Battle on the Ice

Battle on the Ice
	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
Date	5 April 1242
Location	Lake Peipus, between Estonia and Russia
Result	Novgorodian victory
Territorial; changes	Teutonic Order dropped all territorial claims over Russian lands
Belligerents
Livonian Order; Bishopric of Dorpat; Kingdom of Denmark Duchy of Estonia;	Novgorod Republic; Grand Duchy of Vladimir Pskov Republic;
Commanders and leaders
Hermann of Dorpat; Andreas von Velven;	Alexander Nevsky; Andrey Yaroslavich
Strength
1,800: 1,000 Estonian infantry;; 800 Danish and German knights.;	6,000-7,000: Novgorod militia;; Finno-Ugrian tribal contingents;; Nevky's druzhina;; Hundreds of horse archers.;
Casualties and losses
Livonian Rhymed Chronicle:; 20 knights killed; 6 knights captured; Novgorod First Chronicle:; 400 Germans killed; 50 Germans imprisoned; "Countless" Estonians killed	No exact figures

The Battle on the Ice,^[a] 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.

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.^[3]

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.^[4] 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.

^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference Nicolle was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ The Chronicle of Novgorod (PDF). London. 1914. p. 87.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2003. p. 241. ISBN 978-0-85229-961-6.
^ Fonnesberg-Schmidt 2007, p. 218, ...later to become hailed as one of the great Russian victories of the Middle Ages... scale of the battle was, however, most likely exaggerated in the later Russian sources, as was indeed its significance.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

[Nicolle-1] Cite error: The named reference Nicolle was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[2] The Chronicle of Novgorod (PDF). London. 1914. p. 87.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[4] The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2003. p. 241. ISBN 978-0-85229-961-6.

[FOOTNOTEFonnesberg-Schmidt2007218...later_to_become_hailed_as_one_of_the_great_Russian_victories_of_the_Middle_Ages..._scale_of_the_battle_was,_however,_most_likely_exaggerated_in_the_later_Russian_sources,_as_was_indeed_its_significance-5] Fonnesberg-Schmidt 2007, p. 218, ...later to become hailed as one of the great Russian victories of the Middle Ages... scale of the battle was, however, most likely exaggerated in the later Russian sources, as was indeed its significance.

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