Battle of the Neva

Coordinates: 59°48′27″N 30°36′15″E / 59.80750°N 30.60417°E / 59.80750; 30.60417
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the battle in 1240. For the later battle, see Battle of the Neva (1708).
Battle of the Neva
Part of the
Neva River, Russia
Result Novgorodian victory
Belligerents

Novgorod Republic

Kingdom of Sweden

Commanders and leaders Alexander Nevsky Spiridon †Casualties and losses Novgorod First Chronicle:
20 killed Novgorod First Chronicle:
"great number"

The Battle of the Neva (

Neva River, near the settlement of Ust-Izhora, on 15 July 1240. The battle is mentioned only in Russian sources,[2] and it remains unclear whether it was a major invasion or a small-scale raid.[3][4] In Russian historiography, it has become an event of massive scale and importance.[5]

Russian sources

The existence of the battle is known only from Russian sources.

Alexander Yaroslavich of Novgorod quickly moved his small army and local men to face the enemy before they had reached Lake Ladoga
. The chronicle described the battle as follows:

Alexander Nevsky Fighting the Swedes, by Boris Chorikov

"Swedes came with a great army, and

Virgin Mary, 15 July, in the memory of Kirik and Ulita, on Sunday, (the same day that) the 630 holy fathers[7] held a meeting in Chalcedon; and there was a great gathering of the Swedes; and their leader called Spiridon[8] was killed there; but some claimed that even the bishop was slain;[9] and a great number of them fell; and when they had loaded two ships with the bodies of high-born men, they let them sail to the sea; but the others, that were unnumbered, they cast to a pit, that they buried, and many others were wounded; and that same night they fled, without waiting for the Monday light, with shame. Of Novgorodians there fell: Konstantin Lugotinitch, Gyuryata Pinyashchinich, Namest, Drochilo Nezdylov son of the tanner, but including the people of Ladoga 20 men or less, God knows. But prince Alexander came back home with Novgorodians and people of Ladoga, all well, protected by God and Saint Sophia and all the prayers of the holy men."[10]

A 16th-century version of the battle gave plenty of additional details, expanding the conflict to biblical proportions, but otherwise following the earlier described developments.[11]

Prince Alexander Yaroslavich was

Livonian Knights during the Battle on the Ice. Despite the victories there were no Novgorodian advances further west to Finland or Estonia
.

Swedish sources

There is no reference to a battle of the Neva in Swedish sources.[12]

Situation in Sweden

After the death of King

Swedes of Uppland,[13] and church privileges.[14] They had temporarily succeeded in deposing the king in 1229, but were forced to give in five years later, but were far from defeated yet. Uppland remained largely independent of the king, and its northern areas continued to be in folkung hands. An uneasy truce continued until 1247, when the folkung rebellion was put to an end at the Battle of Sparrsätra
and its leader beheaded a year later.

Battle of the Neva contributed to Alexander's sainthood

Furthermore, the official Sweden was on the brink of war with Norway ever since the Norwegians' infamous Värmland expedition in 1225.[15] Relations improved only after the Treaty of Lödöse in 1249, which was forged by the newly empowered Birger Jarl.[16] Before the treaty, Norway remained an ally of the folkungs, giving them refuge and providing men and arms.

In this situation, it seems unlikely that Sweden could have been able to organize a major expedition against Novgorod. Swedes are not known to have carried out any other military campaigns between 1222 and 1249, making the claims about their forceful appearance at the Neva with Norwegians as their allies seem questionable.[citation needed]

Theories

Taking these facts into consideration, it has been suggested in a recent book aimed at a wide readership,

Bishop of Finland, who needed to constantly worry about attacks from the east. Instead of Tavastia, this mixed set of interests and nationalities would have headed for the more lucrative Neva and there met its fate at the hands of Alexander.[citation needed
] In the possible aftermath of the said battle, the King of Norway approached his Swedish counterpart for peace talks in 1241, but was turned down at the time.

However, some recent research has fundamentally questioned the importance of the battle, seeing it as an ordinary border skirmish that was exaggerated for political purposes, thus also explaining its absence from Swedish and other western sources.[19]

Additional theories are numerous. Some historians have suggested that the Swedish army was already under the command of the very young Birger Jarl, eight years before his appointment to the position of

jarl.[20] It has also been suggested that the suspicious information on Norwegians', Finns' and Tavastians' participation was made up in the 14th century, the time of writing of the First Novgorod Chronicle, when Sweden was in control of Norway, Finland and Tavastia.[citation needed
]

Consequences

All in all, the first known Swedish military expedition against Novgorod after the events at the Neva took place in 1256, following folkungs' demise, peace with Norway and conquest of Finland. If the battle of the Neva had any long-term consequences, it was in Sweden's determination to take over Finland first before attempting to proceed further east.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ISBN 978-1-351-94715-2
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-90-474-1983-9
    . This 'Second' Crusade to Finland was, according to Russian sources, immediately followed by the unsuccessful Swedish expedition to the Neva, which was thwarted by the Novgorodians
  3. ISSN 0346-8755
    . Retrieved 18 July 2022. Initially perhaps no more than a raid, maybe on an even lesser scale than the raid in 1164 on Ladoga, described in some detail in the Novgorod chronicles, it had by ca. 1330 grown...
  4. ISBN 9780674972483
    . For Western scholars, the number and intent of the attacking Swedes and Teutonic knights remain in contention: large raiding parties or full-fledged invasions? That, for example, there is no record in Swedish chronicles of the battle at the Neva River might suggest its scale was smaller than the honorific title the prince claimed from it.
  5. ISSN 0346-8755
    . Retrieved 18 July 2022. In Russian historiography and tradition the battle has become an event of immense proportions and significance.
  6. ^ "Description of the battle in the First Novgorod Chronicle". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27.; in Swedish. Hosted by the narc.fi Archived 2010-09-15 at the Wayback Machine. See Arkistolaitos/sahkoiset Archived 2007-06-08 at the Wayback Machine and Diplomatarium Fennicum from the menu. See also original text; in Russian.
  7. ^ Actually the meeting was held between 8 October and 1 November, not on 15 July.
  8. Archbishop of Novgorod
    , who blessed Alexander before the battle.
  9. ^ No Scandinavian bishop is known to have died in 1240.
  10. ISBN 978-5-458-27022-9
    .
  11. ^ "Battle on the Neva" 16th century version of the battle, provided by the Slavic Interest Group of the Society for Creative Anachronism. In English.
  12. ^ Lourie, Lev. "Мифы о главных русских победах" (in Russian). Arzamas Academy. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  13. ^ a b Larsson 2002, p. 178.
  14. ^ a b Kari 2004, p. 117.
  15. ^ Värmland expedition by the Svenskt Militärhistoriskt Bibliotek Archived 2014-03-17 at the Wayback Machine.
  16. ^ Treaty of Lödöse Archived 2007-05-19 at the Wayback Machine.
  17. ISBN 951-0-28321-5
    . See page 107.
  18. ^ "Letter by Pope Gregory IX about an uprising against the church in Tavastia". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27.. In Latin. Hosted by the National Archive of Finland Archived 2010-09-15 at the Wayback Machine. See "Arkistolaitos - Sähköiset palvelut". Archived from the original on 2007-06-08. Retrieved 2007-05-29. and Diplomatarium Fennicum from the menu.
  19. ^ Alexander Nevskij and the Holy War. Based on presentations in the Leeds International Medieval Conference. Hosted by the Tampere University.
  20. ^ Even if Spiridon was said to have died in the battle, some historians still associate him with Birger. See e.g. Riasanovsky, Nicholas V.: A History of Russia. Oxford 1993.

Bibliography

59°48′27″N 30°36′15″E / 59.80750°N 30.60417°E / 59.80750; 30.60417

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Neva&oldid=1217509857"