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ICE BATTLE on April 5, 1242
Preface
Battle of April 5, 1242 .
on the ice of Lake Peipsi - one of the glorious episodes of Russian history.
Naturally, it constantly attracted the attention of researchers and popularizers of science.
But the assessment of this event was often affected by ideological trends.
The description of the battle has become overgrown with speculation and myths.
It is claimed that from 10 to 17 thousand people participated in this battle on each side.
This equates the battle to an exceptionally crowded one.
For the sake of objectivity, it should be noted that positive results have also been achieved in the study of the Ice Battle.
They are connected with the clarification of the place of the battle, bringing all the surviving Russian and foreign sources into the system.
The main reliable information about the battle of 1242 .
it is contained in the Novgorod First Chronicle of the Elder Izvoda.
Her record is contemporary with the event.
The chronicler reported general information about the war of Novgorod with the Livonian Order in 1242.
He left a few brief remarks about the battle itself.
The next Russian source - "The Life of Alexander Nevsky", created in the 1280s, largely based on the stories of witnesses who knew and observed Prince Alexander Yaroslavich as a commander, slightly supplements the chronicle.
Only the testimony of "a self - seer who allegedly saw a favorable sign in heaven the regiment of God"is given.
The data of these two sources were reflected in many later chronicles.
The latter rarely contain new actual additions, but add a number of decorative details.
Summing up the chronicle and hagiographic reports, we can state that they are quite concise.
We learn about the campaign of 1242, the failure of the reconnaissance detachment, the withdrawal of Russian troops to the ice of Lake Peipus, the formation of a German detachment, its defeat and flight.
Details of the battle are not given.
There is no usual data on the placement of their regiments, the exploits of martial artists, the behavior of the commander.
The chiefs of the German army are also not mentioned.
There are no names of the dead Novgorodians, which was usually noted if their number was significant.
Apparently, a certain etiquette of the chronicler affected here, who often bypassed many details of military clashes, taking them for granted and optional for weather records.
The conciseness of the Russian sources is partly supplemented by the presentation of the"Senior Livonian Rhymed Chronicle".
Compiled in the last decade of the XIII century.
The chronicle was intended for reading among the Livonian brothers of the knights, so many of the poetic stories given in it, despite the well known stereotyping, are documentary and very valuable for understanding the military side of the matter.
Political and military situation
In the first half of the XIII century, in the north west of Russia, weakened by the Mongol Tatar invasion, the aggression of the German knights of the Livonian Order was a great danger.
They made an alliance with the Swedish and Danish knights about a joint attack on Russia.
A terrible danger loomed over Russia from the West, from the Catholic spiritual and knightly orders.
After the foundation of the Riga fortress at the mouth of the Dvina River (1198), frequent clashes began between the Germans on the one hand, the Pskov and Novgorod residents on the other.
In 1237, the Teutonic Order of the Knights of the Blessed Virgin Mary, united in one whole with the Livonian Order, began to carry out extensive forced colonization and Christianization of the Baltic tribes.
The Russians helped the pagans of the Baltic states, who were tributaries of Veliky Novgorod and did not want to be baptized by Catholic Germans.
After a series of minor skirmishes, it came to war.
In 1237, Pope Gregory IX blessed the German knights to conquer the indigenous Russian lands.
In the summer of 1240, German crusaders, gathered from all the fortresses of Livonia, invaded the Novgorod land.
The invading army consisted of Germans, medvezhans, Yurievites and Danish knights from Revel.
With them was a traitor - Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich.
They appeared under the walls of Izborsk and took the city by storm.
Pskov residents rushed to the rescue of their fellow countrymen, but their militia was defeated.
There were over 800 people killed alone, including Voivode Gavrila Gorislavich.
In the footsteps of the fugitives, the Germans approached Pskov, crossed the Velikaya River, pitched their camp under the very walls of the Kremlin, set fire to the posad and began to destroy churches and surrounding villages.
For a whole week they kept the Kremlin under siege, preparing for an assault.
But it didnot come to that: the Pskov resident, Mikhail Ivanovich, handed over the city.
The knights took hostages and left their garrison in Pskov.
Prince Alexander Yaroslavich ruled in Novgorod since 1236.
In 1240, when the aggression of the Swedish feudal lords against Novgorod began, he was not even 20 years old.
He participated in his father's campaigns, was well read and had an idea of war and the art of war.
But he didnot have much experience of his own yet.
However, 21 (July 15) 1240 a small squads of Ladoga and of the militia he had a sudden and swift attack, defeated the Swedish army, landed at the mouth of the Izhora river (where it flows into the river).
For the victory in the battle of the Neva in which the young Prince proved himself a skillful military commander, has taken a personal valor and heroism, he was nicknamed "Nevsky".
But soon, due to the machinations of the Novgorod nobility, Prince Alexander left Novgorod and went to reign in Pereyaslavl Zalessky.
The defeat of the Swedes on the Neva did not completely eliminate the danger hanging over Russia.
The appetite of the Germans was growing.
They have already spoken: "We reproach the Slovenian language... to ourselves", that is, we will subjugate the Russian people.
Already in the early autumn of 1240, the Livonian knights occupied the city of Izborsk.
Soon his fate was shared by Pskov, captured with the help of traitors boyars..
In the same autumn of 1240, the Livonians captured the southern approaches to Novgorod, invaded the lands adjacent to the Gulf of Finland, and created the Koporye fortress here, where they left their garrison.
It was an important springboard that allowed controlling the Novgorod trade routes along the Neva River, planning further progress to the East.
After that, the Livonian aggressors invaded the very center of the Novgorod possessions, captured the Novgorod suburb of Tesovo.
In the winter of 1240-1241, the knights again appeared uninvited guests in the Novgorod land.
This time they captured the territory of the Wod tribe, to the east of the river.
Narova, "you have done everything and put a tribute on them. "
Having captured the "Vodskaya Pyatina", the knights captured Tesov (on the Oredezh River), and their detours appeared 35 km from Novgorod.
Thus, in the hands of the Germans there was a vast territory in the area of Izborsk Pskov Sabel Tesov Koporye.
The Germans already considered the Russian border lands their property in advance; the pope "transferred" the Neva coast and Karelia under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Ezel, who concluded a contract with the knights: he reprimanded himself a tenth of everything that the land gives, and left everything else - fishing, mowing, arable land - to the knights.
Then Novgorodians they remembered about Prince Alexander.
The bishop of Novgorod himself went to ask the Grand Duke of Vladimir, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, to let his son go, and Yaroslav, realizing the danger of the threat coming from the West, agreed: the matter concerned not only Novgorod, but the whole of Russia.
Ignoring past grievances, at the request of the Novgorodians, Alexander Nevsky returned to Novgorod at the end of 1240 and continued the fight against the invaders.
Alexander organized an army of Novgorodians, Ladozhans, Karelians and Izhorians.
First of all, it was necessary to decide on the method of action.
Pskov and Koporye were in the hands of the enemy.
Alexander understood that a simultaneous performance in two directions would disperse the forces.
Therefore, having identified the Kopor direction as a priority the enemy was approaching Novgorod - the prince decided to strike the first blow at Koporye, and then liberate Pskov from the invaders.
This operation showed that the combined forces of the Novgorodians and some Finnish tribes can achieve success.
The moment of the campaign was chosen successfully.
In the same year 1241, the prince recaptured Pskov from the knights.
The Germans, who captured Pskov and its regions, did not have time to strengthen themselves there.
Part of their forces fought against the Curonians and Lithuanians.
But the enemy was still strong, and the decisive battle was ahead.
The march of the Russian troops was a surprise for the Order.
As a result, the knights were expelled from Pskov without a fight, and Alexander's army invaded the Livonian borders after achieving this important goal.
Preparing for war
Arriving in Novgorod in 1241, Alexander found Pskov and Koporye in the hands of the Order and immediately began retaliatory actions, taking advantage of the difficulties of the Order, which was then distracted by the fight against the Mongols (the Battle of Legnica).
Before the campaign against the knights, Alexander Nevsky prayed in the church of Sofia, asking the Lord for help in victory: "Judge me, God, and judge my quarrel with the talkative people (with the Livonian Germans), and help me, God, as You helped Moses defeat Amalek in ancient times, and helped my great grandfather Yaroslav defeat the accursed Svyatopolk."
After this prayer, he left the temple and addressed the squad and the militia with the words: "Let's die for St. Sophia and free Novgorod!
Let's die for the Holy Trinity and free Pskov!
Russian Russians have no other fate than to bury their Russian land, the Orthodox Christian faith!
"And all the Russian soldiers answered him:" With you, Yaroslavich, we will win or die for the Russian land!"
Thus, in 1241, Alexander set out on a campaign.
The invasion of the Livonian land pursued limited, "probing" goals.
However, the Novgorodians were ready to accept a field battle.
While waiting for the enemy, reconnaissance was conducted, food supplies were replenished, the "polon" was captured .
The regiments overtook the bishopric of Dorpat, but they did not besiege castles and cities, but kept in the coastal part of Lake Peipsi.
The brothers of the knights of the Livonian Order and the Dorpats (the chronicle calls them chudya), perhaps with the support of the Danes who owned Northern Estonia, were preparing for retaliatory actions.
Alexander reached Koporye, took it by storm "and the hail erupted from the base", killed most of the garrison: "and the Germans themselves were beaten, and others were brought to Novgorod with them."
Some of the knights and mercenaries from the local population were taken prisoner, but released: "and let some of them go, be merciful beyond measure," and the traitors from among the chudis were hanged: "and vozhan and chyudtsev perevetnikov (that is, traitors) were hanged (hanged)."
Vodskaya Pyatina was cleared of the Germans.
The right flank and rear of the Novgorod army were now safe.
In March 1242, the Novgorodians again set out on a campaign and soon were already near Pskov.
Alexander, believing that he did not have enough strength to attack a strong fortress, was waiting for his brother Andrey Yaroslavich with the Suzdal ("nizovsky") squads, which soon came up.
When the "grassroots" army was still on the way, Alexander with the Novgorod forces marched near Pskov.
The city was surrounded by him.
The Order did not have time to quickly gather reinforcements and send them to the besieged.
The army included Novgorodians (black people - wealthy citizens, as well as boyars and city foremen), the princely squad of Alexander himself, "nizovtsy" from the Vladimir Suzdal land the detachment of Grand Duke Yaroslav Vsevolodich, detached under the leadership of Alexander's brother, Andrei Yaroslavich (according to the" Rhymed Chronicle", there were Suzdalians).
In addition, according to the Pskov First Chronicle, there were Pskov residents in the army, who apparently joined after the liberation of the city.
The total number of Russian troops is not known, but for its time it seemed significant.
According to the "Life", the regiments were "in the power of velice".
The German source generally testifies to the 60 fold superiority of the Russian forces, which is clearly exaggerated.
Pskov
Pskov was taken, the garrison was killed, and the order's governors (2 brothers of the knight) were sent to Novgorod in chains.
According to the Novgorod first chronicle of the elder izvod (it has come down to us as part of the parchment Synodal list of the 14th century, containing records of the events of 1016-1272 and 1299-1333) "In the summer of 6750 (1242/1243).
Prince Aleksander went from Novgorod and with his brother Andrey and from nizovtsi to the Chud land on Nemci and Chud and Zaya all the way to Plskov; and the prince of Plsk drove out Nemci and Chud, and fettered him to Novgorod, and he went to Chud."
All these events took place in March 1242.
After this defeat, the Order began to concentrate its forces within the Dorpat bishopric, preparing an offensive against the Russians.
The order gathered a great force: here were almost all its knights with a" meister " (master) at the head, "with all their biskupy (bishops), and with all the multitude of their language, and their power, whatever there is in this country, and with the help of the queen", that is, there were German knights, the local population and the army of the Swedish king.
In the spring of 1242, a Livonian order intelligence service was sent from Dorpat (Yuryev) in order to probe the strength of the Russian troops.
Novgorodians outplayed them in time.
Alexander decided to move the war to the territory of the Order itself, led troops to Izborsk, his intelligence crossed the border.
"And I will go," the chronicler reports, " to the German land, although I will take revenge on the Christian blood."
Alexander sent forward several reconnaissance detachments.
One of them, "dispersal" under the command of the brother of the posadnik Domash Tverdislavich and Kerbet (one of the "nizovsky" voivodes), came across German knights and Chud (Estov), was defeated about 18 kilometers south of Dorpat by the order's reconnaissance detachment.
At the same time, he died: "And as if I were on the land (chudi), let the regiment go all into prosperity; and Domash Tverdislavich and Kerbet were in the rod, and I usretosha Nemci and Chyud at the bridge and bishasya tu; and I killed that Domash, the posadnich's brother, an honest husband, and I beat him with them, and inech with my hands, and inii came to the prince in the regiment; the prince also drove into the lake".
The surviving part of the detachment returned to the prince and reported to him about what had happened.
The victory over a small detachment of Russians inspired the Order's command.
He had a tendency to underestimate the Russian forces, a conviction was born in the possibility of their easy defeat.
The Livonians decided to give the Russians a battle and for this they marched from Dorpat to the south with their main forces, as well as their allies, led by the master of the order himself.
The main part of the troops consisted of armored knights.
Alexander was able to determine that the knights moved their main forces much further north, to the junction between Pskov and Lake Peipsi.
Alexander's intelligence found out that the enemy had sent insignificant forces to Izborsk, and his main forces were moving to Lake Peipsi.
Thus, they took a short road to Novgorod and cut off the Russian troops in the Pskov area.
The Novgorod army turned to the lake, "the Germans and Chud poidosha on them."
The Novgorodians tried to repel the detour of the German knights by performing an unusual maneuver: they retreated to the ice of Lake Peipsi, north of the Uzmen tract, near the island of Voroniy Kamen: "on Uzmenu Voronen Kameni".
Having reached Lake Peipsi, the Novgorod army found itself in the center of possible enemy movement routes to Novgorod.
The Order's army also approached there in battle order.
Thus, the place of the battle was proposed by the Russian side with an obvious expectation to carry out a maneuverable battle against the German formation, called "pig", simultaneously by several detachments.
Now Alexander decided to fight and stopped.
"Howling Grand Duke Alexander was filled with the spirit of ratna, byahu bo their heart is like a lion", they were ready to "lay down their heads".
The forces of the Novgorodians were little more than a knight's army.
The troops that opposed the knights on the ice of Lake Peipsi had a heterogeneous composition, but a single command in the person of Alexander.
The order of battle of the Russians is not described in the sources, however, according to indirect data, it can be interpreted.
In the center was the princely regiment of the commander in chief, next to the regiments of the right and left hands.
Ahead of the main regiment, according to the "Rhymed Chronicle", there were archers.
Before us is a typical three part division of the main army for its time, which could, however, be more complex.
The "grassroots regiments" consisted of princely squads, boyar squads, city regiments.
The army put up by Novgorod had a fundamentally different composition.
It included the squad of the prince invited to Novgorod (that is, Alexander Nevsky), the squad of the bishop ("vladyka"), the garrison of Novgorod, who served for a salary (gridi) and was subordinate to the posadnik (however, the garrison could stay in the city itself and not participate in the battle), Konchansky regiments, the militia of the posadov and the squads of "povolnikov", private military organizations of boyars and rich merchants.
In general, the army exposed by Novgorod and the "grassroots" lands was a fairly powerful force, distinguished by a high fighting spirit.
A significant part of the Russian troops, judging by their mobility, significant marching movements on Estonian soil, the desire to measure forces with mounted knights, and finally, the choice of the battle site, which created freedom of maneuver in a significant open space, could be mounted.
According to some historians, the total number of Russian troops reached 15-17 thousand people.
However, this figure is most likely highly inflated.
The real army could number up to 4-5 thousand people, of which 800-1000 people accounted for the princely cavalry squads.
Most of it was made up of foot soldiers of the militia.
There is a special question about the number of troops of the order who set foot on the ice of Lake Peipsi.
Historians ' opinions about the number of German knights also differ.
Russian historians usually gave a number of 10-12 thousand people.
Later researchers, referring to the German "Rhymed Chronicle", call three hundred, four hundred people, with the support of foot mercenaries armed with spears, and the allies of the order - the Livs.
The figures available in the chronicle sources are the losses of the order, which amounted to about twenty "brothers" killed and six prisoners.
Given that one" brother "accounted for 3-5 "half brothers" who did not have the right to prey, the total number of the Livonian army itself can be determined at 400 - 500 people.
Given the recent defeat that the Teutons suffered from the Mongols near Legnica on April 9, 1241, the order could not help its Livonian "branch".
Also involved in the battle were Danish knights and a militia from Dorpat, which included a large number of Estonians, but knights who could not be numerous.
Thus, the order had a total of about 500-700 cavalry and 1000-1200 Estonians.
Like the estimates of Alexander's troops, these figures are debatable.
The question of who commanded the order's troops in the battle is also unresolved.
Given the heterogeneous composition of the troops, it is possible that there were several commanders.
Despite the defeat of the order, Livonian sources do not contain information that any of the order's leaders were killed or captured.
Battle
The battle on Lake Peipsi, which went down in history under the name "Ice Battle", began on the morning of April 5, 1242.
Alexander Nevsky located the Russian army on the southeastern shore of Lake Peipsi, opposite the island of Voroniy Kamen.
There is no data on the order of battle of the army.
It can be assumed that this was a "regimental row" with a guard regiment in front.
Judging by the chronicle miniatures, the order of battle was facing the rear to the steep, steep eastern shore of the lake, and Alexander's best squad took refuge in an ambush behind one of the flanks.
The chosen position was advantageous because the Germans, advancing on open ice, were deprived of the opportunity to determine the location, number and composition of the Russian army.
The Crusader army was lined up in a "wedge" ("pig", according to Russian chronicles).
In chain mail and helmets, with long swords, they seemed invulnerable.
The plan of the Livonian knights was to smash the large regiment of Alexander Nevsky with a powerful blow, and then the flank regiments.
But Alexander guessed the enemy's plan.
He placed the weaker regiments in the center of his formation, and the strongest ones on the flanks.
An ambush regiment was hidden to the side.
At sunrise, noticing a small detachment of Russian riflemen, the knight's " pig " rushed at him.
Historians considered the "pig" a kind of wedge shaped formation of the army - a sharp column.
The Russian term in this respect was an exact translation of the German Schweinkopf Latin caput porci.
In turn, the mentioned term is related to the concept of a wedge, a point, cuneus, acies.
The last two terms have been used in sources since Roman times.
But they can not always be interpreted figuratively.
This was often the name of individual military detachments, regardless of the way they were built.
With all that, the very name of such detachments hints at their peculiar configuration.
Indeed, the wedge shaped system is not the fruit of the theoretical imagination of ancient writers.
Such a construction was actually used in combat practice of the XIII XV centuries in Central Europe, and fell out of use only at the end of the XVI century.
Based on the preserved written sources that have not yet attracted the attention of domestic historians, the construction of a wedge (in the chronicle text - "pig") can be reconstructed in the form of a deep column with a triangular crown.
This construction is confirmed by a unique document - the military instruction "Preparation for the campaign", written in 1477 .
for one of the Brandenburg military leaders.
It lists three Banner divisions.
Their names are typical - "Hound", "St. George" and "Great".
The banners numbered 400, 500 and 700 mounted soldiers, respectively.
At the head of each detachment, a standard bearer and selected knights were concentrated, located in 5 rows.
In the first rank, depending on the number of banners, from 3 to 7-9 mounted knights were lined up, in the last - from 11 to 17.
The total number of wedge warriors ranged from 35 to 65 people.
The ranks were arranged in such a way that each subsequent one on its flanks increased by two knights.
Thus, the extreme warriors in relation to each other were placed as if on a ledge and guarded the rider in front from one of the sides.
This was the tactical feature of the wedge - it was adapted for a collected frontal strike and at the same time was difficult to be vulnerable from the flanks.
The second, columnar part of the banner, according to the "Preparation for the campaign", consisted of a quadrangular structure, which included bollards.
The number of bollards and each of the three above mentioned detachments was 365, 442 and 629 (or 645), respectively.
They were located in a depth of 33 to 43 ranks, each of which had from 11 to 17 cavalry.
Among the knechts were servants who were part of the knight's military retinue: usually an archer or crossbowman and a squire.
All together, they formed the lowest military unit - the "spear" - numbering 3-5 people, rarely more.
During the battle, these warriors, equipped no worse than a knight, came to the aid of their master, changed his horse.
The advantages of the column shaped banner include its cohesion, flanking cover of the wedge, the ramming force of the first strike, clear controllability.
The formation of such a banner was convenient for both movement and for starting a battle.
The tightly closed ranks of the head of the detachment did not need to turn around to protect their flanks when they came into contact with the enemy.
The wedge of the advancing army made a frightening impression, could cause confusion in the enemy's ranks at the first onslaught.
The wedge squad was designed to break the formation of the opposing side and win soon.
The described system had both advantages and disadvantages.
During the battle, if it was delayed, the best forces the knights, could be the first to be put out of action.
As for the bollards, they were in a waitingly passive state during the battle of the knights and had little effect on the result of the battle.
There is also an opportunity to more specifically determine the number of the Livonian combat detachment of the XIII century.
In 1268, as the chronicle mentions, a German iron regiment - the "great pig" - performed in the Battle of Rakovor.
According to the "Rhymed Chronicle", 34 knights and a militia participated in the battle.
This number of knights, if supplemented by its commander, will be 35 people, which exactly corresponds to the composition of the knight's wedge of one of the detachments noted in the "Preparation for the campaign" of 1477 .
(true, for the" Hound "- a banner, not a "Great" one).
In the same "Preparation for the campaign", the number of bollards of such a banner is given 365 people.
Taking into account the fact that the figures of the head units of the detachments according to the data of 1477 and 1268 practically coincided, it can be assumed without the risk of a big mistake that in terms of their total quantitative composition, these units also approached each other .
In this case, we can to a certain extent judge the usual size of the German wedge shaped banners that took part in the Livonian Russian wars of the XIII century.
As for the German detachment in the battle of 1242, it was hardly superior in its composition to the Rakovorskaya - "the great pig".
During the period under review, the Livonian Order, distracted by the struggle in Courland, could not field a large army.
The details of the battle are poorly known - and much can only be guessed.
The German column, which was pursuing the retreating Russian detachments, apparently received some information from the patrols sent ahead, and already came out on the ice of Lake Peipsi in battle order, the bollards were in front, followed by a disorderly column of "Chudins", which was pressed from the rear by a line of knights and sergeants of the Bishop of Dorpat.
Apparently, even before the collision with the Russian troops, a small gap had formed between the head of the column and the church.
The Rhymed Chronicle describes the moment of the beginning of the battle as follows:"The Russians had many shooters who courageously came forward and were the first to take the onslaught in front of the prince's squad."
Apparently, the archers did not cause serious losses.
After firing at the Germans, the archers had no other choice but to withdraw to the flanks of a large regiment.
The riflemen took the brunt of the "iron regiment" and with courageous resistance noticeably upset its progress.
Having exposed long spears, the Germans attacked the center ("brow") of the Russian battle order.
Here is what is written in the "chronicle": "The banners of the brothers penetrated the ranks of the shooters, it was heard how swords rang, helmets were cut, how the fallen fell on the grass from both sides" - most likely it was recorded from the words of an eyewitness who was in the rear ranks of the army, and it is quite possible that the warrior took some other Russian unit for the advanced archers.
The chosen tactic paid off.
A Russian chronicler writes about the breakthrough of the Novgorod regiments by the enemy: "The Germans and chyud probishasya pig through the regiment."
The knights broke through the defensive formations of the Russian "chela".
However, having stumbled upon the steep shore of the lake, the sedentary, armored knights could not develop their success.
The knights ' cavalry was crowded together, as the rear ranks of the knights pushed the front ranks, which had nowhere to turn for battle.
A fierce hand to hand fight ensued.
And at the very height of it, when the "pig" was completely involved in the battle, at the signal of Alexander Nevsky, the regiments of the left and right hands hit its flanks with all their might.
The German "wedge" was caught in a pincer.
At this time, Alexander's squad struck from the rear and completed the encirclement of the enemy.
"The army of the brothers was surrounded."
Warriors who had special spears with hooks pulled the knights off their horses; warriors armed with "zasapozhnikami" knives disabled the horses, after which the knights became easy prey.
"And that sich was evil and great by a German and a chudi, and there was a trusk from a copy of a break, and a sound from a sword sich, as if the lake was frozen to move, and did not see the ice, covered with blood."
The ice began to crack under the weight of the heavily armed knights knocked down in a pile.
The enemy was surrounded.
Then, suddenly, a mounted ambush regiment rushed into battle from behind cover.
Not expecting the appearance of such Russian reinforcements, the knights were confused and began to retreat little by little under their powerful blows.
And soon this retreat took on the character of a disorderly flight.
Some knights managed to break through the encirclement, and they tried to escape, but many of them drowned.
Russian Russian soldiers were praised by the Order chronicler, who wanted to somehow explain the fact of the defeat of the brothers in the faith: "The Russians had countless bows, a lot of beautiful armor.
Their banners were rich, their helmets radiated light."
About the defeat itself, he told sparingly: "Those who were in the army of the brothers of the knights were surrounded, the brothers of the knights defended themselves quite stubbornly.
But their t am was defeated."
From this we can conclude that the German connection was drawn into a battle with the central opposing regiment, while the side regiments managed to cover the flanks of the German army.
The Rhymed Chronicle writes that "part of the Dorpat people (the "chudis" of the Russian chronicle) came out of the battle, this was their salvation, they were forced to retreat."
We are talking about the bollards that covered the knights from the rear.
Thus, the striking force of the German army the knights was left without cover.
Surrounded, they were apparently unable to maintain their formation, reorganize for new attacks and, moreover, were left without reinforcements.
This predetermined the complete defeat of the German army, first of all - its most organized and combat ready force.
The battle ended with the pursuit of the fleeing enemy in a panic.
At the same time, some of the enemies died in the battle, some were captured, and some, finding themselves in the place of thin ice - "whitefish", fell through the ice.
The cavalry of the Novgorodians pursued the remnants of the knight's army that had fled in disarray across the ice of Lake Peipsi up to the opposite shore, seven versts, completing their defeat.
The Russians also suffered losses: "This victory cost Prince Alexander many brave people."
The Novgorod First Chronicle reports that 400 Germans fell as a result of the battle, 90 were captured and "pade chudi Beschisla".
The given losses, apparently, are exaggerated.
According to the" Rhymed Chronicle", 20 knights were killed and 6 were taken prisoner.
Taking into account the composition of an ordinary knight's spear (3 combatants), the number of killed and captured knights and knechts could reach 78 people.
An unexpectedly close figure - 70 dead knights of the Order is given by German sources of the second half of the XV XVI centuries.
It is not known where such an exact figure of "damage" is taken from.
Did the "late" German chronicler triple the losses indicated in the "Rhymed Chronicle" (20 + 6x3=78)?
The pursuit of the remnants of the defeated enemy outside the battlefield was a new phenomenon in the development of Russian military art.
Novgorodians did not celebrate the victory "at the stake" , as was customary before.
The German knights were completely defeated.
More than 400 knights and "countless" other troops were killed in battle, 50 "deliberate voivodes", that is, noble knights, were captured.
All of them followed the winners ' horses on foot to Pskov.
Only those who were in the tail of the "pig" and were on horseback managed to escape: the master of the order, the commanders and the bishops.
The figures of the disabled fighters given by the "Rhymed Chronicle" are probably close to the true ones.
The knights killed and captured, as mentioned, were 26.
Probably, almost all of them were part of the wedge: these people were the first to enter the battle and were most in danger.
Taking into account the five gear construction, it can be assumed that the number of the wedge was no more than 30-35 knights.
It is not surprising that most of them laid down their heads on the battlefield.
This composition of the wedge assumes its maximum width in the form of a line of 11 fighters.
The number of bollards in such columns was slightly more than 300 people.
As a result, with all the calculations and assumptions, the total number of the German Chudsky army that took part in the battle of 1242 hardly exceeded three or four hundred people, but most likely was even smaller.
After the battle, the Russian army went to Pskov, as it is said in the Life: .
"And Alexander returned with a glorious victory, and many many prisoners went in his army, and they were led barefoot near the horses, those who called themselves "God's knights".
The Livonian troops suffered a crushing defeat.
The "ice battle" dealt a heavy blow to the order.
This battle stopped the Crusaders ' advance to the East, which was aimed at conquering and colonizing Russian lands.
The significance of the victory of the Russian troops under the leadership of Prince Alexander Nevsky over the German knights was truly historical.
The Order requested peace.
The peace was concluded on the terms dictated by the Russians.
In the summer of 1242, the "order brothers" sent envoys to Novgorod with a bow: "If we went to Pskov, Vod, Luga, Latygola with a sword, and we are retreating from everything, and what we have captured is full of your people (prisoners), and we will replace them with those, we will let you in, and you will let us in, and we will let Pskov full."
The Order's ambassadors solemnly renounced all encroachments on the Russian lands that were temporarily seized by the Order.
The Novgorodians agreed to these conditions, and peace was concluded.
Russian Russian victory was won not only by the power of Russian weapons, but also by the strength of the Russian faith.
The squads continued to fight under the glorious prince in 1245 with the Lithuanians, in 1253 again with the German knights, in 1256 with the Swedes, and in 1262 together with the Lithuanians against the Livonian knights.
All this happened later, and after the Ice battle, Prince Alexander lost his parents one by one, leaving him an orphan.
The ice battle also went down in history as a remarkable example of military tactics and strategy and became the first case in the history of military art when heavy cavalry cavalry was defeated in a field battle by an army consisting mostly of infantry.
The Russian order of battle ("regimental row" in the presence of a reserve) turned out to be flexible, as a result of which it was possible to encircle the enemy, whose order of battle was a sedentary mass; the infantry successfully interacted with its cavalry.
Skilful construction of the battle order, a clear organization of the interaction of its individual units, especially infantry and cavalry, constant reconnaissance and consideration of the enemy's weaknesses in the organization of the battle, the right choice of place and time, good organization of tactical pursuit, the destruction of most of the superior enemy all this has defined the Russian military art as advanced in the world.
The victory over the army of the German feudal lords was of great political and military strategic importance, delaying their offensive to the East - "Drang nach Osten" - which was the leitmotif of German politics from 1201 to 1241.
The northwestern border of the Novgorod land was reliably secured just at the time when the Mongols were returning from a campaign in Central Europe.
Later, when Batu returned to Eastern Europe, Alexander showed the necessary flexibility and agreed with him to establish peaceful relations, eliminating any reason for new invasions.
Losses
The issue of the losses of the parties in the battle is controversial.
About the Russian losses, it is said vaguely: "many brave soldiers fell."
Apparently, the losses of the Novgorodians were really heavy.
The losses of the knights are indicated by specific figures, which cause controversy.
Russian chronicles, and after them, domestic historians say that about five hundred people were killed by the knights, and chudi "pade beschisla", fifty "brothers", "deliberate voivodes"were allegedly taken prisoner.
Five hundred knights killed is a completely unrealistic figure, since there was no such number in the entire Order.
According to the Livonian chronicle, the battle was not a major military clash, and the Order's losses were negligible.
The "Rhymed Chronicle" especially says that twenty knights were killed, and six were taken prisoner.
Perhaps the "Chronicle" means only the brothers of the knights, not taking into account their squads and the chud recruited into the army.
The Novgorod "First Chronicle" tells that 400 "Germans" fell in the battle, 50 were captured, and "chud" is also discounted: "beschisla".
Apparently, they suffered really serious losses.
So, 400 German soldiers really fell on the ice of Lake Peipsi (twenty of them were real knight brothers), and 50 Germans (6 of them brothers) were captured by the Russians.
"The Life of Alexander Nevsky" claims that the prisoners then walked near their horses during the joyful entry of Prince Alexander to Pskov.
In the" Rhymed Chronicle", the Livonian chronicler claims that the battle took place not on the ice, but on the shore, on land.
According to the conclusions of the expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences under the leadership of Karaev, the immediate site of the battle can be considered a section of a Warm Lake located 400 meters to the west of the modern shore of Cape Sigovets, between its northern tip and the latitude of the village of Ostrov.
It should be noted that the battle on the flat surface of the ice was more profitable for the heavy cavalry of the Order, but it is traditionally believed that the place for meeting with the enemy was chosen by Alexander Yaroslavich.
Effects
According to the traditional point of view in Russian historiography, this battle, together with the victories of Prince Alexander over the Swedes (July 15, 1240 on the Neva River) and over the Lithuanians (in 1245 near Toropets, near Lake Zhiztsa and near Usvyat), was of great importance for Pskov and Novgorod, delaying the pressure of three serious enemies from the west - at the very time when the rest of Russia suffered great losses from princely strife and the consequences of the Tatar conquest.
In Novgorod, the Ice battle of the Germans was remembered for a long time: together with the Nevsky victory over the Swedes, it was remembered at litanies in all Novgorod churches back in the XVI century.
The English researcher J. Fannel believes that the significance of the Ice Battle (and the Battle of the Neva) is greatly exaggerated: "Alexander did only what numerous defenders of Novgorod and Pskov did before him and what many did after him, namely, they rushed to protect the extended and vulnerable borders from the invading detachments."
Russian Professor I. N. Danilevsky also agrees with this opinion.
He notes, in particular, that the battle was inferior in scale to the battles of Shauliai (1236), in which the master of the order and 48 knights were killed by the Lithuanians (20 knights died on Lake Peipsi), and the battle of Rakovor in 1268 modern sources even describe the Battle of the Neva in more detail and attach more importance to it.
"Ice Battle" is a monument in honor of the victory of Russian soldiers over German knights on April 5, 1242 on Lake Peipsi.
It is located on the Sokolikha Mountain of the Piskovichsky parish of the Pskov district.
It was opened in July 1993.
Authors: sculptor I. I. Kozlovsky, architect P. S. Butenko.
The main part of the monument is a bronze sculpture of Russian soldiers led by Alexander Nevsky.
The composition includes copper ensigns, which indicate the participation of Pskov, Novgorod, Vladimir and Suzdal soldiers in the battle.
To help a teacher and a methodologist
Alexander Nevsky.
A sovereign, a warrior and a diplomat.
(A unique book published in 2010, dedicated to the 790th anniversary of the legendary Russian Prince Alexander Nevsky, is the result of many years of research into his life and work).
Victory Day of the Russian soldiers of Prince Alexander Nevsky over the German knights on Lake Peipsi.
Quiz.
Days of military glory of Russia (Calendar of significant dates).
You can download the booklet here.
Pskov - the city of military glory
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