Prince Alexander Nevsky: peacemaker, liberator, saint is portrayed in the Presidential Library historical materials

September 12, 2018 Russia marks the Day of Remembrance of the Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky. The Presidential Library’s portal provides an extensive collection of unique historical materials devoted to the glorious way of living of the great liberator of Russian lands.

The chroniclers called him the Russian Achilles and Alexander the Great. He was describes as "inspired leader", able to draw people and his army together, a brave heart leader. In the edition "The First Princes-Peacemakers of Rus’: Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh and Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky" (1903) it says: "He was never embarrassed even by the fact that his military power was insignificant in comparison with the strength of the enemy, and acted quickly, with a lively faith in his holy cause and in the heroism of his heroes; his resolute and undaunted spirit was as if directly transferred to his squad".

However, few could have guessed these qualities in a boy who was born in May 1220 in the family of Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich and Princess Theodosia. Rather, it could be assumed that, having matured, the child will choose the path of a monk. This is what is written about it in the publication Holy Great Prince Alexander Nevsky: In commemoration of the Tsar-Peacemaker (1898): "He was brought up by his pious parents in the spirit of true Orthodox faith and ancient Christian piety, he loved Christ from the very childhood, pious mood and love for the temple of God ... His favorite pastime was reading sacred books, scriptures of the Holy Fathers and teachers of the church, the singing of church songs and secret prayers".  

Nevertheless, having become a prince of Novgorod, young Alexander showed himself as an outstanding war commander and a skilled diplomat, an intercessor of the people entrusted to him. By that time, the Mongol-Tatars had occupied the city outside the city and were approaching Novgorod. Professor of the Imperial Moscow University, an expert on war affairs in Ancient Rus’ Ivan Belyaev, wrote in his work "The Grand Prince Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky" (1840s): "Batu, having conquered the Ryazan and Vladimir princedoms, quickly moved to the borders of Novgorod, and after two weeks of brutal has already taken Torzhok, expelled its inhabitants and has moved Seliger way to Novgorod itself, devastating and destroying everything on the road". The young prince refused military resistance and entered into a diplomatic battle. As a result, he agreed with the Tatars about peace. He understood: it was extremely necessary for him to stop the ruinous raids of the khan's troops in order to cope with the equally terrible threat that was coming on the Russian lands from the West, the knights of the Swedish yarl of Birger. Here the qualities of Alexander Yaroslavich in one of the above-mentioned editions are described: "He had the same power as Samson, God gave him Solomon's wisdom, and his courage was like that of the Roman leader Vespasyan".

In July 1240 the ships of the interventionists entered the mouth of the Neva. The Swedes tented in the place where the river Izhora flows into the Neva. With the heavy cavalry and infantry, the Catholic bishops arrived - to forcibly convert the local population into their faith. But that was just one of the reasons. "To Finns and Latvians, and then to Russians, a complete economic and spiritual enslavement was brought under the sacred banner of faith!" - Archpriest Mikhail Khitrov writes in his book "Holy Great Prince Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky". The number of Birger's army was several times greater than the Novgorod army. But Prince Alexander was not stopped by this. Then he uttered the phrase that became subsequently a winged phrase: "God is not in power, but in truth!" - and resolutely went to the enemy. The Swedish army was defeated, Birger miraculously managed to escape. For this victory, Alexander received the nickname Nevsky.

Two years later, in the spring of 1242, Alexander Nevsky again faced knights - this time with the German crusaders, behind whom stood the Pope himself. The battle on Lake Peipsi was forever fixed in history under the name of "The Battle of the Ice" and has become one of the brilliant examples of Russian military tactics. Troops of Prince Alexander won a devastating victory over the "pig" - the combat formation of the enemy, which previously was considered invincible. Acting on the cunning plan of their commander, they lured the knights to the thin ice of Lake Peipsi, which could not stand the weight of heavy armor ... "The ice slaughter, along with the Battle of the Neva, was an important element in the halo of the military talents of Alexander Yaroslavich. The prince soon became the ruler of the entire North-Eastern Russia and acquired immortal fame here ... The battle of the ice acquired a sacral significance comparable to that of the most holy prince. Never after 1242 the Order invasion did not penetrate so far to the east", - noted Russian historian Denis Khrustalev, speaking in the framework of the video lecture of the Presidential Library dedicated to the Battle of the Ice.

During his short life, Prince Alexander spent dozens of large-scale battles - and not one of them lost. He died in 1263, his body was buried in Vladimir's Nativity Monastery. In 1547 Alexander Nevsky was ranked as a saint. On September 12, 1724, his imperishable relics, at the direction of Peter the Great, were transferred to St. Petersburg to commemorate the end of the 20-year war with Sweden. "Peter laid the new capital of Russia on the same river, named after St. Alexander, that is, Neve. Concluding, finally, a glorious and long-awaited world, the emperor wished to commemorate the ancient victorious Swedes on the banks of the Neva", - reads the Life of St. Prince Alexander Nevsky (1867).