Battle of the Neva (briefly)

Battle of the Neva (briefly)

Battle of the Neva - a short description

In short, the Battle of the Neva is one of the key events in Russian history... In 1240 Kievan Rus represented a state fragmented into separate principalities. At the same time, each of the principalities strove to become the head of all other territories. During that period, the southern and central principalities suffered from the Mongol-Tatar yoke, and the Novgorod principality, as the northernmost one, received other problems.

The Livonian Order, which was in the neighborhood, tried by all means to get rid of the "infidels" from these lands, and to achieve this goal even entered into an alliance with the Swedes and the Pope. In fact, there is very little reliable information about this (Neva) battle. However, it is known for sure that the Swedish army that invaded Izhora was led by Ulf Fasi. Some historians provide evidence that the future king of Sweden (Birger Magnusson) also participated in this battle and even claim that he was wounded by Alexander Yaroslavovich himself, the commander of the Russian army.

The Swedish army included Norwegians, representatives of the Catholic Church and Finns. For some, this trip was part of a Crusade. The Izhora lands were allies of Novgorod, so the news of the invasion quickly came to Alexander.

Alexander Yaroslavovich hastily assembles an army and, without requesting help from the Vladimir principality, independently with a small squad, went to the enemy, enlisting the support of the Ladoga militias along the way. The army mainly consisted of cavalry, which became the determining factor in mobility. The Swedes did not expect a lightning-fast reaction.

The battle began on the fifteenth of July 1240. In the morning, Alexander orders the camp to be bombarded with arrows of fire, causing confusion and panic.

After that, possessing a strategic advantage, his army struck at the Swedes, preventing them from turning around. During this battle, several ships were also sunk, but by evening the Russian troops were retreating.

Having been defeated, the Swedes were forced to board the remaining ships and retreat.

This Nevsky victory was so impressive that Alexander was called Nevsky after her. As a result, the Teutons and Swedes were scattered and the subsequent invasion of the Livonian Order was also stopped. Many believe that this victory changed the course of Russian history and was able to ensure the security of Novgorod.

Taking advantage of the fact that after the devastation of North-Eastern Russia by the Mongols, Novgorod and Pskov had nowhere to wait for help, the Swedish and German knights intensified their expansion in North-Western Russia, hoping for an easy victory. The Swedes were the first to attempt to seize Russian lands. In 1238, the Swedish king Erich Kartavy received permission ("blessing") from the Pope to crusade against the Novgorodians. Anyone who agreed to take part in the campaign was promised absolution.
In 1239, the Swedes and the Germans negotiated, outlining a plan of the campaign: the Swedes, who had captured Finland by that time, were to attack Novgorod from the north, from the Neva River, and the Germans - through Izborsk and Pskov. Sweden allocated an army for the campaign under the leadership of the Jarl (Prince) Ulf Fasi and the king's son-in-law - Jarl Birger, the future founder of Stockholm.
The Novgorodians knew about the plans of the Swedes, as well as that the Swedes were going to christen them, like pagans, in catholic faith... Therefore, the Swedes, who went to plant an alien faith, seemed to them more terrible than the Mongols.
In the summer of 1240, the Swedish army under the command of Birger, "in great strength, puffing with the spirit of the war," appeared on the Neva River on ships that stood at the mouth of the Izhora River. The army consisted of Swedes, Norwegians, representatives of Finnish tribes, intending to go directly to Ladoga, in order to descend from there to Novgorod. In the army of the conquerors there were also Catholic bishops. They walked with a cross in one hand and a sword in the other. Having landed on the coast, the Swedes and their allies pitched their tents and tents at the confluence of the Izhora into the Neva. Birger, confident in his victory, sent to Prince Alexander with a statement: "If you can resist me, then I am already here, fighting your land."
At that time, the Novgorod borders were guarded by "watchmen". They were also on the seaside, where local tribes served. Thus, in the Neva region, on both shores of the Gulf of Finland, there was a "sea watchman" of the Izhorians, who guarded the routes to Novgorod from the sea. The Izhorians had already adopted Orthodoxy and were an ally of Novgorod. One day at dawn on a July day in 1240, the elder of the Izho land, Pelgusius, while on patrol, discovered the Swedish flotilla and hastily sent a report to Alexander.
Having received news of the appearance of the enemy, the Novgorodian prince Alexander Yaroslavovich decided to suddenly attack him. There was no time to gather the troops, and the convocation of the veche (national assembly) could drag out the case and lead to the disruption of the suddenness of the impending operation. Therefore, Alexander did not wait until the squads sent by his father Yaroslav came, or the warriors from the Novgorod lands gathered. He decided to oppose the Swedes with his squad, strengthening it only with Novgorod volunteers. According to an old custom, they gathered at the Cathedral of St. Sophia, prayed, received a blessing from their Vladyka Spiridon and set out on a campaign. They walked along the Volkhov River to Ladoga, where a detachment of Ladoga residents, allies of Veliky Novgorod, joined Alexander. From Ladoga, Alexander's army turned to the mouth of the Izhora River.

The Swedish camp, set up at the mouth of the Izhora, was not guarded, since the Swedes were unaware of the approach of Russian troops. The hostile ships rocked, tied to the shore; tents were white all along the coast, and between them was Birger's golden-domed tent. On July 15, at 11 o'clock in the morning, the Novgorodians suddenly attacked the Swedes. Their attack was so unexpected that the Swedes did not have time to "gird their swords on their loins."
Birger's army was taken by surprise. Deprived of the opportunity to line up for battle, it could not offer organized resistance. With a bold onslaught, the Russian squad passed through the enemy camp and drove the Swedes to the shore. The pedestrian militias, advancing along the bank of the Neva, not only cut the bridges connecting the Swedish ships with the land, but even captured and destroyed three enemy ships.
The Novgorodians fought "in the fury of their courage." Alexander personally "beat many countless Swedes and put a seal on the king's face with your sharp sword." The prince's assistant, Gavrilo Oleksich, chased Birger all the way to the ship, rushed into the Swedish boat on horseback, was thrown into the water, survived and fought again, laying down another noble Swede named Spiridon in place of the bishop. Another Novgorodian, Sbyslav Yakunovich, with only one ax in his hand, boldly crashed into the very midst of the enemies, mowing them right and left, clearing the way, as if in a forest thicket. The prince's hunter Yakov Polochanin was waving his long sword behind him. For these fellows other vigilantes frowned. The princely youth Savva, making his way to the center of the enemy camp, cut down the high pillar of Birger's own tent: the tent fell down. A detachment of Novgorod volunteers sank three Swedish ships. The remnants of Birger's defeated army fled on the surviving ships. The losses of the Novgorodians were insignificant, amounting to 20 people, while the Swedes loaded three ships with the bodies of only noble people, and left the rest on the shore.
The victory over the Swedes was of great political importance. She showed all Russian people that they have not yet lost their former valor and can stand up for themselves. The Swedes failed to cut off Novgorod from the sea, to seize the coast of the Neva and the Gulf of Finland. After repelling the Swedish attack from the north, the Russian army thwarted the possible interaction of the Swedish and German conquerors. To combat German aggression, the right flank and rear of the Pskov theater of military operations are now reliably secured.
Tactically, the role of the "watchman" should be noted, which detected the enemy and promptly informed Alexander about his appearance. The importance of had a surprise factor in the attack on Birger's camp, whose army was taken by surprise and could not offer organized resistance. The chronicler noted the extraordinary bravery of the Russian soldiers. For this victory, Prince Alexander Yaroslavich was named "Nevsky". At that time he was only twenty-one years old.

Battle on Lake Peipsi ("Battle on the Ice") in 1242.

In the summer of 1240, German knights from the Livonian Order, created from the Orders of the Swordsmen and the Teutonic Order, invaded the Novgorod land. Back in 1237, Pope Gregory IX blessed the German knights to conquer the indigenous Russian lands. The army of the conquerors consisted of Germans, Bears, Yuryevites and Danish knights from Revel. With them was a traitor - the Russian prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich. They appeared under the walls of Izborsk and took the city by storm. The Pskovites rushed to the aid of their fellow countrymen, but their militia was defeated. More than 800 people were killed alone, including the governor Gavrila Gorislavich.
In the footsteps of those who had fled, the Germans approached Pskov, crossed the Velikaya River, set up their camp under the very walls of the Kremlin, set fire to the city and began to destroy churches and surrounding villages. For a whole week they kept the Kremlin under siege, preparing for the assault. But this did not come to this: a resident of Pskov Tverdilo Ivanovich surrendered the city. The knights took hostages and left their garrison in Pskov.
The appetite of the Germans was growing. They have already said: "Let's reproach the Slovenian language ... for ourselves," that is, we will subjugate the Russian people. In the winter of 1240-1241, the knights again appeared as uninvited guests to the Novgorod land. This time they seized the territory of the Vod (Vozhan) tribe, east of the Narva River, "fighting everything and placing a tribute on them." Having captured the Vodskaya pyatina, the knights captured Tesov (on the Oredezh River), and their patrols appeared 35 km from Novgorod. Thus, in the hands of the Livonian Order was a vast territory in the region of Izborsk - Pskov - Sabel - Tesov - Koporye.
The Germans already considered the bordering Russian lands their property in advance; Pope "transferred" the coast of the Neva and Karelia under the jurisdiction of the Ezel bishop, who concluded an agreement with the knights: he pronounced himself a tenth of everything that the land gives, and left everything else - fishing, mowing, arable land - to the knights.
Novgorodians again remembered Prince Alexander, already Nevsky, who left after a quarrel with the city boyars in his native Pereslavl-Zalessky. The Metropolitan 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 all of Russia.
Alexander organized an army from Novgorodians, Ladians, Karelians and Izhorians. First of all, it was necessary to decide the question of the mode of action.

Pskov and Koporye were in the hands of the enemy. Alexander understood that simultaneous performance in two directions would dissipate forces. Therefore, having identified the Koporye 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.
In 1241, the army under the command of Alexander set out on a campaign, reached Koporye, took possession of the fortress, "and erupted hail from the base, and beat the Germans themselves, and drive some with them to Novgorod, and let others free, be merciful more than measure, and the leaders and Imesh (hanged) chyudtsev who are betrayers (ie traitors). " The 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 were soon near Pskov. Alexander, believing that he did not have enough strength to attack a strong fortress, was waiting for his brother Andrei Yaroslavich with the Suzdal squads, who soon approached. The order did not manage to send reinforcements to their knights. Pskov was surrounded, and the knightly garrison was taken prisoner. Alexander sent the governors of the order to Novgorod in chains. In the battle, 70 noble order brothers and many ordinary knights were killed.
After this defeat, the Order began to concentrate its forces within the Dorpat bishopric, preparing an offensive against the Russians. The order gathered great strength: almost all of its knights were here with the master at their head, with all the bishops, a large number of local warriors, as well as the warriors of the Swedish king.
Alexander decided to move the war to the territory of the Order itself. The Russian army set out for Izborsk. Ahead, Prince Alexander Nevsky sent several reconnaissance detachments. One of them, under the command of the mayor's brother Domash Tverdislavich and Kerbet, ran into German knights and Chud (Estonians), was defeated and retreated; while Domash died. Meanwhile, intelligence found out that the enemy had sent insignificant forces to Izborsk, and his main forces were moving towards Lake Peipsi.
The Novgorod army turned to the lake, "the Germans and the monsters followed them." The Novgorodians tried to repel the flanking maneuver of the German knights. Having reached Lake Peipsi, the Novgorod army found itself in the center of possible routes for the enemy's movement to Novgorod. Now Alexander decided to give battle and stopped at Lake Peipsi north of the Uzmen tract, near the island of Voroniy Kamen. The forces of the Novgorodians were slightly more than the knightly army. According to various available data, it can be concluded that the army of the German knights was 10-12 thousand, and the Novgorod army was 15-17 thousand people. According to L. N. Gumilyov, the number of knights was small - only a few dozen; they were supported by foot mercenaries armed with spears and the Order's allies - the Livs.
At dawn on April 5, 1242, the knights lined up in a "wedge" or "pig". The wedge consisted of horsemen chained in armor and chalked with its task of crushing and breaking through the central part of the enemy troops, and the columns following the wedge were supposed to crush the enemy's flanks by enveloping. In chain mail and helmets, with long swords, they seemed invulnerable. Alexander Nevsky contrasted this stereotypical tactics of the knights, with the help of which they won many victories, a new formation of the Russian troops, directly opposite to the traditional Russian system. Alexander concentrated his main forces not in the center ("chela"), as Russian troops always did, but on the flanks. Ahead was a forward regiment of light cavalry, archers and slingers. The order of battle of the Russians was turned with the rear to the steep, steep eastern shore of the lake, and the prince's horse squad took refuge in ambush behind the left flank. 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.
Putting up long spears and breaking through the archers and the forward regiment, the Germans attacked the center ("chelo") of the Russian battle formation. The center of the Russian troops was cut, and some of the soldiers retreated back and to the flanks. However, having stumbled upon the steep shore of the lake, the sedentary, armored knights could not develop their success. On the contrary, the knightly cavalry crowded together, as the rear ranks of the knights pushed the front ranks, which had nowhere to turn to fight.
The flanks of the Russian order of battle ("wings") did not allow the Germans to develop the success of the operation. The German wedge was caught in the pincers. At this time, Alexander's squad struck from the rear and completed the encirclement of the enemy. Several ranks of knights, covering the wedge from the rear, were crushed by the blow of the Russian heavy cavalry.
The warriors, who had special spears with hooks, pulled the knights from their horses; warriors, armed with special knives, incapacitated the horses, after which the knight became an easy prey. And as it is written in "The Life of Alexander Nevsky", "and there was a slash of evil, and the crackle from the spears of breaking, and the sound from the cut of the sword, as if the frozen lake would move. And you could not see the ice: covered with blood."
Chud, who made up the bulk of the infantry, seeing their army surrounded, ran to their native shore. Some knights, together with the master, managed to break through the encirclement ring, and they tried to flee. The Russians pursued the fleeing enemy for 7 versts, to the opposite shore of Lake Peipsi. Already near the western coast, the runners began to sink into the ice, since the ice is always thinner near the coast. The pursuit of the remnants of a defeated enemy outside the battlefield was a new phenomenon in the development of Russian military art. The Novgorodians did not celebrate their victory "on the dice", as was customary before.
The German knights were completely defeated. The issue of the losses of the parties is still controversial. About Russian losses it is said vaguely - "many brave soldiers fell." In the Russian annals it is written that 500 knights were killed, and there were countless Chudi, 50 noble knights were taken prisoner. During the entire First Crusade, the knights participated much less. In German chronicles, the numbers are much more modest. Recent studies indicate that about 400 German soldiers actually fell on the ice of Lake Peipsi, 20 of them were knight brothers, 90 Germans (of whom 6 were "real" knights) were captured.
In the summer of 1242, the Order concluded a peace treaty with Novgorod, returning all the lands it had seized from it. The prisoners on both sides were exchanged.
The "Battle on the Ice" was the first time in the history of military art when a heavy knightly cavalry was defeated in a field battle by an army, which consisted mostly of infantry. The new battle order of the Russian troops invented by Alexander Nevsky turned out to be flexible, as a result of which it was possible to encircle the enemy, the battle formation of which was a sedentary mass. At the same time, the infantry successfully interacted with the cavalry.
The death of so many professional soldiers greatly undermined the power of the Livonian Order in the Baltic States. The victory over the German army on the ice of Lake Peipsi saved the Russian people from German enslavement and was of great political and military-strategic importance, delaying the further offensive of the Germans to the East for almost several centuries, which was the main line of German policy from 1201 to 1241. This is the great historical significance of the Russian victory on April 5, 1242.

References.

1. Life of Alexander Nevsky.
2.100 Great Battles / Replies ed. A. Agrashenkov and others - Moscow, 2000.
3. The World History... Crusaders and Mongols. - Volume 8 - Minsk, 2000.
4. Venkov A.V., Derkach S.V. Great generals and their battles. - Rostov-on-Don, 1999

It took place on July 15, 1240 (old style) and was very important event in the history of the XII century. Russia, then ruined by the Tatars, was in the most dire situation. The Order of the Swordsmen, which is dangerous to us, has established itself on the Dvina (see article Livonia and the Livonian Order); and the Roman curia erected on Russia the Swedes, who were at war with the Novgorodians for Finland. Pope Innocent IV ordered the Archbishop of Uppsala to proclaim a crusade against the Russians.

Obeying the Vatican bull, the archbishop persuaded the Swedish king Eric Erikson Kartaviy and his son-in-law and favorite Birger to undertake a campaign against Trans-Baltic pagans, as he called the Russians, promising the warlike Birger an easy conquest of Novgorod. Many Swedes, Norwegians and Finns (Sumi, Yami) united under the banner of Birger, and in the summer of 1240, arrived on boats to the Izhora River, at its confluence with the Neva. The arrogant Swedish commander, dreaming of conquering Ladoga and Novgorod, sent a message to Prince Alexander Yaroslavich: “Fight with me if you dare; I already stand in your land. "

Having no time to wait for help from his father, the Grand Duke of Vladimir, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, Alexander gathered his small squad, accepted the blessing of Archbishop Spiridon and calmly said to his small soldiers: "We are few, but the enemy is strong: but God is not in power, but in truth - go with your prince." On July 14, the Novgorod militia approached the banks of the Neva, and on the 15th, like lightning, it rushed at the Swedes. The speed and surprise of the blow led them to confusion, and the courage of the prince himself and his squad completed the victory in the Battle of the Neva. Alexander with his own sword laid the seal on Birger's face. Brave Gavrila Aleksich, the ancestor of the poet A.S. Pushkin, saw the prince, being brought under the arms in a boat, jumped after him onto the board, on which the Swedes were descending. Thrown into the water with his horse, he nevertheless escaped and surprised the enemies with his courage. Warrior Sbyslav Yakunovich with an ax in his hands broke into the middle of the enemies. The Novgorodian Misha with a detachment of infantry captured three enemy ships, and the prince's hunter, Yakov Polochanin, with a handful of brave ones, exterminated an entire regiment of Swedes and earned Alexander's special favor. His two faithful youths, Ratmir and Savva, were also not inferior in courage to any of the Russian knights. Ratmir fought on foot, weakened from his wounds and fell dead, to the general regret of ours. Savva cut the pillar of Birger's golden-domed tent - the tent fell, and the Novgorodians proclaimed victory.

Fight of Alexander Nevsky with Birger. Painting by N. Roerich

A dark night ended the battle and saved the remnants of the Swedish militia. The enemy lost many killed, including one of the Swedish commanders and a bishop. Birger was afraid to wait for the morning. Having filled two augers with the bodies of officials, he ordered the other corpses to be buried in a hole and hurried to use the darkness to escape with many wounded. The damage on our side was insignificant: the chroniclers assure that only 20 people of Novgorod and Ladoga died.

It often happens that we know about this or that historical event not because it played an important role in the fate of the state and the people, but because historians described it, and teachers included it in the school curriculum.

For example, few people have not heard of Battle of the Neva in 1240 and her winner, Prince Alexander Yaroslavich , who, after winning it, received the honorary nickname Nevsky .

Painting by N. Roerich
"Fight of Alexander Nevsky with Jarl Birger"

Nice, isn't it? But this picture should have been called a little differently. For example, like this, albeit somewhat lengthy: "The fictional battle of Alexander Nevsky with Jarl Birger, who did not participate in the Swedes' expedition to the mouth of the Neva in 1240, while being in Sweden at that time, and was not struck by the young prince of Novgorod in the eye, but let it remain on his conscience. those who invented all this, and I am an artist, therefore I have the right to fiction! Nicholas Roerich. "

Conversely, few have heard of Battle of Ladoga 1164 (and even more so, hardly anyone will be able to name the names of the winners).
But it was precisely this battle that prevented the conquest of Novgorod land three quarters of a century before famous battle on the Neva. Yes, and the enemies were the same - the Swedes, and their goals were similar - the conquest of new territories and the conversion of their population to Catholicism .

If you want to learn about the Ladoga battle and why it turned out to be deleted from our history, then go under the cat and ...

Velikiy Novgorod and Sweden (Kingdom of Sveis, Goths and Wends) were neighboring states, and their centuries-old life side by side in the Middle Ages did not go without military conflicts, the culprits of which, in fairness, were both sides. For the time being, these conflicts were in the nature of small skirmishes, primarily over production, when the Swedes penetrated the lands controlled by Novgorod, and the Novgorodians, in turn, entered the Swedish territories. There was no talk of the conquest of the territory of the neighboring state, and even more so about the forcible conversion of local residents to their faith.

However, in 1164 year, the Swedes made the first fairly large (for those times, of course) military naval campaign ( ledung ) to the Novgorod lands, which marked the beginning of the centuries-old rivalry between the Russians and the Swedes, which ended only in 1809 a military victory Russian Empire and the rejection of Finland from Sweden.

But before starting the story about this campaign of the Swedes, it is necessary to go back a little in time to find out what preceded it.

V 1155 year Karl, son of Sverker , became Jarl (military ruler, prince, if in Russian) Gotaland ("land is ready"). He was a talented ruler, smart and, what is especially important, successful. In 1161, at the battle of Orebro, he defeated the usurper king from Denmark - Magnus Henriksen. In the same year he was elected king of Svealand , which became the center of the unification of Sweden.

In Swedish history Karl Sverkersson known as Charles VII (ruled 1161-1667) .

Karl Sverkerson's Royal Seal:

Actually, its serial number is more than arbitrary, since the previous six Karls were legendary kings, and whether they were at all is not entirely clear.
Anyway, in a dispute with Tsar Ivan the Terrible who accused the Swedish King Johan III in artistry, he, as a confirmation of the antiquity of a kind, cited precisely "King Carlus" , called by him the first Swedish king, from which his royal dynasty is reckoned. (However, in this ideological dispute, King Johan III was hopelessly losing. Ivan IV, who openly mocked Johan's "muzhik" origins, made a murderous argument that he, the Russian Tsar, traces his ancestry back to the very first Roman emperor, Caesar Octavian Augustus).

Nevertheless, it was during the not too long reign of Karl Sverkerson that the process of turning Sweden into a single state began. And it was under Charles that Sweden received its own archbishop - in 1164 Monk Stefan from the Alvastra Monastery became it. The center of the archbishopric was the city of Uppsala.
In the same year, the Swedes began a campaign against southern Finland in order to add the Finnish lands to their state, and the pagan Sum and Em tribes inhabiting these lands (Finland's self-name is "Suomi", if anyone does not know, that is, "sum" Old Russian) to convert to Catholicism. This crusade will drag on for years, but as a result, a bishopric with the center in Abo will be founded on the Finnish lands (the Finnish name of this city is Turku, but the Swedes still call it Abo).

Apparently, on the courage, the Swedes then decided to check the "weak" and Novgorodians. Moreover, there was a reason for the conflict: once upon a time the city of Ladoga (Aldeigüborg) was transferred Grand Duke Yaroslav Vladimirovich the Wise into the management of the Swedish Jarl Rognwald as a wedding ransom for Ingigerdu, daughter of the Swedish King Olav Sjötkonung ... And now, more than a century later, the Swedes have remembered their "legal" rights.

LADOZHA KILLING

May 30 (new style) 1164 Swedish flotilla of 55 augers approached Ladoga. (Shneka is a sailing and rowing ship with from 10 to 40 oars, with a crew of up to 100 people).

This is how the ship of the Normans is depicted - the drakkar on the famous
French tapestry from Bayo (late 11th century):

The Swedish augers, of course, did not look exactly like the drakkars depicted on this tapestry, but we must take into account the conventions of medieval art.

The Ladozhians were warned about the Swedish campaign (possibly by the Karelians or Izhorians who hated the Swedish invaders), and therefore managed to burn the wooden posad, and they themselves, led by posadnik Nezhatoya Tverdyatich hid behind the fortress walls, sending for help to Novgorod.

Ladoga since the time of the semi-legendary Rurik has not been the capital for a long time, but thanks to the efforts Mstislav the Great (son of Vladimir Monomakh) was a strong fortress covering Novgorod from the north.
However, how strong she was, we can only judge by those of her remains that have survived to our time and by the wonderful photographs of S. Prokudin-Gorsky in 1909:

"Old Ladoga Fortress. Entrance to the fence of the Church of St. George"

Swedes "... starting to approach the city on Saturday and not being successful at all towards the hail, n'n a big wound, taking in; and retreating into the Vorona River", - so describes The first Novgorod chronicle of the older edition an attempt to capture Ladoga on the move.
When they failed, the Swedes began a siege of the fortress. But June 4, 1164 the Novgorod army arrived at Ladoga, led by Prince Svyatoslav Rostislavich (the paternal uncle of Mstislav Mstislavich Udatny) and Novgorod mayor Zakhary .
It seems that the Swedes did not expect such a quick appearance of the Novgorodians, because there were about 230 kilometers from Novgorod to Ladoga), so they were defeated at one point: "... And the victory and with God's help, ova issekosha, and another izymasha: came to byahu in half a set auger, izmasha 43 auger; but few of them run away and you are ulcers "(from the same chronicle source).

Needless to say - a complete victory!
The enemies fled, having lost 4/5 ships and soldiers (up to 4300 people); the winners took prisoners and significant trophies - 43 out of 55 augers.
For comparison - in the famous Battle of the Neva, according to the same Novgorod first chronicle of the older edition (not to consider the Life of Alexander Nevsky as a serious historical source), the Russian squad led by Prince Alexander Yaroslavich failed to capture a single auger and not a single prisoner, and the Swedes, burying the dead and taking the loot, they were able to return home relatively calmly. But we remember the battle of the Neva, but not about the larger and more significant Ladoga battle!

I managed to find only one single painting dedicated to this battle. This is a job Nikolai Mikhailovich Kochergin (1897 - 1974), now an almost forgotten artist, known only to those art critics who specialize in the work of illustrators of folklore works for children. (Although this is unfair to this wonderful artist, especially considering his biography. However, perhaps I will devote a separate post to him).
Here is the picture:

"The Battle of Novgorodians with the Swedes at the Ladoga Fortress in 1164"

Why did Russian history forget about such a significant victory?
So, in the "History of the Russian State" N. M. Karamzina The Battle of Ladoga is not even mentioned!

And the explanation, in my opinion, is quite simple.
The victor over the Swedes, Prince Svyatoslav Rostislavich was an appanage prince who (unlike Alexander Nevsky) did not belong to the clan of the Vladimir-Suzdal princes, from which the great dukes and tsars of Moscow later emerged. And when the official history of Russia was being written, there was no one to write a laudatory ode about him, which he deserves much more than some other princes of that time, whose names are well known to everyone. In addition, both Prince Svyatoslav Rostilavich and his associate, the Novgorod mayor Zakhary, were at enmity with the powerful Vladimir prince Andrei Bogolyubsky. And that explains a lot, doesn't it?

Thank you for attention.
Sergey Vorobyov.

In the summer of 1240, a small Swedish military detachment landed at the mouth of the Neva River, arriving on 6-7 ships (and in this case, the sources are contradictory).

How did we learn about the Neva battle. The descendants of the Vikings often staged surprise attacks on adjacent territories. Unfortunately, few sources testify to the events of the summer of 1240. In Swedish sources there is no information about the Battle of the Neva, in Russian there is a short news of the Novgorod First Chronicle and a more lengthy text of Alexander Nevsky's Life, which was created in the 1280s. and probably contained eyewitness accounts of the acts of the great Russian prince.

Interests of the Swedes. Historians disagree about plans and progress military operation Swedish knights in 1240. Some of them believe that the military expedition of the Swedes was in the nature of an ordinary predatory raid, which did not have far-reaching goals. Others believe that the Swedish "landing" had strategic objectives. The fact is that the interests of the Swedish nobility and the Novgorod boyars clashed on the Karelian Isthmus, over which both were equally trying to establish control.

In the second half of the XII century, Swedish knights conquered Southwestern Finland, and from the beginning of the XIII century. put under their control the Eme tribe, on the territory of which Novgorod also claimed. A clash between the Novgorodians and the Swedes in the struggle for the disputed territories was inevitable. The landing of the Swedes at the mouth of the Neva was of a reconnaissance nature. If successful, the Swedish conquerors could not only gain a foothold on the borders north of the Neva, but also prepare a bridgehead for the gradual occupation of Novgorod territories. A keen interest in the northern territories inhabited by pagans (for example, the Finnish Tavast tribe) and "schismatics" - Orthodox, showed Catholic Church... Of course, the Swedes knew about the position of Russia after the Tatar pogrom, they understood that Novgorod would not receive ordinary military assistance from the southern Russian lands.

The seizure of the banks of the Neva was supposed to help the Swedes complete the seizure of Finland, but for Novgorod the loss of the Neva meant the loss of the only outlet to the Baltic Sea, the collapse of all foreign trade.

Sum is preparing for a hike. The trip was carried out by Swedish knights with detachments of the Sumy tribe under their control. The noble Swedish knight Ulf Fasi headed the campaign. At this time, Sweden did not have a navy, so a militia was going to organize a naval military campaign. Each coastal area had to equip, equip and provide provisions and sailors a certain number of ships. Crossing the sea, loading a military detachment from the Sumy tribe onto ships, and finally, the journey from South-Western Finland took probably at least two weeks, so the beginning of the campaign should be attributed to the end of June.

The initial goal of the Swedish landing was the Ladoga fortress located at the mouth of the Volkhov, the capture of which opened up broad prospects for the conquest of the entire North-Western region and the spread of Catholicism.

The movement of the Swedes was the first to be "guarded" by the Izhora elder Pelgusiy, who was on patrol in the Neva delta. He sent messengers, who arrived in Novgorod on replacement horses within 10 hours.

Prince Alexander acts quickly and discreetly. The sudden landing of the Swedish "assault force" put Prince Alexander in a difficult position. Lacking time for long training sessions, he had to attack the enemy in the shortest possible time with the squad and the forces that could be assembled in the immediate vicinity. The collection of the Russian commander took no more than a day. Apparently, most of his troops were foot detachments, ferrying to the scene on river ships along the Volkhov and Neva to the mouth of the Izhora, where the Swedish camp was located. For Alexander Yaroslavich with small troops, surprise was very important. But from the upper reaches of the Neva to the mouth of the Izhora, there was a wonderful view of the river flow for many kilometers. Naturally, the Swedish patrols would have found the enemy without difficulty. Therefore, Russian troops landed a few kilometers from the site of the upcoming battle.

Alexander gathered his troops away from the enemy's location; Russian squads managed to covertly approach the enemy camp. The Swedes, camped at the mouth of the Neva, clearly did not expect the enemy to appear.

The sources do not provide accurate information on the number of Russian and Swedish troops. Considering that for the Swedes the campaign was mostly of an intelligence nature, and the prince of Novgorod gathered his troops in the shortest possible time, no more than 3-5 thousand people took part in the battle on both sides.

The fight. The defeat of the Swedes. Alexander Nevsky brilliantly used the confusion of an enemy who was not prepared for battle. The Russian army consisted of no less than five detachments, each of which had its own mission. The Swedes retained a typical battle formation, when simple warriors were surrounded by knights in a strictly defined order.

The battle began with an attack by the spearmen (foot troops armed with long spears), which caused serious damage to the enemy. Another part of the army, wielding axes, cut into the very thick of the enemy, chopping off the base of the tent, a kind of headquarters of the commander of the Swedes. While the prince's horse squad was methodically destroying the Swedish camp, the militia blocked the enemy's path to retreat.

The battle consisted of many skirmishes, attacks, clashes between Swedish and Russian troops. The initiative belonged to the Russians, but the Swedes also offered desperate resistance, since a stampede to the ships would mean certain death.

Heroes-Russians. The detachments converged and dispersed more than once, therefore, the enemy troops throughout the battle retained military discipline, battle formations, and the ability to control. The Swedes, realizing the hopelessness of the situation, fought with the despair of the doomed. As the chronicle tells, many Novgorodians distinguished themselves in battle with military prowess. Sbyslav Yakunovich fought among many enemies and "having no fear in his heart he struck many of them"; Gavrila Oleksich, whom A.S. Pushkin considered his ancestor, pursued the noble Swede to the very ship, was thrown into the water, but managed to swim out and continued to fight; Novgorodian Misha with his detachment destroyed three light Swedish ships, and Savva knocked down the tent of the leader of the Swedish detachment.

Typical medieval battle. The conclusion of some historians is hardly correct, that the squad of Alexander Yaroslavich went behind enemy lines and cut off the enemy's path to retreat, since in this case the entire Swedish detachment would be cut off from their ships and destroyed, which, as follows from the text of the chronicle and " Life ... "did not happen. In addition, in medieval battles, as a rule, the goal of the complete destruction of the enemy was not set. The losing side left the battlefield, which the winners did not hinder in the least. In this sense, the Battle of the Neva was a typical medieval battle.

The battle on July 15, 1240 lasted from 10 am until late at night. With the onset of darkness, the Swedes gathered the remnants of the troops and went home on the surviving ships, not forgetting to take the bodies of the dead noble warriors.

The scale of the battle and its meaning. The battle of the Neva is not one of the largest in military history... The Novgorod chronicles indicate the death toll of Novgorodians at 20, while the Swedes allegedly loaded three ships with the bodies of the dead, which is undoubtedly an exaggeration. The losses on both sides, apparently, amounted to several hundred people. Among the legends is the chronicle legend about the death by the sword of Alexander Nevsky, a noble Swedish military leader - Jarl Birger.

Nevertheless, the brilliant victory of Russia over foreign invaders was of great historical significance. First, the Swedes failed to capture Ladoga and begin the systematic seizure of Russian territories. Secondly, the possibility of accidental or planned interaction of Swedish and German knights on Russian soil was excluded. Finally, the Swedes failed to cut off the Russian north-west from the Baltic Sea and control the trade route to the "lower lands".

Read also other topics part IX "Russia between East and West: battles of the 13th and 15th centuries." section "Russia and Slavic countries in the Middle Ages":

• 39. "Who is the essence and the secession of the issue": the Tatar-Mongols by the beginning of the XIII century.
• 41. Genghis Khan and the "Muslim front": campaigns, sieges, conquests
• 42. Russia and Cumans on the eve of Kalka
  • Polovtsi. Military-political organization and social structure of the Polovtsian hordes
  • Prince Mstislav Udaloy. Princely Congress in Kiev - the decision to help the Polovtsy
• 44. Crusaders in the Eastern Baltic