| 1240 Izborsk and Pskov campaign | ||||||||
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| Belligerents | ||||||||
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| City of Pskov | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | ||||||||
| Hermann of Dorpat Yaroslav Vladimirovich | Gavrilo Gorislavich † | Tverdilo Ivankovich | ||||||
TheIzborsk and Pskov campaign was a military conflict occurring in September 1240[a] in thePskov Land. An alliance of theBishopric of Dorpat, theLivonian Order (the formerLivonian Brothers of the Sword, which had recently been incorporated into theTeutonic Order), and the pretender-prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich of Pskov besieged and conquered the Pskovian border fortress ofIzborsk. After Pskovian defenders failed to retake the town, the allied forces advanced to the capital Pskov itself, compelling it to surrender.
The campaign resulted in the brief overthrow of the pro-Suzdalian faction that supported princeAleksandr "Nevsky" Yaroslavich, and saw the installation of a new complex set of alliances. The situation ended after two years, when Nevsky led Novgorodian troops to retake Pskov under his family's control in spring 1242, and defeated the Livonian–Vladimirovich coalitionat Lake Peipus.
In September 1236, a coalition ofSword Brothers,Pskovians, Livonians and Latgallians were utterly defeated in theBattle of Saule against the pagan Samogitians and Semigallians. GrandmasterVolkwin was killed, and the Sword Brothers were so devastated that in May 1237, they agreed to reorganise underHermann Balk as theLivonian Order, a branch of their long-time rival, theTeutonic Order.[5] In December 1237, Pope Gregory IX proclaimed the second crusade againstFinland.[citation needed] On 7 June 1238, theTreaty of Stensby was signed between kingValdemar II of Denmark and the joint Masters of the Order: they agreed to divide Estonia and share future territorial conquests.[clarification needed] After northern Estonia was thus restored to the Danish king, theLivonian Rhymed Chronicle (LRC) narrates that bishopHermann of Dorpat was attacked by the Rus', who reportedly "had done him much harm".[2] He requested aid from the Teutonic Knights, as well as some of "the [Danish] king's men".[2]
TheNovgorod First Chronicle (NPL) reports that, after the Battle of the Neva (dated to July 1240), "theNemtsy ("Germans") with the men of Medvezhya [Golova] (Odenpäh / Otepää), of Yurev (Dorpat / Tartu), and of Velyad (Fellin / Viljandi) withKnyaz Yaroslav Volodimirich took Izborsk."[6][7] It is unknown who exactly led the Izborsk campaign; although the LRC associates the operation withHermann Balk, he had already fled to Germany in 1238 and died in March 1239/1240.[8] He was succeeded byDietrich von Grüningen and Andreas von Felben, but whether they personally participated in the campaign against Izborsk and Pskov, or the later battle of Lake Peipus, is unknown.[8] The army was allied withYaroslav Vladimirovich of Pskov [ru;be], son of the former prince of Pskov, who was in exile amongst the Livonians.[9][10][page needed] The campaign intended to securePskov for Yaroslav and theCatholic Church and their first target was the Pskovian fortress of Izborsk.[9][page needed][11][2]
The Livonian army with Yaroslav's troops took the fortress.[7] TheLivonian Rhymed Chronicle relates the capture thus:
die brûdere er zû hulfe bat | des was bischof Herman vrô. | sturmes man mit in began, | der wart gevangen oder geslagen. |
"...he [bishop Hermann of Dorpat] called on the Brothers for help. The Master came to him straightaway with many noble heroes, outstanding and bold, and the king's men also came with a fine force. Bishop Herman was well-pleased. With this army they went happily into the Rus' land [in der Rûʒen lant], and everything went well for them. They came to a castle there, named Isborg [Îsburc], and their arrival dismayed the garrison. They took the castle by storm and let none of the Rus' escape [der Rûʒen kan keinen lieʒ], killing or capturing all those who resisted [welcher sich zû were bôt]. Cries and shouts and a mighty lament arose throughout the land."
— Livonian Rhymed Chronicle, lines 2077–2098[12][13]
A 600-man force from Pskov continuously tried to recapture the fort, yet was defeated by the Livonian army.[citation needed] TheLivonian Rhymed Chronicle recalls the failed Pskovian counter-attack:[9]
Die von Plezcowe dô | von den wart nicht gespart, | sie quâmen ûf der brûder her; | sich hûb ein ungevûger strît: | die andere nâmen dâ die vlucht, |
"Those from Pskov [Plezcowe] were unhappy about the news [of Izborsk's capture]. This is the name of a neighboring town in Rus' [in Rûʒen lant] whose inhabitants were extremely evil. None of them stayed behind but rather all participated in the expedition and grimly stormed [toward Isborg], with many bright cuirasses and helmets shining like glass. There were many crossbowmen among them. When they came upon the [Livonian] Brothers' army they attacked, and the Brothers and the king's men boldly charged toward them. [Bishop Herman was there as a hero with his army]. A vicious battle arose. The Germans [dûtschen] hacked great wounds and the Rus' [Rûʒen] suffered terribly. Eight hundred of them fell on the battlefield, which was near Isborg [Îsburc]. The others took to flight and were pursued relentlessly...."
— Livonian Rhymed Chronicle, lines 2099–2124[14][15]
The Livonian army then marched on Pskov, which was left defenceless.[9] The Livonians camped outside of Pskov for a week, burning villages andOrthodox monasteries, including their books andicons.[9] With a reduced defence and a defeat at Izborsk, the mayor of Pskov, Tverdilo Ivankovich, opened the city gates and surrendered the city to the Livonians and Yaroslav Vladimirovich.[9][11][16][10][page needed]
The political faction in Pskov supporting Aleksandr Yaroslavich was overthrown.[2] Yaroslav Vladimirovich, who may well have beenGêrpolt mentioned in the LRC,[17] as well as PrinceGhereslawus in a 1248 charter,[18] finally seems to have assumed the throne of Pskov of his late father, although his real authority likely remained dependent on mayor Tverdilo Ivankovich, as well as theBishopric of Dorpat and the Order.[18] They would jointly control Pskov for the next two years until a force of Novgorodians commanded by Aleksandr Yaroslavich recaptured the city in spring 1242.[4]
It is unknown what happened to Yaroslav afterwards; he is last mentioned in historical sources in 1245,[4] and presumably died before 1248.[19] The 1248 charter claims that PrinceGhereslawus had donated his possession of Pskov to the Bishopric of Dorpat, and in 1248, the Bishopric ceded the rights of half the fiefs in the principality of Pskov to the Teutonic Order.[18] Similarly, the LRC narrates that PrinceGêrpolt donated the city and land of Pskov to the Teutonic Order in 1239/1240,[4][b] and later comments that "many knights and squires / deserved their right to a fief" during the siege of Pskov.[7] Finally, while Yaroslav treated Pskov as a hereditary possession that he could pass on within his family or donate to whom he pleased, the Pskovian citizens sought to either make or keep theprince of Pskov an elective office (similar to theprince of Novgorod in theNovgorod Republic), in service of the people rather than vice versa.[4][19] It is thus unlikely that thePskovianveche would have accepted Yaroslav "donating" the Pskov Land to the Bishopric of Dorpat, let alone the cession of half of Pskov to the Teutonic Order in 1248.[4][19] This suggests a complex division of powers and interests after the allies thus captured Izborsk and Pskov from the forces aligned with the Suzdalian dynasty, and when they lost it again two years later.[18][4]
Even though some of the pro-Suzdalian Pskovians fled with their wives and children to Novgorod after the Dorpat–Livonian–Vladimirovich capture of Pskov in late 1240,[20] there was no immediate Novgorodian response in its aftermath.[21] In fact, the NPL narrates that the citizens of Novgorod drove out Aleksandr of Suzdal as well: "In the winter in the same yearKnyaz Olexander went out from Novgorod with his mother and his wife and all his court, to his father in Pereyaslavl [=Pereslavl-Zalessky], having quarelledwith the men of Novgorod."[22][21] Selart concluded that 'no great threat was felt in Novgorod' at the time.[21] Likewise, the Livonian Order seemed comfortable in Pskov, not expecting a Novgorodian counter-attack; the LRC wrote that the Order's armyleft Pskov at the campaign's end, stationing only "two Brothers and a small force of Germans there to guard the land. This proved disastrous for them and their rule was of short duration."[15][7] TheChronicon ofHermann von Wartberge confirms that only two Livonian Brothers were tasked to defend Pskov with a small garrison.[7]
In the winter of 1240/1241, troops from the Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek and the Teutonic Orderinvaded and occupied Votia. After, the Teutonic knights constructed the fortress ofKoporye, where they kept all their supplies, and according to the NPL also took the Novgorodian town of Tesov, pillaging its merchants and ravaging the surrounding area.[21] The Novgorodians, fearing a fate similar to that of Pskov, sent envoys toPrince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich of Suzdal. Yaroslav initially sent Aleksandr's younger brotherAndrey Yaroslavich as aknyaz, but Novgorod insisted on Aleksandr.[20] Aleksandr returned to Novgorod and commanded a coalition of Novgorodians, Ladogans, Karelians and Ingrians to capture the fortress Koporye in spring 1241.[20] In March 1242, Novgorodians led by Aleksandr and his brother Andrey recaptured Pskov.[20] After this victory, Aleksandr decided to continue his campaign into "the land of the Chud'".[20] This eventually led to theBattle of Lake Peipus (the so-called "battle on the Ice") took place at or onLake Peipus, in which an allied Novgorodian–Suzdalian force defeated a coalition of theLivonian Order and theBishopric of Dorpat.[20]
The Germans withdrew from Pskov and Novgorod. Under the terms of the peace treaty, the Livonians pledged to return to NovgorodLuga,Latgale and the land of theVotes.[citation needed]
In later centuries, Alexander "Nevsky" Yaroslavich had become venerated as a saint (canonised byMacarius, Metropolitan of Moscow in 1547), and the idea emerged that there was a coordinated attempt by crusaders to subjugate and convert all Rus'.[23] Estonian historianAnti Selart has pointed out that thepapal bulls from 1240 to 1243 do not mention warfare against "Rus'" (or "Russians"), but against non-Christians.[24] Selart also argues that the crusades were not an attempt to conquer Rus', but still constituted an attack on the territory of Novgorod and its interests.[25] The two opposing alliances included Catholic and Orthodox powers on both sides.[26] Lake Peipus 'did become the dividing line between Catholic and Orthodox worlds, but the place given to the Battle of the Ice as a significant event in world history is based purely on ideological concerns rather than historical evidence.'[27]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) (Reprint:Hildesheim 1963). Verses 2235–2262.