Alexander Nevsky will always attract the attention of historians. His personality still causes fierce debate: some prove that the victories of Nevsky - both military and diplomatic - were of great importance for Russia. Others believe that the Grand Duke should not have humbled himself before the Golden Horde - it was necessary to fight it.

Be that as it may, the reign of Grand Duke Alexander left a significant mark on Russian history.

The future commander was born in 1220, and the throne of the Grand Duke went to him only in 1252. By this time, the prince, who owned the Novgorod lands, had already matured and seasoned in battles. He already bore the nickname Nevsky - for the battle in 1240 on the Neva, when the Russian army under his command brilliantly defeated the Swedish fleet that threatened the borders of their native land.

After another 2 years, the battle on Lake Peipus took place (it is also the Battle of the Ice): the knights of the Teutonic Order were defeated by the young Novgorod prince Alexander.

In total, Alexander Nevsky took 12 battles, not losing a single one of them. His military talents were already known to the Russians by the time he took the throne. It soon became clear: the prince has considerable diplomatic skills and knows how to calculate any situation several steps ahead.

Alexander was well aware that the forces of the Russian principalities did not correspond to the power of the Golden Horde. It's not time yet to go to war against the khans, trying to throw off the hated yoke! However, it is possible to alleviate the situation of native lands by reaching peace agreements with the khans.

In addition, it was necessary to achieve the strengthening of the position of Russia in the west. In the 50s - early 60s. XIII century, Alexander concludes a number of peace treaties: in 1253 - with the Germans, in 1254 - with the Norwegians, in 1264 - with the Lithuanians (the latter also secured favorable terms of trade).

Relations with the Horde, meanwhile, were heating up. Khan Berke, who had just sat on the throne, decided to increase the tribute imposed on Russia and began a new population census. This caused waves of protest, and Novgorod was especially indignant, where Nevsky's son Vasily was imprisoned. Vasily did not want to obey his father, he wanted to oppose the Horde. Alexander Nevsky captured and imprisoned his son, executed his boyars. Then he had to make a trip to the Horde in order to beg forgiveness for the rebellious Russia, to make amends for the imminent conflict and to prevent a new invasion of the Horde. Alexander did even more: he won the right for the Russian princes to collect tribute themselves.

Berke kept Alexander in the Horde for more than a year. The Russian Grand Duke fell ill there. He returned home already very ill, foreseeing his death. The prince died in Gorodets in 1263, having managed to accept the schema.

The Orthodox Church canonized Alexander Nevsky. He is worshiped as a saint. Peter I transferred his relics to the specially built Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg. If you are there, bow to the relics of the great Alexander Nevsky: no matter what the spiteful critics say, his role in creating a strong Russian principality, preparing to throw off the Horde yoke, was really huge.

Brief information about Alexander Nevsky.

The name of this man sounded quite loudly in the history of Russia. Alexander Nevsky was a politician and diplomat, but contemporaries considered him more of a commander, thanks to the famous battles in which victories were won.

What was the fate and personality of this man, and how did he become famous in generations? Let's talk about the biography of the Grand Duke.

The boy was born in the family of the Pereyaslav prince and the Toropet princess - Yaroslav Vsevolodovich and Rostislava Mstislavna.

My father ruled first in Pereyaslavl itself, then became the head of one of the richest cities in Russia at that time - Novgorod, and even later took the throne of Kiev.

Observing what his father did in his life, Alexander Nevsky learned diplomacy from him, and very early this science had to be applied.

The future famous commander had eight brothers and two sisters. In terms of seniority, the future ruler was the second and was born on May 30, 1221 in Pereslavl-Zalessky.

Already at the age of four, the father christened the eldest sons - Alexander and Fedor warriors, with the help of tonsure. From about the same time, boys began to be trained in military affairs.

Board history

The life of Alexander Nevsky was glorified by the administration of various regions of Russia, and after that by the throne of Kiev. The chronology of the reign is as follows:

1. In 1228, at the age of seven, he was left by his father to reign together with his elder brother Fyodor in Novgorod, under the supervision of the boyar Fyodor Danilovich. Despite the nominality of such a power, during the year the local population forced the princes to flee the land of this region under the threat of death.
2. In 1230, Yaroslav restored his power in Novgorod, and in 1236 he left to rule in Kiev. The young prince, not yet being nicknamed Nevsky, becomes the head of the city for four years. A few months after the victory on the Neva, he is expelled by local boyars.
3. During the next year, the region is besieged by the Germans, and the Novgorodians demand from Yaroslav to return the young commander to the city. After some thought, Yaroslav nevertheless decides to send his second son there, although according to his original plan, Andrei was supposed to defend Novgorod. This time, Alexander will remain Prince of Novgorod until 1252. During this period, the secret will be revealed why Alexander Nevsky is named that way.
4. In 1246 he became the Prince of Pereslavl-Zalessky concurrently.
5. In 1249, by order of the Mongol Khan, he became the prince of Kiev, despite disputes with his brother Andrei.
6. In 1252, after the punitive campaign of the Mongol army against Russia, Kiev loses its importance, and Alexander begins to reign in Vladimir.
7. In 1957, he again ascends the throne of Novgorod in order to force the region to take a population census and pay tribute to the horde. In 1259 he succeeded and left the city.

In 1962, an uprising of the people takes place on Russian soil, which kills Mongolian subjects who collect tribute from them. Khan Berke, who sensed a threat from a neighbor, plans to recruit soldiers in the controlled Slavic territories. At this time, Alexander is going to the horde, planning to dissuade the khan from this undertaking.

Monument to Alexander Nevsky

After staying there for a whole year, the prince calmed the khan and dissuaded him from such a campaign. At the same time, the strong-willed character of Prince Alexander Nevsky does not save him from illness, and the ruler returns to his homeland already quite weakened. In 1263, on November 14, the ruler dies, having previously accepted the schema.

Interesting to know! A schema is an Orthodox oath, which implies a person's renunciation of worldly affairs and complete obedience and rapprochement with God. People who have accepted the great schema are released from all work and duties, positions and power, and are obliged to minimize contacts with other people, even with ministers of the Orthodox faith.

There are two options, according to which Alexander Nevsky could die either in Gorodets Volzhsky or in Gorodets Meshchersky. The exact place of Alexander's death has not been established so far.

The prince was buried in the Nativity Monastery, but during the reign of Peter I, his remains were transported to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg.

Great battles

Prince Alexander Nevsky is a commander who has never lost a single battle in his entire life. At the same time, there are two major victories, which are known to everyone who is at least a little familiar with the history of the Russian land.

Neva battle

At the beginning of the 13th century, the peoples of the Baltic, Swedish, Karelian and Finnish tribes, whose territories were located nearby, constantly made mutual raids on each other for the purpose of robbery.

At this time, Sweden tried to impose its faith on the surrounding region and made attempts to seize power, especially the economically significant banks of the Neva.

Against this background, in July 1240, the Swedes landed from ships at the place where the Izhora flows into the Neva. The sentinels who noticed this hurried to report the information to Alexander, who immediately stepped out in the direction of the enemy.

According to the chronicles, he did not ask for reinforcements from his father, Prince Yaroslav, but went with a small squad, which was within walking distance. On the way they were joined by part of the garrison from the fortress on Ladoga.

The army, rapidly moving on horseback, quickly overtook the Swedes and, thanks to the valor of the soldiers themselves, defeated the Swedes, who had not yet had time to gain a foothold on the ground.

According to ancient sources, Alexander personally struck a blow at the leader of the Swedish army, Jarl Birger, leaving a noticeable scar on his face from his spear.

After this battle, legends began to be composed about Alexander Nevsky with just such an epithet. The commander received it after his brilliant victory on the Neva, in which he showed himself to be a talented commander and a brave warrior.

Battle on the Ice

After the announcement by the Pope in 1237 of a crusade against Finland, a year later, the Danish king and the head of the Teutonic Order decided to start hostilities on the territory of Russia.

After the defeat of the Swedes in the 40th year in the same year, the united army entered the lands of the Novgorod principality.

The boyars of this rather wealthy region at the same time managed to expel Nevsky Alexander.

The invader's army took Izborsk quite easily, laid siege to it, and eventually took Pskov in a week, then Koporye and the lands of the Vozhan, coming close to Novgorod. Influential boyars asked Yaroslav for help. He, in turn, wanted to send Andrei to command the army, but the Novgorodians demanded Alexander.

Arriving in Novgorod in 1241, the prince took Koporye, demonstratively killed the garrison, and executed the Chud captives. In 1242, having waited for the arrival of Andrei with the princely army, he recaptured Pskov. As a result, the enemy forces were concentrated in the Derpt bishopric.

There, the commander lost several advanced detachments during the assault, but quickly retreated to the ice of Lake Peipus, forcing the enemy to attack on his own. The nature of Alexander Nevsky allowed him to withstand a frontal attack calmly and let the enemy close enough.

The forces of the Catholic army crashed into the ranks of the Slavs in a special formation - a pig, immediately moving significantly deeper. At this time, the cavalry of Prince Alexander attacked from the flanks, blocking the retreat. Once in the ring, the army lost many soldiers, the rest began to retreat across the ice of Lake Peipsi.

It is noteworthy that not a single chronicle, even briefly, mentions that the soldiers of the order and the Danish king drowned and fell under the ice. Mentions of this appear in much later sources written by chroniclers following the example of other battles.

Politics with West and East

The policy of Nevsky causes a lot of controversy and doubts to this day. On the one hand, Alexander courageously fought against Western invaders who tried to impose Catholicism on the population of Russia, eradicating Orthodoxy with fire and sword.

Interesting Facts:

• At the moment, Western historians believe that the threat from the Teutonic Order and the leadership of the Catholic Church was greatly exaggerated.
• Some Russian historians support pro-Western sentiments, and some adhere to the traditional history of the Slavic region.
• The Russian Orthodox Church also positions Nevsky as a great personality, considering him the defender of the faith.
• In 2008, the Russians elected him the man of the year and the symbol of their people.

On the other hand, Alexander Nevsky all his life sought a compromise with the Tatar-Mongol horde and suppressed any attempts to rebel against, urged the population to pay tribute and conduct censuses.

The prince repeatedly went to the horde, bowing to Batu, despite the fact that he poisoned his father and, as a result of the uprising, destroyed his brother.

Icon in honor of Alexander Nevsky

The time in which this man ruled was really difficult - the triple threat to Russia, constant raids and conquests, the influence of the Tatar-Mongol yoke - all this tore and destroyed Russia from the inside. The figure of the prince in political terms can be viewed from two angles:

1. The defender of the Orthodox land, who realized that it was impossible to repel the attacks of all the enemy at once and chose to preserve his faith, and not the territory, fighting off Catholicism and submitting to the horde.
2. A traitor to the Russian land, who strengthened his power with the help of the horde, got rid of his brother-heir to the throne and began to rule the Kiev principality.

This person can be viewed in different ways, but this person managed to maintain the integrity of the state, repel multiple raids and stabilize the situation inside the country.

Wikipedia mentions the dual perception of the personality of Prince Nevsky by some historians, but no one has been able to change the traditional history of Russia at the state level.

For certain people, even the answer to the question of why Alexander Nevsky is named that way is doubtful - some historians believe that such a battle did not exist at all.

Character and personality description

The years of Nevsky's life are known thanks to his biography, which was written only a hundred years after his death, in the monastery in which the prince himself was buried.

Prior to this, only a brief biography of the prince was passed from mouth to mouth.

He was a strong-willed man with a tough, military-like character, was capable of well-thought-out adventures, and actively developed politically.

All his life, the character of Alexander Nevsky was hated by the Novgorod boyars, since he led the principality harshly and at his own discretion, not wanting to please the political elites. For this he was repeatedly expelled from Novgorod.

Nevsky's contemporaries, despite all his merits, considered him first of all a great commander, and then a leader or politician. This is clearly evidenced by the request of the boyars to Yaroslav that he sent him to protect the Novgorod lands from the Teutonic Order.

The prince at an early age married Alexandra, the daughter of the prince of Vitebsk and Polotsk Bryacheslav. After there is evidence that he was married to a certain Vassa, however, there are opinions that this is the same woman, just under a church name.

Interesting! The prince and his wife had five children - four boys and one girl. All of them lived a relatively long life and were princes of various regions in Russia. The daughter married the prince of Smolensk Konstantin Rostislavovich.

Useful video

Summing up

The bright historical personality of Alexander left an imprint in the history of the Slavic region. There is a lot of controversy about him, which in turn only confirms the importance of this figure.

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 made his son "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 of Russian history: the Mongol hordes were coming from the east, the 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. The upper class were the boyars, who owned land and capital and lent money to merchants. The institution of state administration was the Veche, which called for and approved the princes of Novgorod from the neighboring 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 it was possible to keep the northwestern borders of Russia intact, as well as to keep the exit to the Baltic Sea open only if there were peaceful relations with the Golden Horde - Russia then had no 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, who ruthlessly exterminated all those 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, Andrew. 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 aid. 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 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.

During the Mongol invasion of Russia and 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, it is of great importance for understanding 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 a large piece of 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

Alexander Yaroslavich
Prince of Novgorod 1228 - 1229 (together with brother Theodore)
Predecessor:	Yaroslav Vsevolodovich
Successor:	Mikhail Vsevolodovich
Prince of Novgorod 1236 - 1240
Predecessor:	Yaroslav Vsevolodovich
Successor:	Andrey Yaroslavich
Predecessor:	Andrey Yaroslavich
Successor:	Vasily Alexandrovich
Predecessor:	Vasily Alexandrovich
Successor:	Dmitry Aleksandrovich
Grand Duke of Kiev 1249 - 1263
Predecessor:	Yaroslav Vsevolodovich
Successor:	Yaroslav Yaroslavich
Grand Duke Vladimir 1249 - 1263
Predecessor:	Andrey Yaroslavich
Successor:	Yaroslav Yaroslavich
Birth:	May 1221, Pereslavl-Zalessky
Religion:	Orthodoxy
Buried:	Nativity Monastery, in 1724 reburied at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra
Dynasty:	Rurikovichi, Yurievichi
	Yaroslav Vsevolodovich
	Rostislava Mstislavna Smolenskaya
	Alexandra Bryachislavovna Polotskaya
	Sons: Vasily, Dmitry, Andrey and Daniel

Nickname

Biography

Reflection of aggression from the West

Great reign

Canonical evaluation

Eurasian assessment

Critical Assessment

Canonization

Relics of St. Alexander Nevsky

In ancient Russian literature

Fiction

art

Cinema

Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky(other Russian Oleksandr Yaroslavich, May 1221, Pereslavl-Zalessky - November 14 (November 21) 1263, Gorodets) - Prince of Novgorod (1236-1240, 1241-1252 and 1257-1259), Grand Duke of Kiev (1249-1263), Grand Duke of Vladimir (1252- 1263).

Nickname

The traditional version says that Alexander received his nickname "Nevsky" after the battle with the Swedes on the Neva River. It is believed that it was for this victory that the prince began to be called that, but for the first time this nickname is found in sources only from the 15th century. Since it is known that some descendants of the prince also bore the nickname Nevsky, it is possible that in this way possessions in this area were assigned to them. In particular, Alexander's family had their own house near Novgorod.

Biography

The second son of the Prince of Pereyaslav (later the Grand Duke of Kiev and Vladimir) Yaroslav Vsevolodovich from his second marriage with Rostislava-Feodosia Mstislavovna, daughter of the Prince of Novgorod and Galicia Mstislav Udatny. Born in Pereyaslavl-Zalessky in May 1221.

In 1225 Yaroslav "made sons princely tonsure"- the rite of initiation into the warriors, which was performed in the Transfiguration Cathedral of Pereyaslavl-Zalessky by the Bishop of Suzdal Saint Simon.

In 1228, Alexander, along with his elder brother Fyodor, were left by their father in Novgorod under the supervision of Fyodor Danilovich and Tiun Yakim, who, together with the Pereyaslavl army, were going on a campaign against Riga in the summer, but during the famine that came in the winter of this year, Fyodor Danilovich and Tiun Yakim did not having waited for Yaroslav's answer about the request of the Novgorodians to abolish the paganism, in February 1229 they fled from the city with the juvenile princes, fearing the reprisals of the rebellious Novgorodians. In 1230, when the Novgorod Republic summoned Prince Yaroslav, he spent two weeks in Novgorod and installed Fedor and Alexander to reign, but three years later, at the age of thirteen, Fedor died. In 1234, Alexander's first campaign (under his father's banner) against the Livonian Germans took place.

In 1236, Yaroslav left Pereyaslavl-Zalessky to reign in Kiev (from there in 1238 - to Vladimir). Since that time, Alexander's independent activity begins. Back in 1236-1237, the neighbors of the Novgorod land were at enmity with each other (200 Pskov warriors participated in the unsuccessful campaign of the Order of the Swordsmen against Lithuania, which ended in the Battle of Saul and the entry of the remnants of the Order of the Swordsmen into the Teutonic Order). But after the devastation of North-Eastern Russia by the Mongols in the winter of 1237/1238 (the Mongols took Torzhok after a two-week siege and did not reach Novgorod), the western neighbors of Novgorod land almost simultaneously launched offensive operations.

Reflection of aggression from the West

In 1239, Yaroslav repulsed the Lithuanians from Smolensk, and Alexander married Alexandra, daughter of Bryachislav of Polotsk. The wedding took place in Toropets in the church of St. George. Already in 1240, the first-born prince, named Vasily, was born in Novgorod.

Alexander built a series of fortifications on the southwestern border of the Novgorod Republic along the Shelon River. In 1240, the Germans approached Pskov, and the Swedes moved to Novgorod, according to Russian sources, led by the ruler of the country himself, the royal son-in-law of Jarl Birger (there is no mention of this battle in Swedish sources, the Jarl at that moment was Ulf Fasi, not Birger) . According to Russian sources, Birger sent a declaration of war to Alexander, proud and arrogant: "If you can, resist, know that I am already here and will captivate your land". With a relatively small squad of Novgorodians and Ladoga, Alexander on the night of July 15, 1240, by surprise attacked the Swedes of Birger, when they stopped at the mouth of the Izhora, on the Neva, and inflicted a complete defeat on them - the Battle of the Neva. Himself fighting in the forefront, Alexander “I placed a seal on the forehead of the unfaithful thief (Birger) with the edge of the sword”. The victory in this battle demonstrated Alexander's talent and strength.

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 the principality of Pereyaslavl-Zalessky. Meanwhile, the Livonian Germans were advancing on Novgorod. The knights laid siege to Pskov and soon took it, taking advantage of the betrayal among the besieged. Two German Vogts were planted in the city, which was an unprecedented event in the history of the Livonian-Novgorod conflicts. Then the Livonians fought and imposed tribute on the Vozhan, built a fortress in Koporye, took the city of Tesov, plundered the lands along the Luga River and began to rob Novgorod merchants 30 versts from Novgorod. Novgorodians turned to Yaroslav for a prince; he gave them his second son, Andrei. This did not satisfy them. They sent a second embassy to ask Alexander. In 1241, Alexander appeared in Novgorod and cleared his region of enemies, and the next year, together with Andrei, he moved to the aid of Pskov. Having liberated the city, Alexander went to the Chudsky land, to the possession of the order.

On April 5, 1242, a battle took place on the border with the Livonian Order, on Lake Peipsi. This battle is known as Battle on the Ice. The exact course of the battle is unknown, but according to the Livonian chronicles, the order knights were surrounded during the battle. According to the Novgorod chronicle, the Russians pursued the Germans for 7 miles across the ice. According to the Livonian chronicle, the losses of the Order amounted to 20 killed and 6 captured knights, which can be consistent with the Novgorod Chronicle, which reports that the Livonian Order lost 400-500 "Germans" killed and 50 prisoners - “And pade Chyudi was beschisla, and Nemets 400, and 50 with the hands of Yash and brought to Novgorod”. Considering that for every full-fledged knight there were 10-15 servants and warriors of a lower rank, we can assume that the data of the Livonian Chronicle and the data of the Novgorod Chronicle confirm each other well.

With a whole series of victories in 1245, Alexander repulsed the raids of Lithuania, led by Prince Mindovg. According to the chronicler, the Lithuanians fell into such fear that they became "keep his name".

The six-year victorious defense of northern Russia by Alexander led to the fact that the Germans, under a peace treaty, abandoned all recent conquests and ceded part of Latgale to the Novgorodians. Nevsky's father Yaroslav was summoned to Karakorum and poisoned there on September 30, 1246. Almost simultaneously with this, on September 20, Mikhail Chernigovsky was killed in the Golden Horde, refusing to undergo a pagan rite.

Great reign

After the death of his father, in 1247 Alexander went to the Horde to Batu. From there, together with his brother Andrei, who had arrived earlier, he was sent to the Great Khan in Mongolia. It took them two years to complete this journey. In their absence, their brother, Mikhail Khorobrit of Moscow (fourth son of Grand Duke Yaroslav), took the great reign of Vladimir from his uncle Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich in 1248, but in the same year he died in battle with the Lithuanians in the battle on the Protva River. Svyatoslav managed to defeat the Lithuanians at Zubtsov. Batu planned to give the great reign of Vladimir to Alexander, but according to Yaroslav's will, Andrei was to become the prince of Vladimir, and Alexander of Novgorod and Kiev. And the chronicler notes that they had "Straight Velocity about the great reign". As a result, the rulers of the Mongol Empire, despite the death of Guyuk during the campaign against Batu in 1248, implemented the second option. Alexander received Kiev and "All the Russian land." Modern historians differ in their assessment of which of the brothers belonged to the formal seniority. Kiev, after the Tatar devastation, lost any real significance; therefore, Alexander did not go to him, but settled in Novgorod (According to V.N. Tatishchev, the prince was still going to leave for Kiev, but the Novgorodians “kept his Tatars for the sake of it,” however, the reliability of this information is questionable).

There is information about two messages from Pope Innocent IV to Alexander Nevsky. In the first, the pope invites Alexander to follow the example of his father, who agreed (the pope referred to Plano Carpini, in whose writings this news is missing) to submit to the throne of Rome before his death, and also offers to coordinate actions with the Teutons in the event of an attack by the Tatars on Russia. In the second epistle, the pope mentions Alexander's consent to be baptized into the Catholic faith and build a Catholic church in Pskov, and also asks to receive his ambassador, the Archbishop of Prussia. In 1251, two cardinals with a bull came to Alexander Nevsky in Novgorod. Almost simultaneously in Vladimir, Andrei Yaroslavich and Ustinya Danilovna were married by Metropolitan Kirill, an associate of Daniel of Galicia, to whom the pope offered the royal crown back in 1246-1247. In the same year, the Lithuanian prince Mindovg converted to the Catholic faith, thereby securing his lands from the Teutons. According to the chronicler, Nevsky, after consulting with wise people, outlined the whole history of Russia and concluded by saying: “We eat everything well, but we do not receive teachings from you”.

In 1251, with the participation of the troops of the Golden Horde, Batu's ally Munke won the struggle for supreme power in the Mongol Empire, and the following year Alexander again came to the Horde. At the same time, the Tatar hordes led by Nevruy were moved against Andrei. Andrei, in alliance with his brother Yaroslav of Tver, opposed the Tatars, but was defeated and fled to Sweden through Novgorod, Yaroslav entrenched himself in Pskov. This was the first attempt to openly resist the Mongol-Tatars in North-Eastern Russia, and it ended in failure. After the flight of Andrei, the great reign of Vladimir passed to Alexander. Perhaps, according to a number of researchers, this indicates that Alexander, during his trip to the Horde, contributed to the organization of a punitive campaign against his brother, but there is no direct evidence in favor of this conclusion. In the same year, Prince Oleg Ingvarevich Krasny, captured in 1237 by the wounded, was released from Mongol captivity to Ryazan. The reign of Alexander in Vladimir was followed by a new war with the western neighbors.

In 1253, shortly after the beginning of the great reign of Alexander, his eldest son Vasily with the Novgorodians was forced to repel the Lithuanians from Toropets, in the same year the Pskovians repulsed the Teutonic invasion, then, together with the Novgorodians and Karelians, invaded the Baltic states and defeated the Teutons on their land, after of which peace was concluded with all the will of Novgorod and Pskov. In 1256, the Swedes came to Narova, em, sum, and began to set up the city (probably we are talking about the Narva fortress already founded in 1223). Novgorodians asked for help from Alexander, who led a successful campaign against him with the Suzdal and Novgorod regiments. In 1258, the Lithuanians invaded the principality of Smolensk and approached Torzhok.

In 1255, the Novgorodians expelled their eldest son Alexander Vasily from themselves and called Yaroslav Yaroslavich from Pskov. Nevsky, on the other hand, forced them to accept Vasily again, and replaced the obnoxious posadnik Anania, an advocate of Novgorod liberty, with the obliging Mikhalka Stepanovich. In 1257, the Mongol census took place in the Vladimir, Murom and Ryazan lands, but was disrupted in Novgorod, which was not captured during the invasion. Big people, with the posadnik Mikhalka, persuaded the Novgorodians to submit to the will of the khan, but the smaller ones did not even want to hear about it. Michalko was killed. Prince Vasily, sharing the feelings of the lesser, but not wanting to quarrel with his father, went to Pskov. Alexander Nevsky himself came to Novgorod with Tatar ambassadors, exiled his son to "Bottom", that is, the Suzdal land, seized his advisers and punished ( “Urezasha’s nose for one, and vyimash’s eyes for another”) and planted the prince to them his second son, seven-year-old Dmitry. In 1258, Alexander went to the Horde to "honor" the Khan's governor Ulavchiy, and in 1259, threatening a Tatar pogrom, he obtained from the Novgorodians consent to the census and tribute ( "tamgas and tithes").

Daniil Galitsky, who accepted the royal crown in 1253, on his own (without allies from North-Eastern Russia, without Catholicization of subject lands and without the forces of the crusaders) was able to inflict a serious defeat on the Horde, which led to a break with Rome and Lithuania. Daniil was going to organize a campaign against Kiev, but he could not do it because of a clash with the Lithuanians. The Lithuanians were repulsed from Lutsk, followed by the Galician-Horde campaigns against Lithuania and Poland, Mindovg's break with Poland, the Order, and an alliance with Novgorod. In 1262, the Novgorod, Tver and allied Lithuanian regiments under the nominal command of 12-year-old Dmitry Alexandrovich undertook a campaign in Livonia and laid siege to the city of Yuryev, burned the settlement, but did not take the city.

Death

In 1262, in Vladimir, Suzdal, Rostov, Pereyaslavl, Yaroslavl and other cities, the Tatar tax-farmers were killed, and the Saray Khan Berke demanded a military recruitment among the inhabitants of Russia, since his possessions were threatened by the Iranian ruler Hulagu. Alexander Nevsky went to the Horde to try to dissuade the Khan from this demand. Alexander fell ill there. Already being sick, he went to Russia.

Having accepted the schema under the name of Alexy, he died on November 14 (November 21), 1263 in Gorodets (there are 2 versions - in Volga Gorodets or Meshchersky Gorodets). Metropolitan Kirill announced to the people in Vladimir about his death with the words: “My dear child, understand that the sun of the Russian land has set” and all cried out with tears: "already dying". "Respect for the Russian land,- says the famous historian Sergei Solovyov, - from trouble in the east, the famous feats for faith and land in the west brought Alexander a glorious memory in Russia and made him the most prominent historical figure in ancient history from Monomakh to the Donskoy". Alexander became the beloved prince of the clergy. In the chronicle legend that has come down to us about his exploits, it is said that he "Born by God". Winning everywhere, he was not defeated by anyone. The knight, who came from the west to see Nevsky, said that he had traveled through many countries and peoples, but had never seen anything like it. "neither in the kings of the king, nor in the princes of the prince". The Khan Tatar himself allegedly gave the same opinion about him, and Tatar women frightened children with his name.

Initially, Alexander Nevsky was buried in the Nativity Monastery in Vladimir. In 1724, by order of Peter I, the relics of Alexander Nevsky were solemnly transferred to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg.

Family

Spouse:

• Alexandra, daughter of Bryachislav of Polotsk (she died on May 5, 1244 and was buried in the Yuriev Monastery next to her son, with Prince Fedor).

sons:

• Vasily (until 1245-1271) - Prince of Novgorod;
• Dmitry (1250-1294) - Prince of Novgorod (1260-1263), Prince of Pereyaslavl, Grand Duke of Vladimir in 1276-1281 and 1283-1293;
• Andrei (c. 1255-1304) - Prince of Kostroma in (1276-1293), (1296-1304), Grand Duke of Vladimir (1281-1284, 1292-1304), Prince of Novgorod in (1281-1285, 1292-1304), Prince Gorodetsky in (1264-1304);
• Daniel (1261-1303) - the first prince of Moscow (1263-1303).

• Evdokia, who became the wife of Konstantin Rostislavich Smolensky.

The wife and daughter were buried in the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Mother of God of the Assumption Knyaginy Monastery in Vladimir.

Evaluations of the personality and results of the board

According to the results of a large-scale poll of Russians on December 28, 2008, Alexander Nevsky was chosen as "the name of Russia." However, in historical science there is no single assessment of the activities of Alexander Nevsky, the views of historians on his personality are different, sometimes directly opposite. For centuries it was believed that Alexander Nevsky played an exceptional role in Russian history in that dramatic period when Russia was attacked from three sides, he was seen as the founder of the line of Moscow sovereigns and the great patron of the Orthodox Church. Such a canonization of Alexander Yaroslavich eventually began to cause a rebuff. As the head of the department of national history of Moscow State University N. S. Borisov states, “lovers of destroying myths are constantly “undermining” Alexander Nevsky, and trying to prove that he betrayed his brother, and he brought the Tatars to Russian soil, and it’s generally not clear why he considered a great commander. Such discrediting of Alexander Nevsky is constantly found in literature. What was he really like? Sources do not allow 100% to say.

Canonical evaluation

According to the canonical version, Alexander Nevsky is regarded as a saint, as a kind of golden legend of medieval Russia. In the XIII century, Russia was attacked from three sides - the Catholic West, the Mongol-Tatars and Lithuania. Alexander Nevsky, who has not lost a single battle in his entire life, showed the talent of a commander and diplomat, making peace with the most powerful (but more tolerant) enemy - the Golden Horde - and repelling the German attack, while protecting Orthodoxy from Catholic expansion. This interpretation was officially supported by the authorities both in pre-revolutionary and Soviet times, as well as by the Russian Orthodox Church. The idealization of Alexander reached its zenith before the Great Patriotic War, during and in the first decades after it. In popular culture, this image was captured in the film "Alexander Nevsky" by Sergei Eisenstein.

Eurasian assessment

Lev Gumilyov, as a representative of Eurasianism, saw in Alexander Nevsky the architect of a hypothetical Russian-Horde alliance. He categorically states that in 1251 "Alexander came to the horde of Batu, made friends, and then fraternized with his son Sartak, as a result of which he became the son of a khan and in 1252 brought the Tatar corps to Russia with an experienced noyon Nevryuy." From the point of view of Gumilyov and his followers, Alexander's friendly relations with Batu, whose respect he enjoyed, his son Sartak and successor, Khan Berke, made it possible to establish more peaceful relations with the Horde, which contributed to the synthesis of East Slavic and Mongol-Tatar cultures.

Critical Assessment

The third group of historians, in general, agreeing with the pragmatic nature of the actions of Alexander Nevsky, believes that objectively he played a negative role in the history of Russia. Skeptical historians (in particular, Fennel, and after him Igor Danilevsky, Sergei Smirnov) believe that the traditional image of Alexander Nevsky as a brilliant commander and patriot is exaggerated. They focus on the evidence in which Alexander Nevsky acts as a power-hungry and cruel person. They also express doubts about the scale of the Livonian threat to Russia and the real military significance of the clashes on the Neva and Lake Peipus. According to their interpretation, there was no serious threat from the German knights (moreover, the Battle of the Ice was not a major battle), and the example of Lithuania (to which a number of Russian princes with their lands crossed), according to Danilevsky, showed that a successful fight against the Tatars was quite possible. Alexander Nevsky deliberately entered into an alliance with the Tatars in order to use them to strengthen his personal power. In the long term, his choice predetermined the formation of despotic power in Russia.
Alexander Nevsky, having concluded an alliance with the Horde, subordinated Novgorod to the Horde influence. He extended Tatar power to Novgorod, which was never conquered by the Tatars. Moreover, he gouged out the eyes of dissenting Novgorodians, and there are many sins behind him.
- Valentin Yanin, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Canonization

Canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in the guise of the faithful under Metropolitan Macarius at the Moscow Council of 1547. Memory (according to the Julian calendar): November 23 and August 30 (transfer of relics from Vladimir-on-Klyazma to St. Petersburg, to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery (from 1797 - Lavra) on August 30, 1724). Days of celebration of St. Alexander Nevsky:

• May 23 (June 5, New Style) - Cathedral of the Rostov-Yaroslavl Saints
• August 30 (September 12, New Style) - the day of the transfer of relics to St. Petersburg (1724) - the main
• November 14 (November 27, New Style) - death day in Gorodets (1263) - canceled
• November 23 (December 6, New Style) - the day of burial in Vladimir, in the schema of Alexy (1263)

Relics of St. Alexander Nevsky

• Nevsky was buried in the Monastery of the Nativity of the Virgin in Vladimir, and until the middle of the 16th century, the Rozhdestvensky Monastery was considered the first monastery in Russia, "the great archimandrite." In 1380, in Vladimir, his relics were discovered incorruptible and laid in cancer on top of the earth. According to the lists of the Nikon and Resurrection Chronicles of the 16th century, during a fire in Vladimir on May 23, 1491, "the body of the great prince Alexander Nevsky burned down." In the lists of the same chronicles of the 17th century, the story about the fire was completely rewritten and it was mentioned that the relics were miraculously preserved from the fire. In 1547, the prince was canonized, and in 1697, the Suzdal Metropolitan Hilarion placed the relics in a new shrine, decorated with carvings and covered with a precious cover.
• Taken out of Vladimir on August 11, 1723, the holy relics were brought to Shlisselburg on September 20 and remained there until 1724, when on August 30 they were installed in the Alexander Nevsky Church of the Alexander Nevsky Holy Trinity Monastery at the behest of Peter the Great. During the consecration of the Trinity Cathedral in the monastery in 1790, the relics were placed in it, in a silver reliquary donated by Empress Elizaveta Petrovna.

In 1753, by order of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, the relics were transferred to a magnificent silver tomb, for the manufacture of which the craftsmen of the Sestroretsk arms factory spent about 90 pounds of silver. In 1790, after the completion of the construction of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, the tomb was transferred to this cathedral and placed behind the right kliros.

• In May 1922, the relics were opened and soon removed. The confiscated cancer was handed over to the Hermitage, where it remains to this day.
• The relics of the saint were returned to the Lavra Trinity Cathedral from the storerooms of the Museum of Religion and Atheism, located in the Kazan Cathedral, in 1989.
• In 2007, with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, the relics of the saint were transported throughout the cities of Russia and Latvia for a month. On September 20, the holy relics were brought to the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Savior; October), Yaroslavl (October 7 - 10), Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg. On October 20, the relics returned to the Lavra.

A piece of the relics of the Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky is in the Temple of Alexander Nevsky in the city of Sofia, Bulgaria. Also, part of the relics (little finger) of Alexander Nevsky is located in the Assumption Cathedral in the city of Vladimir. The relics were transferred by decree of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia in October 1998 on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the metochion of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in Moscow.

Alexander Nevsky in culture and art

Streets, lanes, squares, etc. are named after Alexander Nevsky. Orthodox churches are dedicated to him, he is the heavenly patron of St. Petersburg. Not a single lifetime image of Alexander Nevsky has survived to this day. Therefore, to depict the prince on the order, in 1942, its author, architect I. S. Telyatnikov, used a portrait of the actor Nikolai Cherkasov, who played the role of the prince in the film Alexander Nevsky.

In ancient Russian literature

A literary work written in the 13th century and known in many editions.

Fiction

• Segen A. Yu. Alexander Nevskiy. Sun of the Russian Earth. - M .: ITRK, 2003. - 448 p. - (Library of historical novel). - 5000 copies. - ISBN 5-88010-158-4
• Yugov A.K. Soldiers. - L.: Lenizdat, 1983. - 478 p.
• Subbotin A. A. For the Russian land. - M .: Military publishing house of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, 1957. - 696 p.
• Mosiah S. Alexander Nevskiy. - L .: Children's literature, 1982. - 272 p.
• Yukhnov S. M. Scout Alexander Nevsky. - M .: Eksmo, 2008. - 544 p. - (In the service of the sovereign. Russian frontier). - 4000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-699-26178-9
• Jan V. G. The youth of the commander // To the "last sea". Youth of the commander. - M .: Pravda, 1981.
• Boris Vasiliev. Alexander Nevskiy.

art

• Portrait of Alexander Nevsky (central part of the triptych, 1942) by Pavel Korin.
• Monument to Alexander Nevsky (equestrian sculpture) in St. Petersburg, opened on May 9, 2002 on Alexander Nevsky Square in front of the entrance to the territory of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Authors - sculptors: V. G. Kozenyuk, A. A. Palmin, A. S. Charkin; architects: G. S. Peichev, V. V. Popov.

Cinema

• Alexander Nevsky, Nevsky - Nikolai Cherkasov, director - Sergei Eisenstein, 1938.
• Life of Alexander Nevsky, Nevsky - Anatoly Gorgul, director - Georgy Kuznetsov, 1991.
• Alexander. Battle of the Neva, Nevsky - Anton Pampushny, director - Igor Kalenov, - Russia, 2008.

Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky short biography for children

Alexander Yaroslavovich Nevsky, briefly, the son of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich and the grandson of Vsevolod the Big Nest, was born in May 1221. He received his nickname "Nevsky" for the victory on the Neva River. After the death of his brother Fedor, Alexander becomes the eldest son of Yaroslav and the main heir to his possessions. In 1236, Yaroslav goes to reign in Kiev, and leaves Alexander on the throne in Novgorod.

During his leadership of the Novgorod lands, there was an active construction of fortresses in the South-West along the Shelon River to protect against the Lithuanians. His foreign policy was built in two main directions: the stabilization of relations with the Golden Horde and the strengthening of the western borders. And if Novgorod practically did not suffer from the Mongol-Tatar invasion, since the main hostilities took place south of the Novgorod lands, then a real threat was approaching from the west. The situation in the west was very tense. The permanent territorial conflict with neighbors led to regular ruins of the Pskov-Novgorod lands.

Pope Gregory IX twice in five years proclaimed a crusade against the Finns, and in 1238 the Livonian Order, in alliance with the Danes and Swedes, with the support of the papal curia, began military operations against the Novgorod principality. Here, historians highlight several particularly important battles in which Alexander himself participated. It is worth paying attention to the military battle in July 1240 at the mouth of the Izhora River against the Danish conquerors.

Alexander acts decisively, and without waiting for reinforcements from the allied principalities, he goes to meet the enemy, as a result of this meeting, the Novgorod squad completely defeated the Danish army. In August, when the invasion began from the southwest, Alexander was in Pereyaslavl Zalessky, because due to internal turmoil Novgorodians expelled him from the city. He again assumes office and begins military operations against the conquerors, when, as a result of the military campaign of the Livonian Order with allies, Novgorod was under the threat of invasion and the boyars turned to Yaroslav for help.

In 1242, he managed to recapture Pskov, and in April of the same year, a decisive battle took place on Lake Peipsi. According to legend, Alexander's squad won and drove the German knights onto the ice of Lake Peipus, where the ice could not stand it, and most of the fugitives went under the ice. The Lithuanian army was finally defeated only in 1245 in the area of ​​Lake Zhizhitskoe. According to the results of the peace, Alexander Nevsky returned all his pre-war possessions and received part of Latgale. After the death in 1246 of Father Yaroslav, Prince of Vladimir, the issue of assigning a label to the reign of Vladimir was decided. Batu Khan intended to give the throne of Vladimir to Alexander, but according to Yaroslav's will, his brother Andrei stands at the head of the Vladimir principality, and Novgorod is assigned to Alexander.

In 1251, Prince Andrei acts as an army in alliance with his brother Yaroslav against the Tatars invading their territory, but loses the battle and flees from Vladimir. This is the first historically recorded open opposition to the Golden Horde. After Andrei's military failure, in 1252 the label for the great reign of Vladimir was given to Alexander. Alexander stood at the head of the Vladimir principality, and left his eldest son Vasily in Novgorod. This provoked the aggression of the western neighbors. Military clashes with the Lithuanians, Swedes, and the Teutons begin again. Novgorod, led by Vasily Aleksandrovich, successfully repels the enemy. In 1256, at the request of the Novgorodians, Alexander personally led a squad to defend the Novgorod lands.

In 1257, after the disruption of the Golden Horde census by Novgorod, Alexander sent Vasily to Suzdal, and here he left his second son, seven-year-old Dmitry, on the throne. In short, Alexander Nevsky, during his reign in Novgorod, and then in Vladimir, in his spring policy, adhered to the norms of the Tatar-Mongol yoke and stabilized the situation in the east, and followed a strict policy of respecting the territorial borders of the Russian principalities in the west. His foresight, ability to adapt to the existing political conditions, and at the same time, determination and courage in defending his vital interests allowed the Russian lands to recover from the long Tatar defeats and gain strength before the decisive battle for independence.