The Battle on the Ice, also known as the Battle of Lake Peipus, took place on 5 April 1242. It was fought on the frozen Lake Peipus when the united forces of the Republic of Novgorod and Vladimir-Suzdal (also referred to by the proper noun as simply Vladimir), led by Prince Alexander Nevsky, emerged victorious against the forces of the Livonian Order and Bishopric of Dorpat, led by Bishop Hermann of Dorpat.
The outcome of the battle has been traditionally interpreted by Russian historiography as significant for the balance of power between Western Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox Christianity. It is disputed whether the battle should be considered a "crusade" or not, and whether it therefore represented a significant defeat for the Catholic forces during the Northern Crusades, thus bringing an end to their campaigns against the Orthodox Novgorod Republic and other Rus' territories. Estonian historian Anti Selart asserts that the crusades were not an attempt to conquer Rus', but still constituted an attack on the territory of Novgorod and its interests.
The origins of the conflict that led to the battle of Lake Peipus in 1242 are unclear and controversial. An influential historiographical tradition has sought to link it to three earlier clashes in the region, all of which Aleksandr Yaroslavich was involved in: the alleged July 1240 Battle of the Neva (only attested in Rus' sources), the September 1240 Izborsk and Pskov campaign, and the winter 1240–1241 Votia campaign.
Researchers have endeavoured to look for Swedish motives to advance into the Neva river basin, often by reference to the letter which Pope Gregory IX sent to the archbishop of Uppsala at the end of 1237, suggesting that a crusade should be held in southwestern Finland against the Tavastians, who allegedly reverted to their pagan beliefs. On the assumption that a successful 'anti-Tavastian crusade' took place in 1238–39, the Swedes would have advanced further east until they were stopped by a Novgorodian army led by Alexander Yaroslavich, who defeated them in the Battle of the Neva in July 1240, centuries later receiving the nickname Nevsky. Nevertheless, this hypothesis resulted in numerous unresolved issues. If the battle did take place, it was probably only a minor clash, in which religion played no role. Novgorod would have fought against this incursion to protect their monopoly on the Karelian fur trade, and for access to the Gulf of Finland.
Novgorodians had been attempting to subjugate, raid and convert the pagan Estonians (known as Chud') since 1030, when they established the outpost Yuryev (modern Tartu). From the late 12th century, German-Livonian missionary and crusade activity in Livonia and Estonia caused tensions with the Novgorod Republic. The Estonians would sometimes ally with various Rus' principalities against the crusaders, since the eastern Baltic missions constituted a threat to Rus' interests and the tributary peoples. After Novgorod tried to subjugate Lett tribes south of Yuryev in 1212, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword captured Yuryev in 1224, which became the Bishopric of Dorpat's capital. The 1224 peace treaty that the Livonians signed with Pskov and Novgorod was in the latter's favour, and family ties were soon established: prince Vladimir Mstislavich of Pskov (died c. 1227) married off his daughter to Theoderic of Buxhövden, brother of bishops Albert of Riga and Hermann of Dorpat. Vladimir's son Yaroslav would later attempt to become the new prince of Pskov with the help of his brother-in-law, bishop Hermann of Dorpat; they failed in 1233, but succeeded during the September 1240 Izborsk and Pskov campaign.
Some time after, in the winter of 1240–1241, the combined forces of the Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek (in modern-day western Estonia) and the Livonian Order launched the 1240–1241 Votia campaign. This campaign may be properly considered a crusade in the sense of a missionary conquest of 'pagan' lands. It is unknown whether Votia was a tributary of Novgorod at the time, or only became one later. In either case, while the Sword Brothers and bishop Henry of Ösel–Wiek probably did not intend to attack Novgorod, their actions provoked a Novgorodian counterattack in 1241. The delayed response was a result of the internal strife in Novgorod.
During the campaign of 1241, Alexander managed to retake both Votia and Pskov. Alexander then continued into Estonian-German territory. In the spring of 1242, the Teutonic Knights defeated a detachment of the Novgorodian army about 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of the fortress of Dorpat (now Tartu). As a result, Alexander set up a position at Lake Peipus, where the battle would take place on 5 April 1242.
According to the Livonian Order's Livonian Rhymed Chronicle (written in the 1290s), lines 2235–2262:
...[Bishop Henry's men] joined the Brothers' forces. But they had brought along too few people, and the Brothers' army was also too small. Nevertheless they decided to attack the Rus' [Rûʒen]. The latter had many archers. The battle began with their bold assault [in front of] the king's men. The Brothers' banners were soon flying in the midst of the archers, and swords were heard cutting helmets apart. Many from both sides fell dead on the grass [ûf daʒ gras]. Then the Brothers' army was completely surrounded, for the Rus' had so many troops that there were easily sixty men for every one German knight. The Brothers fought well enough, but they were nonetheless cut down. Some of those from Dorpat escaped from the battle, and it was their salvation that they had been forced to flee. Twenty Brothers lay dead and six were captured. Thus the battle ended.
According to the Laurentian continuation of the Suzdalian Chronicle (compiled in 1377; the entry in question may originally have been composed around 1310):
Великъıи кнѧз̑ Ӕрославъ посла сн҃а своѥго Андрѣа в Новъгородъ Великъıи в помочь Ѡлександрови на Нѣмци. и побѣдиша ӕ за Плесковом̑ на ѡзерѣ и полонъ многъ плѣниша. и възвратисѧ Андрѣи къ ѡц҃ю своєму с чс̑тью.
Grand Prince Iaroslav sent his son Andrei to Great Novgorod in aid of Alexander against the Germans and defeated them beyond Pskov at the lake (на озере) and took many prisoners. Andrei returned to his father with honor.
According to the Synod Scroll (Older Redaction) of the Novgorod First Chronicle (the entry of which has been dated to c. 1350):
Prince Alexander and all the men of Novgorod drew up their forces by the lake, at Uzmen, by the Raven's Rock; and the Germans [Nemtsy] and the Estonians [Chuds] rode at them, driving themselves like a wedge through their army. And there was a great slaughter of Germans and Estonians... they fought with them during the pursuit on the ice seven versts short of the Subol [north-western] shore. And there fell a countless number of Estonians, and 400 of the Germans, and they took fifty with their hands and they took them to Novgorod.
The Younger Redaction of the Novgorod First Chronicle (compiled in the 1440s) increased the amount of "Germans" (Nemtsy) killed from 400 to 500.
The Life of Alexander Nevsky, the earliest redaction of which was dated by Donald Ostrowski to the mid-15th century, combined all the various elements of the Laurentian Suzdalian, Novgorod First, and Moscow Academic (Rostov-Suzdal) accounts. It was the first version to claim that the battle itself took place upon the ice of the frozen lake, that many soldiers were killed on the ice, and that the bodies of dead soldiers of both sides covered the ice with blood. It even states that 'There was ... a noise from the breaking of lances and a sound from the clanging of swords as though the frozen lake moved,' suggesting the clamor of battle somehow stirred the ice, although there is no mention of it breaking.
Scholarly reconstructions of the battle
Estimates on the number of troops in the opposing armies vary widely among scholars. A more conservative estimation by David Nicolle (1996) has it that the crusader forces likely numbered around 2,600, including 800 Danish and German knights, 100 Teutonic knights, 300 Danes, 400 Germans, and 1,000 Estonian infantry. The Novgorodians fielded around 5,000 men: Alexander and his brother Andrei's bodyguards (druzhina), totalling around 1,000, plus 2,000 militia of Novgorod, 1,400 Finno-Ugrian tribesmen, and 600 horse archers.