Where was the phrase “God is not in power, but in truth,” which later became popular, first uttered? “God is not in strength. God is not in strength.

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August 30 / September 12 is the day of the transfer of the relics of the holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky. He was born on May 30, 1219 in Pereyaslavl in the family of Grand Duke Yaroslav Vsevolodovich and Princess Feodosia, daughter of Prince Mstislav the Udal.

Like other princes, from childhood he studied the Bible, especially the Psalter, and also mastered the secrets of military art.

At that time, the most independent and freedom-loving city in Rus' was Novgorod. The Novgorodians chose their own princes, and often quarreled with the newly elected rulers.

They invited Yaroslav Vsevolodovich to take the Novgorod throne. It was a great honor and he agreed. So Alexander ended up in Novgorod with his father.

Yaroslav Vsevolodovich did not want to submit to the will of the Novgorodians in everything and decided to establish full-fledged princely power in the city. The Novgorodians did not like this, and a conflict arose, which ended with Yaroslav Vsevolodovich returning to his native Pereyaslavl in 1228, leaving his sons, Alexander and Theodore, in the care of trusted boyars. Five years later, Theodore died, and Prince Alexander was left completely alone in the city.

The people of Novgorod fell in love with the young ruler, but they did not want to completely submit to his will. At the same time, the father demanded that his son take care of strengthening the princely power in Novgorod.

It was very difficult for the young prince, but his amazing spiritual qualities, the ability to communicate with different people, delve into their problems, be merciful to everyone and ready to help everyone who needed help, smoothed out the situation somewhat. “He was merciful beyond measure,” the chronicle says.

The father was pleased with his son, and the Novgorodians proudly and lovingly called Alexander “our prince.”

Alexander conquered people with both his inner, spiritual and outer, physical beauty.

He was compared in beauty to the Old Testament Joseph, in strength - with Samson, in intelligence - with Solomon, in courage and military prowess - with the Roman emperor Vespasian.

Alexander had to reign in difficult times. Not only did he get the most freedom-loving city and he had to fight with internal problems, but external enemies began to overcome him.

After the southern Russian princes were defeated in a battle with the Tatars on the Kalka River in 1223, and then another failure on the City River, a period of Tatar power began in Rus' - the yoke. It got to the point that the khan began to decide who should be called the Grand Duke.

It took Alexander’s father a lot of work to achieve this title from Khan Batu. He appeased him in order to make the life of his subjects as easy as possible during this difficult time. Residents of Russian lands were obliged to pay a huge poll tax to the Horde, but the khan left the Russian Church inviolable.

While his father was establishing order in the territory enslaved by the Tatars, Alexander had to repel the onslaught from the West.

To strengthen the western borders, Alexander Yaroslavich enlisted the support of the Polotsk prince Bryachislav and even married his daughter Alexandra.

The Swedes were the first of the Western enemies to attack.

In Sweden itself, things were not very calm then either. The king was the childless Erich. Knowing that there was no heir in the state, his relative Birger decided to take the Swedish throne after him. To strengthen his influence and gain the support of the people, he decided to become famous as a commander.

After bold raids into the territory where Finland is now located, the knight decided to move to Rus', weakened, as he was informed, by Tatar raids.

In 1240, Birger with a large army, which consisted of Swedes, Norwegians and Finns, and also accompanied by Catholic bishops, invaded the mouth of the Izhora (a tributary of the Neva).

The military campaign began well, and he sent a daring letter to Novgorod to Alexander, who reigned there.

“I’m already in your land,” wrote the brave knight, “I’m devastating it and I want to take you captive too. If you can resist me, resist.”

This flaunting can be explained by the fact that Birger was convinced of the impossibility of resistance from Novgorod: the attack was unexpected, Rus' was exhausted, and the Novgorodians had not assembled a ready army.

However, Alexander was not afraid of the daring Swede. Trusting in everything in the help of the Lord and the prayers of the Mother of God, he asked the Novgorod ruler Serapion for a blessing for the battle, prayed in the Church of St. Sophia of the Wisdom of God and marched with his squad against the Swedish knight.

Before the battle, the Lord sent a sign to the Novgorodians. One of Alexander's warriors, the Izhorian Pelgusius (baptized) was on the night watch.

At dawn, he heard the noise of an approaching ship from the river. At first Pelgusius decided that they were enemies, and then he saw two knights in the boat, surprisingly similar to Saints Boris and Gleb, as they were depicted on the icons.

“Brother Gleb, order us to row faster, let’s hurry to the aid of our relative Alexander Yaroslavich,” said one of them.

Pelgusius immediately told the prince about the vision, and Alexander decided to immediately attack the Swedes. This largely decided the outcome of the battle.

The Swedes did not expect that the Novgorodians would resist them, and certainly did not imagine that they would dare to attack them so suddenly. The spirit of the Swedes was finally broken by the courage with which the Russian soldiers went into battle. The prince himself fought in the forefront. One must think that Birger’s warriors were also struck by something else.

The battle lasted from morning to evening and ended with the flight of the Swedes. When the next day the Russian soldiers inspected the battlefield, they saw on the other side of Izhora (where the Novgorodians did not cross) many dead Swedish soldiers, that is, the angels of God invisibly helped the Russians in this battle and together with them crushed the enemy troops.

Thanks to the Lord for the victory, Alexander returned to Novgorod.

The people of Novgorod joyfully greeted their beloved prince, but soon fell out with him. Alexander, like his father once, left for his homeland - Pereyaslavl.

A quarrel with a prince, especially one like Alexander, who after the battle with the Swedes received the nickname Nevsky, did not lead to anything good.

Having learned about Alexander's departure, the Livonian Germans took the Pskov border fortress of Izborsk, entered Pskov, occupied part of the Novgorod lands and began to shamelessly plunder the lands 30 versts from Novgorod.

Who were these conquerors? Livonia is the present-day Baltic region. The Germans came there in the 2nd half of the 12th century, and in 1201 they built a capital here, which they called Riga. The following year they founded a spiritual-knightly Order, the goal of which was not only to conquer the surrounding lands, but also to convert their inhabitants to Catholicism.

In 1237, the Order of the Swords united with the same Order of the Teutonic Order, which by that time had managed to establish its dominance along the lower reaches of the Vistula.

Having learned that they were besieged by the Livonians, the Novgorodians were horrified. They immediately repented of having quarreled with Alexander Nevsky and decided to beg him to come back.

To do this, they decided to turn to the prince’s father, and sent messengers to Vladimir so that Yaroslav Vsevolodovich would let his son go to Novgorod.

Yaroslav sent another son to them, Andrei. But the Novgorodians understood that only Alexander could save them. Then they sent an embassy to him headed by the archbishop.

Alexander was a merciful prince and a talented commander. He knew that only he could save Novgorod, and therefore, forgetting about the insult inflicted on him, he went to the city gripped by fear.

With the arrival of Nevsky, everything changed. Most importantly, the townspeople regained faith in victory.

Having gathered an army, Alexander set off to liberate Pskov. But the prince did not limit himself to this and decided to prevent the possibility of new attacks.

Having prayed in the Church of the Holy Trinity in front of the shrine containing the relics of Vsevolod Mstislavich and having secured the prayerful support of the Pskov people, Alexander headed to Livonia.

The Germans, like the Swedes a little earlier, did not expect such a turn of events, and Livonia was devastated by Russian troops. On the way back from Livonia to Pskov, the noble prince stopped on the shores of Lake Peipus, and here on April 5, 1242, the famous battle with the German knights took place, known in history as the Battle of the Ice.

Oddly enough, the Germans were confident that they would win this battle. “Let's go take the Russian prince Alexander prisoner; the Slavs must be our slaves,” the knights said boastfully.

As before, trusting in the Lord’s help, Alexander prayed and did not pay attention to such words.

At first, luck was on the side of the Germans: thick armor made them invulnerable to the enemy, and powerful spears easily crushed the lightly armed Slavs. But soon the situation changed. Thanks to a successful maneuver, Nevsky’s troops attacked the Germans from a direction where the knights did not expect. It was necessary to quickly find one's bearings, but heavy weapons made the knights clumsy. The Slavs tried to lure the Germans to the middle of the lake, where the ice was thinner. The knights were too heavy, and many of them simply fell through the ice.

The Russians won a brilliant victory.

The people of Pskov joyfully greeted their liberator, after which Alexander went to Novgorod, and from there to Pereyaslavl.

In Livonia there was panic. The Master of the German Order sent an embassy to the Danish king so that in case of war he would provide him with support. When it became clear that Alexander was not going to go to war with Livonia and take Riga, the Germans sent ambassadors to Novgorod to make peace and exchange prisoners.

The Lithuanians attacked Rus' next. The Lithuanians had threatened the Pskov and Novgorod lands before, but their troops were always too weak compared to the Russians. In the 13th century The knights of the German Order were sent to defeat Lithuania. To resist them, the Lithuanian tribes united, created an army and at first entered into alliances with the Russians to resist the Germans, and then began to raid the Russian border lands from time to time.

Alexander defeated Lithuanian troops in Russian lands several times. And in the end he chased them to Lithuania and there inflicted a final crushing defeat on them.

The news of Alexander's victories spread throughout Rus'. She encouraged people forced to live under the rule of the khan and instilled in them hope for liberation. Many wanted Alexander to take the title of Grand Duke.

In 1246, Alexander Nevsky's father died, and the prince and his brother Andrei went to the Horde. According to the old order, the title of Grand Duke was supposed to be taken by Alexander’s uncle, Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, but now everything was done with the knowledge of the khan.

When the Russians came to the Horde, they were forced to observe some pagan customs (worship idols, walk through fire), and only then were allowed to bow to the khan. Those who refused to honor the Horde gods faced death.

Prince Alexander flatly refused to perform the rituals.

“I am a Christian,” he said, “and it is not fitting for me to bow down to the creature. I worship the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the one God, glorified in the Trinity, who created heaven, earth and everything that is in them.”

Contrary to custom, Khan Batu saved the life of the Russian prince. Alexander bowed to him with the following words: “King, I bow to you, because God has honored you with the kingdom, but I will not bow to the creature. I serve one God, I honor Him and worship Him.”

Batu was amazed by the prince’s beauty, his wisdom and spiritual qualities.

Batu was not an independent ruler; he was considered only the viceroy of the Great Khan, who lived in Kara-Korum, in the mountainous outskirts of the Asian Gobi Desert, located beyond Lake Baikal. Having bowed to their closest ruler, the Horde khan, the Russian princes had to go to bow to the supreme ruler of the Mongols in his distant capital. This distant, extremely difficult journey, by order of Batu, was also to be made by the noble prince Alexander Yaroslavich.

He was graciously received by the ruler of Asia and lived for some time in the capital of the Mongols, carefully studying the character of these rulers of Rus'. Only in 1250 Alexander Yaroslavich and his brother Andrei returned to Rus'. The Khan gave Andrei the grand-ducal throne, and left Novgorod behind Alexander Yaroslavich.

Prince Andrey, unlike his brother, turned out to be not a very good ruler. He could not get along with the Tatars, and Batu’s successor Sartak sent troops against him under the command of Nevruy. Andrei fled to Sweden, and Alexander again had to save the Russian cities. He went to the Horde and settled relations with the new khan.

In 1257, in order to more accurately determine the income that could be received from Rus', the Tatars sent their officials to count all Russian people.

At the insistence of the prince, the counting took place calmly in Vladimir-Suzdal Rus', but when the Horde wanted to count the inhabitants of Novgorod, the inhabitants of the freedom-loving city rebelled. The Novgorodians began to organize veche meetings and decided to die rather than submit to the khan’s demand, because Novgorod had not been conquered by the Tatars.

Alexander persuaded the nobles to agree to the khan’s demands and pay tribute, but the common people were against it. He was supported by the son of Alexander, for which his father deprived him of his reign and sent him to Suzdal. Realizing that it was pointless to suppress the rebellion, Alexander... left the city. Then the Novgorodians were afraid that they would be conquered and decided to submit to the prince.

And again to the players in the program “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” Dmitry Dibrov asked a rather difficult question, because this is already the height of the game. At such a time, the questions are by no means easy and the answers can be the most incredible. Below is the question itself in the original, as well as answer options, the correct one is traditionally highlighted in blue.

Where was the phrase “God is not in power, but in truth,” which later became popular, first uttered?

In 1240, an army of Swedes on ships under the command of the son-in-law of the Swedish king Birger invaded the Neva. The Swede sent messengers to Prince Alexander in Novgorod with the words: “If you can, resist - I’m already here and capturing your land.” Alexander, despite the fact that he was with a small squad, decided to give battle to the Swedes. According to Russian tradition, before an important battle, Alexander came to the St. Sophia Cathedral, where he, together with the saint and the Novgorod people, prayed. Having finished the prayer and received the blessing from Saint Spyridon, Prince Alexander went out to his squad and the Novgorod people and said: “Brothers! God is not in power, but in truth!”

• in Novgorod
• in the movie "Brother 2"
• in the White Sea
• at Notre Dame Cathedral

The correct answer to the question is: in Novgorod.

Alexander Nevsky: just the facts

— Prince Alexander Yaroslavovich was born in 1220 (according to another version - in 1221) and died in 1263. At different years of his life, Prince Alexander had the titles of Prince of Novgorod, Kyiv, and later Grand Duke of Vladimir.

— Prince Alexander won his main military victories in his youth. During the Battle of the Neva (1240) he was at most 20 years old, during the Battle of the Ice - 22 years old. Subsequently, he became famous more as a politician and diplomat, but he also periodically acted as a military leader. In his entire life, Prince Alexander did not lose a single battle.

— Alexander Nevsky canonized as a noble prince. This rank of saints includes lay people who have become famous for their sincere deep faith and good deeds, as well as Orthodox rulers who managed to remain faithful to Christ in their public service and in various political conflicts. Like any Orthodox saint, the noble prince is not at all an ideal sinless person, but he is, first of all, a ruler, guided in his life primarily by the highest Christian virtues, including mercy and philanthropy, and not by the thirst for power and not by self-interest.

— Contrary to popular belief that the Church canonized almost all the rulers of the Middle Ages, only a few of them were glorified. Thus, among the Russian saints of princely origin, the majority were glorified as saints for their martyrdom for the sake of their neighbors and for the sake of preserving the Christian faith.

—Through the efforts of Alexander Nevsky, the preaching of Christianity spread to the northern lands of the Pomors. He also managed to promote the creation of an Orthodox diocese in the Golden Horde.

— The modern idea of ​​Alexander Nevsky was influenced by Soviet propaganda, which spoke exclusively about his military merits. As a diplomat building relations with the Horde, and even more so as a monk and saint, he was completely inappropriate for the Soviet government. That’s why Sergei Eisenstein’s masterpiece “Alexander Nevsky” does not tell about the prince’s entire life, but only about the battle on Lake Peipsi. This gave rise to a common stereotype that Prince Alexander was canonized for his military services, and holiness itself became something of a “reward” from the Church.

— The veneration of Prince Alexander as a saint began immediately after his death, and at the same time a fairly detailed “Tale of the Life of Alexander Nevsky” was compiled. The official canonization of the prince took place in 1547.

The Life of the Holy Blessed Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky

Portal "Word"

Prince Alexander Nevsky is one of those great people in the history of our Fatherland, whose activities not only influenced the destinies of the country and people, but largely changed them and predetermined the course of Russian history for many centuries to come. It fell to him to rule Russia in the most difficult, turning point that followed the ruinous Mongol conquest, when it came to the very existence of Rus', whether it would be able to survive, maintain its statehood, its ethnic independence, or disappear from the map, like many other peoples of Eastern Europe , who were invaded at the same time as her.

He was born in 1220 (1), in the city of Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, and was the second son of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, at that time the Prince of Pereyaslavl. His mother Feodosia, apparently, was the daughter of the famous Toropets prince Mstislav Mstislavich Udatny, or Udaly (2).

Very early, Alexander became involved in the turbulent political events that unfolded around the reign of Veliky Novgorod - one of the largest cities of medieval Rus'. It is with Novgorod that most of his biography will be connected. Alexander came to this city for the first time as a baby - in the winter of 1223, when his father was invited to reign in Novgorod. However, the reign turned out to be short-lived: at the end of the same year, having quarreled with the Novgorodians, Yaroslav and his family returned to Pereyaslavl. So Yaroslav will either make peace or quarrel with Novgorod, and then the same thing will happen again in the fate of Alexander. This was explained simply: the Novgorodians needed a strong prince from North-Eastern Rus' close to them so that he could protect the city from external enemies. However, such a prince ruled Novgorod too harshly, and the townspeople usually quickly quarreled with him and invited some South Russian prince to reign, who did not annoy them too much; and everything would be fine, but he, alas, could not protect them in case of danger, and he cared more about his southern possessions - so the Novgorodians had to again turn to the Vladimir or Pereyaslavl princes for help, and everything was repeated all over again.

Prince Yaroslav was again invited to Novgorod in 1226. Two years later, the prince again left the city, but this time he left his sons - nine-year-old Fyodor (his eldest son) and eight-year-old Alexander - as princes. Together with the children, the boyars of Yaroslav remained - Fyodor Danilovich and the princely tiun Yakim. They, however, were unable to cope with the Novgorod “freemen” and in February 1229 they had to flee with the princes to Pereyaslavl. For a short time, Prince Mikhail Vsevolodovich of Chernigov, a future martyr for the faith and a revered saint, established himself in Novgorod. But the southern Russian prince, who ruled remote Chernigov, could not protect the city from outside threats; In addition, severe famine and pestilence began in Novgorod. In December 1230, the Novgorodians invited Yaroslav for the third time. He hurriedly came to Novgorod, concluded an agreement with the Novgorodians, but stayed in the city for only two weeks and returned to Pereyaslavl. His sons Fyodor and Alexander again remained to reign in Novgorod.

Novgorod reign of Alexander

So, in January 1231, Alexander formally became the Prince of Novgorod. Until 1233 he ruled together with his older brother. But this year Fyodor died (his sudden death happened just before the wedding, when everything was ready for the wedding feast). Real power remained entirely in the hands of his father. Alexander probably took part in his father’s campaigns (for example, in 1234 near Yuryev, against the Livonian Germans, and in the same year against the Lithuanians). In 1236, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich took the vacant Kiev throne. From this time on, sixteen-year-old Alexander became the independent ruler of Novgorod.

The beginning of his reign came at a terrible time in the history of Rus' - the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars. The hordes of Batu, who attacked Rus' in the winter of 1237/38, did not reach Novgorod. But most of North-Eastern Rus', its largest cities - Vladimir, Suzdal, Ryazan and others - were destroyed. Many princes died, including Alexander’s uncle, Grand Duke of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich and all his sons. Alexander's father Yaroslav received the Grand Duke's throne (1239). The catastrophe that occurred turned the entire course of Russian history upside down and left an indelible imprint on the fate of the Russian people, including, of course, Alexander. Although in the first years of his reign he did not have to directly confront the conquerors.

The main threat in those years came to Novgorod from the west. From the very beginning of the 13th century, the Novgorod princes had to hold back the onslaught of the growing Lithuanian state. In 1239, Alexander built fortifications along the Sheloni River, protecting the southwestern borders of his principality from Lithuanian raids. In the same year, an important event occurred in his life - Alexander married the daughter of the Polotsk prince Bryachislav, his ally in the fight against Lithuania. (Later sources name the princess - Alexandra (3).) The wedding was held in Toropets, an important city on the Russian-Lithuanian border, and a second wedding feast was held in Novgorod.

An even greater danger for Novgorod was the advance from the west of the German crusading knights from the Livonian Order of the Swordsmen (united in 1237 with the Teutonic Order), and from the north - from Sweden, which in the first half of the 13th century intensified its attack on the lands of the Finnish tribe Em (Tavasts), traditionally included in the sphere of influence of the Novgorod princes. One might think that the news of Batu’s terrible defeat of Rus' prompted the rulers of Sweden to transfer military operations to the territory of the Novgorod land itself.

The Swedish army invaded the Novgorod borders in the summer of 1240. Their ships entered the Neva and stopped at the mouth of its tributary Izhora. Later Russian sources report that the Swedish army was led by the future famous Jarl Birger, the son-in-law of the Swedish king Erik Erikson and the long-time ruler of Sweden, but researchers are doubtful about this news. According to the chronicle, the Swedes intended to “capture Ladoga, or, simply put, Novgorod, and the entire Novgorod region.”

Battle with the Swedes on the Neva

This was the first truly serious test for the young Novgorod prince. And Alexander withstood it with honor, showing the qualities of not only a born commander, but also a statesman. It was then, upon receiving news of the invasion, that his now famous words were spoken: “ God is not in power, but in righteousness!»

Having gathered a small squad, Alexander did not wait for help from his father and set out on a campaign. Along the way, he united with the Ladoga residents and on July 15, he suddenly attacked the Swedish camp. The battle ended in complete victory for the Russians. The Novgorod Chronicle reports huge losses on the part of the enemy: “And many of them fell; they filled two ships with the bodies of the best men and sent them ahead of them on the sea, and for the rest they dug a hole and threw them there without number.” The Russians, according to the same chronicle, lost only 20 people. It is possible that the losses of the Swedes are exaggerated (it is significant that there is no mention of this battle in Swedish sources), and the Russians are underestimated. The synodikon of the Novgorod Church of Saints Boris and Gleb in Plotniki, compiled in the 15th century, has been preserved with the mention of “princely governors, and Novgorod governors, and all our beaten brethren” who fell “on the Neva from the Germans under the Grand Duke Alexander Yaroslavich”; their memory was honored in Novgorod in the 15th and 16th centuries and later. Nevertheless, the significance of the Battle of the Neva is obvious: the Swedish onslaught in the direction of North-Western Rus' was stopped, and Rus' showed that, despite the Mongol conquest, it was able to defend its borders.

The life of Alexander especially highlights the feat of six “brave men” from Alexander’s regiment: Gavrila Oleksich, Sbyslav Yakunovich, Polotsk resident Yakov, Novgorodian Misha, warrior Sava from the junior squad (who cut down the golden-domed royal tent) and Ratmir, who died in the battle. The Life also tells about a miracle that occurred during the battle: on the opposite side of Izhora, where there were no Novgorodians at all, many corpses of fallen enemies were subsequently found, who were struck by the angel of the Lord.

This victory brought great fame to the twenty-year-old prince. It was in her honor that he received the honorary nickname - Nevsky.

Soon after his victorious return, Alexander quarreled with the Novgorodians. In the winter of 1240/41, the prince, together with his mother, wife and “his court” (that is, the army and the princely administration), left Novgorod for Vladimir, to his father, and from there “to reign” in Pereyaslavl. The reasons for his conflict with the Novgorodians are unclear. It can be assumed that Alexander sought to rule Novgorod with authority, following the example of his father, and this caused resistance from the Novgorod boyars. However, having lost a strong prince, Novgorod was unable to stop the advance of another enemy - the crusaders. In the year of the Neva Victory, the knights, in alliance with the “chud” (Estonians), captured the city of Izborsk, and then Pskov, the most important outpost on the western borders of Rus'. The next year, the Germans invaded the Novgorod lands, took the city of Tesov on the Luga River and established the Koporye fortress. The Novgorodians turned to Yaroslav for help, asking him to send his son. Yaroslav first sent his son Andrei, Nevsky’s younger brother, to them, but after a repeated request from the Novgorodians he agreed to release Alexander again. In 1241, Alexander Nevsky returned to Novgorod and was enthusiastically received by the residents.

Battle on the Ice

And again he acted decisively and without any delay. In the same year, Alexander took the Koporye fortress. Some of the Germans were captured and some were sent home, while the traitors of the Estonians and leaders were hanged. The next year, with the Novgorodians and the Suzdal squad of his brother Andrei, Alexander moved to Pskov. The city was taken without much difficulty; the Germans who were in the city were killed or sent as booty to Novgorod. Building on their success, Russian troops entered Estonia. However, in the first clash with the knights, Alexander's guard detachment was defeated. One of the governors, Domash Tverdislavich, was killed, many were taken prisoner, and the survivors fled to the prince’s regiment. The Russians had to retreat. On April 5, 1242, a battle took place on the ice of Lake Peipsi (“on Uzmen, at the Raven Stone”), which went down in history as the Battle of the Ice. The Germans and Estonians, moving in a wedge (in Russian, “pig”), penetrated the leading Russian regiment, but were then surrounded and completely defeated. “And they chased them, beating them, seven miles across the ice,” the chronicler testifies.

Russian and Western sources differ in their assessment of the losses of the German side. According to the Novgorod Chronicle, countless “chuds” and 400 (another list says 500) German knights died, and 50 knights were captured. “And Prince Alexander returned with a glorious victory,” says the Life of the saint, “and there were many captives in his army, and they led barefoot next to the horses of those who call themselves “God’s knights.” There is also a story about this battle in the so-called Livonian Rhymed Chronicle of the late 13th century, but it reports only 20 dead and 6 captured German knights, which is apparently a strong understatement. However, the differences with Russian sources can partly be explained by the fact that the Russians counted all killed and wounded Germans, and the author of the “Rhymed Chronicle” only counted “brother knights,” that is, actual members of the Order.

The Battle of the Ice was of great importance for the fate of not only Novgorod, but all of Russia. The crusader aggression was stopped on the ice of Lake Peipsi. Rus' received peace and stability on its northwestern borders. In the same year, a peace treaty was concluded between Novgorod and the Order, according to which an exchange of prisoners took place, and all Russian territories captured by the Germans were returned. The chronicle reports the words of the German ambassadors addressed to Alexander: “What we occupied by force without the prince, Vod, Luga, Pskov, Latygola - we are retreating from all of that. And if your husbands were captured, we are ready to exchange them: we will release yours, and you will let ours go.”

Battle with Lithuanians

Success accompanied Alexander in battles with the Lithuanians. In 1245, he inflicted a severe defeat on them in a series of battles: at Toropets, near Zizhich and near Usvyat (not far from Vitebsk). Many Lithuanian princes were killed, and others were captured. “His servants, mocking, tied them to the tails of their horses,” says the author of the Life. “And from that time on they began to fear his name.” So the Lithuanian raids on Rus' were stopped for a while.

Another, later one is known Alexander's campaign against the Swedes - in 1256. It was undertaken in response to a new attempt by the Swedes to invade Rus' and establish a fortress on the eastern, Russian, bank of the Narova River. By that time, the fame of Alexander’s victories had already spread far beyond the borders of Rus'. Having learned not even about the performance of the Russian army from Novgorod, but only about preparations for the performance, the invaders “fled overseas.” This time Alexander sent his troops to Northern Finland, which had recently been annexed to the Swedish crown. Despite the hardships of the winter march through the snowy desert area, the campaign ended successfully: “And they fought all over Pomerania: they killed some, and captured others, and returned back to their land with many captives.”

But Alexander not only fought with the West. Around 1251, an agreement was concluded between Novgorod and Norway on the settlement of border disputes and differentiation in the collection of tribute from the vast territory in which Karelians and Sami lived. At the same time, Alexander negotiated the marriage of his son Vasily to the daughter of the Norwegian king Hakon Hakonarson. True, these negotiations were not successful due to the invasion of Rus' by the Tatars - the so-called “Nevryu Army”.

In the last years of his life, between 1259 and 1262, Alexander, on his own behalf and on behalf of his son Dmitry (proclaimed Prince of Novgorod in 1259), “with all the Novgorodians,” concluded an agreement on trade with the “Gothic Coast” (Gotland), Lübeck and the German cities; this agreement played an important role in the history of Russian-German relations and turned out to be very durable (it was referred to even in 1420).

In the wars with Western opponents - the Germans, Swedes and Lithuanians - the military leadership talent of Alexander Nevsky clearly manifested itself. But his relationship with the Horde was completely different.

Relations with the Horde

After the death of Alexander's father, Grand Duke Yaroslav Vsevolodovich of Vladimir, in 1246, who was poisoned in distant Karakorum, the grand-ducal throne passed to Alexander's uncle, Prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich. However, a year later, Alexander’s brother Andrei, a warlike, energetic and decisive prince, overthrew him. Subsequent events are not entirely clear. It is known that in 1247 Andrei, and after him Alexander, made a trip to the Horde, to Batu. He sent them even further, to Karakorum, the capital of the huge Mongol Empire (“to the Kanovichi,” as they said in Rus'). The brothers returned to Rus' only in December 1249. Andrei received from the Tatars a label for the grand-ducal throne in Vladimir, while Alexander received Kyiv and “the entire Russian land” (that is, Southern Rus'). Formally, Alexander’s status was higher, because Kyiv was still considered the main capital city of Rus'. But devastated by the Tatars and depopulated, it completely lost its significance, and therefore Alexander could hardly be satisfied with the decision made. Without even visiting Kyiv, he immediately went to Novgorod.

Negotiations with the Papal throne

His negotiations with the papal throne date back to the time of Alexander’s trip to the Horde. Two bulls of Pope Innocent IV, addressed to Prince Alexander and dated 1248, have survived. In them, the head of the Roman Church offered the Russian prince an alliance to fight against the Tatars - but on the condition that he accepted the church union and came under the protection of the Roman throne.

The papal legates did not find Alexander in Novgorod. However, one can think that even before his departure (and before receiving the first papal message), the prince held some negotiations with representatives of Rome. In anticipation of the upcoming trip “to the Kanoviches,” Alexander gave an evasive answer to the pope’s proposals, designed to continue negotiations. In particular, he agreed to build a Latin church in Pskov - a church, which was quite common for ancient Rus' (such a Catholic church - the “Varangian goddess” - existed, for example, in Novgorod since the 11th century). The pope regarded the prince's consent as a willingness to agree to union. But such an assessment was deeply erroneous.

The prince probably received both papal messages upon his return from Mongolia. By this time he had made a choice - and not in favor of the West. According to researchers, what he saw on the way from Vladimir to Karakorum and back made a strong impression on Alexander: he was convinced of the indestructible power of the Mongol Empire and the impossibility of ruined and weakened Rus' to resist the power of the Tatar “kings”.

This is how the Life of the Prince conveys it famous response to papal envoys:

“Once upon a time, ambassadors from the Pope from great Rome came to him with the following words: “Our Pope says this: We heard that you are a worthy and glorious prince and your land is great. That’s why they sent to you two of the most skilled of the twelve cardinals... so that you could listen to their teaching about the law of God.”

Prince Alexander, having thought with his sages, wrote to him, saying: “From Adam to the flood, from the flood to the division of languages, from the confusion of languages ​​to the beginning of Abraham, from Abraham to the passage of Israel through the Red Sea, from the exodus of the children of Israel to death King David, from the beginning of the kingdom of Solomon to Augustus the King, from the beginning of Augustus to the Nativity of Christ, from the Nativity of Christ to the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord, from His Resurrection to the Ascension to Heaven, from the Ascension to Heaven to the Kingdom of Constantine, from the beginning of the Kingdom of Constantine until the first council, from the first council to the seventh - all that We know well, but we don’t accept teachings from you". They returned home."

In this answer of the prince, in his reluctance to even enter into debates with the Latin ambassadors, it was by no means some kind of religious limitation that was revealed, as it might seem at first glance. It was a choice both religious and political. Alexander was aware that the West would not be able to help Rus' liberate itself from the Horde yoke; the fight against the Horde, to which the papal throne called, could be disastrous for the country. Alexander was not ready to agree to a union with Rome (namely, this was an indispensable condition for the proposed union). Acceptance of the union - even with the formal consent of Rome to preserve all Orthodox rites in worship - in practice could only mean simple submission to the Latins, both political and spiritual. The history of the dominance of the Latins in the Baltic states or in Galich (where they briefly established themselves in the 10s of the 13th century) clearly proved this.

So Prince Alexander chose a different path for himself - the path of refusal of all cooperation with the West and at the same time the path of forced submission to the Horde, acceptance of all its conditions. It was in this that he saw the only salvation both for his power over Russia - albeit limited by the recognition of Horde sovereignty - and for Rus' itself.

The period of the short-lived great reign of Andrei Yaroslavich is very poorly covered in Russian chronicles. However, it is obvious that a conflict was brewing between the brothers. Andrei - unlike Alexander - showed himself to be an opponent of the Tatars. In the winter of 1250/51, he married the daughter of the Galician prince Daniil Romanovich, a supporter of decisive resistance to the Horde. The threat of uniting the forces of North-Eastern and South-Western Rus' could not help but alarm the Horde.

The denouement came in the summer of 1252. Again, we don’t know exactly what happened then. According to the chronicles, Alexander again went to the Horde. During his stay there (and perhaps after his return to Rus'), a punitive expedition under the command of Nevruy was sent from the Horde against Andrei. In the battle of Pereyaslavl, the squad of Andrei and his brother Yaroslav, who supported him, was defeated. Andrei fled to Sweden. The northeastern lands of Rus' were plundered and devastated, many people were killed or taken prisoner.

In the Horde

St. blgv. book Alexander Nevskiy. From the site: http://www.icon-art.ru/

The sources at our disposal are silent about any connection between Alexander’s trip to the Horde and the actions of the Tatars (4). However, one can guess that Alexander’s trip to the Horde was connected with changes on the khan’s throne in Karakorum, where in the summer of 1251 Mengu, an ally of Batu, was proclaimed great khan. According to sources, “all labels and seals that were indiscriminately issued to princes and nobles during the previous reign,” the new khan ordered to be taken away. This means that those decisions in accordance with which Alexander’s brother Andrei received the label for the great reign of Vladimir also lost force. Unlike his brother, Alexander was extremely interested in revising these decisions and getting his hands on the great reign of Vladimir, to which he, as the eldest of the Yaroslavichs, had more rights than his younger brother.

One way or another, in the last open military clash between the Russian princes and the Tatars in the history of the turning point of the 13th century, Prince Alexander found himself - perhaps through no fault of his own - in the Tatar camp. It was from this time that we can definitely talk about the special “Tatar policy” of Alexander Nevsky - the policy of pacifying the Tatars and unquestioning obedience to them. His subsequent frequent trips to the Horde (1257, 1258, 1262) were aimed at preventing new invasions of Rus'. The prince strove to regularly pay a huge tribute to the conquerors and to prevent protests against them in Rus' itself. Historians have different assessments of Alexander's Horde policies. Some see in it simple servility to a ruthless and invincible enemy, a desire to retain power over Russia by any means; others, on the contrary, consider the prince’s most important merit. “The two feats of Alexander Nevsky - the feat of warfare in the West and the feat of humility in the East,” wrote the greatest historian of the Russian Abroad G.V. Vernadsky, “had one goal: the preservation of Orthodoxy as the moral and political force of the Russian people. This goal was achieved: the growth of the Russian Orthodox kingdom took place on the soil prepared by Alexander.” The Soviet researcher of medieval Russia, V. T. Pashuto, also gave a close assessment of the policies of Alexander Nevsky: “With his careful, prudent policy, he saved Rus' from final ruin by the armies of nomads. Through armed struggle, trade policy, and selective diplomacy, he avoided new wars in the North and West, a possible but disastrous alliance with the papacy for Rus', and a rapprochement between the Curia and the Crusaders and the Horde. He gained time, allowing Rus' to grow stronger and recover from the terrible devastation.”

Be that as it may, it is indisputable that Alexander’s policy for a long time determined the relationship between Russia and the Horde, and largely determined Rus'’s choice between East and West. Subsequently, this policy of pacifying the Horde (or, if you prefer, currying favor with the Horde) will be continued by the Moscow princes - the grandchildren and great-grandsons of Alexander Nevsky. But the historical paradox - or rather, the historical pattern - is that it is they, the heirs of the Horde policy of Alexander Nevsky, who will be able to revive the power of Rus' and ultimately throw off the hated Horde yoke.

The prince erected churches, rebuilt cities

...In the same 1252, Alexander returned from the Horde to Vladimir with a label for the great reign and was solemnly placed on the grand prince's throne. After the terrible devastation of Nevryuev, he first of all had to take care of the restoration of the destroyed Vladimir and other Russian cities. The prince “erected churches, rebuilt cities, gathered dispersed people into their homes,” testifies the author of the prince’s Life. The prince showed special concern for the Church, decorating churches with books and utensils, bestowing them with rich gifts and land.

Novgorod unrest

Novgorod gave Alexander a lot of trouble. In 1255, the Novgorodians expelled Alexander's son Vasily and put Prince Yaroslav Yaroslavich, Nevsky's brother, in reign. Alexander approached the city with his squad. However, bloodshed was avoided: as a result of negotiations, a compromise was reached, and the Novgorodians submitted.

A new unrest in Novgorod occurred in 1257. It was caused by the appearance in Rus' of Tatar “chislenniks” - census takers who were sent from the Horde to more accurately tax the population with tribute. Russian people of that time treated the census with mystical horror, seeing in it a sign of the Antichrist - a harbinger of the last times and the Last Judgment. In the winter of 1257, the Tatar “numerals” “numbered the entire land of Suzdal, and Ryazan, and Murom, and appointed foremen, and thousanders, and temniks,” the chronicler wrote. From the “numbers”, that is, from tribute, only the clergy were exempted - “church people” (the Mongols invariably exempted the servants of God from tribute in all the countries they conquered, regardless of religion, so that they could freely turn to various gods with words of prayer for their conquerors).

In Novgorod, which was not directly affected by either Batu’s invasion or the “Nevryuev’s army,” the news of the census was greeted with particular bitterness. The unrest in the city continued for a whole year. Even Alexander’s son, Prince Vasily, was on the side of the townspeople. When his father appeared, accompanying the Tatars, he fled to Pskov. This time the Novgorodians avoided the census, limiting themselves to paying a rich tribute to the Tatars. But their refusal to fulfill the Horde’s will aroused the wrath of the Grand Duke. Vasily was exiled to Suzdal, the instigators of the riots were severely punished: some, on the orders of Alexander, were executed, others had their noses “cut,” and others were blinded. Only in the winter of 1259 did the Novgorodians finally agree to “give a number.” Nevertheless, the appearance of Tatar officials caused a new rebellion in the city. Only with the personal participation of Alexander and under the protection of the princely squad was the census carried out. “And the accursed began to travel through the streets, registering Christian houses,” reports the Novgorod chronicler. After the end of the census and the departure of the Tatars, Alexander left Novgorod, leaving his young son Dmitry as prince.

In 1262, Alexander made peace with the Lithuanian prince Mindaugas. In the same year, he sent a large army under the nominal command of his son Dmitry against the Livonian Order. This campaign was attended by the squads of Alexander Nevsky’s younger brother Yaroslav (with whom he managed to reconcile), as well as his new ally, the Lithuanian prince Tovtivil, who settled in Polotsk. The campaign ended in a major victory - the city of Yuryev (Tartu) was taken.

At the end of the same 1262, Alexander went to the Horde for the fourth (and last) time. “In those days there was great violence from non-believers,” says the Prince’s Life; “they persecuted Christians, forcing them to fight on their side. The great prince Alexander went to the king (Horde Khan Berke - A.K.) to pray his people away from this misfortune.” Probably, the prince also sought to rid Rus' of the new punitive expedition of the Tatars: in the same year, 1262, a popular uprising broke out in a number of Russian cities (Rostov, Suzdal, Yaroslavl) against the excesses of Tatar tribute collectors.

Sometimes on weekends we publish answers to various quizzes for you in a Question and Answer format. We have a variety of questions, both simple and quite complex. Quizzes are very interesting and quite popular, we just help you test your knowledge. And we have another question in the quiz - Where was the phrase “God is not in power, but in truth,” which later became popular, first uttered?

• in Novgorod
• in the movie “Brother 2”
• in the White Sea
• at Notre Dame Cathedral

Correct answer: in Novgorod

The hagiographical tale reports the following about the preparation for the battle with the Swedes: the enemy leader “... came to the Neva, intoxicated with madness, and sent his ambassadors, proud, to Novgorod to Prince Alexander, saying: “If you can, defend yourself, for I am already here and ruining the land yours.” Alexander, having heard such words, burned in his heart and entered the Church of Hagia Sophia, and, falling on his knees before the altar, began to pray with tears: “Glorious God, righteous, great God, mighty, eternal God, who created heaven and earth and set the boundaries peoples, you commanded to live without transgressing other people’s borders.” And, remembering the words of the prophet, he said: “Judge, Lord, those who offend me and protect them from those who fight me, take a weapon and a shield and stand up to help me.” And, having finished the prayer, he stood up and bowed to the archbishop. The archbishop was then Spyridon, he blessed him and released him. The prince, leaving the church, wiped away his tears and said, to encourage his squad: “God is not in power, but in truth.”

The Swedish camp was located near the confluence of the Izhora River and the Neva. He was attacked by Russian troops on Sunday, July 15 at about 10 a.m. The battle dragged on for many hours. In the end, the Swedes could not stand the battle and moved towards the ships, giving up their bridgehead on the shore. They had to fill two ships with the dead bodies of noble (“vyatshie”) warriors, and others, as Russian sources say, were buried in a common pit “without number.”

The victory brought Alexander Yaroslavich great fame. This success added the honorary nickname “Nevsky” to the prince’s name.