St. Alexander Nevsky
Before this blog, I had another one. Here's a retread from the past ...
On this, the Eastern Orthodox Easter, and as the opening approaches of what looks to be an exciting film on the Holy Land Crusades - Kingdom of Heaven,- my thoughts turn to a different movie, one about the crusade against the Orthodox Church.
It was my college boyfriend who introduced me to thie Russian saint, Alexander Nevsky, through the movie of the same name by Russian film-maker Sergei Eisenstein. The movie, with music by Prokofiev, was made in 1938 and directly requested of Eisenstein by Stalin ... it describes a 13th century conflict between the Russian (and Eastern Orthodox) people of Novgorod and the Catholic Teutonic Knights, ending in an epic battle on a frozen lake. The story would be intersting enough if it were fiction, but it's based on real events during the Baltic Crusades.
- Teutonic Knights
The Crusades were “armed pilgrimages” called and blessed by the Pope, originally to reclaim Jerusalem and its surrounding territory in the Middle East, both considered “holy land,” for the Catholic Church. The enemies in these Crusades were supposed to be non-Christian, primarily followers of Islam. As the balances of power shifted in the 12th century, the Eastern Orthodox Church, based in Constantinople and the seat of the Christian Byzantine Empire, became a focus of the Crusades as well ... the motivation of the combatants—primarily knights and princes—was more related to acquisition of land and power than holiness, although the granting to Crusaders of eternal salvation by the Pope was a meaningful incentive. - The Baltic Crusade
The Teutonic Knights, founded in the Holy Land during the Third Crusade, took over most of the crusading and missionary work of the Baltic Crusades after the fall of Acre in 1291. With the help of Sweden, the Knights planned a joint campaign against the city of Novgorod, and that's when Aleander Nevsky joins the story.
Alexander (1220-1263) was the son of Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich of Novgorod and to him fell the task of defending the city. The Swedes, who were encouraged to invade both by a gain of the fur trade in the region and by a papal bull advocating the religious conversion of those Orthodox, disembarked on the banks of the Neva river in July 1240. The twenty year old prince Alexander took his small army and, with a surprise attack, completely routed the Swedes. The battle saved Russia from a full-scale invasion from the North and Alexander was thus given the name of “Nevsky”.
In the spring of 1241, Novgorod was again threatened, this time by the Teutonic Knights. Alexander gathered a rag-tag army and on April 5, 1242, faced and defeated the cavalry of the Knights on the ice of Lake Chudskoye/Peipsi - the German invasion was derailed.
Alexander’s victory was a significant event in the history of the Middle Ages. Russian foot soldiers had surrounded and defeated an army of knights, mounted on horseback and clad in thick armor, long before they learned how foot soldiers could prevail over mounted knights in Western Europe. Nevsky's great victory against the Teutonic Order apparently involved only a few knights killed rather than the hundreds claimed by the Russian chroniclers; decisive medieval and early modern battles were won and lost with small forces to modern eyes. The cultural value of the victory greatly outshone its strategic value, at the time and ever since. - Wikipedia
Alexander faced other problems, including vassalage to the Tartars, but he managed to maintain for his Russia the religious, if not political, freedom that he'd defended from the Swedes and the Germans. For these reasons, the Russian Orthodox Church canonized Alexander in 1547.
- Icon of St. Titus, St. Alexander Nevsky, and St. Polycarp
I hope the day soon comes when all wounds between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches are healed.
On this, the Eastern Orthodox Easter, and as the opening approaches of what looks to be an exciting film on the Holy Land Crusades - Kingdom of Heaven,- my thoughts turn to a different movie, one about the crusade against the Orthodox Church.
It was my college boyfriend who introduced me to thie Russian saint, Alexander Nevsky, through the movie of the same name by Russian film-maker Sergei Eisenstein. The movie, with music by Prokofiev, was made in 1938 and directly requested of Eisenstein by Stalin ... it describes a 13th century conflict between the Russian (and Eastern Orthodox) people of Novgorod and the Catholic Teutonic Knights, ending in an epic battle on a frozen lake. The story would be intersting enough if it were fiction, but it's based on real events during the Baltic Crusades.
- Teutonic Knights
The Crusades were “armed pilgrimages” called and blessed by the Pope, originally to reclaim Jerusalem and its surrounding territory in the Middle East, both considered “holy land,” for the Catholic Church. The enemies in these Crusades were supposed to be non-Christian, primarily followers of Islam. As the balances of power shifted in the 12th century, the Eastern Orthodox Church, based in Constantinople and the seat of the Christian Byzantine Empire, became a focus of the Crusades as well ... the motivation of the combatants—primarily knights and princes—was more related to acquisition of land and power than holiness, although the granting to Crusaders of eternal salvation by the Pope was a meaningful incentive. - The Baltic Crusade
The Teutonic Knights, founded in the Holy Land during the Third Crusade, took over most of the crusading and missionary work of the Baltic Crusades after the fall of Acre in 1291. With the help of Sweden, the Knights planned a joint campaign against the city of Novgorod, and that's when Aleander Nevsky joins the story.
Alexander (1220-1263) was the son of Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich of Novgorod and to him fell the task of defending the city. The Swedes, who were encouraged to invade both by a gain of the fur trade in the region and by a papal bull advocating the religious conversion of those Orthodox, disembarked on the banks of the Neva river in July 1240. The twenty year old prince Alexander took his small army and, with a surprise attack, completely routed the Swedes. The battle saved Russia from a full-scale invasion from the North and Alexander was thus given the name of “Nevsky”.
In the spring of 1241, Novgorod was again threatened, this time by the Teutonic Knights. Alexander gathered a rag-tag army and on April 5, 1242, faced and defeated the cavalry of the Knights on the ice of Lake Chudskoye/Peipsi - the German invasion was derailed.
Alexander’s victory was a significant event in the history of the Middle Ages. Russian foot soldiers had surrounded and defeated an army of knights, mounted on horseback and clad in thick armor, long before they learned how foot soldiers could prevail over mounted knights in Western Europe. Nevsky's great victory against the Teutonic Order apparently involved only a few knights killed rather than the hundreds claimed by the Russian chroniclers; decisive medieval and early modern battles were won and lost with small forces to modern eyes. The cultural value of the victory greatly outshone its strategic value, at the time and ever since. - Wikipedia
Alexander faced other problems, including vassalage to the Tartars, but he managed to maintain for his Russia the religious, if not political, freedom that he'd defended from the Swedes and the Germans. For these reasons, the Russian Orthodox Church canonized Alexander in 1547.
- Icon of St. Titus, St. Alexander Nevsky, and St. Polycarp
I hope the day soon comes when all wounds between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches are healed.
posted by crystal | 11:33 AM
5 Comments:
yep...i also hope for a healing..and for reciprocal acceptance...and for reunification...but this will not come if each part hold on the wounds from the past.
I share the same hope.
And I liked that film by Eisenstein when I saw it in my Russian history course in college.
Hi Paula and A - thanks for the comments:-)
Fantastic taste you have in movies, Crystal.
The battle on the ice was one of the best film sequences of all time. On the eve of WWII with the Nazi menace looming, the Soviets were really playing up the Aryan superman aspects of the Teutonic knights and took some swipes at the Catholic bishop too. Very sinister. Fascinating film.
Hi Jeff - thanks :-). I took German in college and used to like seeing historical movies about German stuff ... Betgman movies too.
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