Grand Prince of Vladimir from 1252 to 1263
Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky
[1]
(
Russian
:
Александр Ярославич Невский
;
IPA:
[?l???ksandr
j?r??s?av??t?
?n??fsk??j]
ⓘ
;
monastic name
:
Aleksiy
;
[2]
13 May 1221
[3]
? 14 November 1263) was
Prince of Novgorod
(1236?1240; 1241?1256; 1258?1259),
Grand Prince of Kiev
(1246?1263) and
Grand Prince of Vladimir
(1252?1263).
Commonly regarded as a key figure in medieval Russian history,
Alexander was a grandson of
Vsevolod the Big Nest
and rose to legendary status on account of his military victories over Swedish invaders. He preserved separate statehood and
Orthodoxy
, agreeing to pay tribute to the powerful
Golden Horde
. Metropolitan
Macarius of Moscow
canonized Alexander Nevsky as a saint of the
Russian Orthodox Church
in 1547.
[5]
Early life
[
edit
]
From the
Tales of the Life and Courage of the Pious and Great Prince Alexander
found in the
Second Pskovian Chronicle
(
c.
1260?1280
) comes one of the first known references to Alexander Yaroslavich:
[6]
By the will of God, prince Alexander was born from the
charitable, people-loving, and meek the Great Prince Yaroslav, and
his mother was Theodosia. As it was told by the prophet
Isaiah
:
'Thus sayeth the Lord: I appoint the princes because they are
sacred and I direct them.'
...He was taller than others and his voice reached the people
as a trumpet, and his face was like the face of
Joseph
, whom
the Egyptian
Pharaoh
placed as next to the king after him of
Egypt. His power was a part of the power of
Samson
and
God gave him the wisdom of
Solomon
... this Prince Alexander: he
used to defeat but was never defeated...
Born in
Pereslavl-Zalessky
, Alexander was the second son of Prince
Yaroslav Vsevolodovich
and Feodosia Igorevna of Ryazan. His maternal grandfather was Igor Glebovich, the second son of Gleb Rostislavich, the prince of Ryazan (
d.
1178
). His maternal grandmother was Agrafena of Kiev, daughter of
Rostislav I of Kiev
.
Reign
[
edit
]
Prince of Novgorod
[
edit
]
In 1236, Alexander was appointed by the
Novgorodians
to become their
prince
(
knyaz
), where he had already served as his father's governor in Novgorod.
[7]
In 1237, the Swedes received papal authorization to
launch a crusade
, and in 1240, new campaigns began in the easternmost part of the Baltic region.
According to the
Novgorod First Chronicle
written in the 14th century, more than a century after the events it records, the Swedish army landed at the confluence of the rivers
Izhora
and
Neva
, when Alexander and his small army suddenly attacked the Swedes on 15 July 1240 and defeated them at the
Battle of the Neva
. Following the battle, Alexander received the
sobriquet
Nevsky
("of the Neva").
[9]
This victory, coming just three years after the disastrous
Mongol invasions
, strengthened Alexander's political influence, but at the same time it worsened his relations with the
boyars
. Alexander would be banished to
Pereslavl-Zalessky
.
Later in 1240, crusaders from the
Bishopric of Dorpat
along with the forces of the exiled prince of Pskov attacked the
Pskov Republic
and
Votia
, a tributary of Novgorod.
The Novgorodian authorities recalled Alexander, and in the spring of 1241, he returned from exile and assembled an army. Alexander managed to retake Pskov and
Koporye
from the crusaders and drive out the invaders.
[11]
He then continued into Estonian-German territory.
The crusaders defeated a detachment of the Novgorodian army about 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of the fortress of
Dorpat
. As a result, Alexander set up a position at
Lake Peipus
.
Alexander and his men then faced the Livonian heavy cavalry led by
Hermann of Dorpat
, brother of
Albert of Buxhoeveden
, where they met on 5 April 1242.
Alexander's army then defeated the enemy in the
Battle on the Ice
, halting the eastward expansion of the
Teutonic Order
.
[12]
Later Russian sources would elevate the importance of the battle and portray it as one of the great Russian victories of the Middle Ages.
After the Livonian invasion, Nevsky continued to strengthen the Republic of Novgorod. He sent his envoys to Norway and, as a result, they signed a first peace treaty between Novgorod and Norway in 1251. Alexander led his army to Finland and successfully routed the Swedes, who had made another attempt to block the
Baltic Sea
from the Novgorodians in 1256.
[14]
Grand Prince of Vladimir
[
edit
]
Upon the conquest of the
Grand Principality of Vladimir
by the Mongols in 1238,
[15]
its reigning prince,
Yuri II Vsevolodovich
, was killed in the
Battle of the Sit River
; his younger brother,
Yaroslav II Vsevolodovich
(Alexander's father), requested and received from the Mongol khan his permission to become the new prince. As prince, he assigned Novgorod to his son Alexander. However, while traveling in 1245 to the Mongol capital
Karakorum
in Central Asia, Yaroslav died. When in 1248 Alexander and his older brother
Andrey II Yaroslavich
also traveled to Karakorum to attend upon the Great Khan, Andrey returned with the award of the title of
grand prince of Vladimir
and Alexander the nominal lordship of Kiev.
[15]
The
Rurikid
princes of Rus' were obliged to appear before the khan in person to be affirmed in their principalities.
[16]
When
Mongke
became the new great khan in 1251, only two years after
Guyuk's
death, he demanded another appearance at
Sarai
on the Volga, but Andrei refused to go.
[17]
Thanks to his friendship with
Sartaq Khan
, the subsequent invasion by the Mongols, their first venture into northeastern Rus' since the initial conquest, saw Andrei exiled to Sweden and Alexander assuming the title of
grand prince of Vladimir
in 1252,
[18]
the most senior of the princes at the time following the fall of Kiev.
[19]
Alexander faithfully supported Mongol rule within his own domains. In 1259, he led an army to the city of Novgorod and forced it to pay tribute it had previously refused to the Golden Horde.
[20]
Some historians see Alexander's choice of subordination to the
Golden Horde
as an important reaffirmation of East Slavs' Orthodox orientation (which begun under
Vladimir I of Kiev
and his grandmother
Olga
).
[21]
Orlando Figes
mentions that "Nevsky's collaboration was no doubt motivated by his distrust of the West, which he regarded as a greater threat to Orthodox Russia than the Golden Horde".
[19]
Death and burial
[
edit
]
On 14 November 1263, while returning from
Sarai
on one of his frequent visits to the Horde, Alexander died in the town of
Gorodets
-on-the-
Volga
. On 23 November 1263, he was buried in the church of the Monastery of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of God in
Vladimir
.
[22]
From the
Second Pskovian Chronicle
:
[6]
Returning from the Golden Horde, the Great Prince Alexander,
reached the city of Nizhny Novgorod, and remained there
for several days in good health, but when he reached the
city of Gorodets he fell ill...
Great Prince Alexander, who was always firm in his faith in
God, gave up this worldly kingdom ... And then he gave up
his soul to God and died in peace on 12 November [1263], on
the day when the Holy Apostle Philip is remembered...
At this burial Metropolitan Archbishop Cyril said, 'My
children, you should know that the sun of the Suzdalian land
has set. There will never be another prince like him in the
Suzdalian land.'
And the priests and deacons and monks, the poor and
the wealthy, and all the people said: 'It is our end.'
Veneration and sainthood
[
edit
]
The veneration of Alexander began almost immediately after his burial, when he reportedly extended his hand for the prayer of absolution.
[22]
According to Orthodox tradition, Alexander foresaw his death and before this took strict
Orthodox Christian
monastic vows, called
Great Schema
, and took the name Alexey.
In 1380, Alexander's remains were uncovered in response to a
vision
before the
Battle of Kulikovo
and found to be
incorrupt
. The relics were then placed in a shrine in the church. Alexander was canonized as a saint of the
Russian Orthodox Church
by
Metropolitan Macarius
in 1547.
[22]
In 1695, a new wooden reliquary was made in Moscow, and the relics were placed in it in 1697.
[22]
By order of
Peter the Great
, the relics were then removed from Vladimir on 11 August 1723 and transported to
Shlisselburg
, arriving there on 20 September.
[22]
There they were kept until 1724, when they were brought to
Saint Petersburg
and installed in the
Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra
on 30 August.
[22]
In 1753, a
silver shrine with sarcophagus
for the relics, made with 90 pounds of silver, was donated by Empress
Elizabeth of Russia
. With the completion of the
Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra
in 1790, the shrine and relics were transferred there at its consecration on 30 August, one of the saint's feast days.
[22]
In May 1922, during the
general confiscation of Russian Orthodox Church property
, the sarcophagus was opened and the relics removed;
[23]
and the elaborate silver shrine was transferred to the
Hermitage Museum
.
[23]
The relics were put into storage at the
Museum of the History of Religion
and Atheism, before being returned to the Holy Trinity Cathedral in 1989.
[23]
On 10 May 2023, the Hermitage Museum and Alexander Nevsky Lavra signed a contract for the transfer of the shrine to Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra for a period of 49 years.
[24]
On 12 September 2023,
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow
placed the relics back into the silver sarcophagus.
[25]
Alexander's principal
feast day
is 23 November. A second feast day was instituted on 30 August in commemoration of the placing of his relics in the Annunciation Church. He is also commemorated in common with other saints of
Rostov
and
Yaroslavl
on 23 May.
In February 2024, it was announced that the memory of Saint Alexander Nevsky had been removed from the
synaxarion
used by the
Orthodox Church of Ukraine
.
[26]
Marriage and children
[
edit
]
According to the
Novgorod First Chronicle
, Alexander married first a daughter of Bryacheslav Vasilkovich, Prince of
Polotsk
and
Vitebsk
, in 1239. Her name is not given in the chronicle. Genealogies name her as Paraskeviya or Alexandra (possibly birth and marital names respectively). They had five children:
He married a second wife named Vasilisa or Vassa
[27]
shortly before his death. They had one son.
Legacy
[
edit
]
Some of Alexander's policies on the Western border were continued by his grandson-in-law,
Daumantas of Pskov
, who was also beatified in the 16th century. In the late 13th century, a
chronicle
was compiled called the
Life of Alexander Nevsky
(Житие Александра Невского), in which he is depicted as an ideal prince-soldier and defender of Russia.
On 21 May 1725, the empress
Catherine I
introduced the
Imperial Order of St. Alexander Nevsky
as one of the highest
decorations
in the land. During
World War II
, on 29 July 1942, the
Soviet
authorities introduced an
Order of Alexander Nevsky
to revive the memory of Alexander's struggle with the Germans. There was also an earlier
Bulgarian Order
dedicated to Saint Alexander which was founded on 25 December 1881, which ceased to exist when the
People's Republic
was declared on 16 September 1946.
In 1938,
Sergei Eisenstein
made one of his most acclaimed films,
Alexander Nevsky
, about Alexander's victory over the Teutonic Knights. The
soundtrack
for the film was written by
Sergei Prokofiev
, who also reworked the score into a concert
cantata
. Today the film is renowned for its extraordinary battle on ice sequence, which has served as inspiration for countless other films. In the picture, Nevsky used a number of Russian
proverbs
, tying Nevsky firmly to Russian tradition.
[29]
The famous proverbial phrase (paraphrasing Matthew 26:52), "Whoever will come to us with a sword, from a sword will perish," is a phrase that is often attributed to Alexander Nevsky, though it was not in fact said by him; it comes from Eisenstein's film, where it was said by actor
Nikolai Cherkasov
.
There is a long tradition of Russian naval vessels bearing Nevsky's name, such as the 19th-century propeller frigate
Alexander Nevsky
and
K-550
Alexander Nevsky
, a nuclear powered
ballistic missile submarine
currently in service with the
Russian Navy
.
[30]
Alexander Nevsky's fame was spread wherever Imperial Russia had a strong influence; thus numerous cathedrals and churches were dedicated to him, including the
Patriarchal Cathedral
in
Sofia
,
Bulgaria
; the
Cathedral church
in
Tallinn
,
Estonia
; the
Cathedral church
in
Łod?
,
Poland
; the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in
Ungheni
,
Moldova
.
On 24 September 2008, Alexander Nevsky was declared the main hero of Russia's history by popular vote, as reported by the
Kommersant
newspaper. In December 2008, he was voted the greatest Russian in the
Name of Russia
television poll.
[31]
During the 2021 Moscow Victory Day Parade, a small historical segment of the parade featured Russian soldiers dressed in historical M1945 Red Army uniforms carrying out the Soviet combat banners which received the
Order of Alexander Nevsky
during the war. This segment coincided with the 800th anniversary since the birth of Alexander Nevsky in 1221.
[32]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Благоверный князь Алекса?ндр (в схиме Алекси?й) Невский"
.
azbyka.ru
(in Russian).
Archived
from the original on 26 August 2021
. Retrieved
26 August
2021
.
- ^
Православные храмы Москвы
. Изд. Московской Патриархии. 1988. p. 21.
- ^
V.A. Kuchkin (1986).
О дате рождения Александра Невского
[About the Birthdate of Alexander Nevsky].
Вопросы истории [Questions of History]
(in Russian) (2): 174?176. Archived from
the original
on 22 February 2015.
- ^
"The Faithful Saint Prince Alexandr Nevsky"
Archived
23 October 2021 at the
Wayback Machine
(in Russian)
, article read on 4 November 2010.
- ^
a
b
Begunov, K., translator,
Second Pskovian Chronicle
, ("Isbornik", Moscow, 1955) pp. 11?15.
- ^
Murray, Alan V. (30 August 2006).
The Crusades [4 volumes]: An Encyclopedia [4 volumes]
. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 42.
ISBN
978-1-57607-863-1
.
- ^
Fonnesberg-Schmidt 2007
, pp. 216?217, The Russian victory was later depicted as an event of great national importance and Prince Alexander was given the sobriquet "Nevskii".
- ^
Fonnesberg-Schmidt 2007
, p. 218, After pleas from Novgorod Alexander returned in 1241 and marched against Kopor'e. Having conquered the fortress and captured the remaining Latin Christians, he executed those local Votians who had cooperated with the invaders.
- ^
Riley-Smith Jonathan Simon Christopher.
The Crusades: a History
, US, 1987,
ISBN
0300101287
, p. 198.
- ^
The Chronicle of Novgorod, 1016?1471
. Offices of the Society. 1914.
Archived
from the original on 17 April 2023
. Retrieved
2 November
2016
.
- ^
a
b
Feldbrugge, Ferdinand J. M. (20 October 2017).
A History of Russian Law: From Ancient Times to the Council Code (Ulozhenie) of Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich of 1649
. BRILL. p. 36.
ISBN
978-90-04-35214-8
.
- ^
Martin, Janet (2007).
Medieval Russia, 980?1584
(2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 173.
ISBN
978-0521859165
.
The khans were recognized as suzerains of the Riurikid princes. Within the Rus' lands, however, they exercised their authority primarily through the dynasty. But the khans appointed and confirmed individual princes within the dynasty for each ruling position. Riurikid princes were, accordingly required to appear personally before the khans to pay obeisance and receive their patents to rule.
- ^
Martin, Janet (2007).
Medieval Russia, 980?1584
(2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 178.
ISBN
978-0521859165
.
- ^
Martin, Janet (2007).
Medieval Russia, 980?1584
(2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 158?161, 178.
ISBN
978-0521859165
.
- ^
a
b
Figes, Orlando (2022).
The Story of Russia
. Metropolitan Books. pp. 38?39.
In 1252, Nevsky travelled to Sarai, where Batu Khan appointed him the grand prince of Vladimir, the most senior of the princes following the fall of Kiev. He acted as the Mongols' loyal servant, suppressing a rebellion in Novgorod and other towns against their census officials. Nevsky's collaboration was no doubt motivated by his distrust of the West, which he regarded as a greater threat to Orthodox Russia than the Golden Horde, generally tolerant of religions. He recognised the Mongols as powerful protectors of the lucrative north Russian trade with the Baltic Germans and Sweden. But Nevsky's realpolitik caused a problem for the chroniclers, particularly after he was made a saint by the Russian Church in 1547, for in their terms he had colluded with the infidel.
- ^
Martin 2007, op. cit., pp. 168?170
- ^
Tarkiainen, Kari (2008).
Sveriges Osterland. Fran forntiden till Gustav Vasa
(in Swedish). Helsingfors: Svenska litteratursallskapet i Finland. pp. 96?97.
ISBN
978-951-583-162-0
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
"Translation of the relics of St Alexander Nevsky"
. The
Orthodox Church in America
.
Archived
from the original on 23 April 2019
. Retrieved
23 April
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Aleksandro-Nevskaya Lavra"
. rusmania.com.
Archived
from the original on 23 April 2019
. Retrieved
23 April
2019
.
- ^
Guzeva, Alexandra (18 May 2023).
"Alexander Nevsky's shrine: Why Petersburg relic is leaving the Hermitage"
.
Russia Beyond
. Retrieved
13 October
2023
.
- ^
"PATRIARCH KIRILL PLACES RELICS OF ST. ALEXANDER NEVSKY IN NEWLY RETURNED SARCOPHAGUS"
.
Orthodox Christianity
. 13 September 2023
. Retrieved
13 October
2023
.
- ^
"Alexander Nevsky ejected from the liturgical calendar of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church"
. Retrieved
14 February
2024
.
- ^
Н. М. Карамзин.
История государства Российского. Том 4. Глава 2
Archived
23 March 2010 at the
Wayback Machine
Существование второй жены Александра у историков вызывает сомнения. Некоторые полагают, что Васса ? монашеское имя Александры Брячиславовны. Подробнее по этому вопросу см. А. Карпов, Александр Невский (ЖЗЛ), М.: Молодая гвардия, 2010. С. 89
ISBN
978-5-235-03312-2
- ^
"
"History", St. Daniel Monastery, Moscow"
. Archived from
the original
on 24 May 2013
. Retrieved
27 January
2019
.
- ^
Kevin McKenna. 2009. "Proverbs and the Folk Tale in the Russian Cinema: The Case of Sergei Eisenstein’s Film Classic
Aleksandr Nevsky
."
The Proverbial ≪Pied Piper≫ A Festschrift Volume of Essays in Honor of Wolfgang Mieder on the Occasion of His Sixty-Fifth Birthday
, ed. by Kevin McKenna, pp. 277?292. New York, Bern: Peter Lang.
- ^
The US Liberty ship the
S.S.
Henry W. Corbett
, launched in 1943 in
Portland, Oregon
, US was lent to the U.S.S.R. during WWII. After the war it was renamed by the Russian navy the
Alexander Nevsky
.
- ^
"Stalin voted third-best Russian"
. BBC. 28 December 2008.
Archived
from the original on 30 July 2017
. Retrieved
29 December
2008
.
- ^
"Подробнее : Министерство обороны Российской Федерации"
.
function.mil.ru
.
Archived
from the original on 22 May 2021
. Retrieved
22 May
2021
.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Fonnesberg-Schmidt, Iben (2007).
The popes and the Baltic crusades, 1147?1254
. Brill.
ISBN
9789004155022
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Bain, Robert Nisbet
(1911).
"Alexander Nevsky, Saint"
.
Encyclopædia Britannica
. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). p. 556.
- Isoaho, Mari.
The Image of Aleksandr Nevskiy in Medieval Russia: Warrior and Saint (The Northern World; 21)
. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2006 (hardcover,
ISBN
90-04-15101-X
).
- "Tale of the Life and Courage of the Pious and Great Prince Alexander [Nevsky]" in
Medieval Russia's Epics, Chronicles, and Tales
, ed.
Serge Zenkovsky
, 224?235 (New York: Meridian, 1974)
External links
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]
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