Crusader aggression on the territory of Rus', which reached its peak in the first quarter of the 13th century, dates back to the 12th century. It was then that the German knights settled on the lands of the Western and Pomeranian Slavs, of whom, at first, they mainly consisted of detachments of “crusader” invaders; they moved further to the east, invading, on the one hand, Prussia, and on the other, the Baltic states.

Since the late 80s of the 12th century. “Crusading” detachments of “missionaries” are increasingly carrying out armed attacks on the territory of northwestern Russia, mainly on the lands of the Polotsk and Smolensk princes, on the lands of the Livs, first of all.

The ancient Livonian chronicle of the end of the 13th century, known as the “Rhymed Chronicle,” contains a clear indication that the lands inhabited by the Baltic tribes belonged politically to the Russians and the Russian princes received tribute from them: “The land of the Zelovs, Livs, and Lets was in the hands of the Russians until the appearance of the “brothers” who took these lands by force.” Our chronicle also confirms this news. The chronicle more than once mentions the names of a number of these tribes, telling how they, together with the Slavic tribes, built the Russian state.

Since ancient times, the peoples of the Baltic states have been linked by historical destinies with Russia. These relationships were strengthened by constant trade ties and significant cultural influence. In the language of Estonians and Latvians, these ancient Russian influences have been preserved to this day. Already in the X-XI centuries. Christianity also penetrates into the Baltic states from Rus', as evidenced by ancient burials and religious objects (crosses, etc.) found during excavations. From the middle of the 12th century. German merchants from Bremen, Lübeck and other northern cities, trading various goods, reached the mouth of the Dvina and established occasional connections with the Baltic states. Soon these ties acquired a more permanent character, as a result of which the desire of German merchants to create a strong base for themselves in the Baltic states grew and became stronger. From the Baltic states, merchants sought to penetrate further into the Russian lands proper. In 1184, a German-Latin merchant court was built in Novgorod, named after St. Peter, and the church. This court entered into intense competition with the trading post of Gotlandic merchants that already existed here, which bore the name of St. Olaf.

At first, the invaders in the Baltic states were the clergy themselves, represented mainly by Cistercian monks. They acted following the example of the robber knights of that time. Soon, the usual forms of Western European feudalism were established on the occupied lands: the local population was turned into serfs, lands were given as beneficial grants to vassals, churches and monasteries were built. This was done not only on the lands of the Livs, but also on the lands of the Kurs, Semigals and other tribes.

A vivid picture of this unceremonious management of the lands of the Baltic states was left by Henry of Latvia, the author of the lengthy “Chronicle of Livonia”, who himself was one of the participants in the “crusader” offensive to the east.

The first steps of the “missionaries” were usually of a “peaceful” nature. So, around 1188, the Catholic monk of the Augustinian Order, Maynard, approached Prince Vladimir of Polotsk so that he would be allowed to preach Christianity in the land of the Livonians. Henry of Latvia writes about Maynard that he “began to preach to the Livs and build a church in Ikeskol.”

The actions of the “missionaries” did not meet with sympathy among the local population; on the contrary, they aroused strong hatred. As Henry of Latvia says, the Livonians almost sacrificed their assistant Maynard-Dietrich (Theodoric) to their gods, and Maynard himself was not released from his land, fearing that he would lead a Christian army. Maynard chose the Ikeskole (Ikskul) castle on the Dvina, which he rebuilt, located slightly above its mouth, as the center of his activities.

Attaching great importance to Maynard’s activities, Bishop Hartwig II of Bremen appointed him in 1186 “Bishop of Ukskul in Russia,” and two years later Pope Clement III approved this appointment and issued a special bull on the founding of a new bishopric under the authority of the Archbishop of Bremen. Thus, an outpost of German-Catholic aggression was created in the east, from where a systematic invasion of the lands that were part of Rus' and subject to the Russian princes began.

The Papal Curia directed this “activity, giving it considerable importance in its general policy. Maynard sent reports to Rome about his “mission,” and the pope did not skimp on blessings, praise and other verbal “gifts” and “mercies”: the pope could not help the newly-minted bishop more significantly. Only a few years later, when the unexpected death of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa freed the hands of the new Pope Celestine III and when, on the other hand, the Third Crusade suffered a complete failure, the Roman Curia made an attempt to provide Maynard with more effective assistance.

The Pope called for a “crusade” into the land of the Livs to forcibly convert them to Christianity. Everyone who took part in such a campaign was promised remission of sins. However, the masses of the people in the land of the Livonians unanimously opposed all attempts at “conversion” to Catholicism. Quite rightly, they associated it with the inevitable final loss of the remnants of their freedom. The crusaders managed to use only those groups of the local population that had already begun to stand out as the dominant social elite: tribal leaders, clan elders. Sources report that Maynard relied on them and before his death, in the fall of 1196, he convened them and made them promise to continue his “missionary” activities. However, the calculations of Maynard and the representatives of the local nobility who supported him did not come true.

Maynard's successor was the German monk Berthold, formerly the Abbot of Lokkum, who was appointed Archbishop of Bremen. He intended to forcefully convert the Livs to Christianity, but in the first bloody clash caused by his actions, on July 24, 1198, he was killed. His crusaders, however, forced a significant part of the Livonians to agree to the “conversion,” but, as the source reports, before the triumphant victors had time to disappear from sight on their ships, the Livonians rebelled, rushed first to the Dvina to wash away the baptism they hated, and then began to exterminate the equally hated monks and priests. Churches built over the previous 14 years were burned. All traces of Christianity imposed by force were destroyed in a short time.

Berthold was replaced from Bremen by the archbishop's nephew Albert, whom Marx called the “lousy canon of Bremen.” For Albert, his entire activity among the Livs was, from beginning to end, an enterprise of a military-robber nature, in which “sermon” and “conversion” no longer played a role at all. A young scion of the noble feudal family of the Counts of Buxhoeveden von Appeldern, he, in the spirit of that time, hoped to acquire wealth and glory with weapons.

In whose interests Albert of Appeldern acted is clear enough from the fact that out of the 30 years of his bishopric he spent 12 years in Germany. Through family and social ties he was closely connected with the feudal aristocracy (secular and spiritual) of northern Germany.

Albert managed to secure more real support than his predecessors from the pope, especially from Innocent III, who ascended the Roman throne in 1198, and gave Albert’s predatory enterprise against the Livs the character of a “feat of piety.” By a bull of October 5, 1199, the pope declared participation in the campaign against the Livs to be equivalent to the fulfillment of a vow, for which full remission of sins was granted, and 5 years later, during the IV Crusade, with another bull he equated the crusaders in the Baltic states with the crusaders going to Palestine, allowed, if a vow was made to participate in a campaign “to the holy land,” to replace it with a campaign to the Baltic states. Thus, the pope officially recognized the so-called “Livonian mission” as a military enterprise and himself called to arms, addressing a special message to the Bremen clergy and to the “Christians of Lower Germany,” offering to take wide part in Albert’s campaign, which was declared a “great cause.” faith."

Bishop Albert acted in concert with the Danish king Canute VI and Duke Waldemar of Schleswig, who during the same years devastated the lands of the Estonians, which lay north of the land of the Livonians. Henry of Latvia also mentions the German Emperor Philip of Swabia, from whom Albert apparently also enlisted support.

After such thorough preparation, which testified to the great importance the rulers of feudal Europe attached to Catholic expansion to the east and the campaign against Russian lands, Albert began his invasion in the spring of 1200. Despite the relatively large army that Albert brought with him on 23 ships, the population offered stubborn resistance to the aggressors. The cunning canon was able to settle in these places only when he took advantage of inter-tribal enmity and set the neighboring tribe of Semigalls against the Livs, whose resistance he himself was unable to cope with, and also, following the example of Maynard, attracted the Liv and Curonian nobility to his side.

A major role was played by the seizure of the mouth of the Avina by the crusaders and the construction here in 1201, on the site where a settlement had long existed, of a fortified city called Riga. From here it was easy to organize effective control over Podvinye, on the one hand, and over the Baltic, on the other. The Pope did not leave these actions of the aggressors without his help. Henry of Latvia reports that the pope forbade, under pain of ecclesiastical excommunication, anyone from henceforth to visit the harbor of Semigals. This was supposed to ensure a trade monopoly of Riga captured by the Germans and worsen the trade that the local population had long conducted from their own, some other, harbor. Another thing is interesting: Russian merchants, who constantly maintained trade relations with the Livonians and other local tribes, did not consider it necessary to follow this papal prohibition and tried to trade as before, going to the Semigallian harbor for this. Then the Germans “attacked them, and after two, namely the pilot and the captain, were captured and put to cruel death, the others were forced to return.”

In these short messages The chronicler provided extremely important evidence about the true nature of the activities of the crusaders. It was an invasion to seize trade in the Baltic, to seize lands.

The hostile actions of the Crusaders in the Baltic States were from the very beginning treacherous in relation to the Russians, who had concluded a trade agreement back in 1195 “with all the Germans, Gotlanders and Latins.” This agreement, signed by the Prince of Novgorod Yaroslav Vladimirovich and the German ambassador in the person of a certain Arbud, was obviously a renewal and expansion of the previously existing agreement, as indicated by the “old world” mentioned and confirmed in the agreement of 1195.

The actions of the crusaders were aimed at creating a trade blockade of Rus', since the main trade connections went from the Baltic states to Pskov, Novgorod, and Ladoga. Polotsk, Smolensk and other Russian cities. Even Catholic church historians are forced to admit that it was trade interests that directed Catholic expansion to the east and that therefore, in the words of one of these Dominican historians, “the medieval Christian could not in any way forget the existence of these wide routes into the pagan world.”

In 1202, a special military-monastic order was created called the “Brothers of Christ’s Host,” to which Innocent III prescribed the charter of the Templar order created in Palestine and approved for the new order the image of a red cross and a sword sewn on a white knight’s coat as a distinctive sign. cloak. This is where the later name of the order “Bearers of the Sword” came from. Unlike the Templars, who were a papal order, the Sword Bearers were an order of the Bishop of Riga.

In 1207, it was established that one third of all lands captured in the Baltic states were transferred to the order.

The Russians were the main enemy against whom the aggression of the German knights and monks was directed. The invaders knew perfectly well that they were operating within Russian possessions. Their most dangerous opponents were the Russian princes - Polotsk, Pskov, Smolensk, especially the “Grand Duke” of Novgorod. These princes provided constant support to the local population, who were waging a difficult struggle against the invaders. Especially often, the Russians provided significant assistance to their closest neighbors, the Estonians, against whom the Danish-Swedish knights, led by Archbishop Andrew of Lund, actively acted, who in turn received support from two sides - from the Danish king and from the papal curia. In 1206, Pope Innocent III wrote to the archbishop in a special letter, clearly inciting him to a predatory campaign against the Estonians: “Since you, by a correct and pious decision, are going against the pagans ... we entrust you with the country that you, with Christ’s help, will bring after the destruction of paganism to the knowledge of the faith of Christ, to establish a Catholic bishop.”

In preparing this work, materials from the site were used

Introduction

XIII century became a time of difficult trials for the Russian people and statehood. Geopolitically located at the junction of Europe and Asia, Rus' found itself simultaneously between two fires. From the north, attempts to seize Russian lands by the descendants of the Varangian Swedes continued. The situation worsened even more with the appearance of German knights on the western borders, who launched active military colonization activities in the Baltic states. Meanwhile, a new wave of nomadic Mongol-Tatars was rolling in from the eastern steppes.

“The Black Years” is the exact name of an entire era in the history of the Russian land, the times of life and political activity of Prince Alexander Nevsky, his brothers and sons. After the hurricane invasion of Batu’s hordes, when Russian military strength was crushed and dozens of cities were burned, a system of heavy dependence on the Horde conquerors began to take shape, based on the fear of new invasions. Novgorod and Pskov, fortunately, were almost not subjected to a devastating defeat, but experienced a strong onslaught from the Swedes, Germans, and Lithuanians.

Crusader aggression against Rus'

ice battle crusader expansion

Crusader aggression on the territory of Rus', which reached its peak in the first quarter of the 13th century, dates back to the 12th century. It was then that German knights settled on the lands of the Western and Pomeranian Slavs, of whom, at first, they mainly consisted of detachments of “crusader” invaders; they moved further to the east, invading, on the one hand, Prussia, and on the other, the Baltic states.

Since the late 80s of the 12th century. “Crusading” detachments of “missionaries” are increasingly carrying out armed attacks on the territory of northwestern Rus', mainly on the lands of the Polotsk and Smolensk princes, on the lands of the Livs, first of all.

The ancient Livonian chronicle of the end of the 13th century, known as the “Rhymed Chronicle,” contains a clear indication that the lands inhabited by the Baltic tribes belonged politically to the Russians and the Russian princes received tribute from them: “The land of the Zelovs, Livs, and Lets was in the hands of the Russians until the appearance of the “brothers” who took these lands by force.” Our chronicle also confirms this news. The chronicle more than once mentions the names of a number of these tribes, telling how they, together with the Slavic tribes, built the Russian state.

Since ancient times, the peoples of the Baltic states have been linked by historical destinies with Russia. These relationships were strengthened by constant trade ties and significant cultural influence. In the language of Estonians and Latvians, these ancient Russian influences have been preserved to this day. Already in the X-XI centuries. Christianity also penetrates into the Baltic states from Rus', as evidenced by ancient burials and religious objects (crosses, etc.) found during excavations. From the middle of the 12th century. German merchants from Bremen, Lübeck and other northern cities, trading various goods, reached the mouth of the Dvina and established occasional connections with the Baltic states. Soon these ties acquired a more permanent character, as a result of which the desire of German merchants to create a strong base for themselves in the Baltic states grew and became stronger. From the Baltic states, merchants sought to penetrate further into the Russian lands proper. In 1184, a German-Latin merchant court was built in Novgorod, named after St. Peter, and the church. This court entered into intense competition with the trading post of Gotlandic merchants that already existed here, which bore the name of St. Olaf.

At first, the invaders in the Baltic states were the clergy themselves, represented mainly by Cistercian monks. They acted following the example of the robber knights of that time. Soon, the usual forms of Western European feudalism were established on the occupied lands: the local population was turned into serfs, lands were given as beneficial grants to vassals, churches and monasteries were built. This was done not only on the lands of the Livs, but also on the lands of the Kurs, Semigals and other tribes.

A vivid picture of this unceremonious management of the lands of the Baltic states was left by Henry of Latvia, the author of the lengthy “Chronicle of Livonia”, who himself was one of the participants in the “crusader” offensive to the east.

The first steps of the “missionaries” were usually of a “peaceful” nature. So, around 1188, the Catholic monk of the Augustinian Order, Maynard, approached Prince Vladimir of Polotsk so that he would be allowed to preach Christianity in the land of the Livonians. Henry of Latvia writes about Maynard that he “began to preach to the Livs and build a church in Ikeskol.”

The actions of the “missionaries” did not meet with sympathy among the local population; on the contrary, they aroused strong hatred. As Henry of Latvia says, the Livonians almost sacrificed Maynard’s assistant, Dietrich (Theodoric), to their gods, and Maynard himself was not released from his land, fearing that he would lead a Christian army. Maynard chose the Ikeskole (Ikskul) castle on the Dvina, which he rebuilt, located slightly above its mouth, as the center of his activities.

Attaching great importance to Maynard’s activities, Bishop Hartwig II of Bremen appointed him in 1186 “Bishop of Ukskul in Russia,” and two years later Pope Clement III approved this appointment and issued a special bull on the founding of a new bishopric under the authority of the Archbishop of Bremen. Thus, an outpost of German-Catholic aggression was created in the east, from where a systematic invasion of the lands that were part of Rus' and subject to the Russian princes began.

The Papal Curia directed this “activity, giving it considerable importance in its general policy. Maynard sent reports to Rome about his “mission,” and the pope did not skimp on blessings, praise and other verbal “gifts” and “mercies”: the pope could not help the newly-minted bishop more significantly. Only a few years later, when the unexpected death of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa freed the hands of the new Pope Celestine III and when, on the other hand, the Third Crusade suffered a complete failure, the Roman Curia made an attempt to provide Maynard with more effective assistance.

The Pope called for a “crusade” into the land of the Livs to forcibly convert them to Christianity. Everyone who took part in such a campaign was promised remission of sins. However, the masses of the people in the land of the Livonians unanimously opposed all attempts at “conversion” to Catholicism. Quite rightly, they associated it with the inevitable final loss of the remnants of their freedom. The crusaders managed to use only those groups of the local population that had already begun to stand out as the dominant social elite: tribal leaders, clan elders. Sources report that Maynard relied on them and before his death, in the fall of 1196, he convened them and made them promise to continue his “missionary” activities. However, the calculations of Maynard and the representatives of the local nobility who supported him did not come true.

Maynard's successor was the German monk Berthold, formerly the Abbot of Lokkum, who was appointed Archbishop of Bremen. He intended to forcefully convert the Livs to Christianity, but in the first bloody clash caused by his actions, on July 24, 1198, he was killed. His crusaders, however, forced a significant part of the Livonians to agree to the “conversion,” but, as the source reports, before the triumphant victors had time to disappear from sight on their ships, the Livonians rebelled, rushed first to the Dvina to wash away the baptism they hated, and then began to exterminate the equally hated monks and priests. Churches built over the previous 14 years were burned. All traces of Christianity imposed by force were destroyed in a short time.

Berthold was replaced from Bremen by the archbishop's nephew Albert, whom Marx called the “lousy canon of Bremen.” For Albert, his entire activity among the Livs was, from beginning to end, an enterprise of a military-robber nature, in which “sermon” and “conversion” no longer played a role at all. A young scion of the noble feudal family of the Counts of Buxhoeveden von Appeldern, he, in the spirit of that time, hoped to acquire wealth and glory with weapons.

In whose interests Albert of Appeldern acted is clear enough from the fact that out of the 30 years of his bishopric he spent 12 years in Germany. Through family and social ties he was closely connected with the feudal aristocracy (secular and spiritual) of northern Germany.

Albert managed to secure more real support than his predecessors from the pope, especially from Innocent III, who ascended the Roman throne in 1198, and gave Albert’s predatory enterprise against the Livs the character of a “feat of piety.” By a bull of October 5, 1199, the pope declared participation in the campaign against the Livs to be equivalent to the fulfillment of a vow, for which full remission of sins was granted, and 5 years later, during the IV Crusade, with another bull he equated the crusaders in the Baltic states with the crusaders going to Palestine, allowed, if a vow was made to participate in a campaign “to the holy land,” to replace it with a campaign to the Baltic states. Thus, the pope officially recognized the so-called “Livonian mission” as a military enterprise and himself called to arms, addressing a special message to the Bremen clergy and to the “Christians of Lower Germany,” offering to take wide part in Albert’s campaign, which was declared a “great cause.” faith."

Bishop Albert acted in concert with the Danish king Canute VI and Duke Waldemar of Schleswig, who during the same years devastated the lands of the Estonians, which lay north of the land of the Livonians. Henry of Latvia also mentions the German Emperor Philip of Swabia, from whom Albert apparently also enlisted support.

After such thorough preparation, which testified to the great importance the rulers of feudal Europe attached to Catholic expansion to the east and the campaign against Russian lands, Albert began his invasion in the spring of 1200. Despite the relatively large army that Albert brought with him on 23 ships, the population offered stubborn resistance to the aggressors. The cunning canon was able to settle in these places only when he took advantage of inter-tribal enmity and set the neighboring tribe of Semigalls against the Livs, whose resistance he himself was unable to cope with, and also, following the example of Maynard, attracted the Liv and Curonian nobility to his side.

A major role was played by the seizure of the mouth of the Avina by the crusaders and the construction here in 1201, on the site where a settlement had long existed, of a fortified city called Riga. From here it was easy to organize effective control over Podvinye, on the one hand, and over the Baltic, on the other. The Pope did not leave these actions of the aggressors without his help. Henry of Latvia reports that the pope forbade, under pain of ecclesiastical excommunication, anyone from henceforth to visit the harbor of Semigals. This was supposed to ensure a trade monopoly of Riga captured by the Germans and worsen the trade that the local population had long conducted from their own, some other, harbor. Another thing is interesting: Russian merchants, who constantly maintained trade relations with the Livonians and other local tribes, did not consider it necessary to follow this papal prohibition and tried to trade as before, going to the Semigallian harbor for this. Then the Germans “attacked them, and after two, namely the pilot and the captain, were captured and put to cruel death, the others were forced to return.”

These brief reports from the chronicler provide extremely important evidence of the true nature of the activities of the crusaders. It was an invasion to seize trade in the Baltic, to seize lands.

The hostile actions of the Crusaders in the Baltic States were from the very beginning treacherous in relation to the Russians, who had concluded a trade agreement back in 1195 “with all the Germans, Gotlanders and Latins.” This agreement, signed by the Prince of Novgorod Yaroslav Vladimirovich and the German ambassador in the person of a certain Arbud, was obviously a renewal and expansion of the previously existing agreement, as indicated by the “old world” mentioned and confirmed in the agreement of 1195.

The actions of the crusaders were aimed at creating a trade blockade of Rus', since the main trade connections went from the Baltic states to Pskov, Novgorod, and Ladoga. Polotsk, Smolensk and other Russian cities. Even Catholic church historians are forced to admit that it was trade interests that directed Catholic expansion to the east and that therefore, in the words of one of these Dominican historians, “the medieval Christian could not in any way forget the existence of these wide routes into the pagan world.”

In 1202, a special military-monastic order was created called the “Brothers of Christ’s Host,” to which Innocent III prescribed the charter of the Templar order created in Palestine and approved for the new order the image of a red cross and a sword sewn on a white knight’s coat as a distinctive sign. cloak. This is where the later name of the order “Bearers of the Sword” came from. Unlike the Templars, who were a papal order, the Sword Bearers were an order of the Bishop of Riga.

In 1207, it was established that one third of all lands captured in the Baltic states were transferred to the order.

The Russians were the main enemy against whom the aggression of the German knights and monks was directed. The invaders knew perfectly well that they were operating within Russian possessions. Their most dangerous opponents were the Russian princes - Polotsk, Pskov, Smolensk, especially the “Grand Duke” of Novgorod. These princes provided constant support to the local population, who were waging a difficult struggle against the invaders. Especially often, the Russians provided significant assistance to their closest neighbors, the Estonians, against whom the Danish-Swedish knights, led by Archbishop Andrew of Lund, actively acted, who in turn received support from two sides - from the Danish king and from the papal curia. In 1206, Pope Innocent III wrote to the archbishop in a special letter, clearly inciting him to a predatory campaign against the Estonians: “Since you, by a correct and pious decision, are going against the pagans ... we entrust you with the country that you, with Christ’s help, will bring after the destruction of paganism to the knowledge of the faith of Christ, to establish a Catholic bishop.”

At first, the Estonians offered staunch resistance to the aggressors, especially successful thanks to the constant help of the Russians. The help of the soldiers of the Principality of Polotsk, which quickly arrived along the Dvina, more than once created insurmountable obstacles on the path of the invaders, drove them back, and forced them to seek peace. Henry of Latvia vividly describes the bloody struggle that the Estonians had to wage in alliance with the Russians against the crusaders.

In an effort to neutralize the Russians in the beginning of a new war between the Crusaders and the Estonians, Bishop Albert concluded in 1210 “ eternal peace” with Polotsk, even committing to pay tribute for the Livs in favor of the Polotsk prince (“king”), on the terms of free trade between the Germans and Russians. On the other hand, papal agents sought to win over unstable elements among the population of Russian cities. She achieved famous success in Pskov. She managed to win over Prince Vladimir Mstislavovich to her side. In 1210, he entered into an alliance with the crusaders and, together with them, waged a treacherous war against the Estonians, contrary to the primordial friendly relations that existed among the Pskovians, Novgorodians and other Russians with their non-Russian neighbors in the west and north. The policy of the Pskov prince caused general indignation, and in February 1212 he was expelled.

The Pskovites, together with the Novgorodians, led by Prince Mstislav, moved to help the Estonia in order to stop the advance of the crusaders. Having defeated them and received a large ransom from them, the Russians returned to their lands. The military partnership between the Russians and the Baltic states in the fight against a common enemy was sealed with blood.

In this regard, the chronicler’s description of the siege and capture by the Russian army with the help of the Estonians of the Otepää fortress captured by the crusaders is interesting. The siege lasted 17 days. Reinforcements were sent from Riga to help the “Teutons” locked in the fortress, as Henry of Latvia calls the German invaders, but they were met by Russian troops and defeated. Many noble military leaders died. When the rest entered the besieged castle, soon “due to the multitude of people and horses, there was hunger in the castle, a lack of food and hay, and they began to eat each other’s tails.” Three days after the first clash, the besieged surrendered and were forced to leave the fortress they had captured. Bishop Albert had to send ambassadors to Novgorod to the Russians and to Sakkala to the Estonians “to establish peace.” In 1212, the “Teutons” were forced to conclude an “eternal peace” with Vladimir, the prince of Polotsk, on the condition that Russian merchants were given a free passage along the Dvina, for which the prince refused to receive the tribute that the Livonians had paid to Polotsk since ancient times.

Receiving more and more new reinforcements, sent at the call of the pope from all over Europe, and especially from Germany and the Scandinavian countries, the feudal Catholic aggressors penetrated further into the Baltic lands. The local population put up desperate resistance in an unequal struggle with well-armed knights. The atrocities of the Crusaders are difficult to describe. “Crowds of consecrated murderers rushed to Livonia. They bathed in blood and then returned home with absolution and even saints, or settled in the den of bandit priests.”

Even the participants in these exterminating predatory wars, in which the merciless cruelty of medieval feudal chivalry and boundless hypocrisy and hypocrisy were revealed church leaders, cannot hide the true nature of these enterprises. The author of the Livonian Chronicle, priest Heinrich, who took a direct part in the predatory campaigns, describes the “exploits” of the crusaders in the Baltic states in these words: “. . . we divided our army along all the roads, villages and regions and began to burn and devastate everything. They killed all the males, took women and children captive, stole a lot of cattle and horses... And the army returned with great booty, bringing with them countless bulls and sheep.”

The German philosopher and writer, bourgeois educator of the 18th century, Johann Herder, in his major work on the general history of culture, wrote: “The fate of the peoples on the coast of the Baltic Sea constitutes a sad page in the history of mankind... Humanity will be horrified by the blood that was shed here in wild wars.”

Year after year passed in intense struggle. Bishop Albert of Riga received systematic help and support:

more and more feudal militias and armed detachments of monks arrived from Germany; significant cash receipts came from merchants from Denmark, whose king, Valdemar, organized for his part a “crusade” to Estonia; They followed with unflagging attention the progress of the aggressive adventure in the Baltic states and from Rome, which was afraid of losing its leadership position in its organization.

These fears were justified. In addition to the distance to the theater of military operations in which “Christ’s army” fought, the political situation in the Baltic states became increasingly difficult for the papacy. A fierce struggle for booty broke out between the participants in the wars of robbery against the peoples of the Baltic states. Relations between the Bishop of Riga and the Order of the Sword, as well as between the bishop and the Danish king, became especially strained.

The pope was even more concerned about the obvious desire of the Riga (Livonian) Bishop Albert to create an independent ecclesiastical principality in the Baltic states, similar to the Rhine archbishoprics. The dissatisfaction with this policy of Albert was all the greater in Rome because the Bishop of Riga sought support from the German Emperor. In 1207, he transferred the lands captured in the Baltic states to the emperor, receiving them back as an imperial fief. Thus, the Livonian bishop became an imperial prince, and his dependence on the papacy weakened. This probably explains Rome's refusal to elevate Albert to the rank of archbishop.

Clashes between individual factions in the Crusader camp reflected the struggle of the main forces in the world of Western European feudalism - the struggle of the Empire with the papacy. Innocent III excommunicated Emperor Otto IV in 1211 and began to mobilize forces that could deal the final blow to the emperor. A certain place in the plans of the pope was given to the Order of the Sword, which received material support from him." In response to this, on July 7, 1212, Otto IV approved by a special act the agreement concluded between the bishop and the order on the division of the lands seized by them, and thereby further strengthened his relations with the Riga diocese. Then Innocent III moved to decisive measures in order to strengthen the papal position in the Baltic states.

As mentioned, the bishops of Riga (formerly Ukskulskne) were appointed from Bremen by the archbishop, who considered the bishop of Riga subordinate to himself (suffragan). Albert himself recognized himself as the suffragan of the Bremen archbishop. Despite this, Pope Innocent III, in a special message dated February 21, 1213, unexpectedly announced that the Riga bishopric was directly subordinate to him and was not in any way dependent on any archbishop. As for the Archbishop of Bremen, who, as mentioned, previously exercised church leadership, he was charged with the duty of helping and supporting the cause of the eastern “mission,” but without any rights to leadership.

Soon the pope even more expressively declared his intention to retain the newly conquered lands in his exclusive possession. October 10-11, 1213 Innocent III signs 5 documents aimed at strengthening papal positions in the Baltic states. At the same time, the curia decisively intervenes in the relationship between the bishop and the order. The Pope seeks to contrast the Riga bishop with other local princes of the church, supports the order in its harassment and demands strict compliance with his orders.

Three weeks later, the pope issues 6 bulls devoted to the same issues and indicating that in the world power policy of Innocent III the Baltic region was given first place. All these papal orders relate to Estonia and end with a bull freeing the Estonian bishop, just as it was established in February of the same year regarding the Bishop of Riga from dependence on the part of any archbishop.

The exclusive attention of the papal curia to these most remote, easternmost dioceses of the Roman Church, the unremitting interest in events in the Baltic states can hardly be explained only by the significance of this region in itself. Of course, for the Western European feudal lords and merchants of northern Germany, the lands and harbors of the Livs, Kurs and Estonians represented a tasty bait. The prospect of settling on these lands was tempting. The mastery of maritime trade in the Baltic promised considerable benefits. Finally, one could hope to derive significant income from the collection of church tithes - the obligatory and first consequence of the so-called “conversion”. And yet, the possibilities for plundering the Baltic states for greedy and greedy conquerors were not limitless. The further they went, the more they encountered resistance among the local population. The economic level of development of the Baltic peoples at the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries. was relatively high. Here there was agriculture with ploughing, developed cattle breeding with animals kept in stalls, and the most important branches of craft were known long before the appearance of the Germans. These data decisively refute the fabrications of some historians about the “semi-savage” state of the Baltic states, about the special backwardness of its peoples and about the “kulturtraeger” role of the crusaders. The answer to this false propaganda was given in his time by Marx, when, relying on historical sources, he wrote that the knights brought “Christian-Germanic bestial culture” to the Baltic states, which “would have been thrown out” if the Baltic tribes “were unanimous " Meanwhile, there was and could not be unity within these tribes. The Baltic peoples, like their neighbors, experienced a rapid development of feudal relations in the era of interest to us. The main classes of feudal society were formed - large landowners and the peasantry dependent on them. There were even primitive state entities, although none of them was yet capable of covering the entire territory of a given nationality. Nevertheless, “the pace of feudal development in the Eastern Baltic was somewhat slower even in comparison with the outlying Russian lands,” not to mention the territories along the Dnieper-Volkhov, which were far ahead in their socio-economic development.

The organizers and inspirers of the crusader aggression considered the Baltic states not only as an end in itself, but also as a springboard for further advancement to the east, against Rus', which acquired special significance in connection with the political changes that took place after the capture of Constantinople in 1204 and the formation of the Latin Empire in East.

These changes also caused changes of an economic nature. The Venetians, who took the main benefit from the new situation by becoming masters of the Mediterranean trade routes, paralyzed the trade ties that had long existed between the West and the East through southern Rus'. The main role in trade relations between Rus' and the West now fell to the share of the northern Russian cities: Novgorod, Pskov, Smolensk, Polotsk and others; the routes along the Volkhov, Neva, Daugava and the Baltic Sea acquired particular importance. This should explain the great attention paid at the beginning of the 13th century. in the West to the Baltic lands. In addition to the fact that they were considered by Western European feudal lords as an object of robbery and feudal exploitation, they aroused special interest among militant warriors of feudal-Catholic expansion due to their strategic significance. To create here a base for the concentration of large forces for an invasion of Rus', to block Russian borders, to take control of trade in the Baltic, cutting off Rus' from it and thereby dooming it to economic strangulation, seemed to many Western European politicians, and especially the papacy, a very tempting opportunity . According to their calculations, having owned the Baltic states, it was possible to launch an offensive against the rich Russian lands with their large population. This promised new sources of enrichment for the feudal invaders and, first of all, for the papal curia.

The fervor of the feudal-Catholic aggressors was also fueled by the fact that the general international situation at the beginning of the 13th century. for Rus' worsened significantly: the Polovtsians and other steppe inhabitants cut it off from the Black Sea and made the ancient trade routes along the Dnieper and Don almost impassable; Byzantium captured the North Caucasus, Tmutarakan and part of Crimea; in the early 20s, Seljuk Turks also appeared on Russian soil and tried to establish themselves in the Crimea. In the east, the Mordovians, Mari, and Burtases began to be understood as opposing the power of the Russian (Vladimir-Suzdal) princes. The enemy pressure on the Russian borders also intensified from the west: the Hungarians invaded Galician Rus'; Lithuania, which was making rapid progress in its feudal development, pressed the Polotsk princes, seizing their possessions to the west of the Dvina. It could not escape the attention of Western politicians that Rus' was torn apart by the endless feudal strife of the princes, which seriously weakened its ability to defend itself against an external enemy.

From the very beginning of their aggressive actions in the Baltic states, the Catholic aggressors were clearly aware that these actions were directed against Rus'. Dooming the Baltic peoples to influx and plunder, the crusaders did not spare the Russians. Orthodox churches were also destroyed, and the Orthodox population was dealt with, just like non-Christians. The feudal-Catholic aggressors operated in the same way on Russian lands themselves: they plundered Russian cities and villages, destroyed churches, seized church bells, icons, and other church decorations as booty. Thousands of Russian people were exterminated or taken prisoner. A German chronicler tells how the “brother knights” went to “Russia” and how they engaged in murder and robbery there. In 1219, the crusaders attacked Pskov: “They began to rob villages, kill men, take women captive and turned the entire area around Pskov into desert, and when they returned, others went and caused the same damage and each time carried away a lot of booty " Attempts were made to settle on the ancestral Russian lands and manage here: “... they settled in Russian soil, set up ambushes in fields, forests and villages, captured and killed people, leaving no rest, taking away horses and cattle and their women.”

Two years later (in 1221), the “brother knights” from Riga, having driven hordes of local Letts with them, entered, as the chronicler says, “the kingdom of Novgorod and ravaged the entire surrounding area, burned houses and villages, and took many people captive , and killed others.”

These facts, cited in abundance in sources (especially from Henry of Latvia, who, with his crudely naive ideas of a typical “crusader” - a feudal robber, did not even consider it necessary to soften these facts) show that religious considerations did not play any role in the robbery actions of the crusaders and that their main goal was robbery and enslavement of the population.

Bishop Albert, the knights of the order persistently sought to establish their complete dominion in the Baltic states. With a special bull dated October 28, 1219, Honorius III confirmed the bishop of Livonia's right to own Estonia and Zemgale, knowing, of course, that these lands were part of the possessions of the Russian princes.

But no matter how devastating these raids were, the aggression of the crusaders on Russian lands with a Russian population invariably ended in failure. This is evidenced by the same Henry of Latvia. Reports of the successful repulsion of the onslaught of knights during these years have been preserved in Russian chronicles. In 1221, led by Prince Vsevolod Mstislavich, the Novgorod army made a successful campaign against Wenden, described at length by Henry. In addition to the Novgorodians, many who gathered “from other cities of Russia” took part in the campaign, totaling 12 thousand people. They defeated the Germans near Wenden, reached the outskirts of Riga, punished the invaders and returned back. The entire campaign was carried out in alliance with the Lithuanians.

Thus, the local population of the Baltic states saw the Russian people as their defenders in common struggle with the German Catholic aggressors. The Balts, especially the Estonians, turned to their eastern neighbors for help when they were faced with danger from the west. So in 1216-1218. Russian regiments formed in Novgorod and Pskov, in alliance with Estamp, thoroughly pushed the Germans back from the lands they had captured. Bishop Albert had to turn to the Danish king Valdemar for help.

In 1222, when the Estonians, driven to the extreme by the endless violence carried out by the Crusaders (not only the Germans, but also the Danes were active here), raised a big uprising, the Russians came to their aid. The struggle became so fierce that only in September 1223 Bishop Albert, together with the order and the Danes, managed to suppress the uprising: Russian help could not be strengthened, since Mongol hordes appeared in the south of Rus'.

The aggressors in all cases showed special hostility towards the Russians. In 1222, the pope issued a bull in which he ordered Livonian judges to persecute Russians living in Livonia and disdaining Catholicism. The bull obliged to force the Russians to submit to the demands of the Romans. catholic church.

Henry of Latvia tells how a church near Novgorod was plundered, how the crusaders “seized icons, bells, censers and the like and returned to the army with great booty.” It is characteristic that the battle cry of the crusaders were the words: “Take, plunder, hit!” They also taught this cry to the local population, who were forced to participate in their predatory campaigns.

Bishop Albert, not counting on his own strength, tried to enlist outside support. In 1220, he turned to Emperor Frederick II, who, however, “did not pay much favorable attention to the bishop,” but “convinced him and persuaded him to maintain peace and friendship with the Danes and Russians.” The emperor was preparing for a serious struggle with the papacy and did not want to get involved in a difficult struggle in the east under these conditions, or considered it, in any case, premature.

It is possible that the Riga bishop or pope also pushed the Swedes towards the Baltic states. Already at the beginning of the 13th century. the then king of Sweden, Sverker, fought against the Russians, about which there is news in Russian chronicles. His son, Johan, together with Earl Karl, set off in 1220 at the head of a strong fleet to the shores of Estonia, where at that time the Danes actively launched their offensive operations. The increased attention to the Baltic states on the part of the papal curia can also be seen in the fact that over the 25 years covering the pontificates of Honorius III and Gregory IX, from 1216 to 1240, there were over 40 papal messages on the affairs of Livonia, among them privileges to the swordsmen, proclamation of the “patronage of St. Peter" over the Livonians, the appointment of preachers, the proclamation of "crusades" to the "holy land newly acquired in Livonia", the appointment of bishops, legates, etc.

Leadership from a distance turned out to be insufficient, and the pope considered it necessary to send to the Baltic states (and at the same time to other countries of northwestern Europe) to carry out papal policy in place of a specially authorized “apostolic legate” in the person of Bishop William of Modena (who later became a cardinal), who for a number of years operated here, subordinating the competing partners of the German-Danish Catholic expansion.

For the first time, this papal diplomat, who was more than once legate in different countries, appears in Riga in the summer of 1225 at the invitation of Bishop Albert. A deft politician, he was able to quickly assess the difficult situation that had created in Livonia, pushed aside Bishop Albert, rejecting his requests to transform the bishopric into an archbishopric, and. acting in the name of the pope, he actually began to lead the Catholic Church in Livonia.

As a counterweight to Albert, the legate supported and strengthened the authority of the order and to a certain extent supported the claims of the Danish king. The papal legate acted according to the ancient Roman rule: “divide and conquer!” It cannot be denied that this tactic produced certain results.

William of Modena achieved the strengthening of papal authority in Livonia, and declared a number of lands the unconquered possession of the Roman high priest. In his name, he created a new administration, appointed elders and himself created a court based on complaints from the local population. At the same time, the papal legate also intervened in the course of military events in the winter of 1226. In 1227, he organized the bloody extermination of the population of the island of Ezel, the description of which by the chronicler presents a stunning picture of the cruelty and treachery of the German aggressors towards the defenseless civilian population.

Simultaneously with the sending of William of Modena as an “apostolic legate” to the Altica (and in direct connection with his mission, on January 3, 1225, Honorius III published a bull in which he declared all converts in Prussia and Livonia subject to the Roman Catholic Church and, moreover, “completely free” , in the sense that “they cannot and should not submit to any other authority than that of the Pope.”

A similar act was issued by the papal legate upon his arrival in Riga. In December 1225, he issued a “Privilege” to the city of Riga, which extended not only to its indigenous inhabitants, but also to “all those who wish to join the ranks of the townspeople,” and also guaranteed personal freedom. These orders of the papal authority had a double meaning. On the one hand, with the help of such a “Privilege” they hoped to attract new participants in the predatory crusades; on the other hand, with these acts the papacy warned hunters of easy money, such as the King of Denmark, Emperor Frederick II, etc., unambiguously declaring their rights to these lands and population. William of Modena tried to transform captured Livonia into a kind of church state governed by the papal curia. He tried to create a similar principality on the territory of Estonia, captured by the Danes in 1219. Taking advantage of the fact that the Danish king Waldemar II, waging an unsuccessful war for northern Germany, had been in captivity since 1223, William of Modena decided to include this part of the Baltic states as part of the papal possessions. Finally, it is more than likely that the legate sought to take some measures regarding Rus'. Irritated by the constant treachery of the German-Catholic invaders, who continually made peace, which they immediately violated with new attacks, the Russians made an attempt to influence them through the legate. Henry of Latvia reports: “When the Russians in Novgorod and other cities also heard that the legate of the Apostolic See was in Riga, they sent their ambassadors to him, asking him to confirm the peace that had long been concluded with the Teutons.”

In 1226, the papal legate, believing that he had sufficiently succeeded in strengthening the position of Rome in the Baltic states, summed up the results of his two years of activity by achieving a tripartite agreement between the bishop of Riga, the order and the city of Riga on further measures for the “conversion” and conquest of the Baltic states. In March-April 1226, he formulated the main provisions of this agreement in five messages. It established the boundaries of the lands given to the administration of each of these parties, but was built on the principle of indisputable priority and direct interest of the papal power in Baltic affairs and was intended to ensure the subordination of the entire Baltic region to the papal throne.

Subsequent events showed, however, that the plans of the Roman Curia went much further. They planned a broad expansion directed directly against Rus' and the Russian people. But, as it was clear to the papal legate, in order to implement these plans it was necessary, first of all, to organize the very camp of Catholic expansion. With this, he left the Baltic states, apparently believing that he had laid the foundations of peace and order in the Catholic camp. Before leaving, he issued a number of orders on measures to eliminate conflicts that could break out between the invaders. The legate also appointed arbitrators who were tasked with resolving disputes.

After the departure of William of Modena, the Curia's attention to the Baltic states did not weaken. The Pope seeks to send new detachments of crusaders to the Baltic States (messages of November 27 and 28, 1226), approves the orders of his legate on the division of the captured lands (messages of December 11, 1226). He obliges the “converts” to resist “both the pagans and the Russians” (message of January 17, 1227).

The hypocrisy of the papal policy towards Rus' and the Russian people is clearly illustrated by another message from the pope, dated the same date. This message is directly related to the meeting of William of Modena in August 1225 with representatives from Russian cities, about which the legate did not fail to notify the curia, and perhaps reported this personally upon his return there at the end of 1226 or the beginning of 1227. Based on this message Pope Honorius III addressed all the “kings of Russia” with a special bull, sending them “greetings and good wishes.” The Pope “rejoiced that, having heard that your ambassadors, who came to our venerable brother, the Bishop of Modena, Legate of the Apostolic See, humbly asked him to visit your countries personally: because you are ready to accept sound teaching and completely renounce all the errors that they say , were subjected to a lack of preachers and for which the Lord, in his anger against you, often struck you with various disasters and will strike you even more if you do not return from the path of error to the true path... Therefore, wanting to find out from yourself whether you really want to have a legate of the Roman Church to receive from him instruction in the Catholic faith, without which no one can be saved... we ask, pray and persuade you all to communicate to us by letters and through faithful ambassadors your sincere will. In the meantime, maintain lasting peace with the Christians of Livonia and Estonia and do not prevent them from spreading the Christian faith, so that you do not fall under the disfavor of God and the apostolic throne, which can easily, when it wishes, condemn you to vengeance, but it is better to earn you in God’s generosity by true obedience and voluntary submission - the mercy and love of both.”

This bull of January 17, 1227 can be placed on a par with the bull of Gregory VII. Both are compiled according to the principle: wishful thinking. In 1075, Gregory VII claimed that Prince Yaropolk presented him with a gift of Rus' (which did not belong to Yaropolk), in 1227 Honorius III claims that the Russian princes (called “kings”) expressed their readiness to “completely renounce all errors” , which in the language of the papal curia meant “ready to accept the Catholic faith.” This papal statement was fictitious. The bull of Honorius III itself leaves no doubt about this. After all, if the pope believed in his statement, why would he fill his message with many threats, up to “God’s punishment” in case of disobedience. With the exception of the first few lines, in which the author clumsily and unconvincingly attempts to present himself as “the good shepherd of the lost sheep,” the entire letter is written in the harsh tone characteristic of papal demands regarding “infidels,” “heretics,” etc. No success this bull did not exist in Rus'. It was an empty declaration, and, apparently, that is how it was regarded in Rus'. This papal appeal was not reflected in any Russian sources.

The message to the Russian princes was obviously the last attempt of Pope Honorius III to help, in any way he could, the crusaders in the Baltic states. Two months later he died, and Gregory IX took the papal throne. Already on the third day of his pontificate, the new pope issued another bull on issues relating to disputes in the Baltic states, and on May 5 of the same 1227, in another bull, he addressed “the converts and again declared them accepted” under the patronage of St. Peter” and the papal throne, and at the same time again made the reservation that “they remain in a state of freedom and are not subject to anyone except Christ alone and the Roman Church.” The next important step in Livonian affairs was taken by the pope at the beginning of 1228. Bull February 14, Gregory IX announced the acceptance of the year his patronage (according to the usual formula: “under the patronage of St. Peter we also accept ours”) of the “soldiers of Christ,” i.e., the knights of the Order of the Sword, “along with all their property that they own or will own in the future " This act also meant the papacy’s “claim” for the Baltic lands and for supreme feudal rights over them. But now they meant lands that had already been turned into seigneurial possessions, into feudal ones by the crusading knights. The Pope proclaimed himself their overlord, the supreme feudal lord, declaring them under his “patrocinium” (extrajudicial protection, patronage).

In response to these actions of the papal curia, in order to strengthen its position in the Baltic states, the imperial camp is also taking energetic steps. The son of Frederick II, Henry VII, crowned in 1221 by the German crown as “King of the Romans,” by a message dated July 1, 1228, donated to the Order of the Sword “the Province of Revel with the Castle of Revel, as well as the provinces of Herve, Harrien and Vironia.” Thus, Henry VII also declared supreme feudal rights to a certain part of the Baltic lands, which he considered himself to have the right to completely dispose of.

In 1229, after thirty years of ruling in Livonia, having turned from a Bremen canon into an imperial prince (from 1224 Livonia became part of the Empire) and a powerful spiritual prince, Bishop Albert of Riga died. The friction, which intensified even under him, resulted after his death into irreconcilable hostility between the three main masters of the captured country: the bishop, the city and the order. On the other hand, every now and then uprisings broke out among the local population, trying to throw off the hated yoke. Daring raids of German knights on Russian lands were also made more and more often.

All attempts by Pope Gregory IX to put an end to the mutual struggle in the “new house of God,” as Rome pompously called the conquered Baltic regions, ended in complete failure.

Another circumstance was rightly considered very dangerous in Rome. For more than 20 years now, the fire of a peasant uprising - the so-called Stedings - has been burning in the Bremen province. The uprising gripped many peasant communities that had relatively recently lost their freedom and were subject to enslavement. The peasants stubbornly fought against feudal shackles, and it was not possible to break their fighting spirit. They refused to pay tithes to the Bremen archbishop, not being afraid of the armed forces, which the “shepherd of the church” in this case considered it necessary to send to “exhort” them, not to mention excommunication and declaring them “heretics.” In 1229, rebel peasants defeated the knights sent against them by Bishop Gerhard II. After this, the pope declared a crusade to fight them. But the courageous peasants also inflicted cruel defeats on the crusaders. In the winter of 1232/33, they threw back the army of the crusaders and approached Bremen itself. In the fall of 1233, the crusaders were defeated and at the same time lost their leader, Count Burchard of Oldenburg.

The Pope did not skimp on bulls calling for even more decisive action. A huge feudal army gathered in Bremen, greedy for blood and plunder.

The crusading murderers sent by Gregory IX, led by the noblest German feudal lords, committed a wholesale massacre among the free German peasants - the Stedings - for their unwillingness to submit to the Archbishop of Bremen and put on the yoke of serfdom. In the Battle of Altenes on May 27, 1234, the mounted knightly hordes exterminated over 6 thousand heroically defending peasants. The prisoners were burned alive as “heretics.” And here, on the hill, stood the clergy with a cross and a banner and piously sang hymns “to the glory of the merciful God.”

Despite the terror, the crusaders did not soon succeed in achieving the obedience and submission of the Prussians. It took another 50 years before the stubborn resistance of the freedom-loving people was broken and the conquest of Prussia ended (in 1283). The overwhelming majority of the population was destroyed, and the occupied lands were settled by German colonists.

In the Baltic states, the successes of the papal crusaders were also not brilliant. In the first years of the reign of Gregory IX, a war broke out in the very camp of the aggressors: the Swordsmen captured lands in Estonia that had previously been occupied by the Danes, and partly those that were declared the direct possession of the “apostolic throne” (Vironia, Erve, Harrien). No protests from the papal legate Baldwin of Alnes, who was here after William of Joden, helped. The Order occupied Revel (Tallinn), and those forces that the legate was able to gather were killed. “The corpses were dumped in the church in the form of a huge pyramid,” says the source.

The Danes, for their part, also took vigorous action. Having entered into an alliance with Count Adolf of Golchgin, King Waldemar II of Denmark decided to cut off the Baltic states from relations with the West. The harbor of Lübeck, this “key to Livonia,” was closed with the help of several sunken ships. The Livonian crusaders were deprived of any opportunity to receive reinforcements from the West. For a number of years, it was not possible to eliminate the conflict that flared up.

All this weakened in 1229-1234. activity of the crusaders and in the direction of Rus'. True, in Rome they still continued to incite hostility towards Rus', and Gregory IX sent 5 bulls at the beginning of 1229, testifying to these efforts of the papacy, to Lubeck and Riga. Gotland, Dynamunde and Linköping (Sweden). All of them contained a categorical demand to achieve the cessation of all trade with the Russians in order to cut off Novgorod from the West and deprive Rus' of the opportunity to receive the metal necessary for the manufacture of weapons that came from there, or ready weapon. These attempts by the papacy to keep Rus' under blockade were repeated in the future.

But the papacy's efforts to achieve the political and economic isolation of Rus' were unsuccessful. The interest of the German merchants in maintaining trade relations with Novgorod, Pskov and other centers of northwestern Rus' was so great that, contrary to the papal demands, soon after Rome sent out its bulls, two of the addressees - Riga and Gotland - concluded with Prince of Smolensk Mstislav Davydovich signed an agreement on peaceful relations, trade and “mutual favor”.

It is noteworthy that in the lengthy agreement there is no mention of religious or church issues. This proves once again how unimportant such issues were in real relations between Russians and Western states and were only artificially inflated by the Catholic Church itself for the purposes of political propaganda. The merchants of Lübeck, Bremen, Gotland and other places sought peaceful relations and strengthening of long-standing economic ties with Russia, especially with Novgorod - the largest center that controlled all trade with the East.

Apparently, the new papal legate Baldwin of Alni, who was operating in the Baltic states, came under the certain influence of these merchant elements, especially strong in Riga. This Cistercian monk, who replaced William of Modena, enjoyed great confidence from the pope, who repeatedly defended him from the harsh attacks to which Baldwin of Alnes was subjected to from his many enemies in the Baltic states, especially in the person of the order, as well as the new Bishop of Riga, Nicholas. However, his policy in the Baltics was at odds with the general political course Roman Curia, aimed at developing Catholic expansion in the east and capturing new lands. The activities of Baldwin of Alnes continued to pursue the goal of creating and strengthening a papal ecclesiastical principality, into which he sought to include new possessions. But, obviously, he did not consider war and robbery to be the best method of achieving this goal. He preferred methods of persuasion, luring to his side the more pliable groups of the local population from among the larger landowners, although he did not rule out the use of violence in cases where he encountered resistance. Baldwin saw in the knights not only brutal invaders - warriors who shed the blood of innocent people for the sake of booty, but also dangerous competitors for the papacy, although hiding behind the papal banner, but pursuing narrowly selfish goals that were at odds with the interests of the papacy. Finally, Baldwin clearly refrained from intensifying aggressive actions directed against neighbors, in particular against Rus'.

The policy of Baldwin of Alnes caused sharp discontent among the aggressive crusaders in Livonia, who managed to subordinate the new Bishop of Riga, Nicholas, to their influence. Soon extremely strained relations developed between him and the legate. Baldwin went to Rome to look for support and managed to find it there, arousing even greater confidence in the pope, especially when he presented the agreement he had concluded with the Curons, in which they expressed their consent to submit to the papal throne. Baldwin returned to the Baltic states invested with even greater powers than those he had previously possessed. However, the legate’s political line was still unacceptable to the real masters of the situation, who were the eminent “crusader” feudal lords of secular and spiritual rank who had seized the Baltic lands and sought to further expand their possessions in the east. They ensured that in February 1234 the pope deprived Baldwin of all his legate powers. In Rome, they considered the most suitable person who could fix the disordered mechanism of papal policy in the northeast, the same Bishop of Modena.

In March 1234, William of Modena set off for the second time to the northeast as a plenipotentiary “apostolic legate.” His trip began with a clear failure: all his attempts to peacefully end the Stedings remained fruitless. The uprising continued. William of Modena failed to get the Danes to lift the naval blockade in the Baltic, and the pope had to resort to the threat of interdict and excommunication in order to influence the disobedient king.

In the late summer of 1234, the new papal legate arrived in Riga and immediately began to carry out a series of events aimed at establishing order in the Crusader camp. First of all, he replaced the Bishop of Riga, appointing the Dominican Henry instead of the dismissed Nicholas from the Cistercian Order.

This change is significant. During the same period, in all the “missionary” activities of the papacy, Cistercian monks were replaced by monks of the so-called Order of Preachers (Dominicans). Only shortly before this arose and in a short time who seized the monopoly of the “struggle for faith” into his own hands. In September 1230, the pope issued a special bull transferring to the Dominicans the preaching of the “crusades” in Prussia, taking away this mission from the Cistercians, and three years later the Dominicans began to penetrate into Livonia, in a short time displacing their predecessors, the Cistercians, from there. following Maynard they went to the Baltic states, considering it as their monopoly fiefdom. The Cistercians acted in the interests of local church authorities, especially in the interests of the Bishop of Riga; he relied on them in the fight against the Swordsmen, and sometimes against the papal legate. Meanwhile, the Dominican Order was a papal order. Gregory IX made him the main instrument of his ideological and political struggle with Emperor Frederick II. The Dominicans formed a cadre of papal agitators on the ground. And now, sending them to the Baltic states, the pope had high hopes for them.

By strengthening the role of the Dominicans in the Baltics, William of Modena sought to strengthen the ideological and political base of the papacy. But this was not enough to fulfill the further goals of the planned program. In the context of a brutal war of extermination, which has not stopped in the Baltic states for half a century and in which last years The feudal-Catholic aggressors began to clearly lose their positions; it was necessary, first of all, to strengthen the military-political cadres. Until this time they consisted mainly of knights of the sword; however, the constant predatory wars that became their professional occupation brought deep moral decay into the ranks of this “army of Christ,” and their position as large landowners who settled in the territories they captured did not allow the pope to count on them as “faithful sons.”

Meanwhile, already during the first legateship of William of Modena, the swordsmen had competitors in the person of the knights of the Teutonic Order. Back in 1226, the Polish prince Konrad of Mazovia, who waged constant wars with his neighbors, turned for help to the German order of the “Brothers of St. Mary” (Teutonic Order), formed at the beginning of the 12th century, in Jerusalem and declared by Pope Clement III in 1191 to be under the special protection of the “apostolic see”. Having failed to achieve success in the war with the Seljuks, the German knights willingly accepted Conrad’s proposal, which turned out to be fatal for Poland and other peoples of northeastern Europe, since in the person of this order the most dangerous enemy appeared - the striking force of Western European feudalism in its eastern expansion.

In 1230, with the blessing of the pope, who published 5 bulls on this occasion, the Teutons began a bloody war of extermination against the Prussians with the goal of finally seizing their lands. The Order obtained from the Pope the transfer to him for “eternal possession” of the Kulm land, which the Order had received even earlier from Konrad of Mazovia, and Prussia, which had yet to be conquered.

At the same time, the order secured, in the person of its very energetic and power-hungry grandmaster Hermann von Salz, the support of first the German Emperor Philip of Swabia, who at that time was waging a bitter struggle with the pope, and later - his successor, the German Emperor Frederick II. Seignorial-vassal relations were also established between them. However, having three overlords (the third was Konrad of Mazowiecki), the order acted completely independently and, without stinting on means, sought to expand the lands under its control and strengthen its political positions. In 1233, the Teutons put an end to the existence of the special knightly and monastic order of the “Dobrin Brothers”, previously created by Konrad of Mazowiecki as his military support. According to an agreement with Conrad, reached as a result of the mediation of William of Modena, the Teutonic Order received extensive land holdings and a number of privileges, which, in general, significantly strengthened its political and military power.

Appearing again at the end of 1254 in the Baltic states as a papal legate, William of Modena entered into negotiations with Hermann von Salza on the further expansion of the power of the Teutonic Order. This could only be achieved through the Order of the Swordsmen, which by this time had become the main military force in the “crusader” camp. It was formally an episcopal order, meanwhile the Teutons were not in any way, not only actual, but also formal, dependent on the local church. In addition, the Sword Bearers increasingly lost authority even in the eyes of the highest local clergy, for whom the Order of the Sword Bearers ceased to serve as a reliable protective force. Under these conditions, the destruction of this order became a real goal for papal politicians, and above all for William of Modena. The achievement of this goal was made easier by the tragic military events for the Sword Bearers.

Back in 1234, the Novgorod prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich decided to put an end to the increasingly daring raids of German armed detachments on Russian lands. Gathering a significant army, he approached the city of Yuryev and inflicted a severe defeat on the knights near the Emajõgi (Embach) River. The defeat that the Swordsmen suffered in this battle was a preparation for their final military collapse. It happened two years later (September 22, 1236) in a decisive battle with the Lithuanians and Semigallians. This time the swordsmen were completely defeated. The master of the order, Volkwin, died in the battle. 48 noble knights - commanders and other commanders of detachments and many ordinary crusaders.

The significance of this defeat for the fate of the “crusader” mission in the Baltic states was extremely great: within a short time, all the conquests of the crusaders were jeopardized. There were uprisings against the Germans in different areas. The Kurs and Semigallians threw off the hated yoke, cleared their lands of all traces of Christianity, and returned to their ancient beliefs. The Catholic camp lost its main military force.

The alarmed clergy, represented by three bishops, turned to the pope with a plea for help. In reality, it could only be expressed in one thing: in giving the Teutonic Order the place that the Swordsmen had previously occupied. At the same time, it was obvious that the position of the local clergy would be further weakened if the knights of the order became the master of the situation, and the influence of the papacy on all affairs in the Baltics would increase significantly.

The appearance of the Teutonic Order in the Baltic states meant a new major step in intensifying the offensive of Western European feudalism to the east, carried out under the banner of the papacy. The direct representative of Gregory IX, his plenipotentiary legate William of Modena was “ godfather” of this latest enterprise of the Roman Curia.

However, it must be borne in mind that the Teutonic Order was not at all a blind instrument in the hands of the papacy. In the intense struggle that flared up in these years between the papacy and the German Emperor Frederick II, the Grand Master of the Order, Hermann von Salza, managed to establish relations with both sides - both the Papacy and the Empire - that were particularly beneficial for the Order. Both Gregory IX and Frederick II solemnly confirmed the rights and privileges of the order, by virtue of which it became largely independent and independent.

In its eastern policy, the papacy found faithful support in the Teutonic Order. This was facilitated, of course, by the fact that here the interests of the papacy and the Empire coincided, since they expressed the desire of Western European feudal lords to further strengthen expansion to the east and control over trade routes in the Baltic.

At the same time, the Teutonic Order caused the papacy a lot of trouble from the very beginning. If earlier in the Baltic states conflicts often broke out within the Catholic camp, then with the advent of the Teutonic Knights these conflicts took on a permanent character. A whole series of papal messages clearly demonstrates the arbitrariness of the “brother knights”, greedy for booty, how they seized lands and property not only from the local population, from whom, apparently, there was nothing left to seize, but also from those crusaders who, before them, managed to profit from the goods taken from the Livs, Kurs, Estonians and other peoples.

After being defeated by Lithuanian troops in the Battle of Siauliai on September 22, 1236, the Order of the Sword Bearers was soon completely liquidated. Its remains were merged with the Teutonic Order. On this occasion, Gregory IX signed several messages on May 12-14, 1237, one of which was addressed to the legate William of Modena, others to the bishops of Riga, Dorpat (in the city of Tartu) and the island of Ezel.

The Order was placed under the special protection of the “Apostolic See”. In Rome it was believed that this would prepare selected personnel for major military operations planned for the near future. The Pope demanded that his legate in the Baltics take the necessary measures to establish lasting peace in the Catholic camp, in particular with Waldemar of Denmark, and ensure the return of Revel, captured earlier, to the latter, as already mentioned. Teutonic Order. During 1237, the legate visited Poland and Prussia, traveled around Livonia, made a trip to Estonia and took a special interest in Finland.

Along with attempts to achieve pacification within its own camp, the church, in the person of the papal legate, is also trying to somewhat weaken the hostility towards the crusaders on the part of the population. Two letters from Gregory IX addressed to William's legate throw a bright light on the situation of the Baltic masses under the heavy oppression of the “missionaries”. On March 7, 1238, the pope demands that “pagans converted to Christianity should not be subjected to enslavement,” and the next day, As if to clarify and clearly limit his previous message, Gregory IX writes that “slaves converted to Christianity should receive at least enough freedom from their masters so that they can go to church for worship.”

The church authorities in Rome understood that the greed of the crusaders could lead to a general uprising in the Baltic states and disrupt the further expansion of Catholic expansion in the east. It was necessary to take measures to strengthen their rear in order to pacify the Balts. This should explain the concern of the pope and his legate to “soften” the situation of the local population. Under the leadership of the papal legate, who showed great energy, various measures were taken to achieve the consolidation of the forces of the Catholic camp and strengthen its positions in Livonia. These efforts, however, were not simply a desire for pacification, which the Pope and his legate so zealously advocated in words. The efforts of William of Modena boiled down to achieving the unity of the entire Catholic camp, located near the borders of northern and northwestern Rus', in order to subsequently begin a systematic offensive into the interior of the country. This was the main task of the papal legate. He directs his efforts to find some group in Novgorod or Pskov that the Catholic aggressors could count on. As shown further events, these efforts did not remain fruitless.

Back in 1228, traitor boyars were found in Pskov, who, as the chronicle reports, entered into an alliance with the Germans. Later they managed to win over the mayor himself, Tverdila Ivankovyach. A few years later, in Novgorod there was a group of boyars led by the former thousand-man Boris Negochevich, who tried in 1232 to carry out a coup in Novgorod and Pskov, and when they failed, they fled to the Germans and joined forces with the crusader invaders.

Similar traitors, apparently bribed by agents of William of Modena, appeared in subsequent years. The chronicle reports about them that they “had a better fight with the Germans,” and actually gave Pskov to the crusaders, who immediately waged on Russian soil the same predatory war that they waged in the Baltic states,

Thus, through the efforts of the papal legate, not only a political, but also a military-strategic bridgehead was created on the western borders of Rus'.

He took similar measures on the other side - in Finland. In this country, which was Rus''s closest northern neighbor, a base was also created for the Catholic offensive against Rus'. In the same direction in which Bishop Albert of Livonia acted, Bishop Thomas began his activity here in 1220. In Rome they sought to turn the Finnish Catholic “mission” into another northern springboard for an attack on Rus'. Honorius III, in a letter to Bishop Thomas in 1221, proposed to prohibit Catholics from trading with Karelians and Russians, which was a means of fighting Novgorod more than once used by the curia.

At the beginning of 1229, 6 papal letters, over three weeks (from late January to mid-February) addressed to the bishops of Riga and Lübeck, the abbot of the Cistercian monastery on the island of Gotland and other representatives of the Catholic Church in the Baltic region, ordered support for the efforts of the Catholic mission in Finland and for this, first of all, to paralyze trade with the Russians. Trying, as usual, to “rakes in the heat with the hands of others,” the papal representatives in Finland set the tribes of the Tavasts (as the Em tribe was called) against the Novgorod possessions, and when the Novgorodians, in a close alliance with the Karelians, repulsed the Tavasts, the pope and all his agents made a fuss about “ Russian aggression." In fact, in all the actions of the papal curia one cannot help but see a purposeful policy of preparing a large offensive against Rus', and, above all, against rich Novgorod. The call for war against Rus' was, in essence, the papal bull of November 24, 1232 on Finnish affairs. In it, Gregory IX addressed the Livonian knights of the sword and invited them, “in agreement with the Finnish bishopric,” to transfer their activities to Finland “against the infidel Russians.” Finland was also among the countries to which the powers of William of Modena extended as “apostolic legate” during his second trip to the north in 1234.

The papal legate paid even more attention to Finland in 1237-1238. By this time, William of Modena was finishing the creation of an anti-Russian coalition in great haste. All that remained was to consolidate the agreements reached with a corresponding agreement between its participants, which would define the conditions of action, deadlines and tasks for each of them. This was carried out on June 7, 1238 in Stenop, where the residence of the Danish king Valdemar II was located and where the papal legate William of Modena and the master of the Teutonic Order in Livonia, Herman Balk, arrived to conclude such an agreement. The agreement “resolved” the issue of Estonia: the order ceded Revel and a number of other fortresses and localities on Estonian land to the king and pledged to continue to consistently support the king. At the same time, it was established that two-thirds of the conquered lands would belong to the king, and the third to the order. A large place in the agreement was occupied by issues related to the collection of church tithes and other church taxes from the population.

The significance of the Treaty of Stenby in the history of feudal-Catholic expansion, which developed under the auspices of the Catholic Curia, is extremely great. This treaty consolidated the united front of the Catholic aggressors established in the west, created by papal efforts; in the north along the border of Rus'. The coalition participants were preparing to launch an attack on Novgorod, counting on the political struggle that intensified in Novgorod and Pskov in the second half of the 30s. All three main participants in the coalition were to take part in the offensive: the Danish crusaders in Estonia, the order forces in Livonia and the crusaders based in Finland, who were also supposed to receive reinforcements from Sweden. Joint forces were supposed to capture the most important trade route connecting the Baltic with Novgorod along the Neva. The plan developed by the papal legate testifies to how seriously the question of war against Rus' was posed. There is no doubt that at the same time it was intended to forcibly impose the Catholic faith on the Russians.

That the general principles of the agreement at Stenby were worked out by William of Modena in close unity with Pope Gregory IX is confirmed by the bull of December 9, 1237, in which the pope appealed to the Archbishop of Sweden and his suffragan bishops to organize a “crusade” to Finland “on help to Bishop Thomas” “against the Tavasts” and their “close neighbors”. It is obvious that, calling on the crusaders to destroy the “enemies of the cross,” the pope meant, along with the Tavasts, also the Karelians and Russians, in alliance with whom the Tavasts energetically opposed Catholic expansion during these years.

The Papal Curia had never missed an opportunity to incite hostility towards the Russians. In his earlier messages, the pope does not hide this. Thus, by a bull dated February 3, 1232, addressed to his legate Baldwin of Alnes, he prohibits all Christians in the Baltic states from concluding peace or truce with the Russians or “pagans” without the permission of the curia. Even more frank is the papal bull of November 24, 1232, in which Gregory IX demanded that the swordsmen in Livonia rush to Finland in order to “defend the new planting of the Christian faith against the infidel Russians.” The hypocritical words of this appeal were a typical disguise for the aggression being prepared. In the papal bull of February 27, 1233, the Russians were openly called “enemies.”

Considering this even undisguised hostility of the papacy towards the Russians in the 1230s, it is difficult to abandon the idea that the “close neighbors” of the Tavasts, against whom the pope calls on his crusaders to act in the bull of December 9, 1237, were understood to be Russians.

A number of papal bulls also indicate that, along with the preparation of widespread aggression from the outside, the curia sought to ensure its plans by creating a base inside Rus'. Dominicans were widely used for this purpose. The direction in which their activities, blessed by the pope, developed can be understood from the bull of Gregory IX of March 15, 1233, by virtue of which the Dominicans who went to Rus' were granted indulgence and they themselves were allowed to give absolution to arsonists or murderers of clerics. The Pope also writes about the need to create a Latin diocese in Rus', citing the fact that there are “many Latin churches that do not have priests.”

However, Rome's hopes were not realized. They did not have any base inside Rus' on which the enemy forces could rely in their broadly conceived offensive, and the struggle, as we know, came down to a clash on the battlefield.

The feverish haste with which William of Modena acted in creating an anti-Russian coalition and organizing the Stenby conspiracy of its participants should be explained by the desire to take advantage of the favorable conditions for Rome that developed in Rus' in 1237-1238. From the east, across the Volga to Ryazan and further into the interior of the country, the Tatar-Mongol hordes moved in a menacing cloud, threatening the very existence of the Russian state. For the Catholic aggressors, who sought to settle in the western regions of Rus', this moment, when the forces of the entire Russian land were strained in a fierce struggle with the ferocious nomads, naturally seemed especially suitable.

The organizers of the German-Danish-Swedish Catholic aggression against Rus' in 1240 counted on an invasion of its borders from two sides: from the north, from where the Swedish forces under the leadership of the jarls Ulf Fasi and Birger were preparing to attack, and from the north-west, where the Teutonic Order operated . Obviously, it was assumed that the attack would occur at the same time, but the Teutonic knights were late, and the Swedes, having marched along the Neva to the mouth of the Izhora River, were unable to take advantage of the surprise attack.

The guards of the Gulf of Finland and the banks of the Neva, placed in advance by the Novgorod princes, immediately reported the danger to Novgorod. The young prince Alexander Yaroslavich, “without hesitating at all,” at the head of his small but courageous squad, unleashed on the Swedes on July 15, 1240, a sudden blow of such force and at the same time so well thought out from the point of view of combat tactics that the Swedes were completely defeated. Prince Alexander fought with Birger himself, the Swedish commander and leader of the entire campaign, and inflicted a severe wound on him with a spear. “Place a seal on your face with your sharp spear,” says the chronicler who left a description of the famous Battle of the Neva. Few managed to escape. “Their remains,” says the chronicler, “are beyond shame.” The Russians, having collected the corpses of noble knights, “laid two ships” and “the wasteland and (them) to the sea,” where they sank. The corpses of the rest, “who dug up the pit, swept (them) into the nude (it) innumerable.” This remarkable victory glorified the young prince and thwarted the plans of the Catholic aggressors to attack Rus' from the north.

At the end of August and beginning of September 1240, German knights invaded Russian lands from the west. The Germans managed to capture the Izborsk fortress. The Pskov detachment that came to the aid of Izborsk was defeated, and the knights besieged Pskov. The traitorous boyars, led by the Pskov mayor Tverdnla Ivankovich, opened the gates to the Germans, and the city was captured by the enemy. Having taken possession of Pskov, the German Catholic knights began to invade the Novgorod possessions ever deeper, approaching the city itself at a distance of 30-40 versts. At the same time, they sought to capture the banks of the Neva, the Ladoga lands and Karelia. On the coast of the Gulf of Finland they built the Koporye fortress and, relying on it, launched a further offensive. The local population was subjected to merciless devastation. Crusader robbers exterminated those who resisted en masse. More and more reinforcements were coming from the West for the crusader army. The Papal Curia closely followed the course of events.

Of particular interest in this regard is the bull of Gregory IX dated December 14, 1240, directed to the Lund Archbishop Uffon, the head of the Catholic Church in Denmark, and his suffragans. The Pope proposed launching a “crusade” in Denmark against the “infidels” who allegedly threaten Christians in Estonia. By “infidels” the curia again meant Russians. This bull was apparently prompted by the news of the heavy defeat suffered by the Swedish knights on the Neva in July of that year. In order to somehow compensate for the losses they had suffered, the pope appealed for help from the Danes, who, however, were in no hurry to respond. It can be noted that in Denmark there was a certain desire for an alliance with the Russians and for maintaining both economic and political relations.

Gregory IX “transferred” the Russian lands captured by the crusaders to the Bishop of Ezel, Henry. And in April 1241 he entered into an agreement with the knights, according to which he retained part of the tithe collected in favor of the church, and transferred all rights to management, fishing, etc. to them. The bishop, in his letter concluding the said agreement, explains that he transfers to them the right to all other taxes, since “the labor, costs and danger of conquering the pagans fall on them.” Thus, the bishop once again testified to the nature of the “crusader” mission among the peoples of the Baltic states, from which the Russian people were delivered thanks to the heroic resistance organized by Alexander Nevsky.

In Novgorod, where the boyar elite back in 1240 did not get along with the young prince Alexander, who consequently went to his father in Pereyaslavl, widespread discontent broke out against the boyars. The people demanded the return of Alexander to Novgorod. With his characteristic determination and courage, the prince, who soon returned, led the fight against the German-Catholic invasion. He attracted to this fight not only the Novgorodians and the Russian army, which came to help from other lands, but also the Karelians, Izhorians, Lithuanians and other nationalities. In 1241, with a sudden blow, he captured Koporye from the Germans and inflicted a strong defeat on them in the area of ​​​​the coast of the Gulf of Finland, pushing them back to the Narva River.

The news of the successes of the Russian army raised the spirit of the local population of the Baltic states. Uprisings broke out in the land of the Estonians, which the crusaders were unable to suppress. There were messages from Rome about the sending of new reinforcements. The preaching of the “crusade” spread widely. On July 6, 1241, the Pope sent a bull to the King of Norway with a proposal to promote “a crusade... against the pagans in neighboring lands,” which at that time meant, of course, the Baltic states, the regions of the Gulf of Finland, where a great war against Rus' was unfolding. Its unsuccessful beginning for the papacy all the more intensified the activity of the curia.

Inciting the Norwegian king to campaign “for the glory of our mother, the holy Roman Catholic Church,” the pope expresses in this bull his consent to replace the vowed crusade to the “holy land” with a campaign against “neighboring pagans.”

At the very beginning of 1242 I. Alexander Nevsky, having carried out thorough preparation, boldly moved towards the Germans. Having deceived their calculations, he captured Pskov and Izborsk. Having carried out reprisals against the traitors and secured his rear, the prince moved further to the northwest, straight to the border of the Estonian land captured by the crusaders.

Thus, in the spring of 1242, Russian troops were located west of Lake Peipus, which was connected by a narrow channel to Lake Pskov. Decisive events took place near this narrow channel, known as “Uzmen”. The young prince, who showed himself as a strategist and commander, brilliantly carried out a deeply thought-out military operation. His plan took into account all the circumstances: the peculiarities of the German “pig” military system, and the terrain conditions, and the condition of the ice on the lake, and most importantly - morale and fighting qualities troops. On April 5, 1242, the enemy was met on the ice. According to available sources, it can be understood that the Germans, deceived by the unexpected, bold formation of the Russian army, could already consider themselves winners, having overcome the regiments located in the center, when they found themselves under a sudden powerful attack from the flanks, from which they could no longer get out. The victory of the Russian army, in which not only the Novgorodians and Pskovites took part, but also the “Nizovites” - troops sent by Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, the father of Alexander Nevsky, under the command of Alexander’s brother Andrei, was decisive and final.

The knights lost 500 killed and 50 captured. Many went under the ice, which withstood the weight of Russian infantry, but was broken under the heavily armored knightly cavalry of the crusaders. Thousands of “bollards”—German infantry—remained on the ice of Lake Peipsi.

At the beginning of the 12th century. Rus' entered a period of political fragmentation. The territory of the country, weakened by internecine wars, became the target of attacks. From the north, attempts to seize cities and lands by the descendants of the Varangians - the Swedes - continued, from the eastern steppes a wave of nomads rolled in - the Mongol-Tatars, enemies more terrible, stronger and cruel than their predecessors - the Pechenegs and Polovtsians, and on the western borders an active military-colonial The activities were launched by German knights.

In the XI – XIII centuries. Western Europe was experiencing a period of aggravation of internal contradictions, struggle between secular and spiritual authorities, emperors and popes. The conflict was not limited to the European continent, but marked the beginning expansion to other countries known as "Crusades".

The arena of the struggle of the Roman Catholic Church against the “pagans” with the aim of converting them to “ true faith» became Finland and the Baltic territories, where Christianity was not widespread. In order to seize lands, the Teutonic Order was founded in 1128. In 1200, the Pope and the German Emperor Frederick II announced the start of a crusade against the lands of the Prussians, Estonians, Livonians, Lithuanians, Finns, Karelians and Yatvingians with the aim of converting them into Catholicism. German, Danish, Norwegian knights and troops from other northern European countries took part in the crusade, striving for capture new territories.

Advancing into the Baltic lands, the Germans subjugated the Pomeranian Slavs and invaded the territory of the Livonians (hence Livonia), where in 1201 they founded the city of Riga. To capture the Baltic states and Christianize the local population, it was formed in 1202 Order of the Sword, which conquered most of the Baltic tribes within a decade and began to advance on Russian lands.

In 1204, the crusaders captured and ravaged Constantinople, which was the beginning of the war Orthodox world against Roman Catholic. The peoples of the Baltic states and Rus' united to fight the Germans. In 1212, the Novgorodians, at the request of the Estonians, undertook their first campaign to the Baltic Sea. However, this did not stop the invaders. In 1219, the city of Revel (Tallinn) was founded in the Baltic lands, and in 1224 the city of Yuryev (Tartu) was captured and Izborsk was occupied, which created a threat to Pskov and Novgorod. Knights of the Teutonic Order arrived in 1226 to conquer the lands of Lithuania (Prussians) and southern Russian lands. Knights - members of the order wore white cloaks with a black cross on the left shoulder.

In 1234, the Swordsmen were defeated by the Novgorod-Suzdal troops, and two years later - by the Lithuanians and Semigallians. In 1234 - 1236 they were again defeated by the squads of Novgorod and the Vladimir principality. At the same time, the Order of the Swordsmen suffered a crushing defeat in Lithuania. Further advance of the Germans required the unification of forces, and in 1237 part of the Teutonic Order and the remnants of the Order of the Swordsmen united into the Livonian Order (named after the captured territory where the Livonians lived), which further increased the danger of the capture of Rus', which was subjected to the Mongol-Tatar invasion. In 1239, the knights of the Livonian Order again captured Izborsk, and in 1240, thanks to treason, they occupied Pskov.

In the same year, the Swedes appeared on the Neva, competing with Russia for the lands of the Neva and Ladoga regions. So, back in 1164, a large fleet of Swedes appeared at the walls of Ladoga (a suburb of Novgorod), but was defeated by the Novgorodians. In 1240, the Swedes, prompted by messages from the Pope, undertook a crusade against Rus'. Rus', weakened by the Tatars, could not provide Novgorod with any support. Confident of victory, the leader of the Swedes, Jarl Birger, entered the Neva on ships. The ultimate goal of the campaign was the conquest of the Novgorod land. Warned by the elder of the friendly Izhora tribe Pelgusius, the 19-year-old Novgorod prince Alexander and his squad approached the mouth of the Izhora, where the enemies stopped to rest, and on July 15, 1240 they suddenly attacked them. There was a battle on the river. Neve. Suddenness and swiftness decided its outcome in favor of the Novgorodians. Later, Prince Alexander received the honorary nickname Nevsky. As the chronicle testifies, “the losses of the Novgorodians were very insignificant, only twenty people with the Ladoga residents.”

However, soon the Novgorodians quarreled with Alexander, who sat down to reign in the Suzdal land. At this time, the offensive of the Livonian knights was launched again on Novgorod. By decision of the veche, the previously exiled Prince Alexander Yaroslavovich was returned to the city. Having gathered the city militia and his squad after lengthy disputes with the Novgorod boyars, Alexander Nevsky liberated Pskov and Izborsk, after which he transferred military operations to the territory of the Livonian Order. On April 5, 1242, a battle took place on the melted ice of Lake Peipsi, which became known as the Battle of the Ice. Its success was predetermined by the military skill of Alexander Nevsky, who managed to take into account a number of circumstances of a military and geographical nature. This is how the historian R. G. Skrynnikov describes the events of 1241–1242: “...Novgorod was threatened with military defeat and famine. Under such circumstances, the local archbishop hastily went to Prince Yaroslav in Vladimir and begged him to let Alexander go to Novgorod to reign. In 1241, Alexander arrived in Novgorod, gathered a militia... and expelled the Germans from the Novgorod borders. The prince ordered the captured "perevetniks" - the vod and the "miracle" - to be hanged... Some of the knights captured in Koporye were released... Preparing for the campaign against Pskov, he summoned the Suzdal regiments to Novgorod. But he did not have to besiege Pskov. As soon as the Suzdal army approached the city, the mayor Tverdilo was removed. The Pskovites opened the gates of the fortress. The German garrison was unable to offer resistance. Captured knights and Chud in shackles were taken to Novgorod and imprisoned. In the spring of 1242, Alexander Nevsky invaded the possessions of the Livonian Order. Having entered the western shore of Lake Peipsi, the prince “let the entire regiment begin to prosper.” The regiments went on campaign without convoys, and the warriors had to get their food by “prospering”, i.e. robbery of the population. The campaign in Livonia began with a major failure. The detachment of Domash Tverdislavich, the brother of the Novgorod mayor, being “in dispersal”, was suddenly attacked by knights and miracles. The voivode and many of his warriors were killed. The surviving warriors fled to Prince Alexander's regiment and warned him of the approach of the knights. Alexander hastily retreated to his possessions on the Novgorod shore of Lake Peipsi. There he was joined by soldiers who were “in dispersal” and fled from the German advance. On April 5, 1242, the Order's army and Chud detachments attacked the Russians on the ice of the lake near the Crow Stone... According to Novgorod data, 50 Germans were captured by the Russians, and 400 people died on the battlefield. The losses were clearly exaggerated. The united German order in the Baltic states numbered about a hundred knights. But they had with them a significant number of squires, servants and baggage servants. German chronicles report the death of 25 soldiers of the order.”

In the context of the outbreak of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, the victories of Alexander Nevsky stopped the expansion of the Livonian Order to the East, as a result of which North-Western Rus' was saved from Germanization, Catholicism and enslavement. After the defeat on Lake Peipus, the military power of the order weakened, after which the Livonians active actions they did not undertake any measures on the eastern borders of the country. Response to Battle on the Ice there was growth liberation struggle in the Baltics.

However, it cannot be argued that it was the Battle of the Ice that drained the strength of the order: six years before it, according to German chronicles, in 1236 the Lithuanians killed twice as many knights in the Battle of Siauliai. The influx of new crusader volunteers from the west could hardly make up for such large losses. In 1243, the Livonian knights concluded a peace treaty with Novgorod. Relying on the help of the Roman Catholic Church, the knights at the end of the 13th century. captured a significant part of the Baltic lands.

Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky in 1246, after the death of his father, entered into the struggle for the great reign with his older brother Andrei, who advocated active resistance to the Horde. However, Alexander was a supporter of “peace” with the Mongols and repeatedly suppressed anti-Horde protests (1252, 1257 – 1259, 1262), which earned him the favor of Batu Khan. The Orthodox Church highly appreciated the role of Alexander Yaroslavich in the fight against Catholic expansion, canonizing him in 1547.

Questions for self-control

1. What was the danger of the invasion of European knights? Which Russian cities did they manage to capture?

2. Determine the main stages of the fight against the invasion of the Crusaders. What do you know about the battle on the Neva and Lake Peipsi?

3. Name the reasons for the defeat of Western European knights. What role did the Novgorod militia play in the victories?

4. Why didn’t Alexander Nevsky try to conclude an alliance with the crusader knights against the Mongol conquerors?

5. What is the historical significance of the struggle of the Russian people against Western aggression?

6. Why was the Order of Alexander Nevsky established during the Great Patriotic War?

Related information.

WITH beginning of XIII V. Crusaders (mainly German) began colonizing and conquering the Baltic states. In 1201, the Germans and Danes founded Riga and created the knightly Order of the Swordsmen (Livonian Order).

By 1212, the crusaders had captured the lands of modern Latvia and the lands to conquer Estonia. At the same time, the Teutonic Order settled in the Baltic States, but in 1236 it was defeated by the Lithuanians. In 1238, an alliance was concluded between German, Danish and Swedish crusaders against Rus'.

The crusade against Rus', tormented by the Mongols, was blessed by “His Holiness the Pope.” The threat of aggression became obvious. In July 1240, a Swedish fleet under the command of Duke Birger entered the Neva. The Swedes landed troops and were preparing to launch an attack on Novgorod. At that time, 19-year-old Alexander Yaroslavovich reigned in Novgorod. Although he was only 20 years old, he was an intelligent, energetic and brave man, and most importantly, a true patriot of his Motherland. The prince did not wait for the regiments of his father, Prince Yaroslav, but with a small squad moved to the landing site of the Swedes.

On July 15, 1240, secretly approaching the Swedish camp, Alexander's cavalry squad attacked the center of the Swedish army. The Novgorodians, Ladoga and Izhorians on foot struck the flank, cutting off the Swedes' retreat to the ships. In this battle, Russian soldiers covered themselves with unfading glory. The number of Swedish troops was 8-9 thousand people, the Russians had no more than 1 thousand people, but the surprise of the attack played a role. The Swedish army almost suffered complete destruction. The remnants of the Swedish army left along the Neva into the sea.

Novgorod was saved by the sacrifice and valor of Alexander's comrades, but the threat to Rus' remained.

In 1240/1241 The Teutonic knights intensified their attack on the Novgorod lands. They captured the fortress of Izborsk, and then, with the help of traitors, Pskov. In 1241, the crusaders approached Novgorod directly. At this time, due to a quarrel with the Novgorod boyars, Alexander Nevsky left Novgorod. At the request of the veche, Alexander returned and recaptured Pskov and Izborsk from the Germans.

At the end of March 1242, Alexander Nevsky received news from intelligence that a united army of crusaders led by the master of the Teutonic Order was preparing to attack Rus'. The Crusaders and Russians met on the western shore of Lake Peipsi, at the Crow Stone.

Archers were placed in front of the Russian battle formation, militia in the center, and strong princely squads on the flanks. There was a reserve behind the left flank. The Germans lined up in a wedge shape (“pig”), at the tip of which was a detachment of horsemen, armored from head to toe. The crusaders intended to dismember the Russian troops with a blow to the center and destroy them piece by piece.

Alexander deliberately weakened the center of his army and gave the knights the opportunity to break through it. Meanwhile, the reinforced Russian flanks attacked both wings of the German army. The German infantry was victorious, the knights resisted desperately, but since it was spring, the ice cracked and the heavily armed soldiers began to fall into the water of Lake Peipsi. Russian wars drove the crusaders 7 miles. Thousands of ordinary crusaders died, 400 noble knights, 47 noble knights were captured. The defeat of the crusaders was terrifying. After the battle on April 5, 1242, the crusaders did not dare to disturb the Russian lines for a long time.

Unlike the Mongols, the crusaders set slightly different goals when conquering Russian lands.

If the Horde khans were interested in obedience and payment of tribute, then the crusaders were interested in the land of Novgorod and Pskov, which should have been captured and the Russian population, which should have been converted into serfs. But most importantly, the crusaders demanded the Catholic faith from the population. If the crusaders were successful, there was a real threat not only of the loss of national independence of Rus', but also the loss of the national religion - Orthodoxy and national culture.

Alexander Nevsky acted as a defender of Orthodox Rus' from the Catholic West. This made him one of the main heroes of Russian history.

Topic No. 6: The Rise of Moscow. Formation of a unified Russian state.

Topic plan:

1) Prerequisites for the unification of Russian lands into a single state.

2) The rise of the Moscow principality and its transformation into the political center of North-Eastern Rus' (1276 - 1425).

3) The reign of Vasily II the Dark. Feudal War in Russia (1425-1462)

4) The reign of Ivan III. Completion of the unification of lands around Moscow. Eliminating dependence on the Horde.

Purpose of the study: to identify the reasons for the rise of Moscow. Understanding the inevitability of the unification of Russian lands and the creation of a single Russian state. Familiarization with the personalities and periods of reign of the Moscow princes.

A student who has studied this topic must:

1) know the main reasons for the rise of the Moscow Principality;

2) understand the inevitability of the unification of Russian lands into a single Russian state;

3) be able to characterize the periods of reign of the Moscow princes.

When studying this topic you need to:

a) study these lectures;

b) it is advisable to refer to additional literature;

c) answer tests on the topic.

The fight against the crusaders in the north-west of Rus' began at a time when the Russian land was under the yoke of the Mongol Yoke. The Swedish army appeared in the summer of 1240. Its goal was to capture the Neva and Ladoga in the lower reaches of the Volkhov. The invaders sailed on ships up the Neva. Alexander Yaroslavich was then reigning in Novgorod; his intelligence, having learned in advance about the Swedes’ campaign, warned the prince. And he prepared for the campaign of the Swedish army. Swedish military leaders from the mouth of Izhora sent a challenge to Alexander. The prince, without waiting for the complete gathering of people with the “small squad,” set out to meet the enemy. He approached Izhora, replenishing his squad with local militia. The prince's intelligence worked well, and Alexander knew all the Swede's movements. At dawn on July 15, he approached the Izhora camp of the invaders and attacked it on the move. Having lost many soldiers, the remnants of the Swedish army fled at night on their ships. They failed to cut off Rus' from the Baltic Sea. After this brilliant victory, Alexander Yaroslavich received the nickname “Nevsky”. The attempts of the Swedish conquerors were continued by the German knights. In 1237, when Batukhan’s invasion of Rus' began, the knights joined forces - their two orders merged: Livonian and Teutonic. Crusaders from different European countries came to their aid. The Pope supported and blessed this entire army. In 1242, the crusaders captured Izborsk, a fortress on Pskov land. The knights, inspired by success, moved, ravaging Russian villages along the way, to Pskov itself. They burned its settlement, but attempts to take the city were unsuccessful. But even in those days there were traitors, with the help of whom the knights took possession of Pskov. Some of the townspeople who did not agree to live like this fled to Novgorod. The knights' appetite was heating up, they had already appeared 30-40 versts from Veliky Novgorod. Alexander, the Novgorodians invited him to defend him, he, without remembering evil, hurried to Novgorod and immediately headed to the crusaders’ base, which he took by storm, and the Novgorodians saw captured knights on the streets of their city. This victory prevented a joint action by the Germans and Swedes against Rus'. In the winter days of the following year, Alexander and his brother Andrei lead the Novgorod and Vladimir-Suzdal regiments against the crusaders. Pskov was liberated. Alexander, not satisfied with the victory achieved, follows with his troops to the order’s border. And so on April 5, 1242, a battle took place on the ice of Lake Peipsi. During the battle, the crusaders suffered a crushing defeat. And the battle itself went down in history under the name “Battle of the Ice.” It was here on April 5, 1242 and a famous battle took place, called the Battle of the Ice. The knights formed a wedge formation but were attacked from the flanks. Russian archers caused confusion in the ranks of the surrounded German knights. As a result, the Russians won a decisive victory. 400 knights alone were killed, in addition, 50 knights were captured. Russian soldiers furiously pursued the enemy who had fled. The victory on Lake Peipus was of great importance for the further history of both Russian and other peoples of Eastern Europe. The Battle of Lake Peipsi put an end to the predatory advance to the east, which German rulers had carried out for centuries with the help of German Empire and the papal curia. It was during these years that the foundations of the joint struggle of the Russian people and the Baltic peoples against centuries-old German and Swedish feudal expansion were strengthened. The Battle of the Ice also played a big role in the struggle for independence of the Lithuanian people. The Curonians and Prussians rebelled against the German knights. The Tatar-Mongol invasion of Rus' deprived it of the opportunity to expel the German feudal lords from the Estonian and Latvian lands. The Livonian and Teutonic knights also occupied the lands between the Vistula and the Neman and, uniting, cut off Lithuania from the sea. Throughout the XIII century. The raids of the order's robbers into Rus' and Lithuania continued, but at the same time the knights repeatedly suffered severe defeats, for example, from the Russians at Rakvere (1268), and from the Lithuanians at Durbe (1260).