Snow-covered landscapes, thousands of warriors, a frozen lake and crusaders falling under the ice under the weight of their own armor.
For many, the battle, according to the chronicles that took place on April 5, 1242, is not much different from shots from Sergei Eisenstein's film "Alexander Nevsky".
But was it really so?
The myth of what we know about the Battle of the Ice
The Battle on the Ice really became one of the most resonant events of the 13th century, reflected not only in "domestic", but also in Western chronicles.
At first glance, it seems that we have enough documents to thoroughly study all the "components" of the battle.
But upon closer examination, it turns out that the popularity of the historical plot does not at all guarantee its comprehensive study.
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Thus, the most detailed (and most cited) description of the battle, recorded "hot on the trail," is contained in the Novgorod First Chronicle of the older edition. And this description is just over 100 words long. The rest of the references are even more concise.
Moreover, sometimes they include mutually exclusive information. For example, in the most authoritative Western source - the Elder Livonian Rhymed Chronicle - there is not a word about the battle taking place on the lake.
The lives of Alexander Nevsky can be considered a kind of "synthesis" of the early chronicle references to the collision, but, according to experts, they are a literary work and therefore can be used as a source only with "great restrictions."
As for the historical works of the 19th century, it is believed that they did not bring anything fundamentally new to the study of the Battle of the Ice, mainly retelling what was already stated in the annals.
The beginning of the 20th century is characterized by the ideological rethinking of the battle, when the symbolic meaning of the victory over the "German-knightly aggression" was highlighted. According to the historian Igor Danilevsky, before the release of Sergei Eisenstein's film "Alexander Nevsky", the study of the Battle of the Ice was not even included in university lecture courses.
The myth of united Russia
In the minds of many, the Battle of the Ice is a victory of the united Russian troops over the forces of the German crusaders. Such a "generalizing" idea of the battle was formed already in the XX century, in the realities of the Great Patriotic War, when Germany was the main rival of the USSR.
However, 775 years ago, the Battle of the Ice was more of a "local" rather than a nationwide conflict. In the XIII century, Russia was going through a period of feudal fragmentation and consisted of about 20 independent principalities. Moreover, the policies of cities that formally belonged to one territory could differ significantly.
So, de jure, Pskov and Novgorod were located in the Novgorod land, one of the largest territorial units of Russia at that time. De facto, each of these cities was an "autonomy", with its own political and economic interests. This also applied to relations with the closest neighbors in the Eastern Baltic.
One of these neighbors was the Catholic Order of the Swordsmen, after being defeated at the Battle of Saul (Siauliai) in 1236, joined to the Teutonic Order as the Livonian Landmaster. The latter became part of the so-called Livonian Confederation, which, in addition to the Order, included five Baltic bishoprics.
Indeed, Novgorod and Pskov are independent lands, which, moreover, are at enmity with each other: Pskov all the time tried to get rid of the influence of Novgorod. There can be no talk of any unity of Russian lands in the 13th century - Igor Danilevsky, specialist in the history of Ancient Russia
As noted by the historian Igor Danilevsky, the main reason for the territorial conflicts between Novgorod and the Order was the lands of the Estonians who lived on the western shore of Lake Peipsi (the medieval population of modern Estonia, in most Russian-language chronicles figured under the name "Chud"). At the same time, the campaigns organized by the Novgorodians practically did not affect the interests of other lands. The exception was the "border" Pskov, which was constantly subject to retaliatory raids by the Livonians.
According to the historian Aleksey Valerov, it was precisely the need to simultaneously resist both the forces of the Order and the regular attempts of Novgorod to encroach on the independence of the city that could have forced Pskov in 1240 to "open the gates" to the Livonians. In addition, the city was seriously weakened after the defeat at Izborsk and, presumably, was not capable of long-term resistance to the crusaders.
Having recognized the power of the Germans, Pskov hoped to defend himself against the claims of Novgorod. Nevertheless, the forced nature of the surrender of Pskov is beyond doubt - Alexey Valerov, historian
At the same time, according to the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle, in 1242 there was not a full-fledged "German army" in the city, but only two Vogt knights (presumably accompanied by small detachments), who, according to Valerov, performed judicial functions on the controlled lands and followed the activities of the "local Pskov administration".
Further, as we know from the chronicles, the Novgorod prince Alexander Yaroslavich, together with his younger brother Andrei Yaroslavich (sent by their father, Vladimir prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich) “expelled” the Germans from Pskov, after which they continued their campaign, going “to the chud” (i.e. e. in the lands of the Livonian Landmaster).
Where they were met by the combined forces of the Order and the Dorpat bishop.
The myth of the scale of the battle
Thanks to the Novgorod Chronicle, we know that April 5, 1242 was a Saturday. Everything else is not so simple.
Difficulties begin already when trying to establish the number of participants in the battle. The only figures at our disposal tell us about the losses in the ranks of the Germans. So, the Novgorod first chronicle reports about 400 killed and 50 prisoners, the Livonian rhymed chronicle - that "twenty brothers remained killed and six were captured."
The researchers believe that these data are not as controversial as they seem at first glance.
We believe that when critically assessing the number of knights killed during the Battle of the Ice, reported in the Rhymed Chronicle, it should be borne in mind that the chronicler does not speak about the losses of the crusader army in general, but only about the number of killed "brother knights", i.e. about the knights - full members of the order - from the book "Written sources about the Battle on the Ice" (Begunov Yu. K., Kleinenberg I. E., Shaskolsky I. P.)
Historians Igor Danilevsky and Klim Zhukov agree that several hundred people participated in the battle.
So, on the part of the Germans, these are 35-40 knight brothers, about 160 knights (on average, four servants per knight) and Estonian mercenaries ("chud without number"), who could "expand" the detachment by another 100-200 soldiers … At the same time, by the standards of the XIII century, such an army was considered a rather serious force (presumably, during the heyday, the maximum number of the former Order of the Swordsmen, in principle, did not exceed 100-120 knights). The author of the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle also complained that there were almost 60 times more Russians, which, according to Danilevsky, although it is an exaggeration, still suggests that Alexander's army was significantly superior to the forces of the crusaders.
So, the maximum number of the Novgorod city regiment, the princely squad of Alexander, the Suzdal detachment of his brother Andrei and the Pskovians who joined the campaign hardly exceeded 800 people.
We also know from the chronicle reports that the German detachment was built by a “pig”.
According to Klim Zhukov, it is most likely not about the "trapezoidal" pig, which we are used to seeing on the diagrams in textbooks, but about the "rectangular" (since the first description of the "trapezoid" in written sources appeared only in the 15th century). Also, according to historians, the estimated size of the Livonian army gives reason to talk about the traditional construction of the "gonfalon hound": 35 knights, making up the "gonfalon wedge", plus their units (up to 400 people in total).
As for the tactics of the Russian army, the Rhymed Chronicle mentions only that "the Russians had many riflemen" (who, apparently, constituted the first formation), and that "the army of the brothers was surrounded."
We don't know anything else about this.
All the considerations about how Alexander and Andrei built their squad are speculations and fictions coming from the "common sense" of the writers - Igor Danilevsky, specialist in the history of Ancient Rus
The myth that a Livonian warrior is heavier than a Novgorod one
There is also a stereotype according to which the military attire of Russian soldiers was many times lighter than the Livonian one.
According to historians, if the difference in weight was, it was extremely insignificant.
After all, on both sides, exclusively heavily armed horsemen participated in the battle (it is believed that all assumptions about the infantrymen are the transfer of the military realities of subsequent centuries to the realities of the 13th century).
Logically, even the weight of a war horse, without taking into account the rider, would be enough to break through the fragile April ice.
So, did it make sense in such conditions to withdraw troops to it?
The myth of the battle on ice and the drowned knights
Let's disappoint right away: there are no descriptions of how the German knights fall through the ice in any of the early chronicles.
Moreover, in the Livonian Chronicle there is a rather strange phrase: "On both sides, the dead fell on the grass." Some commentators believe that this is an idiom meaning "to fall on the battlefield" (version of the medieval historian Igor Kleinenberg), others - that we are talking about thickets of reeds that made their way from under the ice in shallow water, where the battle took place (version of the Soviet military historian Georgy Karaev, displayed on the map).
As for the chronicle mentions that the Germans were driven "on ice", modern researchers agree that the Battle of the Ice could "borrow" this detail from the description of the later Battle of Rakovorskoy (1268). According to Igor Danilevsky, reports that the Russian troops drove the enemy seven miles ("to the Subolichi coast") are quite justified for the scale of the Rakhor battle, but they look strange in the context of the battle on Lake Peipsi, where the distance from coast to coast is in the supposed place the battle is no more than 2 km.
Speaking about the "Crow Stone" (a geographical landmark mentioned in some of the chronicles), historians emphasize that any map showing a specific battle site is nothing more than a version. No one knows exactly where the massacre took place: the sources contain too little information to draw any conclusions.
In particular, Klim Zhukov is based on the fact that during archaeological expeditions in the area of Lake Peipsi, not a single “confirming” burial was found. The researcher connects the lack of evidence not with the mythical nature of the battle, but with looting: in the 13th century, iron was highly valued, and it is unlikely that the weapons and armor of the dead soldiers could lie safe to this day.
The myth of the geopolitical significance of the battle
In the view of many, the Battle of the Ice "stands alone" and is almost the only "action-packed" battle of its time. And it really became one of the most significant battles of the Middle Ages, which "suspended" the conflict between Russia and the Livonian Order for almost 10 years.
Nevertheless, the XIII century is rich in other events.
From the point of view of a clash with the crusaders, they include the battle with the Swedes on the Neva in 1240, and the already mentioned Battle of Rakovor, during which the united army of seven North Russian principalities opposed the Livonian Land Mastership and Danish Estland.
The Novgorod chronicler did not exaggerate at all, describing the Battle of Rakovorskaya in 1268, in which the combined forces of several Russian lands, themselves suffering heavy losses, inflicted a crushing defeat on the Germans and Danes: "the battle was terrible, as if neither fathers nor grandfathers were seen" - Igor Danilevsky, "Battle on the Ice: Change of Image"
Also, the XIII century is the time of the Horde invasion.
Despite the fact that the key battles of this era (the Battle of Kalka and the capture of Ryazan) did not directly affect the North-West, they significantly influenced the further political structure of medieval Russia and all its components.
In addition, if we compare the scale of the Teutonic and Horde threats, then the difference is calculated in tens of thousands of soldiers. Thus, the maximum number of crusaders who ever participated in campaigns against Russia rarely exceeded 1000 people, while the estimated maximum number of participants in the Russian campaign from the Horde was up to 40 thousand (version of the historian Klim Zhukov).
TASS would like to thank the historian and specialist in Ancient Rus Igor Nikolaevich Danilevsky and the military historian-medievalist Klim Aleksandrovich Zhukov for their help in preparing the material.
Worked on the material:
Producer: Olga Makhmutova
Lyricist: Kristina Nedkova
* the illustrations presented are scientific versions of what happened and do not claim to be completely historical.
Cover photo: Nikolay Marachkin / TASS
When preparing the text, materials from the following sources were used: Danilevsky I. N. “Battle on the Ice: Change of Image”; Runners Yu. K., Kleinenberg I. E., Shaskolsky I. P. “Written sources about the Battle of the Ice”; Valerov A. V. "Novgorod and Pskov: Essays on the political history of North-Western Russia XI-XIV centuries"; Recording of K. A. Zhukov's speech in the program "Intelligence survey" by D. Yu. Puchkov
