Alex nevsky biography

Petersburg on August 30, Peter the Great himself personally took part in the ceremony and controlled the galley on which the remains were transported. It was this day that was established as the main day of remembrance of the saint. Currently, the icon of Alexander Nevsky is extremely popular among Orthodox believers and is treated with great reverence.

In their prayers, the suffering turn to the saint with various requests for help, to give courage and to protect their Fatherland from enemies. This is the patron saint of all warriors; it is to him that alexes nevsky biography turn to when they are expecting their sons to leave the army. A brief retelling of the alex nevsky biography events is presented below.

Alexander Nevsky grew up handsome, stately and strong. Because of the attractive appearance of the young men, others were interested in them. Noble people from different countries came to Russian soil to look at the young prince. One day the Swedes wanted to conquer the Russian state. Before leaving, the prince instructed Pelgusius to stand guard.

He noticed the passion-bearers Boris and Gleb in the distance. The man told the prince about this, and Alexander went against the enemy. So the enemy was defeated. The next year, the Latins who came from the Western side attacked. Alexander destroyed the villages they had built. In the third year, the Livonian Germans attacked. The prince again defeated the enemy.

Another battle took place on Lake Peipsi. And this time the Germans went under the ice. The Russian army won. The commander goes home after meeting with the khan, but falls ill on the way. Before his death, he took monastic vows. Alexander's body was taken to Vladimir. One of the interesting facts is that the original image captured on canvas during the life of the Grand Duke has not survived.

His image was collected from various sources and descriptions of the 13th century, which was reflected in literature, fine art and cinema. The most famous portrait of Nevsky was painted from the actor who played the role in the film of the same name by Sergei Eisenstein. It was also taken as a prototype for the order named after the famous commander.

In addition, streets and squares in many Russian cities were named in his honor, monuments were erected. Daniel Monastery, Moscow". Archived from the original on 24 May Retrieved 27 January The Orthodox Church in America. Archived from the original on 23 April Retrieved 23 April Retrieved 23 January Russia Beyond. Retrieved 13 October Alexander Nevsky in Newly Returned Sarcophagus".

Orthodox Christianity. Retrieved 14 February Aftermath: Legacies and Memories of War in Europe, —— New York, Bern: Peter Lang. Troubled Identity and the Modern World. Henry W. After the war it was renamed by the Russian navy the Alexander Nevsky. Archived from the original on 30 July Retrieved 29 December Archived from the original on 22 May Retrieved 22 May Bibliography [ edit ].

Primary sources [ edit ]. Literature [ edit ]. Further reading [ edit ]. See also: Bibliography of the history of the Early Slavs and Rus'Bibliography of Russian history —and Bibliography of Russian history — External links [ edit ]. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexander Nevsky. Andrew II. Yaroslav III. Portals : Saints Biography Christianity Russia.

List of Russian monarchs. Authority control databases. Deutsche Biographie DDB. Hidden categories: Pages using the Phonos extension Articles containing Russian-language text CS1 Russian-language sources ru CS1 uses Russian-language script ru CS1 Swedish-language sources sv Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Use dmy dates from April Pages with Russian IPA Pages including recorded pronunciations All pages needing factual verification Wikipedia articles needing factual verification from November All articles lacking reliable references Articles lacking reliable references from December All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from November CS1 maint: location missing publisher CS1 Latin-language sources la Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference Commons category link is on Wikidata.

Toggle the table of contents. Alexander Nevsky. Yaroslav V. Andrey I. By contrast, the role Alexander took with regard to the Mongols seemed like a case of giving in to a foreign invader.

Alex nevsky biography

Yet he had little choice, and in retrospect it seems certain that he acted wisely. Russia first emerged as a political entity in about under the leadership of Kiev kee-YEVa city-state that is now the capital of Ukraine. Thus historians refer to the country during this period as "Kievan Russia," though in fact Russia was far from a single, unified nation.

It was instead a collection of city-states—actually duchies, or regions controlled by dukes—that were sometimes at war with one another and sometimes at peace. There, in a region close to other lands in Northern Europe, business interests had an influential role in easing the traditionally harsh control of Russian leaders. AfterKievan Russia began to disintegrate, and more than a century of turmoil followed.

To the east of Vladimir were the Volga Bulgars, a group of Turks who had settled in the region, and with whom the Russians maintained an uneasy peace. To the northwest were the Germans, Danes, and Swedes on the Baltic Seaalong with Letts or Latvians and Estonians; and to the west was Lithuania, then a significant power. At a time when religion dictated political allegiance, the Russians, who had embraced the Greek Orthodox Churchfound themselves faced with enemies on many sides: the Muslims in the east, and the Catholics in the west and northwest.

Early in the s came a new wave of potential enemies, a group who embraced no religion the Russians even recognized: the Mongols, whose leader was Genghis Khan see entry. When the Mongols attacked the Volga Bulgars, the Russians were divided as to which side they should take, with some states coming to the aid of their neighbors. The princes of Vladimir stayed out of the fight.

The Russian prince Yuri led the defense of Russia, but was killed in the fight, and the Mongols kept moving toward Novgorod, one of the most valued of the Russian states. Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, the Mongols turned away. The cause was probably the spring thaw, which turned the hard ground into mud that made it hard to cross.

The Mongols made a vast camp on the Volga River, which would serve as their base for many years to come. Bythey were on the move again, razing Kiev and marching deep into Europe, where they overcame Polish and German forces to conquer Hungary. They had nearly reached Vienna, Austria, in when suddenly they turned back again. This time the reason was that the ruling khan, or chieftain Genghis's successor had died, and Batu rushed back to Mongolia to ensure that he got a piece of the inheritance.

Thus Europe was saved from Mongol conquest, but the Mongols put down roots in Russia, where their empire became known as the "Golden Horde. Mongol rule in Russia was an established fact. The Mongols did not want the trouble of controlling Russia politically: they simply wanted to collect tribute, or taxes, and they needed Russian princes to ensure that the collection of these taxes—which included not only money but a tenth of each year's harvest—went smoothly.

Taking advantage of the Mongols' weakening of Russia, the Swedes had invaded Russian lands in on the pretext that they were there to alex nevsky biography people from Eastern Orthodoxy to Catholicism. It was then that Alexander, son of Yaroslav, made his first mark on history. Born in Vladimir, he had been raised among the tumultuous events of the Mongol invasion, and was prepared for war.

It was a small victory, but it made Alexander's name: from then on he would be known as Alexander of the Neva, or Alexander Nevsky. Having proven himself, the teenaged Alexander was given control over Novgorod, which was soon threatened by German invaders. These were the Teutonic too-TAHN-ik or German Knights, a group that had been formed as a semi-religious order, but whose real business was war and conquest.

In the winter ofAlexander and his brother Andrew raised a force from Novgorod to meet the invaders. Americans sometimes mistakenly lump all of Eastern Europe together, primarily because after World War II —45most of its nations fell under communist dictatorships allied with the Soviet Union. In fact, there is a sharp distinction between Eastern European nations that accepted Greek Orthodoxy during the Middle Agesand those that became Roman Catholic.

Orthodox lands, such as Russia, Bulgaria, and Serbia, adopted the alphabet of St. Cyril see dual entry with St. Methodiusand tended to have more rigid governments. Catholic lands, among them Hungary, Poland, and the modern Czech Republicwere more closely tied with Western traditions. One of the first important leaders of Catholic Eastern Europe was St.

Wenceslas WIN-suh-slaws; c. His grandmother raised him as a Christian, but his mother maintained old pagan traditions, and later had the grandmother killed. Wenceslas remained faithful to Catholicism, however, and encouraged the sending of missionaries to convert the Germans, many of whom still maintained pagan religions. Known for his kindness and his devotion to God, Wenceslas the subject of the Christmas song "Good King Wenceslas" was killed by his brother Boreslav, who wanted to take the throne.

Soon after his death, he was declared a martyr, or someone who has died for the faith, and was made a saint. King Stephen I of Hungary — also grew up in a world heavily influenced by paganism, but accepted Catholicism in In his haste to crown a new Christian king inSylvester sent Stephen a crown bearing a cross that was slightly bent. This remained the crown of Hungary—even appearing on the flag of the later Austro-Hungarian Empire—until InStephen was declared a saint.

He also instituted a new legal code that helped restore order in Hungary, which had been troubled by years of internal conflict, and was later declared a saint. Under his reign, Poland's territory and influence increased greatly, and he dealt successfully with both Bohemia and the same Teutonic Knights that had threatened Alexander Nevsky's Russia.

Polish armies under Casimir even occupied Russia in the s. Casimir instituted a series of laws, founded the University of Cracow, and ushered in a golden age of Polish history that lasted for some three hundred years. Winters in northern Russia are long, and the surface of Lake Chudskoe was still frozen when the Russian force marched out to meet the Germans, along with their Finnish allies, on April 5, In a scene made famous for modern filmgoers by the director Sergei Eisenstein, the invaders rushed at the defending Russians, who suddenly surprised them by closing ranks around the enemy and attacking them from the rear.

The Russians scored a huge victory in the "Battle on the Ice," which became a legendary event in Russian history. Two years later, Alexander drove off a Lithuanian invading force, and though he soon left Novgorod, the people there had become so dependent on his defense that they asked him to come back as their prince. With Novgorod now in the lead among Russian states, Alexander was the effective ruler of Russia.

As leader, Alexander faced a less dramatic, but much more important, challenge than he had when doing battle with the invaders of Novgorod: the question of whether, or how, to coexist with the Mongols. He could have chosen to resist, as other Russian princes did—and could have lost everything trying, as was the alex nevsky biography with most of the others.

Faced with this reality, as well as the fact that the Mongols were willing to leave the Greek Orthodox religion alone, whereas the Germans and others wanted to convert the Russians, Alexander chose coexistence. Proclaimed Grand Prince of Vladimir inAlexander continued to deal with invasions from the west, but most of his energy was spent on the Mongols.

He assisted them in carrying out a alex nevsky biography, or a count of the people, as part of their aim to raise taxes on the Russians. He even executed other Russian leaders who resisted the Mongols' efforts at census-taking. Alexander died in and was succeeded by Andrew, who died a year later. Alexander's son Yaroslav then took control untiland when he died he left the town of Moscow to his son Daniel.

The latter, only two years old at the time, would grow up to build Moscow as a mighty force, and in time it would become the leading city of Russia. Despite his cooperation with the Mongols, Alexander is remembered as a hero. Alexander brought some of the captured Germans to Novgorod and released the rest. He also ordered the hanging of the Finno-Ugric traitors who had sided with the enemy in the area surrounding Koporye.

In earlyAlexander, along with his retinue, a Novgorod detachment, and a contingent led by his brother Andrei, sent by their father from Suzdal, marched into Livonian Order territory. He cut off the routes connecting the German possessions to Pskov and then launched a surprise attack, capturing the city. The Germans in Pskov were taken prisoner and sent to Novgorod.

After crossing the border of the Livonian Order's territories, Alexander sent a reconnaissance detachment led by the Novgorod posadnik the highest-ranking official in Novgorod from among the local boyars. This detachment encountered the Order's forces and engaged in battle. The leader of the detachment, Domash Tverdislavich, was killed in the battle, and some of the warriors were killed or captured, while others fled to Alexander.

After that, the prince retreated to the ice of Lake Peipsi, the natural border between Novgorod's and the Order's possessions, and took a position on the eastern shore. On April 5,a Saturday, the Order's forces attacked the Russians. Arranging themselves in a wedge formation referred to as the "swine" formation in contemporary Russian sourcesthe Germans and their Estonian allies managed to break through the defensive line composed of lightly armed warriors.

However, they were attacked from the flanks by cavalry units presumably Alexander's and Andrei's retinues and suffered a complete defeat. Alexander's warriors pursued the fleeing enemy for seven miles across the ice to the western shore of the lake. According to the Novgorod Chronicle, the battle saw "the fall of countless Estonians," with Germans killed.

Additionally, 50 Germans were captured and brought to Novgorod. However, the Livonian source, the "Rhineland Chronicle," mentions different numbers of casualties: 20 knights killed and 6 captured. This discrepancy is likely due to the fact that the Russian source provides an approximate total number of German casualties, while the Livonian source only refers to the Order's knights.

According to historians' calculations, there were only about a hundred knights in Livonia inand a significant portion of them were fighting the Baltic tribe of the Curonians. Therefore, the losses of 26 killed and captured probably amounted to about half of the number of knights who participated in the Battle on the Ice and about a quarter of the total number of knights in the Livonian Order.

In the same year, the Germans sent an embassy to Novgorod, requesting peace. The Order renounced all claims to Russian lands and requested an exchange of prisoners. A peace treaty was concluded. While the war with the Livonian Order was taking place in Northern Rus, tragic events were unfolding in the South. Hungary and Poland were plundered by Mongol armies, and they reached as far as Bohemia and the Adriatic coast.

It was only in late that Batu returned to the Volga region. The Golden Horde, a western ulus appanage of the Mongol Empire, was formed here.