Danish campaigns to Novgorod
| Danish campaigns to Novgorod | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Livonian campaign to Novgorod | |||||||||
 Danish incursions into Novgorod, 1241 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 Abel of Schleswig Cnut of Estonia[citation needed] Andreas von Felben Hermann of Dorpat Jaroslaw Wladimirow |
.svg){kind=small} Alexander Nevsky Tverdilo Ivankovich | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
|
Kings men German knights | Unknown | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
|
First crusade: 300 Knights 300+ Estonians Second crusade: 1000 Knights Unknown amount of Estonian troops |
First crusade: Unknown Second crusade: 600 Knights at Izborsk | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | 800 killed | ||||||||
The Danish campaigns to Novgorod were a series of Crusader raids in 1241 by Danish royals and vassals, using the Duchy of Estonia as base of operation, against the Novgorod Republic. The Danish Crusades were supported and executed in coordination with the papacy and other Crusading states, notably Sweden and the Livonian Order, the former one not being able to send further support after being defeated at the Neva.[citation needed]
Background
[edit]In 1227, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword took advantage of a weakened Denmark and seized the control in the Duchy of Estonia.[citation needed] Danish king Valdemar II tried to get it back by appealing to the Roman Curia, which was very slow to respond. It wasn't until February 1236 that the pope decided in favour of Denmark, but the Sword Brothers would not yield until they themselves were weakened by the 1236 Battle of Saule, and compelled to merge with the Teutonic Order as the Livonian Order. The 1238 Treaty of Stensby eventually returned all of Estonia (except Järva) to Denmark. Additionally, the king of Denmark would receive two-thirds of all future lands conquered from the pagans in the region, while the Brothers received one third.[1]
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By 1240,[citation needed] Denmark under Valdemar II the Victorious, Sweden under Birger Jarl and the Livonian Order, were all in for a crusade.[2] According to Rus' sources only, a Swedish fleet was defeated by Novgorodians in the Battle of the Neva in the summer of 1240.[3][2]
First campaign
[edit]A few months after the Swedish attack, a force, led by Abel of Schleswig, consisting of 300 Danish and German knights, supported by an additional greater number of Estonian troops, attacked the Votians in winter[clarification needed] 1241.[4][page needed] The city of Koporye was occupied and a stone castle was erected to secure the territory.[5][6][7] This move was done in order to cut off Novgorodian access to the southern side of the Bay of Finland, which would greatly damage their economy and international trade.[8] Further to the south, the villages of Tesov and Sablia were also captured, which only lay 30 km from Veliky Novgorod.[5] It is reported in the Novgorod First Chronicle, that the Votians suffered greatly from the campaign.[7][4][page needed]
Despite the initial successes, the campaign would come to an end in March. Back in Denmark, king Valdemar had laid ill and died.[4][page needed] This led to a succession crisis in Denmark, over the question of who should succeed Valdemar.[9] Duke Abel therefore suspended his campaign in Novgorod and returned to Denmark to assert his claim on the throne.[4][page needed]
Second campaign
[edit]Meanwhile, the king's vassals were left with the defence of Estonia for themselves.[citation needed] They participated in a campaign, launched by Andreas von Felben with an army of 1000. The army was allied with Yaroslav Vladimirovich, son of the former prince of Pskov, who was in exile amongst the Crusaders.[5][8] The campaign intended to secure Pskov for Yaroslav and the Catholic Church and their first target was the Pskovian fortress of Izborsk.[5][6][7] The Dano-German army with Yaroslav's troops took the fortress.[7] A 600-man force from Pskov continuously tried to recapture the fort, yet was defeated by the Crusading army. The Livonian Rhymed Chronicle recalls the event;[5]
"Those from Pskov were unhappy about the news (capture of Izborsk). This is the name of a neighboring town in Rus' whose inhabitants were extremely evil. None of them stayed behind but rather all participated in the expedition and grimly stormed Is- borg, with many bright cuirasses and helmets shining like glass. There were many crossbowmen among them. When they came upon the Brothers' army (the Teutonic Knights) they attacked and the Brothers and the (Danish) King's men boldly charged towards them. The Germans hacked great wounds and the Rusins suffered terribly. Eight hundred of them fell on the battlefield.... The others took to flight and were pursued relentlessly...."
The Crusader army then marched on Pskov, which was left defenseless.[5] The Crusaders camped outside of Pskov for a week, burning villages and Orthodox monasteries, including their books and icons.[5] With a reduced defense and a defeat at Izborsk, the mayor of Pskov, Tverdilo Ivankovich, opened the city gates and surrendered the city to the Crusaders.[5][6][10][8]
Aftermath
[edit]It had become clear to Novgorod, that the Crusaders (besides trade) were also interested in conquering new territories.[5] As a response to the fall of Pskov, Alexander Nevsky reassumed power.[11] The newly arrived prince took the Novgorodian city militia and set out for the occupied Votians, and retook the Crusader castle of Koporye.[5][12][8] Danish and German prisoners from the fortress were sent to Novgorod.[5] Nevsky, along with his brother, Prince Andrey of Suzdal, now appeared outside of the Crusader occupied Pskov and quickly stormed the city. The Novgorodians then crossed the Velikaya and began burning and pillaging the Crusader territory.[5][2] In response, the Crusaders raised an army in Livonia and Estonia, under Hermann von Buxhoevden, and met the Russians at the Battle on the Ice.[11][8]
See also
[edit]- Battle of Julin Bridge – 12th century Danish naval and land battle against Pomeranians
- Valdemar II of Denmark – King of Denmark from 1202 to 1241
- Canute, Duke of Estonia – Danish noble, Duke of Estonia
- Battle on the Ice – 1242 battle of the Northern Crusades on the frozen Lake Peipus
- Second Swedish Crusade – Swedish military expedition to Finland
References
[edit]- ^ Selart, Anti (2015-03-31). Livonia, Rus' and the Baltic Crusades in the Thirteenth Century. BRILL. doi:10.1163/9789004284753. ISBN 978-90-04-28475-3.
- ^ a b c Fonnesberg-Schmidt, Iben (2007). The popes and the Baltic crusades, 1147–1254. Brill. ISBN 9789004155022.
- ^ Lind, John H. (1991). "Early Russian-Swedish Rivalry: The battle on the Neva in 1240 and Birger Magnussons' second crusade to Tavastia". Scandinavian Journal of History. 16 (4): 269. doi:10.1080/03468759108579222. ISSN 0346-8755. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
- ^ a b c d Lind, John (2004). Danske korstog (in Danish). København: Høst & Søn. ISBN 978-87-14-29712-1.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Basilevsky, Alexander (2016). Early Ukraine: A Military and Social History to the Mid-19th Century. McFarland. p. 161.
- ^ a b c Martin, Janet (2007). Medieval Russia, 980–1584. Cambridge University Press. pp. 175–219. ISBN 9780511811074.
- ^ a b c d Selart, Anti. Livonia and Rus' and the Baltic Crusades in the 13th Century.
- ^ a b c d e Nicholle, David. Lake Peipus 1242; Battle of the Ice.
- ^ "Borgerkrigen 1243-1250". danmarkshistorien.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2024-03-29.
- ^ Sichynsky, V. (1953). Volodymyr Sichynskyi. p. 141.
- ^ a b Hellie, Richard (2006). "Alexander Nevskii's April 5, 1242 Battle on the Ice". Russian History. 33 (2/4): 284. doi:10.1163/187633106X00177. JSTOR 24664445 – via JSTOR.
- ^ Murray, Alan V. (5 July 2017). Crusade and Conversion on the Baltic Frontier 1150–1500. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-351-94715-2.