Today the Church honors the memory of the holy blessed Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky, in the schema of Alexy (+ 1263).
In the eyes of the Horde, Alexander Nevsky was a loyal vassal, diligently guarding the borders of their great empire.
Eternal hero image
There are people in history whose positive image is fixed at the level of state dogma. Moreover, dogma often passes from century to century, even despite the change in political formations.
Tsarist Russia was replaced by Soviet Russia, Soviet Russia was replaced by post-Soviet Russia, but the image of Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky as a Russian knight and savior of the country remains unshakable.
Still from the film "Alexander Nevsky", 1938. Historian: for our mentality we must "thank" Alexander Nevsky
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"The observance of the Russian land from the misfortune in the east, the famous feats for faith and land in the west brought Alexander a glorious memory in Russia and made him the most prominent historical person in ancient history from Monomakh to the Donskoy," wrote the great Russian historian Sergei Solovyov about Alexander Nevsky.
The brilliant Soviet film "Alexander Nevsky" with Nikolai Cherkasov in the title role entered the treasury of Russian cinema and convinced several generations of Soviet citizens that the prince is a hero for all time. Stalin spoke about the great feat of Nevsky in his speeches, the order established during the Great Patriotic War was named after the prince.
In 2008, during the large-scale television project "The Name of Russia", Alexander Nevsky was elected the main character in the history of Russia. True, Nevsky, under rather strange circumstances, bypassed Joseph Stalin, but this only proves once again - and the authorities of the new Russia recognized Alexander Nevsky as a purely positive figure.
With the growth of the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church in the post-Soviet era, it became completely incorrect to speak of the prince differently than in superlatives - after all, he was canonized as a miracle worker in the middle of the 16th century.
Against this background, the words of some critics who question the impeccable reputation of Alexander Nevsky are perceived as nothing more than "national treason."
Prince of the decay
But what was Prince Alexander Yaroslavich really like?
Historians agree on one thing - there is not enough real information to create an absolutely reliable image. There were few quiet years in the history of Russia, but the era in which Alexander Yaroslavich happened to live was, perhaps, one of the most difficult.
He was born in 1221 in the family of the Pereyaslavl prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich. The grandson of Vsevolod the Big Nest, whose descendants were the rulers of Russia until the Time of Troubles, did not find Ancient Russia in all its glory. The beginning of the XIII century in Russia was the peak of feudal fragmentation and the struggle of Russian princes with each other for the rise. Alexander's father, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, did not lag behind the others, who had time to make war both with the Lithuanians, who claimed the western Russian lands, and with his brothers, who desperately fought for the great reign.
At the age of four, Alexander was initiated into the warriors, and at the age of 7, together with his 8-year-old brother Fyodor, he was left by his father in Novgorod as governors. Of course, the role of the young princes was purely formal, but Novgorod, who adored riots, did not care - if the high-born kids were caught by the townspeople in a moment of anger, their fate would be a foregone conclusion.
In 1230, when Novgorod again wanted a prince, Yaroslav, busy with the struggle for higher titles, put Fyodor and Alexander on the reign. But Fyodor, Alexander's elder brother, died at the age of 13, and the young prince was left on his own. Of course, there was a squad behind him, however, in internecine strife, sometimes the enemy found traitors among those closest to him.
In 1236, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich became a Kiev prince, and 15-year-old Alexander finally turned into an independent political figure.
To whom the war, and to whom the great reign
By the middle of the 13th century, the Kiev prince was not the main figure among the Russian princes; this role was played by the Grand Duke of Vladimir. However, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich did not pretend to this role, the struggle for supremacy was between his older brothers.
Everything was changed by the Mongol-Tatar invasion. The end of independent Russia was laid on March 4, 1238, when the army of Vladimir Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich was defeated in the battle on the Sit River. Yuri Vsevolodovich himself was killed in the battle, and his family was almost completely exterminated during the capture of Vladimir by the Tatars.
During the Mongol invasion, Russia lost many brave warriors, among whom were many princes.
But neither Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, nor Alexander Yaroslavich were among the dead. The young prince fought with the Lithuanians, protecting the lands of the Novgorod region, and his father waited - after all, it suddenly turned out that of the surviving princes, it was he who was the main contender for the Novgorod reign.
Alexander Yaroslavich risked sharing the fate of his uncle, who died in the City, but the Mongols did not reach Novgorod. Why is not completely clear, but for the Novgorod prince it really was a real miracle.
Loyal Guardian
In the vastness of defeated Russia, the princes made their choice - someone decided to resist the Tatars to the end, going for this alliance with the Pope and taking from his hands the royal crown, like Daniel Galitsky, and someone became a loyal Tatar vassal.
This is the role that Alexander's father, Prince Yaroslav, chose. Having ascended the Vladimir throne in seniority in 1238, he was the first of the Russian princes to go to the Golden Horde for "confirmation", to Batu. The khan was satisfied with Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, having issued him a "label" for the great reign.
The valor of Alexander Yaroslavich contributed a lot to this, in 1240 he defeated the Swedish detachment on the Neva (for which the winner was nicknamed Nevsky), and in 1242 on the ice of Lake Peipsi, he defeated the knights of the Livonian Order.
In the eyes of the Tatars, these victories, which in Russia are considered to be success in defending the Orthodox faith from Catholics and preserving the remnants of independence, looked like the diligence of a vassal who zealously protects the territory of the Mongol empire from enemy attacks.
And this zeal was credited to Alexander later, when after the death of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich in the bloody civil strife of the Russian princes for the right to reign in Vladimir, the Horde supported Alexander Yaroslavich.
War in the West, obedience in the East
In 1251, Pope Innocent IV, through his envoys, twice offered Alexander Yaroslavich to change his faith in exchange for moral and military support in the fight against the Horde. Alexander's brother Andrei, who became his worst enemy in the struggle for the "label", hesitated and was ready to lean on the side of Rome. Prince Alexander, however, refused, and in 1252, as a reward for his loyalty, he was elevated to the great reign of Vladimir. This erection was accompanied by the defeat of all opponents of Alexander by the Tatar army under the command of Nevryuya.
This punitive campaign recalled the horrors of Batu's invasion and remained for a long time in the memory of the Russian people. It is not known exactly how much Alexander Yaroslavich was involved in Nevryu's campaign. But it is known for sure that the prince was not going to interfere with the Tatars.
The Grand Duke of Vladimir Alexander Yaroslavich fought valiantly against the Lithuanians, German knights, Swedes, who disturbed the borders of Russia. At the same time, he no less valiantly suppressed riots and forced Novgorod to humility, which did not want to obey the demands of the Horde and pay tribute.
In 1262, a wave of anti-Horde riots swept across Russia, with which the prince coped with difficulty. In addition, the Horde Khan Berke demanded that the Russian vassal provide soldiers for the war with Iran. Alexander went to the Horde to pay and negotiate. He managed to calm down the Horde and soften their demands, but on the way home he became very ill. On November 14, 1263, Alexander Nevsky died in Gorodets, having accepted the "schema" before his death.
Younger son
His sons, as if following the example of their father, will converge in a fierce battle for power, not disdaining to use the Horde troops as a "power component". The use of the Horde in the internal Russian struggle was generally a striking feature of the political life of Russia during the Tatar-Mongol yoke.
But among the sons of Alexander Nevsky there is one who will reconcile the brothers, trying to end the civil strife - the youngest, Daniel.
Daniil Alexandrovich, who at the time of his father's death was only two years old, will receive the most unenviable inheritance - a small, half-abandoned town called Moscow. And it is with Daniil Alexandrovich that the long and very ambiguous process of the rise of Moscow will begin, and after him, the revival of Russia around its new capital …