Battle on the Ice

The Battle on Lake Peipus (German: "Schlacht auf dem Peipussee", Russian: Ледовое побоище - Battle of Chud Lake), took place in 1242. It was one of the greatest defeats sustained by Roman Catholic crusaders until the Battle of Grunwald in 1410. It effectively stopped the Northern Crusade against Orthodox Novgorod and other Russian territories in the aftermath of the conquest of Estonia.

Hoping to exploit Russia's weakness in the wake of the Mongol and Swedish invasions, the Teutonic knights occupied Pskov, Izborsk, and Koporye in the autumn of 1240. When they approached Novgorod itself, the local citizens recalled to the city 20-year-old prince Alexander Nevsky, whom they had banished to Pereslavl earlier that year. During the campaign of 1241, Alexander managed to retake Pskov and Koporye from the knights, ransoming western knights and hanging Estonian foot-soldiers.

In the spring of 1242, the knights defeated a reconnaissance detachment of Novgorodians 18 km to the south of the fortress of Dorpat, now Tartu. The knights and Alexander's forces then met at Lake Peipus.

Traditional Interpretation

The traditional interpration is that on April 5, 1242 the armies clashed on the side of the ice-covered Lake Peipus, with the crusaders being led by their Grand Master. After hours of hand-to-hand fighting, Alexander ordered the left and right wings of his archers to enter the battle. The knights started to retreat in disarray onto the ice, and the appearance of the fresh Russian cavalry made them run for their lives. Under the weight of their heavy armour, the thin ice started to collapse, and many knights drowned. Only the Grand Master, some bishops, and a handful of mounted knights managed to return back to Tartu after the battle.

Alternative Interpretation

Some historians generally do not agree with the traditional account of this event. They argue that the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order at that time was Gerhard von Malberg, who probably never set foot in Livonia in his life and did not lead crusading forces in 1242 on Lake Peipus.

This alternate interpretation maintains that the leader of the German knights was actually Hermann of Buxhoeveden, who had founded a tiny principality, the Bishopric of Dorpat a few years prior. While the traditional interpretation refers to the crusaders as the Teutonic Order, critics point out that the actual Teutonic Order residing in Prussia had flatly refused to partake in this particular 1240-1242 campaign against Novgorod. The knights at Lake Peipus were rather from the autonomous Livonian Order which had placed itself under the protection of the Prussian Order in 1237. The majority of the crusading troops were not Germans, but Estonians, mostly subjects of Bishop Hermann from the Ugaunian tribe. Since the expedition did not have the support of the Teutonic Order, this interpretation holds that in military terms it was a relatively small force of insubordinate Livonian knights and undisciplined Estonians which was defeated by Alexander's seasoned troops. Instead, the biggest defeat of Livonian knights of that period was at the Battle of Šiauliai against the Samogitians in 1236, which led to the Livonian Order submitting to the Prussian Order.

Consequences

Regardless of the number of combatants involved, the Battle on the Ice was a major historical event. The knights' defeat at the hands of Alexander's forces prevented the crusaders from retaking Pskov, the linchpin of their eastern crusade. The Novgorodians had succeeded in defending Russian territory, and the German crusaders were never again able to mount another serious challenge eastward.

Sergei Eisenstein's groundbreaking film Alexander Nevsky features the Battle on Lake Peipus. The classic film has elements of Soviet propaganda films, however, as it makes many changes to the historical background, and should not be viewed as being completely accurate historically.