Novgorod lands were now in great peril and a cry of discouragement rose throughout the city. Novgorod regiments were summoned immediately, and the city sent to Yaroslav of Vladimir for assistance. But Alexander would not wait for reinforcements; he was satisfied with the moderate forces of Novgorod, and was ready to set out at once. After mass in Holy Sophia, the bishop went to the square with Alexander and blessed him for action. Then the prince said to all, in the words uttered on that same square by Mystislav, his grandfather: “God is not with might, but with justice.”
The Ijoras greatly feared Swedish supremacy; this fear gave them strength in the encounter, and the Swedes, though they outnumbered Alexander’s men, were defeated decisively. Alexander himself did not leave the battle-field all that day of July 15, 1240. He was in the most dangerous places, guiding every movement of the army, and left the mark of his own weapon on Birger’s face. Night saved a remnant of the Swedes, who sailed away in the darkness. So the fame of Alexander sprang up in that dreary time of Mongol captivity, in that day of general suffering and helplessness, and his countrymen of the South and East, crushed in spirit and on the verge of despair, found some consolation in the fact that their brethren of the North had been led to victory by their prince, who alone had success in that time of trial. After this battle the people surnamed him Nevski (of the Neva) in reward for his bravery and this great victory, the anniversary [[267]]of which was for three centuries celebrated throughout Russia with solemn memorial services.
But if the Swedes were forced to give peace for a time, the Germans of Riga had no wish to respect the boundaries of Novgorod. The Livonian Knights acted as pleased them along the Pskoff borders, and roused subject tribes against Novgorod whenever they found it possible. Soon after the battle with the Swedes, Nevski, as now we may call him, could not agree longer with Novgorod, hence he retired to Pereyaslavl with his wife, his mother, and attendants. The complaints made by Novgorod were those made against all Vladimir princes, namely: “They wish to connect Novgorod lands with their own, and that is impossible. What has gone to the Vladimir prince is his, and what is of Novgorod belongs to Novgorod. In Volok and Torjok, for example, the princes were to maintain one half the tax-collectors; one half were to be appointed by them, and one half by Novgorod, but they manage all the work with their own half. The princes entice Novgorod men in numbers to go to Vladimir, and in Novgorod places they settle Vladimir men. Besides, they acquire villages by purchase and by gifts, and in exchange they take in their own names, and in the names of their princesses, villages belonging to Novgorod. They permit their followers from Vladimir, and their other favorites to act in the same way. Places in Novgorod which have been assigned to the princes are managed by Vladimir men, and not men of Novgorod. Such things must not be!”
Another part of those complaints was regarding meadows given up for the personal use of the princes, their hunting and fishing grounds, and bee places. It was also asserted that the prince built his own towns on Novgorod land; that he governed, judged and managed Novgorod without considering the posadnik; that he took places from Novgorod men and gave them to outsiders without consulting the posadnik. In view of all these accusations and quarrels, Nevski refused to govern, and left the city.
The Livonian Knights had seized Pskoff, where that most disorderly son of a disorderly father, Yaroslav, son of Vladimir and nephew of Mystislav the Gallant, was active. He had been taken prisoner once and sent captive to Pereyaslavl, but was freed somewhat later. With him were associated certain Novgorod traitors, who were in Pskoff, and these men now, for the second time, went [[268]]over to the Germans of Riga. By the help of such traitors, the Livonian Knights not only got possession of Izborsk and Yurieff, but of Pskoff also, and those deserters were rewarded by being made posadniks and managers. Now the Germans demanded children as hostages from the loyal Russians of Pskoff, from fathers of families, and those children were taken to Riga. When they were, as they thought, firmly settled in Pskoff, the knights roused those Chud tribes which they controlled and broke into Novgorod regions. Already they had conquered the two tribes connected with Novgorod, and had erected a fortress, Koporia, at Lake Ladoga.
Novgorod men turned, with a prayer for assistance, to Yaroslav of Vladimir, asking him to send his son Alexander to them. But Nevski refused with decision, so Yaroslav sent Andrei, a younger son. To others enemies were now added Lithuanians, who ravaged in various directions south of Novgorod, while the Germans with their Chud subjects came within thirty versts of the city. They seized all the cattle and horses, so that earth-tillers had no animals to work with. The Novgorod men sent to Yaroslav a second time, saying: “Give thy son Alexander, we pray thee.”
Their prayer was heard. Nevski arrived, and all was changed quickly. A good army was assembled at once. Men of Ladoga, Karelia, and Ijora went under his banners with gladness. Alexander razed the fortress of Koporia to its lowest foundation, and defeated the Germans; some he sent as prisoners to Novgorod, others he set at liberty. Strict and stern judgment reached only those Chuds who had gone over to the enemy. Spies and men who had given information to the Germans he hanged as a lesson to the others.
Many persons came then from Pskoff with accounts of the terrible disorder reigning there. They begged Nevski to free them, not only from Germans, but also from traitorous Russians. The Germans dissembled no longer. What they had taken, they said, was now sacredly theirs, and they would never give up what belonged to them.
In 1241 Nevski occupied all approaches to Pskoff, and then captured the city itself. The neighboring Chuds, who had deserted to the Germans, he pacified strictly. He took possession of their country and burned it. Some of the people he cut down where he [[269]]met them; others he took captive. Those Russian friends of the Germans, who were posadniks in various places, he put in chains and sent to Novgorod for imprisonment. The worst among spies and informers were put to death. The worthless, treacherous Prince Yaroslav, who was related to Nevski by his mother, humiliated himself and left the enemy, and Alexander sent him to Torjok to fight against Lithuanians.
Thus Pskoff was freed from the Germans, and from traitors. The Livonian Knights would not acknowledge this position and war with them became unavoidable. These knights of the Sword boasted that with one blow they would end every Russian success; they would not let the Slav language dominate the German; Nevski would be taken alive to serve as a spectacle. It was said that the Bishop of Riga himself would appear with his warriors, and from Wenden and Fellin all the forces of the Order were coming; that the Danish king was sending assistance.