Battle of the lake Peïpous

La battles of the lake Peïpous opposed, on April 5th, 1242, the Ordre Teutonique with 13th prince de Novgorod, Alexandre Nevski, of which it was a decisive victory.

Strategic context

With the support of the pope and the emperor of the Holy Germanic Roman Empire, the knights teutonic tries to extend their domination, under cover of religion, towards the East. They are launched in their Scandinavian crusade with the support of the Chevaliers carry-swords and the Danish, and have just conquered the Estonia. Their objective is now Russian Novgorod and other territories , of orthodoxe religion , at the time vassal disobedient of the Mongolian of the Horde of Gold.

Hoping to exploit the weakness of Russia in the wake of the Mongolian and Swedish invasions, the knights occupy Pskov, Izborsk and Koporye with the autumn 1240. When they approach Novgorod the inhabitants point out twenty years the local prince Alexandre Nevski, that the Vietché had banished with Pereslavl a few Mongolian months before, and its Masters. During the countryside of 1241, Alexandre succeeds in taking again Pskov and Koporye.

In spring 1242, the knights beat a detachment of recognition of Novgorodiens 18 km in the south of the fortress of Dorpat. The hope to obtain an easy victory over Novgorod, the principal force of the Teutoniques knights, carried out by the large Master of the order, enters on the cold extent (but the ice was not thick) lake Peïpous and advances towards Pskov.

Course of the battle

The knights with the avant-garde, are followed by an Estonian militia. Opposite, on the bank, the Russo-Mongolian forces have a very great numerical superiority, but that does not have reason to frighten with teutonic, accustomed to this kind of circumstances taking into account the difference in military value.

The Russian tactics are to obstruct the load while remaining on the bank and to put their militia to undergo the first shock. The Mongolian archers ordered by the brother of Alexandre on the line are camouflaged, and the cavalry behind in reserve.

The knights do not manage to obtain the decision immediately. They are taken in row under the fatal arrows which disorganize them. The Estonian militiamans take fear and flee without fighting. Nevski then launches all its cavalry in the fray to support its committed infantry.

Only the large Master, of the bishops and a handle of assembled knights succeeded in turning over to Dorpat after the battle. 400 knights of which a teutonic score of the order died.

Result

This battle puts an end to the expansion crusades towards the Eastern European countries. Indeed, for the first time for a long time, the Russian principalities leave victorious a war, that will help with their development. They will seem from now on independent states to respect. For his people, Alexandre Nevsky takes a historical stature, so much so that even the USSR will stick to recover it, giving rise to the famous film (cf hereafter).

Film

Sergueï Eisenstein carried out film epic Alexandre Nevski presented in 1938. The music not épique was composed of it by Sergueï Prokofiev.

On other supports

One finds mention of the battle of the lake cold in volume 5 of band-drawn Gothic the Requiem, Knight-Vampire. It is however completely adapted there to the scenario, and thus has no historical value there.

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