Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky^[1] (Russian:Александр Ярославич Невский;IPA:[ɐlʲɪˈksandrjɪrɐˈsɫavʲɪtɕˈnʲɛfskʲɪj]^ⓘ;monastic name:Aleksiy;^[2] 13 May 1221^[3] – 14 November 1263) wasPrince of Novgorod (1236–1240; 1241–1256; 1258–1259),Grand Prince of Kiev (1249–1263), andGrand Prince of Vladimir (1252–1263).^[4]

Alexander Nevsky
Portrait in theTsarsky titulyarnik, 1672
Prince of Novgorod
Reign	1236–1240
Predecessor	Yaroslav V
Successor	Andrey I
Reign	1241–1256
Predecessor	Andrey I
Successor	Vasily I
Reign	1258–1259
Predecessor	Vasily I
Successor	Dmitry I
Grand Prince of Kiev
Reign	1249–1263
Predecessor	Yaroslav II Vsevolodovich
Successor	Yaroslav III Yaroslavich
Grand Prince of Vladimir
Reign	1252–1263
Predecessor	Andrey II
Successor	Yaroslav III
Born	13 May 1221 Pereslavl-Zalessky,Vladimir-Suzdal
Died	14 November 1263(1263-11-14) (aged 42) Gorodets, Vladimir-Suzdal
Burial	Alexander Nevsky Lavra,Saint Petersburg, Russia
Spouse	Alexandra of Polotsk
Issue more...	Dmitry Alexandrovich Andrey Alexandrovich Daniil Alexandrovich
House	Rurik
Father	Yaroslav II of Vladimir
Religion	Eastern Orthodox

Commonly regarded as a key figure in medieval Russian history,^[5] Alexander was a grandson ofVsevolod the Big Nest and rose to legendary status on account of his military victories innorthwestern Russia over Swedish invaders in the 1240Battle of the Neva,^[a] as well as German crusaders in the 1242Battle on the Ice.^[7] He preservedEastern Orthodoxy, agreeing to pay tribute to the powerfulGolden Horde. MetropolitanMacarius of Moscow canonized Alexander Nevsky as a saint of theRussian Orthodox Church in 1547.^[8]

Born inPereslavl-Zalessky around the year 1220, Alexander was the second son of PrinceYaroslav Vsevolodovich.^[9] His mother wasFeodosia Mstislavna [ru], daughter ofMstislav Mstislavich The Bold. From theTales of the Life and Courage of the Pious and Great Prince Alexander found in theSecond Pskovian Chronicle (c. 1260–1280) comes one of the first known references to Alexander Yaroslavich:[10]

By the will of God, prince Alexander was born from thecharitable, people-loving, and meek the Great Prince Yaroslav, andhis mother was Theodosia. As it was told by the prophetIsaiah:'Thus sayeth the Lord: I appoint the princes because they aresacred and I direct them.'

...He was taller than others and his voice reached the peopleas a trumpet, and his face was like the face ofJoseph, whomthe EgyptianPharaoh placed as next to the king after him ofEgypt. His power was a part of the power ofSamson andGod gave him the wisdom ofSolomon... this Prince Alexander: heused to defeat but was never defeated...

He spent most of his youth in Pereslavl-Zalessky.^[9] Little is known about the activities of Yaroslav's children before the year 1238.^[9] Alexander's eldest brother Fyodor died in 1233 at the age of 14.^[9]

In 1236, Alexander was appointed by theNovgorodians to become theirprince (knyaz), where he had already served as his father's governor in Novgorod.^[11][12] The Novgorod chronicle describes how Yaroslav left his son Alexander in Novgorod and took with him "senior Novgorodians" and a hundred men from Torzhok and "sat in Kiev upon the throne".^[13]

In 1237, the Swedes received papal authorization tolaunch a crusade, and in 1240, new campaigns began in the easternmost part of the Baltic region.^[14] The Finnish mission's eastward expansion led to a clash between Sweden and the city-state ofNovgorod, since theKarelians had been allies and tributaries of Novgorod since the mid-12th century.^[15] The Swedish army was led byBirger Jarl and consisted of Norwegians and Finnish tribes.^[15] After a successful campaign intoTavastia, the Swedes advanced further east.^[16][17] According to Russian sources, the Swedish army landed at the confluence of the riversIzhora andNeva, when Alexander and his small army suddenly attacked the Swedes on 15 July 1240 and defeated them in theBattle of the Neva.^[18][19]

The event was later depicted as being of national importance, and in the 15th century, Alexander received thesobriquetNevsky ("of the Neva").^[20][6][12] The Soviet-era historianIgor Shaskolsky suggested that the attack was coordinated, referring to theLife of Alexander Nevsky, the only Russian source besides theFirst Novgorod Chronicle that mentions the battle, in which it is stated that the Swedes intended to conquerNovgorod.^[18] According toJohn Fennell: "there is no evidence of any coordination of action between the Swedes, the Germans and the Danes, nor is there anything to show that this was more than a continuation of the Russo-Swedish conflict for mastery over Finland and Karelia".^[18] The battle is not mentioned in Swedish sources, and so was likely part of periodic clashes between Sweden and Novgorod.^[18]

In September 1240, troops of theBishopric of Dorpat, theLivonian Order and the exiled pretender-princeYaroslav of Pskov [ru;be] conducteda campaign inIzborsk andPskov, successfully overthrowing the pro-Suzdal faction which had supported Alexander.^[21][22] Shortly thereafter, either in late 1240 or early 1241, the Novgorodians rose up against Alexander and banished him toPereslavl-Zalessky.^[21][22] That same winter,a campaign intoVotia was conducted by theBishopric of Ösel–Wiek, theLivonian Order, as well as Estonians (Chud') with support from local Votian leaders.^[23] It is unclear whether Votia was a tributary of Novgorod at this time, or not.^[21][24] According toAnti Selart, the allies likely only intended to acquire pagan lands and convert them to Catholicism, rather than attacking Novgorod, which was already Christianized.^[25] On the other hand, the campaign was "a purely political undertaking which had nothing to do with conversion of pagans".^[26] Although theNorthern Crusades were aimed at paganBalts andFinns, rather than Orthodox Russians, several unsuccessful attempts were made to persuade Novgorod to convert to Catholicism, which were resisted by Alexander.^[27][28]

The Novgorodian authorities recalled Alexander, and in the spring of 1241, he returned from exile and assembled an army. Alexander managed to retake Pskov andKoporye from the crusaders and drive out the invaders.^[29] He then continued into Estonian-German territory.^[21] The crusaders defeated a detachment of the Novgorodian army.^[21][b] As a result, Alexander set up a position atLake Peipus.^[21] Alexander and his men then faced the Livonian heavy cavalry led byHermann of Dorpat, brother ofAlbert of Buxhoeveden, where they met on 5 April 1242.^[21] Alexander's army then defeated the enemy in theBattle on the Ice, halting the eastward expansion of theTeutonic Order.^[31] Later in the same year, the Germans agreed to relinquish control of any Russian territory still occupied, as well as to exchange prisoners of war.^[18] Later Russian sources would elevate the importance of the battle and portray it as one of the great Russian victories of the Middle Ages.^[32]

TheLivonian Rhymed Chronicle narrates the events of the battle:

There is a city in Russia called Novgorod, and when its king [Alexandre] heard what had happened he marched towards Pskov with many troops. He arrived there with a mighty force of many Russians to free the Pskovians and these latter heartily rejoiced. When he saw the Germans he did not hesitate long. They drove away the two Brothers, removed them from their governorship and routed their troops. The Germans fled and allowed the land to revert to the Russians. Thus it went for the Teutonic Knights, but if Pskov had been protected it would have benefited Christianity until the end of the world. It is a mistake to take a fair land and fail to occupy it properly. It is deplorable, for the result is sure to be disastrous. The king of Novgorod then returned home.^[33]

After the Livonian invasion, Nevsky continued to strengthen the Republic of Novgorod. He sent his envoys to Norway and, as a result, they signed a first peace treaty between Novgorod and Norway in 1251. Alexander led his army to Finland and successfully routed the Swedes, who had made another attempt to block theBaltic Sea from the Novgorodians in 1256.^{[34][non-primary source needed]} In 1261, Alexander also concluded a treaty with Lithuanian kingMindaugas against the Livonian Order, but the planned attack failed as Alexander was summoned to Sarai by the khan.^[28]

Upon the conquest of theGrand Principality of Vladimir by the Mongols in 1238,^[35] its reigning prince,Yuri II Vsevolodovich, was killed in theBattle of the Sit River; his younger brother,Yaroslav II Vsevolodovich (Alexander's father), requested and received from the Mongol khan his permission to become the new prince. As prince, he assigned Novgorod to his son Alexander. However, while traveling in 1245 to the Mongol capitalKarakorum in Central Asia, Yaroslav died. When, in 1248, Alexander and his older brotherAndrey II Yaroslavich also traveled to Karakorum to attend upon the Great Khan, Andrey received the title ofgrand prince of Vladimir and Alexander the nominal lordship of Kiev.^[35] The two returned in the autumn of 1249.^[36]

TheRurikid princes of Rus' were obliged to appear before the khans in person, pay homage to them and receive theirjarlig (patent) to be affirmed in their principalities.^[c] WhenMöngke became the new great khan in 1251, only two years afterGuyuk's death, he demanded another appearance atSarai on theVolga, but Andrey refused to go.^[38] Thanks to his friendship withSartaq Khan, the subsequent invasion by the Mongols, their first venture into northeastern Rus' since the initial conquest, saw Andrey exiled to Sweden and Alexander assuming the title ofgrand prince of Vladimir in 1252,^[39] the most senior of the princes at the time following the fall of Kiev.^[40] Alexander faithfully supported Mongol rule within his own domains. In 1259, he led an army to the city of Novgorod and forced it to pay tribute it had previously refused to the Golden Horde.^[41]

In 1242, Alexander married Aleksandra, a daughter of Bryacheslav Vasilkovich, the prince ofPolotsk.^[42] They had five children:

• Vasily, prince of Novgorod (c. 1239 – 1271), betrothed toPrincess Kristina of Norway in 1251 before the marriage contract was broken;
• Eudoxia Alexandrovna, married Konstantin Rostislavich ofSmolensk;
• Dmitry (c. 1250 – 1294), prince of Pereslavl and grand prince of Vladimir;^[43]
• Andrey of Gorodets (c. 1255 – 1304), prince of Gorodets and grand prince of Vladimir;^[43]
• Daniel of Moscow (1261–1303), prince of Moscow.^[44][43]

On 14 November 1263, while returning fromSarai on one of his frequent visits to the Horde, Alexander died in the town ofGorodets-on-the-Volga. On 23 November 1263, he was buried in the church of the Monastery of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of God inVladimir.^[45][46]

From theSecond Pskovian Chronicle:^[10]

Returning from the Golden Horde, the Great Prince Alexander,reached the city of Nizhny Novgorod, and remained therefor several days in good health, but when he reached thecity of Gorodets he fell ill...

Great Prince Alexander, who was always firm in his faith inGod, gave up this worldly kingdom ... And then he gave uphis soul to God and died in peace on 12 November [1263], onthe day when the Holy Apostle Philip is remembered...

At this burial Metropolitan Archbishop Cyril said, 'Mychildren, you should know that the sun of the Suzdalian landhas set. There will never be another prince like him in theSuzdalian land.'

And the priests and deacons and monks, the poor andthe wealthy, and all the people said: 'It is our end.'

The veneration of Alexander began almost immediately after his burial, when he reportedly extended his hand for the prayer of absolution.^[45] According to Orthodox tradition, Alexander foresaw his death and before this took strictOrthodox Christian monastic vows, calledGreat Schema, and took the name Alexey.^[47][48][49]

In 1380, Alexander's remains were uncovered in response to avision before theBattle of Kulikovo and found to beincorrupt. The relics were then placed in a shrine in the church. Alexander was canonized as a saint of theRussian Orthodox Church byMetropolitan Macarius in 1547.^[45]

In 1695, a new wooden reliquary was made in Moscow, and the relics were placed in it in 1697.^[45] By order ofPeter the Great, the relics were then removed from Vladimir on 11 August 1723 and transported toShlisselburg, arriving there on 20 September.^[45] There they were kept until 1724, when they were brought toSaint Petersburg and installed in theAnnunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra on 30 August.^[45]

In 1753, asilver shrine with sarcophagus for the relics, made from 90 pounds of silver, was donated by EmpressElizabeth of Russia. With the completion of theHoly Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in 1790, the shrine and relics were translated there at its consecration on 30 August, one of the saint's feast days.^[45]

In May 1922, during thegeneral confiscation of Russian Orthodox Church property, the sarcophagus was opened and the relics removed;^{[50][better source needed]} and the elaborate silver shrine was transferred to theHermitage Museum.^[50] The relics were put into storage at theMuseum of the History of Religion and Atheism, before being returned to Holy Trinity Cathedral in 1989.^[50] On 10 May 2023, the Hermitage Museum and Alexander Nevsky Lavra signed a contract for the transfer of the shrine to Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra for a period of 49 years.^[51] On 12 September 2023,Patriarch Kirill of Moscow placed the relics back into the silver sarcophagus.^[52]

Alexander's principalfeast day is 23 November. A secondary feast day was instituted on 30 August in commemoration of his relics being placed in the Annunciation Church. He is jointly commemorated with other saints ofRostov andYaroslavl on 23 May.^{[citation needed]}

In February 2024, it was announced that the memorial of Saint Alexander Nevsky had been deleted from thesynaxarion of theOrthodox Church of Ukraine.^[53]

Some historians see Alexander's choice of subordination to theGolden Horde as an important reaffirmation of East Slavs' Orthodox orientation (which begun underVladimir I of Kiev and his grandmotherOlga).^[54]Orlando Figes mentioned that "Nevsky's collaboration was no doubt motivated by his distrust of the West, which he regarded as a greater threat to Orthodox Russia than the Golden Horde (...) But Nevsky'srealpolitik caused a problem for the chroniclers, particularly after he was made a saint by the Russian Church in 1547, for in their terms he had colluded with the infidel."^[40]

Some of Alexander's policies on the Western border were continued by his grandson-in-law,Daumantas of Pskov, who was also beatified in the 16th century. In the late 13th century, achronicle was compiled called theLife of Alexander Nevsky (Житие Александра Невского), in which he is depicted as an ideal prince-soldier and defender of Russia.^{[citation needed]}

On 21 May 1725, the empressCatherine I introduced theImperial Order of St. Alexander Nevsky as one of the highestdecorations in the land. DuringWorld War II, on 29 July 1942, theSoviet authorities introduced anOrder of Alexander Nevsky to revive the memory of Alexander's struggle with the Germans.^[55] There was also an earlierBulgarian Order dedicated to Saint Alexander which was founded on 25 December 1881, which ceased to exist when thePeople's Republic was declared on 16 September 1946.^{[citation needed]}

In 1938,Sergei Eisenstein made one of his most acclaimed films,Alexander Nevsky, about Alexander's victory over the Teutonic Knights. Thesoundtrack for the film was written bySergei Prokofiev, who also reworked the score into a concertcantata. Today the film is renowned for its extraordinary battle on ice sequence, which has served as inspiration for countless other films. In the picture, Nevsky used a number of Russianproverbs, tying Nevsky firmly to Russian tradition.^[56] The famous proverbial phrase (paraphrasing Matthew 26:52), "Whoever will come to us with a sword, from a sword will perish," is a phrase that is often attributed to Alexander Nevsky, though it was not in fact said by him; it comes from Eisenstein's film, where it was said by actorNikolai Cherkasov.^{[citation needed]} A Soviet evaluation presented Alexander's victories as having "saved the Russian people from sharing the fate of the Baltic tribes and the Slavs of the Elbe who were enslaved by the Germans".^[57]

DuringWorld War II, the image of Alexander Nevsky became a national symbol of the struggle against German occupation, and many Soviet historians portrayed him as a Russian bastion against both German and papal aggression.^[58] The government sought historical continuity by referring to the Soviet struggle as theGreat Patriotic War.^[55] The filmAlexander Nevsky was re-released in 1941 following the German invasion;^[59]Joseph Stalin used the film to mobilize feelings of Russian patriotism.^[60]

Alexander Nevsky's fame was spread wherever Imperial Russia had a strong influence; thus numerous cathedrals and churches were dedicated to him, including thePatriarchal Cathedral inSofia,Bulgaria; theCathedral church inTallinn,Estonia; theCathedral church inŁódź,Poland; the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral inUngheni,Moldova.^{[citation needed]}

There is a long tradition of Russian naval vessels bearing Nevsky's name, such as the 19th-century propeller frigateAlexander Nevsky andK-550Alexander Nevsky, a nuclear poweredballistic missile submarine currently in service with theRussian Navy.^[61]

On 24 September 2008, Alexander Nevsky was declared the main hero of Russia's history by popular vote, as reported by theKommersant newspaper. In December 2008, he was voted the greatest Russian in theName of Russia television poll.^[62]

During the 2021 Moscow Victory Day Parade, a small historical segment of the parade featured Russian soldiers dressed in historical M1945 Red Army uniforms carrying out the Soviet combat banners which received theOrder of Alexander Nevsky during the war. This segment coincided with the 800th anniversary since the birth of Alexander Nevsky in 1221.^[63]

• Life of Alexander Nevsky (illuminated manuscript)
• Alexander Nevsky Cathedral – an incomplete listing of Eastern Orthodox cathedrals which bear his name
• Family tree of Russian monarchs
• Chapel of Saint Alexander Nevsky (Fergana)

•  
  Saint Alexander Nevsky, 1666fresco in theCathedral of the Archangel, Moscow
•  
  Prince Alexander Nevsky receiving Papal legates, painting byHenryk Siemiradzki (1870s)
•  
  A statue of Alexander Nevsky inGorodets

• Livonian Rhymed Chronicle (LRC,c. 1290s).
  • Meyer, Leo (1876).Livländische Reimchronik, mit Anmerkungen, Namenverzeichniss und Glossar herausgegeben von Leo Meyer [Livonian Rhymed Chronicle, with Annotations, Index of Names and Glossary, edited by Leo Meyer] (in Latin).Paderborn. Retrieved3 November 2024.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) (Reprint:Hildesheim 1963). Verses 2235–2262.
  • Smith, Jerry C.; Urban, William L., eds. (1977).The Livonian Rhymed Chronicle: Translated with an Historical Introduction, Maps and Appendices. Uralic and Altaic series. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 181.ISBN 978-0-87750-213-5.
• Synod Scroll (Older Redaction) of theNovgorod First Chronicle (NPL,c. 1315).
  • Michell, Robert; Forbes, Nevill (1914).The Chronicle of Novgorod 1016–1471. Translated from the Russian by Robert Michell and Nevill Forbes, Ph.D. Reader in Russian in the University of Oxford, with an introduction by C. Raymond Beazley and A. A. Shakhmatov(PDF). London:Gray's Inn. p. 237. Retrieved5 April 2024.

• Dukes, Paul (1998).A History of Russia: Medieval, Modern, Contemporary, C. 882-1996. Duke University Press.ISBN 978-0-8223-2096-8.
• Fennell, John (13 October 2014).The Crisis of Medieval Russia 1200-1304. Routledge. p. 106.ISBN 978-1-317-87313-6.
• Fennell, John (23 September 2022).The Emergence of Moscow, 1304-1359. Univ of California Press.ISBN 978-0-520-34758-8.
• Fonnesberg-Schmidt, Iben (2007).The popes and the Baltic crusades, 1147–1254. Brill.ISBN 9789004155022.
• Martin, Janet (2007).Medieval Russia: 980–1584. Second Edition. E-book. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-0-511-36800-4.
• Nazarova, Evgeniya L. (30 August 2006). Murray, Alan V. (ed.).The Crusades: An Encyclopedia [4 volumes]. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 42–43.ISBN 978-1-57607-862-4.
• Nicolle, David (15 March 1997).Lake Peipus 1242: Battle of the ice. Bloomsbury USA.ISBN 978-1-85532-553-1.
• Raffensperger, Christian;Ostrowski, Donald (2023).The Ruling Families of Rus: Clan, Family and Kingdom. London: Reaktion Books. p. 309.ISBN 978-1-78914-745-2. (e-book)
• Selart, Anti (2015). "Chapter 3: Livonia and Rus' in the 1230s and 1240s".Livonia, Rus' and the Baltic Crusades in the Thirteenth Century. Leiden/Boston: BRILL. pp. 127–170.doi:10.1163/9789004284753_005.ISBN 978-90-04-28475-3.
• Välimäki, Reima (December 2022).Medievalism in Finland and Russia: Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century Aspects. Bloomsbury Academic.ISBN 978-1-350-23288-4.

• Bain, Robert Nisbet (1911)."Alexander Nevsky, Saint" .Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). p. 556.
• Isoaho, Mari.The Image of Aleksandr Nevskiy in Medieval Russia: Warrior and Saint (The Northern World; 21). Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2006 (hardcover,ISBN 90-04-15101-X).
• "Tale of the Life and Courage of the Pious and Great Prince Alexander [Nevsky]" inMedieval Russia's Epics, Chronicles, and Tales, ed.Serge Zenkovsky, 224–235 (New York: Meridian, 1974)

• Repose of Saint Alexander Nevsky Orthodoxicon andsynaxarion (23 November)
• Synaxis of the Saints of Rostov and Yaroslavl (23 May)
• Translation of the relics of Saint Alexander Nevsky (30 August)
• Saint Alexander on Nevsky Prospekt.
• Kommersant: Russia’s Hero is Grand Prince Alexander Nevsky (24 September 2008)
• Interfax news agency: Orthodox believers found heaven guardians for Russian secret service (22 September 2008)