Many books and articles have been written about the famous battle on the ice of Lake Peipsi in April 1242, but it itself has not been fully studied - and our information about it abounds in white spots …
At the beginning of 1242, German Teutonic knights captured Pskov and advanced towards Novgorod. On Saturday, April 5, at dawn, the Russian squad, led by the Novgorod prince Alexander Nevsky, met the crusaders on the ice of Lake Peipsi, near the Crow Stone.
Alexander skillfully captured the knights, built in a wedge, from the flanks, and with the blow of the ambush regiment took them into the ring. The Battle of the Ice, famous in Russian history, began. “And there was a wicked slash, and a crack from the breaking of spears, and a sound from a sword cut, and the frozen lake moved. And there was no ice: it was all covered in blood … The chronicle reports that the ice cover could not withstand the retreating heavily armed knights and fell through. Under the weight of their armor, the enemy warriors quickly sank to the bottom, choking in the icy water.
Some of the circumstances of the battle remained a real "blank spot" for researchers. Where does truth end and where does fiction begin? Why did the ice collapse under the feet of the knights and withstand the weight of the Russian army? How could the knights fall through the ice if its thickness at the shores of Lake Peipsi at the beginning of April reaches a meter? Where did the legendary battle take place?
In domestic chronicles (Novgorod, Pskov, Suzdal, Rostov, Lavrentievskaya, etc.) and the "Elder Livonian Rhymed Chronicle" both the events preceding the battle and the battle itself are described in detail. Its landmarks are indicated: "On Lake Peipsi, near the Uzmen tract, near the Crow Stone." Local legends specify that the warriors fought just outside the village of Samolva. The chronicle miniature drawing depicts the confrontation of the parties before the battle, and in the background defensive ramparts, stone and other structures are shown. In the ancient chronicles, there is no mention of Voroniy Island (or another island) near the site of the battle. They talk about fighting on the ground, while ice is mentioned only in the final part of the battle.
In search of answers to the numerous questions of researchers, Leningrad archaeologists headed by military historian Georgy Karaev were the first to go to the shores of Lake Peipsi in the late 1950s. Scientists were going to recreate the events of more than seven hundred years ago.
In the beginning, chance helped. Once, talking with fishermen, Karaev asked why they call the area of the lake near Cape Sigovets "a cursed place." The fishermen explained: in this place, until the most severe frosts, there remains a wormwood, "whitefish", because whitefish have been caught in it for a long time. In frosty weather, of course, the "whitefish" will be seized with ice, only it is fragile: a person comes in and disappears …
This means that it is no coincidence that the locals call the southern part of the lake Warm Lake. Perhaps this is where the crusaders drowned? Here's the answer: the bottom of the lake in the area of "whitefish" is replete with outlets of groundwater, which prevent the formation of a durable ice cover.
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Archaeologists have established that the waters of Lake Peipsi are gradually advancing on the shores, this is the result of a slow tectonic process. Many ancient villages were flooded, and their inhabitants moved to other, higher, banks. The lake level rises at a rate of 4 millimeters per year. Consequently, since the time of Prince Alexander Nevsky, the water in the lake has risen by a good three meters!
G. N. Karaev removed the depth of less than three meters from the map of the lake, and the map became "younger" by seven hundred years. This map suggested: the narrowest point of the lake in ancient times was just in the vicinity of the "whitefish". This is how the chronicle "Uzmen", a name that does not exist on the modern map of the lake, received an exact reference.
The most difficult thing was to determine the location of the "Crow Stone", because on the map of the Crow Stone Lake, rocks and islands there are more than a dozen. Karaev's divers examined Voroniy Island near Uzmen and found that it was nothing more than the top of a huge sheer underwater rock. A stone rampart was unexpectedly discovered next to her. Scientists decided that the name "Raven Stone" in ancient times referred not only to the rock, but also to a fairly strong border fortification. It became clear: the battle began here on that distant April morning.
The members of the expedition came to the conclusion that the Crow Stone several centuries ago was a high fifteen-meter hill with steep slopes, it was visible from afar and served as a good landmark. But time and waves did their job: the once high hill with steep slopes disappeared under the water.
The researchers also tried to explain why the fleeing knights fell through the ice and drowned. Indeed, at the beginning of April, when the battle was taking place, the ice on the lake is still quite thick and strong. But the secret was that not far from the Crow Stone from the bottom of the lake, warm springs are beating, forming "whitefish", so the ice is less strong here than in other places. Earlier, when the water level was lower, the underwater springs undoubtedly hit right on the ice sheet. The Russians, of course, knew about this and avoided dangerous places, and the enemy ran straight ahead.
So this is the solution to the riddle! But if it is true that in this place the ice abyss swallowed up an entire knightly army, then somewhere here his trace must be hidden. The archaeologists set themselves the task of finding this last evidence, but the circumstances prevented the achievement of the final goal. It was not possible to find the burial places of the soldiers who died in the Battle of the Ice. This is clearly stated in the report of the complex expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences. And soon there were statements that in ancient times the dead were taken with them for burial at home, therefore, they say, their remains cannot be found.
Several years ago, a new generation of search engines - a group of Moscow enthusiasts-lovers of the ancient history of Russia - again tried to solve the centuries-old mystery. She had to find burials, hidden in the ground, related to the Battle of the Ice on a large territory of the Gdovsky district of the Pskov region.
Studies have shown that in those distant times in the area south of the currently existing village of Kozlovo there was a fortified outpost of the Novgorodians. It was here that Prince Alexander Nevsky went to join the detachment of Andrei Yaroslavich, hidden in ambush. At the critical moment of the battle, the ambush regiment could go behind the lines of the knights, surround them and ensure victory. The place is relatively flat. The troops of the Nevsky from the north-western side were protected by the "whitefish" of Lake Peipsi, and from the eastern side - by a wooded part, where the Novgorodians settled in the fortified town.
At Lake Peipsi, scientists were going to recreate the events of more than seven hundred years ago.
The knights attacked from the south (from the village of Tabora). Unaware of the Novgorod reinforcements and feeling their military superiority in force, they, without hesitation, rushed into battle, falling into the spread "nets". From here it can be seen that the battle itself was on land, not far from the lake shore. By the end of the battle, the knightly army was pushed back to the spring ice of Zhelchinskaya Bay, where many of them died. Their remains and weapons are still at the bottom of this bay.
Mikhail Efimov