In 1240, Denmark, Sweden and the Livonian Order, seizing lands in the East as part of the Crusades with the blessing of the popes, attempted a coordinated invasion of Russia, which was weakened by the Mongol invasion from the east.
The Swedish army of the crusaders invading Russia was defeated on the Neva in 1240 in the famous Battle of the Neva by the young Novgorod prince Alexander (he was 19 years old), who received the nickname Nevsky.
A month after the Battle of the Neva, the crusaders of the Livonian Order captured Izborsk (57.70833.27.85833), Pskov (57.81667.28.33333), Koporye (59.70917.29.03222) and Tesovo (58.93333.31.06667). In this situation, the Novgorodians expelled Alexander Nevsky from the republic, fearing his strengthening. But when the Livonian Order approached Novgorod, Alexander was returned and in 1241 spoke out against the invaders.
Alexander liberated Kopore, Pskov and transferred the war to the territory of the Livonian Order. In the decisive battle on Lake Peipus in 1242, he defeated the Livonian knights. The battle is called the Battle of the Ice. Alexander Nevsky was canonized as a saint. The attack of the crusaders on Russia was successfully repulsed.
Path: Baltic Sea
Subject: Alexander Nevsky
Country: Pskov land
Geographic coordinates: 58.6377917,27.5034278
Year: 1242
Subject age: 21
Location: Lake Peipsi
Battle of the Neva (July 15, 1240) - a battle on the Neva River between the Novgorod army under the command of Prince Alexander Yaroslavich and the Swedish detachment. Alexander Yaroslavich received the honorary nickname "Nevsky" for his victory and personal courage in battle.
On December 9, 1237, Pope Gregory IX announced a crusade against pagan Finns and Russians. In the name of the Almighty, the Pope promised forgiveness of sins to all participants in the campaign, and eternal bliss to those who fell in battle. Preparations continued for more than two years.
The Swedish feudal lords sought to capture Novgorod, cut off Russia from the sea, take possession of the river routes that connected the Baltic Sea with the Russian land. The most important such water artery was the route along the Neva and Volkhov rivers. With the capture of the river routes, all trade between Eastern Europe and the West would have passed into the hands of Sweden. Near the mouth of the Volkhov, along which the waterway from Novgorod to the Baltic Sea passed, the oldest Russian city, Ladoga, was located. It was an important trading and storage point. Novgorodians built a fortress here. It was, as it were, a castle to Novgorod, covering it from the side of the Swedes.
For a campaign against Russia, very significant forces were assembled, the entire "flower" of the chivalry of Sweden. Since the campaign was considered a "crusade", in addition to large feudal lords and their troops, bishops and their knights also took part in it. To fully ensure success, the Swedes also recruited numerous detachments from the Finnish tribes subordinate to them and Norwegian knights. The crusade against Orthodoxy was led by Sweden's most powerful feudal lord, Jarl (Duke) Birger. Having gathered a lot of troops, as if against the Turks in the Holy Land, with the singing of sacred psalms, with a cross in front, the militia boarded the ships. The passage across the Baltic Sea to the mouth of the Neva was completed quite successfully, and the enemy fleet proudly entered its waters.
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crusaders
Hoping for a large army, the Swedish Jarl Birger hoped first of all to attack Ladoga and, standing here with a firm foot, hit Novgorod. The conquest of the Novgorod land and the conversion of Russians to Latinism was the end goal of the trip. The performance of the Swedish crusaders, no doubt, was coordinated with the actions of the Livonian knights, when in 1240, contrary to their usual practice, not in winter, but in summer, they launched an attack on Izborsk and Pskov. As a result, in the summer of 1240, Novgorod was attacked from two directions: the German knights invaded from the southwest, and the Swedes pressed in from the north.
At that time, a young, 19-year-old prince Alexander Yaroslavich ruled in Novgorod ...
Sharabarov A.V. Alexander Nevskiy. Road to the future
The moment for the invasion was chosen well for the invaders: Russia lay in ruins after the terrible invasion of the Mongol-Tatars and experienced difficult times. Russia was fragmented into a number of principalities. On a vast stretch from Kyiv to Vladimir, many cities and villages were destroyed, a significant part of the population was exterminated or taken prisoner. The remaining inhabitants hid in the forests. Only the northwestern outskirts of Russia - the Novgorod land, to which the hordes of Batu did not reach - escaped general ruin. If, following the defeat of the northeastern and southern Russian principalities by the Mongols, Pskov and Novgorod fell under the blows of the Swedes and Germans, this would mean the end of the existence of the Russian land.
But Alexander Yaroslavich did not waste time either. From the very beginning of his reign, he built defensive lines. For three years, a line of fortifications was built along the Shelon River, which covered Novgorod from the invasion of the troops of the Teutonic Order.
In the north, things were much worse: there was only one powerful fortress - Ladoga. But this was not enough - the enemy could simply bypass this fortress. But the prince had neither the strength nor the time to build new fortifications, so he sharply increased the sentinel service in the lower reaches of the Neva, imputing the elders of the Izhora tribe to constantly watch the sea. A system for transmitting important messages to Novgorod was also established. However, the beginning of the Swedish invasion was an unpleasant surprise for the prince.
In the first half of July 1240, patrols noticed a fleet moving along the bay. Approaching the mouth of the Neva, he lined up in an endless succession and began to be drawn into the Neva fairway.
Swedish Navy
At the same time, the patrol sent a messenger to Novgorod. The journey from the Neva to Novgorod took the rider a whole day, but by nightfall in Novgorod they knew about the invasion. Young and impulsive Alexander began to act immediately.
Having landed at the mouth of the Neva, Jarl Birger sent a letter to the young prince: "Resist if you can, but I'm already here and I'll take your land captive."
The Russian detachment was far inferior to the Swedes not only in numbers, but also in armament. The warriors still had horses, swords, shields and armor, but most of the volunteers were armed only with axes and horns. 19-year-old Alexander Yaroslavich did not long grieve over the small number of his squad. According to the accepted custom, the soldiers gathered at the Hagia Sophia in Novgorod and received a blessing from Archbishop Spiridon. After that, Alexander turned to his squad with words that became winged: "Brothers! God is not in power, but in truth!" The holy inspiration of the prince was transferred to the people and the army, everyone had confidence in the triumph of a just cause.
Coming out of Novgorod, the army moved to Izhora. We walked along the Volkhov and Ladoga. A detachment of Ladoga joined here, then the Izhorians joined. By the morning of July 15, the entire army, having overcome 150 km of the path, approached the landing site of the Swedes.
Alexander needed a sudden blow, a double blow along the Neva and Izhora, according to the prince's plan, was to corner the most important part of the enemy army formed by these rivers and at the same time cut off the knights' retreat and deprive them of their ships.
The battle began at eleven o'clock in the morning, having lined up from marching to battle formation, the Russian army suddenly attacked the enemy from the riverine forest. The entry of regiments into battle was not a chaotic attack. Knowing in detail the location of the Swedish camp, Alexander developed a clear battle plan. His main idea was to combine the main attack on the knightly part of the Swedish army located on the shore with cutting off the rest of the forces remaining on the ships. Following this plan, the main forces of the Russians - the retinue cavalry - hit the center of the Swedish camp, where his command and the best part of the crusading chivalry were located.
Soon the prince of Novgorod found himself in the very heart of the battle, not far from the golden-domed tent, in which the earl and the prince rested that night. Here, surrounded by several dense rings of bodyguards, they retreated, fighting off the Novgorodians, towards the royal ship. During the battle, foot and horse ratis, having united, must throw the enemy into the water. It was then that the famous duel between Prince Alexander and Jarl Birger took place.
The jarl rushed with a sword raised, the prince with a spear put forward. Birger was sure that the spear would either break against his armor or slide to the side. But the sword - he will not give out. But Alexander, at full gallop, hit the Swede in the bridge under the visor of the helmet, the visor fell back and the spear sank deep into the jarl's cheek. The slain knight fell into the arms of his squires.
Sbyslav Yakunovich from Novgorod also fought not far from Alexander. His strength and courage amazed many in Novgorod. And in this battle he proved himself a fearless fighter. Sbyslav did not have a spear or a sword. In his strong hand, a powerful battle ax sparkled, and he chopped right and left with it, crushing the pressing enemies. Shields cracked and broke from powerful blows, battle helmets cracked, swords knocked out of hands fell to the ground ... Through a mean chronicle line, the bright character of this warrior emerges: "Si also ran over many times, beating with a single ax, having no fear in his heart. And falling a little from his hand, and marveling at his strength and courage."
Along the Neva, Novgorod pawns cut bridges, repulsing the Swedes both from land and from water, capturing and drowning enemy augers. The left wing, headed by Yakov Polochanin, captured the horses and cut through almost to the mouth of the Izhora. And in the center of the camp there was a difficult battle, here the Swedes fought to the death.
The Swedish army was dismembered by a sudden attack into several large and small units, which the Novgorodians destroyed, pressing one by one to the shore. Panic gripped the Swedes. And then suddenly the jarl's golden-domed tent collapsed! This young Novgorodian Sava, having scattered the Swedes, burst into it and cut down the tent pillar in a few blows. The fall of the Swedish tent was greeted by the entire Novgorod army with a victory cry. There is a separate, albeit brief, story about this in the annals: “The fifth of his young, named Sava. These, having run over a great and golden-domed tent, cut down the tent pillar.
Soon, the Russians along the entire length of the camp went to the Neva, the Swedes pressed to the water were finished off one at a time, some started swimming, but quickly drowned in heavy armor. Several groups of Swedes managed to reach the ships. Throwing the gangway into the sea, ignoring the wounded who called for help, they pushed off from the banks of the Izhora, rushed to the middle of this small river, and then to the wide expanse of the Neva. But not everyone managed to get through to the augers. Those lagging behind, and there were many of them, rushed into the river, swam across it and rushed into the forest, hoping to hide there. But few succeeded. On the left bank of the Izhora, where Alexander's regiment did not pass, detachments of Izhora warriors were operating, completing the rout of the invaders' troops.
The swiftly conducted battle brought a brilliant victory to the Russian army. The talent and courage of the young commander, the heroism of the Russian soldiers ensured a quick and glorious victory with the least losses. Alexander's squad returned to Novgorod with glory. For the courage shown in the battle, the people nicknamed Alexander Yaroslavich "Nevsky". This battle began the struggle of Russia for the preservation of access to the sea, which is so important for the future of the Russian people. The victory prevented the loss of the shores of the Gulf of Finland and did not allow interrupting trade exchanges with other countries, and thus made it easier for the Russian people to fight to overthrow the Tatar-Mongol yoke.
Thus ended the decisive battle for the life of our country, in which Russian soldiers, under the leadership of a still young prince, defended their Orthodox faith, their country, their independence. Two years later, on the ice of Lake Peipsi, the final point will be put in the anti-Slavic, anti-Orthodox crusade launched by the Swedish and German invaders with the "blessing" of the Pope.
In response to the knightly expansion, Alexander Nevsky turned to the Golden Horde for help, made an alliance with it and fraternized with Batu's son Sartak, who may have converted to Christianity.
Material prepared by Sergey Shulyak
As a boy, Alexander, together with his elder brother Fyodor and under the supervision of his close boyar Fyodor Danilovich, was appointed to reign in Volny Novgorod, which maintained close ties with the Vladimir-Suzdal land, from where he received the missing part of the bread, and usually invited its rulers to reign. In case of external danger, Novgorodians also received military assistance.
The Novgorod and Pskov lands, free from Tatar-Mongol domination, were distinguished by wealth - the forests in the Russian North abounded with fur-bearing animals, Novgorod merchants were famous for their enterprise, and city artisans - for the art of work. Therefore, German crusader knights greedy for profit, Swedish feudal lords - descendants of the warlike Vikings - and close Lithuania were constantly coveting the Novgorod and Pskov lands.
The crusaders went on overseas campaigns not only to the Promised Land, but to Palestine. Pope Gregory IX blessed the European chivalry for campaigns in the lands of the pagans on the Baltic shores, including the Pskov and Novgorod possessions. He absolved them in advance of all the sins that they could commit on campaigns.
Neva battle
The first to set off on a campaign against North-Western Russia from the Varangian Sea were the Swedish crusader knights. The royal army of Sweden was headed by the second and third persons of the state - jarl (prince) Ulf Fasi and his cousin, royal son-in-law Birger Magnusson. The army of the Swedish crusaders (in Russia they were called "svei") was huge at that time - about 5 thousand people. The largest Catholic bishops of Sweden participated in the campaign with their detachments.
The royal army (sea ledung) left Stockholm on 100 single-masted ships with 15-20 pairs of oars - augers (each carried 50 to 80 people), they crossed the Baltic Sea and entered the mouth of the Neva. Here began the Novgorod lands - Pyatina, and the small tribe of Izhorians who lived here paid tribute to the Free City of Novgorod.
The message about the appearance of a huge flotilla of the Swedes in the Nevsky mouth was delivered to Novgorod by the messenger of the elder of the Izhorians Pelgusia, whose small team carried out naval patrol service here. The Swedes landed on the high bank of the Neva, where the Izhora River flows in, and set up a temporary camp. This place is called Bugry. The researchers suggest that they waited out the windless weather here, repairing the damage, in order to then overcome the Neva rapids and go to Lake Ladoga, and then to the Volkhov River. And from there it was a stone's throw to Novgorod itself.
The twenty-year-old Novgorod prince Alexander Yaroslavich decided to preempt the enemy and did not waste time gathering all the urban and rural militia. At the head of the princely retinue, in armor and fully armed, Alexander arrived at the prayer in St. Sophia Cathedral and listened to the blessing for the campaign against the enemy of Bishop Spyridon.
After the church service, the prince on the square in front of the cathedral “strengthened” the squad and the gathered Novgorodians with a passionate speech of a warrior, telling them: “Brothers! God is not in power, but in truth…”
At the head of a small, hastily assembled army of about 1,500 warriors - the prince's squad, the militia of the Free City and the Ladoga warriors - he quickly moved towards the Swedes along the banks of the Volkhov, past the stone Novgorod fortress of Ladoga, which guarded the trade routes to Vladimir-Suzdal land. The cavalry moved along the river bank. Foot soldiers moved on ships that had to be left on the Neva.
On June 15, 1240, with a sudden and swift attack, the Novgorod horse and foot (they attacked the enemy along the coast) warriors crushed the royal army of Sweden. During the Battle of the Neva, the prince fought in a knightly duel with Jarl Birger and wounded him. The Swedes lost several augers, and on the rest of the ships they left the banks of the Neva and returned home.
The Novgorod prince showed himself in the Battle of the Neva as a talented military leader, defeating the Swedes not by numbers, but by skill. For this brilliant victory, the 20-year-old Novgorod prince Alexander Yaroslavich was nicknamed Nevsky by the people.
After the crushing defeat, the Kingdom of Sweden hastened to conclude a peace treaty with the Free City. Historians believe that the battle of 1240 prevented the loss of the shores of the Gulf of Finland by Russia, stopped the Swedish aggression on the Novgorod-Pskov lands.
Fight against the German crusaders
Due to the aggravation of relations with the Novgorod boyars, who did not tolerate strong princely power, the winner of the crusaders left Novgorod and left with his retinue for the family property - Pereslavl-Zalessky. However, soon the Novgorod veche again invited Alexander Yaroslavich to reign. Novgorodians wanted him to lead the Russian army in the fight against the German crusaders who invaded Russia from the west. They already ruled not only on the Pskov lands, having seized the Pskov fortress with the help of traitors boyars, but also in the possessions of Novgorod itself.
In 1241, Alexander Nevsky, at the head of the Novgorod army, stormed the stone fortress of Koporye. Then, together with the Suzdal squad that arrived in time, the prince took possession of Pskov, whose inhabitants opened the city gates for the liberators, while demonstrating the high art of storming powerful stone fortresses. With the liberation of the frontier city of the fortress of Izborsk, he completed the expulsion of the German knights from Russian soil.
However, on the other side of Lake Peipus were the possessions of the German Livonian Order, which, together with the Catholic bishops of the Baltic states - Derpt, Riga, Ezelsky - did not even think of abandoning new invasions of the Pskov and Novgorod regions. Preparing for a crusade to the east against the "pagans", the brothers of the order called into their ranks knights from German and other lands.
The united knightly army was commanded by an experienced military leader, Vice Master (Vice Meister) of the Livonian Order, Andreas von Velven. Under his hand gathered a huge army for that time - up to 20 thousand people. It was based on heavily armed knightly cavalry.
To put an end to the threat of a new crusade against Russia, the Russian commander decided to strike the Livonians himself and challenge them to battle.
Battle on the Ice
At the head of the Russian army, Prince Alexander Nevsky set out on a campaign, moving to Livonia south of Lake Peipsi and sending forward a strong reconnaissance detachment led by Domash Tverdislavich and governor Kerbet. The detachment was ambushed and almost all died, but now the prince knew exactly the direction of the attack of the main forces of the German crusaders. He quickly moved the Russian army across the ice of Lake Peipsi to the very Pskov shore.
When the army of the Livonian Order moved across the ice of the lake to the Pskov borders, the Russians were already standing in their way, lining up for battle.
Alexander Nevsky placed his regiments under the very shore in the usual battle formation for ancient Russian military art: sentry, advanced large (“brow”) regiments, regiments of the right and left hands stood on the flanks (“wings”). The prince's personal squad and part of the heavily armed cavalry soldiers formed an ambush regiment.
The German knights lined up in their usual battle order - a wedge, which in Russia was called a "pig". The wedge, whose head consisted of the most experienced warriors, rammed the guard and forward regiments of the Russians, but got stuck in a dense mass of foot Novgorod militias of a large regiment. "Pig" has lost its maneuverability and strength. At this time, on a prearranged signal, the regiments of the left and right hands covered the wedge, and the Russian ambush completed the coverage of the enemy troops.
A hot slaughter began, which threatened the crusaders with complete extermination. The knights clad in heavy metal had to fight in great crowding, where it was not even possible to deploy a war horse, which also wore iron armor.
In the battle on the spring ice of Lake Peipsi, the Russians utterly defeated the main forces of the Livonian Order. Only a few brothers managed to find salvation, as they were persistently pursued to the very Livonian coast.
The battle on Lake Peipsi, which took place on April 5, 1242, was included in the military chronicle of Russia under the name of the Battle of the Ice, the losses of the Livonian Order were so great. According to chronicles, 400 crusader knights were killed in the battle, and 40 were captured. No one counted ordinary Livonian warriors who died in the Battle of the Ice. After the defeat, the German chivalry immediately asked the Free City for peace and for a long time then did not dare to try the fortress of the Russian border again. The victory in the Battle of the Ice glorified Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky as the great commander of Russia.
This battle went down in world military history as an example of the encirclement and defeat of large forces of heavily armed knightly troops of the Middle Ages.
Diplomatic victories
After that, Prince Alexander inflicted a series of defeats on the Lithuanians, whose detachments devastated the Novgorod border. With vigorous military and diplomatic actions, he strengthened the northwestern borders of Russia, and in 1251 he concluded the first peace treaty with Norway to delimit the borders in the North. He made a successful trip to Finland against the Swedes, who made a new attempt to close the Russian access to the Baltic Sea (1256).
In the conditions of terrible trials that hit the Russian lands, Alexander Nevsky managed to find the strength to resist the Western conquerors, gaining fame as a great Russian commander, and also laid the foundations for relations with the Golden Horde. He showed himself to be a cautious and far-sighted politician. He rejected the attempts of the papal curia to provoke a war between Russia and the Golden Horde, as he understood the failure of the war with the Tatars at that time. Skillful policy contributed to the prevention of devastating invasions of the Tatars in Russia. Several times he went to the Horde, achieved the release of the Russians from the obligation to act as an army on the side of the Tatar khans in their wars with other peoples. Alexander Nevsky made many efforts to strengthen the grand ducal power in the country to the detriment of the influence of the boyars, at the same time decisively suppressed anti-feudal uprisings (the uprising in Novgorod in 1259).
On November 14, 1263, on the way back from the Golden Horde, the prince fell ill and died in the Gorodets monastery. But before completing his life path, he accepted the monastic schema with the name Alexy. His body was to be delivered to Vladimir - this journey lasted nine days, but all this time the body remained incorrupt.
Recognition of merits, veneration and canonization of Alexander Nevsky
Already in the 1280s, the veneration of Alexander Nevsky as a saint began in Vladimir, later he was officially canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. Alexander Nevsky became the first Orthodox secular ruler in Europe who did not compromise with the Catholic Church in order to maintain power.
With the participation of Metropolitan Kirill and the son of Alexander Nevsky Dmitry, a hagiographic story was written - The Life of the Holy Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky, which over the years has become increasingly popular (15 editions have been preserved).
In 1724, Peter I founded a monastery in St. Petersburg in honor of his great compatriot (now the Alexander Nevsky Lavra). He also decided on August 30 - the day of the conclusion of the victorious Treaty of Nystadt with Sweden, which became the end of the Northern War (1700-1721), - to celebrate the memory of Alexander Nevsky. Then, in 1724, the holy relics of the prince were brought from Vladimir and installed in the Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, where they rest to this day.
In 1725, Empress Catherine I established the Order of Alexander Nevsky, one of the highest awards in Russia that existed until 1917.
During the Great Patriotic War in 1942, the Soviet Order of Alexander Nevsky was established, which was awarded to commanders from platoons to divisions inclusive, who showed personal courage and ensured the successful actions of their units.
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The Word of God, God, the Son of God, Who in the beginning was with God, through Whom everything came into being and without Whom nothing came into being (John 1:1-3), became man in order to deliver man from eternal death, and so, without diminishing his majesty, bowed Himself to the perception of our insignificance, that [always] remaining what He was, and taking into Himself what He was not, combined in Himself the true image of a servant (Philippians 2, 7) with the image in which He is equal to God the Father ; and with such a union did he unite both natures, that just as glorification did not exhaust the lower of them, so the addition did not diminish the higher. Thus, since the properties of both natures, converging in one Person, are not damaged, greatness perceives humiliation, strength - weakness, immortality - mortality, for the sake of our redemption, indestructible nature is united with nature subject to suffering, and True God and true man are combined in unity. Lord Jesus Christ so that He, the only Mediator between God and people (I Tim. 2, 5), healing us, could die as a man and rise again as God. So, the birth of the Savior did not in the least violate the integrity of the Virgin, for the birth of Truth became the guardian of chastity.
Such a Christmas, beloved, was befitting of God's power and God's wisdom - Christ (1 Cor. 1:24), and it both corresponded to us in human properties and was distinguished by Divinity. For if there had not been a true God, he would not have given us redemption, and if there had not been a true man, he would not have given us an example. Therefore, when the Lord is born, the jubilant angels sing: glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth. good will in men! (Luke 2:14), For they see that the Heavenly Jerusalem is being created from all the peoples of the world. How great rejoicing over this indescribable act of Divine love should be fed to human humiliation when heavenly angels rejoice in it!
We celebrate today, brothers and sisters in the Lord, the wonderful Protection of the Mother of God, stretched out over the Christian race, revealed through the vision of Blessed Andrew, Christ for the sake of the holy fool, and his disciple Epiphanius in the Blachernae Church at the beginning of the 10th century during the invasion of Constantinople by the Saracens. And not only the Greeks, but the entire Russian Church solemnly began to celebrate this Protection everywhere. The Russian land especially considered itself the “house of the Mother of God”, under the protection of Her and the saints. No one clearly saw the Pokrov with his own eyes like the monks Andrei and Epiphanius, but everyone lived in the faith that, protected by this Pokrov, the Russian land is being created. The very icons of the Most Holy Theotokos, the very remains of the saints, the relics, are kissed by believing Christians with reverence and love, believing that even through kissing or touching them they bring forth for themselves a source of healing, sanctification, strength and blessing.
But this faith is not shared by everyone, and believers do not always stand in the same way in it. The latter also begin to have doubts at certain hours, especially when they fervently prayed for something and, as it seems to them, did not receive it: is there really a Protection of the Mother of God and the saints of God? Who among us has seen it with our own eyes, or even felt in any way the traces of its overshadowing? Is it not only a deception of the feelings of dreamy people, is it not a phantom of their own imagination, created by a frustrated mind? Thus unbelief always wants to turn into a phantom and deceit all holy faith with its miracles. So the unbelieving people want to turn the appearances of the risen Christ into ghosts, allegedly seen by Mary Magdalene and the apostles, ardently awaiting the resurrection. At the same time, they do not want to remember and know that Mary Magdalene and the apostles did not fervently expect the resurrection, because they did not think about it at all: the first went to anoint the Body of the Dead and, when she already saw the risen Christ, she still took Him for a vinedresser, the second with disappointment said:
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Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done with the fig tree, but if you say to this mountain, Be lifted up and cast into the sea, it will be done; and whatever you ask in prayer with faith, you will receive
Bliss. Theophylact of Bulgaria
In the morning, returning to the city, he became hungry; And when he saw a fig tree by the way, he went up to her, and finding nothing on it but only leaves, he said to her, Let there be no further fruit from you forever. And immediately the fig tree dried up. Seeing this, the disciples were astonished and said, “How is it that the fig tree withered immediately?”
Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew
Bliss. Theophylact of Bulgaria
And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there
Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew
Bliss. Theophylact of Bulgaria
But when the chief priests and scribes saw the miracles that He had done, and the children crying out in the temple and saying: Hosanna to the Son of David! They were indignant and said to Him, Do you hear what they say? Jesus says to them: yes! Have you never read: Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings You have arranged praise
Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew
Bliss. Theophylact of Bulgaria
- October 24
Saint Theophan was born of pious parents who lived in Palestine. They were God-fearing people and were especially zealous in philanthropy. Theophanes had a brother, later named for the suffering he suffered from the iconoclasts - Inscribed1. Through the care of their parents, Theophan and his brother Theodore learned all kinds of bookish wisdom and were skillful philosophers. Having comprehended the vanity and impermanence of the present world, “for the image of this world is passing away” (1 Corinthians 7:31), leaving everything, the brothers came to the Lavra of St. virtues. For his virtuous life, Theophan was awarded the priesthood.
At that time, a godless persecution of holy icons4 began, which agitated the entire church of God, and many Christians were subjected to persecution and torment for the veneration of holy icons. Then these wise teachers and defenders of Orthodoxy were sent by the Jerusalem Patriarch5, like lambs to the wolf, to the Emperor Leo the Armenian6 to denounce his wickedness. Having come to Constantinople and presented themselves before this enemy of God, they boldly denounced him in wickedness. As a result of this, the philosopher brothers suffered a lot, and not only from the emperor Leo the Armenian alone, but also from other emperors after him, the emperors Michael Balba and Theophilus. They endured various torments, wounds and fetters, hunger and thirst, exile and branding of persons, imprisonment and other countless misfortunes. For more than twenty years, from 817 to 842, they were tormented and persecuted by the iconoclasts. In the midst of these calamities, Saint Theodore reposed8, and Theophan lived to see peace in the Church. The son of the Byzantine emperor Theophilos, Michael9, having accepted with his mother Theodora the scepter of the Byzantine emperors, restored the veneration of holy icons, brought them into the churches of God, and returned from imprisonment all the holy men who suffered for icon veneration, rendering them all great honors. At the same time, Saint Theophanes was also returned from imprisonment, and, after receiving ordination from Patriarch Methodius,10 who destroyed the iconoclastic heresy, he was appointed to the metropolitan see of the Church of Nicaea.
Preventive war - suicide for fear of death
Otto von Bismarck
The holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky won fame for himself during his lifetime. Legends were made about him, his enemies were afraid of him and his compatriots revered him. After his death, the name of Alexander Nevsky entered the national history as an outstanding commander who, with the sword and fortitude, preserved Orthodoxy and the identity of the Russian people on Russian soil. Thanks to the Grand Duke, the Slavic people began to rally in order, following the example of Alexander Nevsky, to fight the threat in the West and resist the mighty Horde.
In the article, we will dwell in detail on the main deeds of the holy prince, thanks to which he was canonized (in 1547) and is still considered by Russians to be one of the people who magnified our Motherland throughout its history. There are 4 such events:
This happened when Prince Alexander was only 13 years old. By today's standards, just a child, but already at this age, Alexander, together with his father, already fought against the German knights. In those days, instigated by the Pope, Western European knights carried out cross raids officially to convert "infidels" to Catholicism, but in reality to rob the local population and seize new territories.
Russian cities (Pskov, Novgorod, Izborsk) for a long time were the goal of the German order, because trade and architecture were developed here. The knights are not averse to profiting: someone to sell into slavery, someone to rob. To protect the Russian lands, Prince Yaroslav calls on the people to stand with him in defense of the Motherland. Watching the course of the battle, young Alexander, along with adults, fights against enemies, at the same time analyzing the behavior of the troops and defense tactics. Yaroslav Vsevolodovich bets on a protracted battle, and wins the battle. Tired knights are finished off with flanking blows, others run to the river, but the thin ice does not withstand heavy knights, it cracks, and the knights in their armor go under water. Novgorodians win a victory that went down in history as the Battle of Omovzha. Alexander learned a lot in this battle and used the tactics of the battle of Omovzha many times later.
Battle of the Neva (1240) for the prince
In July 1240, the Swedish Vikings approached the confluence of the Izhora and Neva rivers on their boats and set up camp. They arrived to attack Novgorod and Ladoga. According to the chronicles, about 5 thousand Swedish invaders arrived, and Alexander managed to gather only 1.5 thousand warriors. It was no longer possible to delay. While the Swedes are in the dark and are only preparing for an attack, it was necessary to get ahead of them by attacking unexpectedly at their place of deployment.
Alexander with his small retinue settled in the forest not far from the Swedes. Even the Swedes did not have sentries, and the Vikings themselves were engaged in arranging the camp. Alexander, after carefully studying the location of the enemies, decided to divide the army into three parts: the first was to move along the coast, the second, the cavalry, led by Alexander himself, should advance in the center of the camp, and the third, the archers, remained in ambush to block the retreating path. the Swedes.
The morning attack of the Novgorodians came as a complete surprise to the Swedes. The Novgorodian Mishka managed to approach the tent, where the command sat, unnoticed, and sawed off the leg. The tent fell along with the generals, which caused even more panic among the Swedes. When the Varangians rushed to their augers, they saw that they were already occupied by the Novgorodians. The path was completely cut off when the archers entered the battle.
The Novgorod chronicle speaks of huge losses in the Swedish camp, and only 20 people were killed in the Russian regiment. Since that time, Alexander began to be called Nevsky in honor of the river, where he won his first significant victory. His fame and influence in Novgorod increased, which was not to the taste of the local boyars, and young Alexander soon left Novgorod and returned to his father in Vladimir. But even there he does not stay long, and moves to Pereslavl. However, already in the next 1241, Alexander received news from the Novgorodians that again the enemies approached their native lands. The Novgorodians called on Alexander.
Battle on Lake Peipsi - Battle on the Ice - 1242
The German knights managed to capture a number of Russian lands and settle there, erecting characteristic knightly fortifications-fortresses. In order to liberate the Russian cities, Prince Alexander Nevsky decided to unite the people to strike at the invaders with a single force. He calls on all Slavs to stand under his banner to fight the Germans. And he was heard. Militias and warriors flocked from all cities, ready to sacrifice themselves for the sake of saving their homeland. In total, up to 10 thousand people united under the banner of Alexander.
Kaporye is a city that has just begun to be settled by the Germans. It was located a little further from the rest of the captured Russian cities, and Alexander decided to start with it. On the way to Kapor, the prince orders to take prisoner all the people he meets, in order to know for sure that no one will be able to inform the knights about the approach of the prince's army. Having reached the walls of the city, Alexander knocks out the gate with many pounds of logs and enters Kaporye, which surrenders without a fight. When Alexander approached Pskov, the inhabitants themselves, inspired by Alexander's victories, open the gates for him. The Germans are gathering the best forces for battle.
The battle on Lake Peipus will go down in history as the Battle of the Ice. Alexander Nevsky, considering the strategy of the battle, placed in the center numerous militias who did not know much about the tactics of battle. The main army was located in front of a steep bank, behind which were carts, fastened together by chains. On the flanks were the Novgorod regiments - the strongest of the entire ten-thousandth Russian army. And behind a rock that stuck out of the water, Alexander hid an ambush regiment. The holy prince arranged his people in such a way as to lure the knights into the "cauldron", realizing that, having first defeated the weak militias, even if they were numerous, the already tired Germans would go out to the best Russian regiment and carts, and considering how much the knight in armor had, then they will have practically no chance to get over the cart.
On April 5, 1242, the German knights completely "justified" Alexander's calculations. The Germans advanced in a "wedge", and, having defeated the militias, they went straight to the advanced detachments of Nevsky. Caught in a vice, on the one hand - carts, over which the horses could not jump over, having such a weight in the form of a knight in armor, and on the other - Alexander's warriors and Novgorodians from the flanks. The knights, who, wielding a spear, always hit the enemy directly, did not expect a blow from the flanks. It was not possible to turn 90 degrees with the horse thanks to the vise from the carts, where the German knights landed. The ambush regiment completed the defeat of the German knights. The Germans rushed in all directions along the thin ice of Lake Peipsi. The thin ice cracked, carrying heavy German knights under the water, just as it had once carried away their ancestors on Omovzha.
It was a brilliant strategy of the young Russian commander. The Germans learned a lesson, thanks to which they forgot the way to Russia for a long time. 50 prisoners of war marched bareheaded through the streets of Russian cities. This for medieval knights was considered a terrible humiliation. The name of Alexander Nevsky thundered throughout Europe as the best commander of the Northern lands.
Relations with the Golden Horde
In the Middle Ages, for the Russian lands, the Horde was a real punishment. A strong state with extensive trade and a mobile army. The cohesion of the Mongol-Tatars, the Russian principalities could only envy. Scattered Russian cities and principalities only paid tribute to the Horde, but could not resist it. Alexander was no exception. Even after all the brilliant battles held, to go against the Horde, as Prince Chernigov did, means to sign a death sentence for himself and his people. After the death of his father Yaroslav, who, by the way, died when he “visited” the khan, Alexander also went to Batu get a label for the khan's service. Enlisting the support of the Horde was for the Russian princes as a ritual, which is tantamount to coronation to the throne.
Could Alexander have done otherwise?! Probably could. The Western European powers, led by the Pope of Rome, offered their help more than once in the fight against the Horde in exchange for the adoption of Catholicism, but Alexander refused. The prince preferred to pay tribute to the Horde than to change the faith of his ancestors. The horde treated the Gentiles quite tolerably, the main thing is that the quitrents go into the treasury regularly. So Alexander chose the lesser evil, he believed.
In 1248, Prince Alexander Nevsky received a label on Kyiv and the whole Russian land. A little later, Vladimir also moved to Nevsky. While Russia regularly paid tribute to Batu, the Mongol-Tatars did not attack. Accustomed to living in peace, the Russian people forgot about the Horde threat. In 1262, the Tatar ambassadors who arrived for tribute in Pereslavl, Rostov, Suzdal and other cities were killed. To calm the conflict, the prince is forced to go to the khan. In the Horde, the prince fell ill on the way home. 41-year-old Alexander died.
After 300 years, the Russian Orthodox Church canonized Alexander Nevsky.
