Battle on the Ice
1242 battle of the Northern Crusades on the frozen Lake Peipus / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Battle on the Ice,[lower-alpha 1] alternatively known as the Battle of Lake Peipus (German: Schlacht auf dem Peipussee; Russian: битва на Чудском озере, romanized: bitva na Chudskom ozere), took place on 5 April 1242. It was fought largely on the frozen Lake Peipus between the united forces of the Republic of Novgorod and Vladimir-Suzdal, led by Prince Alexander Nevsky, and the forces of the Livonian Order and Bishopric of Dorpat, led by Bishop Hermann of Dorpat.
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (June 2023) |
Battle on the Ice | |||||||
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Part of the Northern Crusades and the Livonian campaign against Rus' | |||||||
Depiction of the battle in the late 16th century illuminated manuscript Life of Alexander Nevsky | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Hermann of Dorpat Andreas von Velven |
Alexander Nevsky Andrey Yaroslavich | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
2,600:[1]
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5,000:[1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Livonian Rhymed Chronicle: 50 Germans imprisoned "Countless" Estonians killed[3] | No exact figures |
The battle was significant because its outcome determined whether Western Catholicism or Eastern Orthodox Christianity would dominate in the region. In the end, the battle represented a significant defeat for the Catholic forces during the Northern Crusades and brought an end to their campaigns against the Orthodox Novgorod Republic and other Russian territories for the next century.[4]
The significance and likely the scale of the battle was exaggerated in later Russian sources, which hailed it as one of the great Russian victories of the Middle Ages.[5] The event portrayed in Sergei Eisenstein's historical drama film, Alexander Nevsky (1938), later created a popular but inaccurate image of the battle.
The Novgorodian victory is commemorated today in Russia as one of the Days of Military Honour.