considerable part of Letgalia to Alexander.