1268 event in Russia. Rakovor battle (13 photos). Victory or defeat
Pskov republic
The Russian troops (about 30,000 soldiers) were commanded by Dmitry Pereyaslavsky (from the Novgorod Republic) together with his future son-in-law, Dovmont Pskov (from the Pskov Republic).
The campaign of the Russian troops in Northern Livonia
The Pskov prince Dovmont fought with the Livonian Order a lot and often, repelling the attacks of the knights on their possessions. At one time, this noble Lithuanian, expelled from his homeland and finding shelter in Russia, was known for his military leadership skills. It is not surprising that the initiative to strike at the order on its own lands came largely from the ruler of Pskov.
The Russian army entered the land of Virumaa, which belonged to the order's allies - the Danes, in the winter of 1268. The Livonian chronicles estimate the strength of the Russians at 30 thousand soldiers - the Pskovites, as well as the Novgorodians and the Preyaslavl squad of Prince Dmitry Alexandrovich. The allied army approached the walls of the city of Rakvere (Rakovor), where it met with the army of Master Otto von Rodenstein, who was also joined by a contingent of Danish knights. At the hand of the German commander was the color of Livonian knighthood - skillful and professional warriors.
The course of the battle
The battle took place on 18 February. Apparently, the formations of the opponents were characteristic of the Russian-Livonian wars of the 13th century. The Germans and Danes lined up in a wedge and attacked the center of the army of the allied princes, where the peshts were stationed - mainly from the Novgorod militia. The fight here was bloody and fierce. The illustrious Iron Regiment of Knights mowed down the Russian infantrymen in whole ranks, but the response was no less brutal. Both sides suffered losses. The leader of the Novgorod militia, mayor Mikhail, was also killed.
Nevertheless, the resilience of the Russian soldiers again allowed the allied army to endure and launch a counterattack. Having exhausted the enemy and their own infantrymen, the squads of Dovmont and Dmitry swept away the German and Danish knights. According to the chronicle, the decisive blow from the flank was struck by the people of Pereyaslav. The princely cavalry drove the retreating Livonians seven miles to Rakovor. In the evening, another German detachment approached the site of the battle, but having plundered the Novgorod convoy, by the morning he left with nothing. The Order suffered its worst defeat since the Battle of Durba.
Results of the battle
The Novgorod army and the squad of Dmitry Alexandrovich stood under the walls of Rakovor for three days. They did not dare to storm the city. At this time, Dovmont's Pskov squad marched across Livonia with fire and sword, carrying out robberies and capturing prisoners. The prince took revenge on the enemy for attacks on his lands.
After the Rakor victory, the Livonian Order could no longer seriously threaten the powerful principalities of northwest Russia. Dovmont Pskovsky and his allies became worthy successors of the cause of Alexander Nevsky.
Bibliography
- Shefov N.A. The most famous wars and battles of Russia M. "Veche" 2002 ISBN 5783805394
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
See what the "Battle of Rakovor 1268" is in other dictionaries:
The battle between the Russian and the combined forces of German and Danish crusaders near the town of Rakvere (Russian name Rakovor) on the territory of the Estonian SSR, which took place on February 18. Russian troops met with a detachment of crusaders 7 km from ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Northern Crusades ... Wikipedia
Rakovor battle |
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Rakvere, modern. Estonia |
|
Victory of the Russian troops |
|
Novgorod Republic, Pskov Republic, Vladimir-Suzdal principality |
Livonian Confederation, Danish Estonia |
Commanders |
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Yuri Andreevich, Dovmont, Svyatoslav Yaroslavich, Mikhail Yaroslavich, Dmitry Alexandrovich, mayor Mikhail Fedorovich † |
Otto von Rodenstein, Bishop Alexander † |
Forces of the parties |
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16-30 thousand people |
24-25 thousand people |
about 5 thousand people |
about 12 thousand people |
Rakovor battle(it. SchlachtbeiWesenberg) - a battle that took place on February 18, 1268 between the armies of the principalities of North-Eastern and North-Western Russia and the combined forces of the knights of the Teutonic Order near the Rakvere fortress.
Background
Prince Dovmont was forced to leave the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the struggle for the throne after the death of Mindaugas (1263) and was received in Pskov. In 1268, the Novgorodians organized a campaign against Lithuania, but due to disagreements among the command, the campaign did not take place. Instead, the troops invaded the Danish possessions in Estonia and approached the Rakvere castle, but after the death of seven people from the army, they retreated and turned for help to the Grand Duke of Vladimir Yaroslav Yaroslavich, who sent place in yourself his sons Svyatoslav and Mikhail, as well as Dmitry Pereyaslavsky and other princes. The manufacture of siege weapons for the upcoming campaign began in Novgorod. Order bishops and knights from Riga, Viljandi and St. George's arrived in Novgorod to ask for peace and vowed not to help the Rakhorians and Revelians, however, during the subsequent collection of troops, the Livonian chronicle mentions Viljandi and warriors from other cities ( the whole land is German, according to the Russian chronicle). It is noteworthy that at the reciprocal embassy to the order in Riga, the bishops and the Grand Master of the Order, Otto von Rodenstein, vowed on the cross not to help the Danes. The treaty was sealed with the seals of the Grand Master and the cities: Riga, Veliada, St. George's, Visby and others. The oath (even on the cross) given to heretics and pagans was considered invalid by the knights, but defeat in battle was perceived as a punishment for the sin of perjury.
On January 23, the campaign began. Russian troops invaded the land of Virumaa, which belonged to the Danes - allies of the order.
The course of the battle
The army of the order set out from Yuryev, and after joining with the Danes, who had more significant forces, took a position on the left flank (against Svyatoslav, Dmitry and Dovmont), and the Danes stood on the right (against Mikhail Yaroslavich). The Novgorod Chronicle gives a story that is absent in the chronicle, about a fierce battle in the center between the Novgorodians and iron regiment enemy, during which the Novgorod mayor and 13 more boyars by name were killed, the thousand and 2 more boyars by name disappeared without a trace, and Prince Yuri retreated, in connection with which he was even suspected of treason.
Meanwhile, the Russians launched a powerful counterattack. The composition of its participants is accurately named by the Livonian chronicle: 5,000 soldiers led by Dmitry Alexandrovich, but reports that the knights managed to stop him with small forces. At the same time, the chronicle associates with this counterattack the overall victory of the Russian army in the battle, and tells about the pursuit of the fleeing enemy for 7 miles to Rakovor itself by three roads, because horses could not tread on corpses.
In the evening, another German detachment approached the site of the battle, but limited itself to plundering the Novgorod convoy. The Russians expected the morning to fight him, but the Germans withdrew. The Order suffered its worst defeat since the Battle of Durba.
Results of the battle
The Russian troops stood under the walls of Rakovor for three days, without proceeding to the assault. At this time, Dovmont's Pskov squad marched across Livonia with fire and sword, carrying out robberies and capturing prisoners. The prince took revenge on the enemy for attacks on his lands.
In 1269, the Order undertook a retaliatory campaign, which ended with an ineffectual 10-day siege of Pskov, the retreat of the knights at the approach of the Novgorod army led by Prince Yuri and the conclusion of peace in all the will of Novgorod... After the defeat of the Rakor, the Livonian Order could no longer seriously threaten the powerful principalities of north-west Russia. Dmitry Alexandrovich became a worthy successor to the work of his father and grandfather.
Prehistory.
NS After the defeat at Lake Peipsi in 1242, the Livonian Order and Novgorod signed a peace treaty. Having lost interest in the Russian lands for a while, the order directed all its forces to fight the Lithuanian principality.
The Teutonic Order has long planned to unite their possessions in Prussia and Livonia, with the aim of creating a unified German state on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. To implement this plan, the Teutons had to seize the Samogitia region in the north-west of modern Lithuania. In 1260, the united army of the Teutonic and Livonian orders, as well as their allies, invaded Samogitia. The grandiose campaign ended in disaster: not far from Lake Durbe, the army of the Crusaders was defeated by the Lithuanians. In this battle, the master of the Livonian Order Burkhard Hornhausen, the Prussian Marshal Heinrich Botel, the Swedish Duke Karl and 150 more knights (Cheshihin E.V.) were killed.
The victory of the Lithuanians at Lake Durbe served as the impetus for large-scale uprisings of the conquered Baltic peoples. The advance of the Germans in this region was suspended.
Fig. 1Territory of Livonia in the second halfXIIIcentury (source:Wikipedia. org).
In 1262, in Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, the Russian prince Alexander Nevsky and the Lithuanian prince Mindovg concluded a Russian-Lithuanian treaty on a joint armed uprising against the German crusaders. In 1262, the Russian army invaded the lands of the Dorpat bishopric and laid siege to Dorpat (Dorpat). The Russians managed to occupy the lower city, but they could not take a well-fortified castle. Earlier, the Lithuanian prince Mindaugas laid siege to the Wenden castle, but, without waiting for help from the Russians, he was forced to retreat.
In 1268, the Novgorodians invaded Danish possessions in Northern Estonia. The Novgorod army approached the Rakvere castle, but they did not dare to storm the Danish citadel. Deciding to return back with reinforcements, the Novgorodians left. For help, they turned to the Grand Duke Yaroslav Yaroslavich, who sent his sons Svyatoslav and Mikhail, as well as Dmitry Pereyaslavsky and other princes with a retinue. The manufacture of siege weapons for the upcoming campaign began in Novgorod. In the same year, the Novgorodians entered into an agreement with the Livonian Germans, according to which the Novgorodians pledged not to invade the Livonian lands, and they, in turn, vowed not to interfere with Novgorod, to fight the Danes.
Rakovor battle - a view from different sides.
A source: Vadim Treschevhttp://www.novgorod.ru/read/information/history/clauses/rakovorsk/
Rakvere (the old Russian name is Rakovor or Rakobor, German Wesenberg) is a small town in Estonia, where the largest battle of the Russian army with the German crusaders took place on February 18, 1268. It is interesting to compare the description of this event by the parties involved in the battle.
According to the "Novgorod First Chronicle of the Elderly Elderly", the united army of Novgorodians, Pskovites and princes from the Vladimir lands began a campaign against the Danish possessions in Northern Estonia, having secured a guarantee of the ambassadors of the Order and the Yuryevsky bishop of non-interference ("and kissing the ambassadors of the cross"). But near Rakovor, unexpectedly for myself, it collided with the German army. The Russians, "not slow down," crossed the river and lined up regiments. On the right - the Pskovites of Dovmont, the Pereyaslavians of Prince Dmitry Alexandrovich and the Suzdals of Prince Svyatoslav Yaroslavich, on the left - the troops of Mikhail Yaroslavich, Konstantin and Yuri Andreyevich. The Novgorodians themselves, led by the mayor Mikhail Fedorovich and the thousand Kondratiy, "stashed in the face of an iron regiment against a great pig." The troops came together and "there was a terrible carnage, as if neither fathers nor grandfathers had seen." As a result of the battle, mayor Mikhail, 13 boyars, listed by name, died, "and there were many good boyars, and other black people abound." Tysyatsky Kondrat and two other boyars were listed as missing. Further, the chronicler discusses at length about the sins for which "God will execute us and take away good men from us." Then he returns to the battle and reports that "by the power of the honest cross and the help of St. Sophia, through the prayers of our holy mistress, Our Lady of the ever-virgin Mary and all saints," Prince Dmitry and the Novgorodians managed to turn the enemies to flight, and they drove them "into 3 ways" seven miles to the city, moreover, "do not urinate nor go horse corpse". Then the Novgorodians suddenly "beheld another horde of a great pig", thought to attack them too, but it was "there is already velmi by night" and decided to postpone the continuation of the battle until tomorrow. However, the Germans "did not rain before the light, Gyubegosh". Novgorodians, three days "standing on the bone", after which they returned home with the bodies of the fallen, mayor Mikhail was buried at St. Sophia.
The earliest German version of this encounter was set forth in the Elder Livonian Chronicle of Rhymes. She begins her story with the fact that "the Russians were seen galloping proudly in the king's lands. They robbed and burned." The number of Russian troops is estimated, with reference to the Russians themselves, at 30 thousand, "but who could have counted them?" It also mentions "their tremendous treachery". Bishop Alexander with his army opposes the Russians from Dorpat (Russian Yuryev, Estonian Tartu), and from the order castles in Estonia - Fellina (Estonian Viljandi), Leal (Estonian Lihula) and Vesenstein (Estonian Paide) - detachments of knights. In total, the chronicle speaks of 34 knights, although "the brothers had a lot of local residents" (yes, the Chudi Estonians who knew the bollards from the Battle of the Ice). More "Danish warriors" came there - in fact, their lands were ravaged by the Russians. The orders stood on the left flank, the Danes on the right. Where the troops of the Dorpat Bishop, so unloved by the chroniclers of the Order, were stationed is not said. The Russians advanced in two columns, and Bishop Alexander was killed. But the Germans won, although "every German had to fight against 60 Russians." Judging by the fact that the same figure is found when describing the balance of forces on Lake Peipsi in 1242, the word "sixty" just rhymed well with the word "German" :) The Russians were put to flight and "many of their husbands were killed there." But "King Dmitry was a hero", with 5 thousand Russians he went on the attack. At the "evil river" (Coyle near Rakvere), he clashed with the knights of the Order. Moreover, there were already "160 men", of which half were on foot. "They stood at the bridge" and "fought off the Russians there." The chronicler especially praises the valor of these "80 men", "at the right moment" spoke out "in support of the brothers." After singing the diferambs, it is reported that 5 thousand Russians were killed, and the rest "fled ... scatteringly."
Later German chroniclers, such as Hermann Wartberg in his "Livonian Chronicle" (the one where he "forgot" to tell about the Battle of the Ice), speak already precisely and clearly - the Germans defeated the Russians, caught up and defeated them again, but at the same time for some reason- then Bishop Alexander and 2 more knight brothers died. Strangely, Alexander's predecessor, judging by indirect data, managed to escape even from Lake Peipsi in 1242.
These are the two stories, somewhat similar, somewhat different, incl. and in response to the simple question "Who won?" Let's try to compare them to answer this question. They begin with the Russian invasion of Danish possessions in northern Estonia. What for? Rakvere is on the way to Revel-Kolyvan (present-day Estonian Tallinn). A few months before the winter campaign, the Novgorodians had already gone to Rakovor, but could not take it. Actually after that they called the princes from the Vladimir-Suzdal lands. And in the next 1269 the Grand Duke Yaroslav Yaroslavovich with the Novgorodians "hotesha iti k Kolyvan". Thus, there is a clear aspiration in one direction. Maybe the Russians, desperate in their repeated attempts to seize Yuryev, decided this time, having gathered large forces, to recapture Northern Estonia from the Danes? Then it is understandable why the guarantee of non-interference from the Germans was so important for them. Apparently, some kind of agreement was reached. I don’t see the point for the chronicler to invent such a story. And the words of the order's chronicler about the "tremendous treachery" of the Russians, perhaps, also indicate the existence of some agreement. Obviously, the agreement was still there - and it is just as obvious that this agreement was interpreted by the parties in different ways.
Now, the actual battle. A 30,000-strong army for that era is a huge figure. But here it is interesting to note the author of the chronicle that the Russians themselves assessed their strength in this way, besides, the army was really huge. Who opposed him - "svkupishe all the German land" simply did not have time, the troops of the Dorpat bishop, the Danes and the forces of the Order in Estonia were assembled. Modern historians estimate the number of German forces at 18 thousand. It seems that the meeting was unexpected for both sides, somewhere the Germans were advancing, somewhere the Russians. The chronicle description paints a picture of a "big meat grinder" in which the general leadership was lost (if it was originally) and the battle gradually disintegrated into a series of local battles. Perhaps, at some stage, the "great pig" began to overpower the Novgorod forces - from that and such losses, but then the squad of Prince Dmitry, the son of Alexander Nevsky, was attacked. Who won in the end? Let's try to figure it out according to the principle "for whom is the battlefield left?" And the conclusion here is quite unambiguous from the fact that the Novgorodians were able to pick up their fallen and deliver them to their hometown, where they were buried. So the battlefield remained with the Russian army. Based on this, the author's praises of the chronicle to those 160 soldiers of the Order become understandable - as many lines are spent on the description of this episode as on the rest of the battle. Obviously, in the conditions of a general retreat-flight, in which even the Dorpat bishop fell, the Teutonic detachment was able to cover this very retreat, blocking the path of the persecutors at the bridge - the squad of Prince Dmitry and the Novgorodians. With the onset of darkness, the Germans retreated in an orderly manner. The Russians won, but the losses were so serious that the continuation of the campaign was out of the question.
Outcomes.
Master of the Livonian Order Otto of Rodenstein set out to take revenge on the Russians for the campaign in Danish Estonia and began to collect an army. The Rhymed Chronicle says that an army of 18 thousand people was assembled. Part of the army was sent to Izborsk, the rest on boats sailed along the lake to Pskov. On May 19, 1269, the entire army of the order gathered under the walls of Pskov. The Novgorodians came to the aid of the Pskovites under the leadership of Prince Yuri Andreyevich. Hearing about the approach of reinforcements, the Germans lifted the siege and retreated across the Velikaya River, without engaging in battle. Prince Yuri Andreevich decided to settle the matter peacefully and invited the master of the order to conclude peace with him (Cheshihin E.V.). †
Sources of.
- E.V. Cheshikhin “History of Livonia” Riga 1884
- Vadim Treschev “ Rakovor battle - a view from different sides ”
- http: // www.novgorod.ru/ read/ information/ history/ clauses/ rakovorsk/
- Rakovor battle. Material from Wikipedia.
Rakovor battle
On February 18, 1268, the Rakovorskaya battle took place between the Russian troops and the troops of the Livonian Order.
On November 14, 1263, after a trip to the Horde in the 42nd year of his life, Alexander Nevsky suddenly died, and the Livonian knights, who for a long time calmed down after Ice battle, again began to covet the Russian lands.
death of Alexander Yaroslavovich Nevsky
Over Pskov, and in the future over Novgorod, a real threat of enslavement and genocide arose, especially since the Danish threat was now added to the German threat - the northern part of modern Estonia was now occupied by the Danes, who captured the Russian cities of Kolyvan - present-day Tallinn - and Rakovor - present-day Rakvere.
Rakovor
On the occupied lands of the Baltic states - and this is almost two-thirds of the territory Latvia and Estonia - Livonian (Teutonic) knights (crusader brothers) continued to strengthen their feudal state, openly hostile to its neighbors. They were forever divided with the Russians by the irreconcilable enmity of religions and civilizations: in their chronicles telling about the wars with Novgorod and Pskov, the Livonians call themselves only “Christians”, thus making it clear that the Orthodox (orthodox) are pagans for them.
(The term "Orthodoxy" began to be used by "RIGHT" Christians by the Orthodox Church of the Greek rite, in Russia, only in 1653.)
The Pope himself, although he did not announce an official crusade against Russia, repeatedly hinted to his flock that it was necessary to turn the Russians away from the Byzantine heresy. Well, in addition to the religious factor in the turbulent relations between Russia and Livonia, some uncertainty of borders, and dependence on the Livonians of merchant trade routes, and mutual experience of past grievances played a role. Prince Alexander Yaroslavich was well aware of the constant threat from the West, that is why he was looking for a military alliance against Livonia with the powerful Lithuanian prince Mindovg at the end of his life. But the unexpected death of Nevsky in 1263 on the way home from the Horde left this task unresolved.
Danes.
Everything that was said about clashes with the Livonian (Teutonic) knights (crusader brothers), is directly related to the Danish, who also took part in the conquest of the Baltic by the "Christians". The descendants of the Vikings in the middle of the thirteenth century owned two large Estonian cities - Kolyvania (Revel, now Tallinn) and Rakovor (Vesenberg, now Rakvere). The Novgorodian trade has suffered a lot from the sorties of these "pious soldiers of Christ", gradually capturing the banks of the Narva. Four years after the death of Nevsky, the Novgorodians decided to fight the Rokors. However, the 1867 campaign in the Baltic region ended in failure. Having lost seven people, the soldiers were forced to lift the siege from the city and return with nothing. On the banks of the Volkhov, preparations began for a new campaign, which was to be fundamentally different from the previous one in two points. First, as Karamzin writes, "the Novgorodians found skilled craftsmen and ordered them to build large battering guns in the Archbishop's courtyard." And secondly, to crush the Danes, a powerful military coalition was assembled, to which Prince Dovmont of Pskov, Prince of Pereyaslavl Dmitry Alexandrovich (son of Nevsky) and Grand Duke of Vladimir-Suzdal Yaroslav Yaroslavich (brother of Nevsky) were invited. It is interesting that in this war the princes of fragmented Russia showed rare unanimity: Dovmont and Dmitry came themselves, and Yaroslav sent the sons of Svyatoslav and Mikhail with an army.
Eighteen-year-old Dmitry led this army. In military affairs, the young prince was still a novice, but he bore the reflection of the deeds of the great father and was a living symbol of victory. But the name of Dovmont Pskovsky has already awe his opponents. A well-born Lithuanian, he fled from his homeland from internecine strife and took refuge in Pskov, where he converted to Orthodoxy (orthodoxy) and quickly won the respect of local residents. In 1266 they chose him as their prince and, entrusting him with a squad, sent him to war with Lithuania.
Dovmont swears allegiance to the Great Newborn
On June 18, the newly-minted prince utterly defeated the former tribesmen on the Dvina. The unexpected rise of Dovmont provoked the irritation of Yaroslav Yaroslavich, who was then in Novgorod: Nevsky's brother could not stand a former pagan in the neighborhood and began to gather on a campaign to explain to the obstinate Pskovians who was suitable for the role of a prince and who was not. But the Novgorodians immediately laid siege to the haughty Rurikovich: "Can Saint Sophia's friend be an enemy of Pskov?" Dovmont's authority was also high outside the Pskov walls, and his combat experience is necessary in a future war.
Such serious military preparations of Novgorod excited neighbors. Representatives of neighboring states tried to find out against whom this formidable force would move. The Livonians were especially worried: their ambassadors, realizing that Russia had conceived a new campaign to Rakovor, hastened to disown the Danish knights: "Peace be with you, transfer with the Danes - the Kolyvanians and the Rakorians, but we do not pester them ..." But trust in The Lord of Veliky Novgorod did not have old enemies. Therefore, the Livonians were offered to consolidate their oath with the sacred ritual of kissing the cross. The noble boyars went to the Order, in the presence of whom "bishops (bishops) and" God's nobles "(knights) kissed the cross that they would not help the Danes. The Russians moved their regiments to the Baltic States, reassured and satisfied with their diplomatic success.
And as soon as that happened, the Livonian Master Otto von Rodenstein ... secretly sent ambassadors to Danish Rakovor.
It was necessary to suppress these inclinations in the bud, but Pskov and Novgorod did not have enough strength, and the invasion of the Baltic states, which took place in 1267, ended in failure mainly due to disagreements between the Pskov and Novgorod governors.
Under these conditions, the Pskov prince Dovmont turned to the princes of North-Eastern Russia for help.
prince Dovmont
The request was answered by the Tver prince Yaroslav, the Vladimir prince Mikhail, as well as the son of Alexander Nevsky, the 17th anniversary of the Pereyaslavl prince Dmitry Alexandrovich. At a meeting of the princes held in Novgorod, he was elected leader of the upcoming campaign.
Prince Yaroslav in Novgorod
Prince Mikhail Yaroslavich
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Prince Dmitry Alexandrovich Nevsky
The trek began on January 23rd. Russian troops invaded the land belonging to the Danes - allies of the Livonian Order. They were met by the combined forces of the Danes and Livonians under the general command of Master Otto von Rodenstein.
Hike
Unaware of the conspiracy, the Russians moved along three different roads to Rakovor. The chronicler tells us an interesting fact: during a skirmish with a local chud, the opponents of the vigilantes hid in an impregnable cave and responded with a hail of arrows to any attempt to enter. Then the soldiers, with the help of some kind of device, flooded the enemy's shelter and flogged those who jumped out. Apparently, the technical basis for the siege of Racovor was very thoroughly prepared.
Russian squad on the march
Meanwhile, large enemy forces were secretly drawn up to the Kegola River.
The warriors of the Derp bishop, the Estonian militia, the Knights of Rodenstein and the Danish defencists from Wesenberg flocked here. The sources do not tell us about the details of the master's plan. But it is very possible that the Livonians' concern about the preparation of a campaign against the Danes was initially imaginary, lulling vigilance. A sudden attack by large German forces would have destroyed the elite troops of united Russia and drained her blood for a long time. If the February battle on Kegol had ended with the unconditional victory of God's Nobles, it seems that in the spring they would have already appeared over Volkhov and the Great.
1. Commander of the Teutonic Order (middle commanding staff, the first line of the "pig"). Protective equipment includes long-sleeved chain mail with a braided chain mail hood; a quilted caftan or gambison is worn under the chain mail, and a quilted cap is worn under the hood. Over the chain mail, the knight wears a brigandine, that is, armor, where metal plates are riveted to the leather base from the inside. To protect against corrosion, the plates were usually tinned. Steel shoulder pads and a quilted collar are attached to the brigandine. The outer side of the brigandine is covered with white cloth, the order symbolism is depicted on the chest - a black cross with red edging. We see the same cross on the lance flag. The helmet, which in battle was worn on a comforter with a roller worn over a chain mail hood, was also painted in the order colors. It is a Western European topfhelm of the first third of the 13th century, almost completely covering the rider's head. The slits for the eyes are quite wide, which is, in general, typical for this period. Hands are protected by metal elbow pads and leather bracers that also cover the wrist. Leg protection includes chain mail stockings, knee pads, and one-plate greaves. The knight's shield is triangular, but still quite large. Weapons - sword and long spear. The horse is protected by a chain mail blanket sewn to a thin leather base.
2. Horse sergeant-spearman (4-5 lines of the "pig" formation). The basis of the order troops by the middle of the XIII century. consisted of professional soldiers-sergeants of common origin. The complex of protective weapons of this warrior includes a long-sleeved chain mail worn on a quilted gambizon, and a dome-shaped painted helmet with a chain mail aventail and a nose piece.
A white order cotta is worn over the chain mail. The legs are protected by quilted legguards with one-plate greaves. The shield is round, a little over fifty centimeters in diameter. Such shields are quite often found among ordinary European warriors in the first half of the 13th century. The warrior's weapon is a falchion, an anachronistic for this period, a long spear with ears, with a wide tip and an ax strapped to the saddle in a case. The saddle is typically European, with high fore and aft bows.
3. Order trumpeter. This warrior is dressed in long-sleeved chain mail with chain gloves and a hood; under the chain mail - gambison. The hood is put on a quilted cap, reinforced with a roller.
4. Order equestrian sergeant-crossbowman. This equestrian warrior is dressed in quilted armor, over which is a short-sleeved cotta. The cotta depicts a variant of the order symbolism - a cross in the shape of the letter "T", which was usually worn by sergeants of the order. The helmet is an early form of a cap, dyed with a chain mail aventail. The legs are protected by quilted legguards. The warrior uses mail gauntlets to protect his hands. Behind the warrior's back, on a shoulder strap, there is a shield close to almond-shaped in shape. The weapon is a cleaver with a cruciform handle and a combat knife; a simple crossbow is attached to the saddle, cocked with a wooden lever. A leather quiver is attached to the crossbowman's belt.
5. Order foot sergeant-spearman (1-2 lines of foot formation). Dense infantry formations in medieval Europe for the first time as combat-ready units, perhaps, appear only in the armies of military monastic orders, where the level of discipline allowed for this. The rather heavy armament of this warrior suggests his place in the first two ranks of the battle formation. It includes a long-sleeved swinging chain mail with chain mail gloves and metal shoulder pads, the hands are also protected by additional steel plates. The helmet is dome-shaped, painted, the face is covered with a steel mask. He is wearing a chain mail hood. The legs are protected by leather knee pads with round steel plates and chain mail half-belts protecting the legs, tied at the back with lacing. The shield is close to almond-shaped. The sergeant's weapon is one of the variants of the infantry pike or the so-called alshpis, with a long, more than half a meter, faceted point, and a falchion.
6. Danish city militia crossbowman. The Danes, whose main base was Revel, took a direct part in many military clashes of the 13th century, although they most likely did not participate in the battle on Lake Peipsi. This Danish foot crossbowman is very well equipped. Over the quilted gambison, a long-sleeved chain mail with a braided chain-mail hood and separate chain-mail mittens is worn, and a scaly carapace, which is popular in Northern Europe. The shield is a small fist-type, round. Helmet - riveted, with brim, dyed, it can be described as an early form of chapel. Weapons - sword and crossbow with stirrup. A quiver with crossbow bolts is attached to the warrior's belt.
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7. Russian crossbowman (Novgorod militia)
Both armies met on the Kegole River near Rakovor.
The Russian troops, divided into three regiments, lined up, the knights, as usual, lined up like a pig. The Germans used this system even in the wars with the Romans.
In the first rank, depending on the size of the unit, from three to nine mounted warriors lined up, in the last - from 11 to 17. The total number of wedge warriors ranged from 35 to 65 people. The ranks were lined up so that each subsequent one on its flanks increased by two knights. Thus, the extreme warriors in relation to each other were located as if on a ledge and guarded the one riding in front from one of the sides. The wedge was followed by rectangular squares of knights and bollards.
So, on February 18, the knightly armada appeared before the amazed gaze of the Russian warriors. But Rodenstein's betrayal did not cause the confusion that the master probably hoped for. The princes acted surprisingly well, decisively and quickly. Crossing the river, the Russian army lined up without any confusion: against the "great German pig" (the knight's wedge, famous for the Battle of the Ice) there was a "chelo" from Novgorod, on the right wing against the Danes were Dovmont, Dmitry and Svyatoslav; on the left, against the Estonian militia, Mikhail, Prince of Novgorod Yuri and his brother Konstantin.
The Novgorodians, led by the mayor Mikhail and the thousand Kondraty, took the blow of a terrible force. Their fierce resistance did not allow the "iron" Livonian regiment to free its forces and help the allied forces. In a terrible battle with a knightly sword, the mayor and many glorious men of Novgorod were hacked to death.
And finally, the "brow" trembled under the pressure of a merciless wedge ... When suddenly the Livonians were struck in the flank by the Pskovites, the Pereyaslavians and the Suzdalians - it was Dovmont and Dmitry who managed what the knights did not succeed in - crushed the attacking Danes and helped their comrades. And now the warriors of Master Rodenstein were trapped. A lot of the blood of pious "Christians" mixed with Novgorod blood on the frozen Estonian soil that day. The Dorpa bishop fell in battle.
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And then the incredible happened: to save themselves, the knights were forced to flee from the battlefield under the protection of the high walls of Rakovor, with their backs feeling the approach of Dmitry Alexandrovich's vigilantes. According to the chronicler, the pursuit (as well as the flight) was difficult, for the corpses of soldiers covered the whole earth.
At the very beginning of the battle, the Novgorod militia on foot took the blow of the "pig". The militias surprised the knights, managing to hold back their first onslaught and imposing a hand-to-hand combat on them, in which the Russians had no equal throughout military history. During the battle, the knights suffered heavy losses, but the Russians also lost many soldiers. The leader of the Novgorod militia, mayor Mikhail, was also killed.
Seeing that soon he would have no knights left at all, Rodenstein ordered the retreat to be trumpeted. However, only lightly armed horsemen, who were standing in the back rows, as well as crossbowmen and squires, were able to turn around.
The princely cavalry, which had been in ambush until that moment, attacked the Livonians in the flank, finished off the knights and chased the retreating ones. The Russians drove the Livonians for seven miles. Only a few of them were able to flee.
At the first rays of the sun, it became clear that the loss of the Russian army huge. According to the Livonian chronicles, they amounted to 5000 people against 1350 for the knightly army. After standing for three days on the battlefield, the survivors collected the bodies of "the beaten brothers, who honestly gave their belly" and set off on their way back. After the unprecedented battle, there was no longer any strength left for the siege of Rakovor. Only Dovmont, whose squad suffered the least, made a devastating raid across Livonia and returned to Pskov with rich booty and a lot of people.
Behind these walls, which were then intact, the knights took refuge from the attacking Russian regiments.
Epilogue
Modern scholars, lamenting the little-knownness of the great Rakovor battle, sometimes put it above the battle on the Neva and the Battle of the Ice, and some even compare it with the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, in which the Teutonic Order was defeated. It seems that there is some exaggeration and far-fetchedness in these judgments. Of course, in terms of its scale, this battle was very significant for the Russian Middle Ages, and the valor displayed by the Russians in that section is unparalleled. But alas: the Rakovor battle did not yield a political outcome, unlike the same Battle on the Ice, which was followed by the conclusion of peace.
Dovmont Tower in Pskov. A year after the Battle of Rakovorskoy, Rodenstein came here to take revenge on the Pskov prince for his defeat.
Objectively, the Rakor campaign ended in a draw and had an inevitable continuation. A year later, the Livonians, having accumulated strength, openly attacked Russian cities. The threat continued to come from the Danes as well. In response, a new coalition began to gather in Novgorod, even more powerful than the previous one, with the aim of speaking at Revel. In 1270, not only the Grand Duke Yaroslav, but also the Vladimir Baskak Tatar Amragan, gathered to participate in a new campaign. This meant that the Horde supported the Russians and those Tatar-Mongols who had devastated Russia thirty years ago may well pay a visit to the lands of the Order of the Virgin Mary of the Teutonic. The threat was serious, and the warlike neighbors of the Novgorodians calmed down. The Danes voluntarily renounced all claims to the banks of the Narva, and the Livonians stopped their regular incursions into the Russian borders.
And what about Master Otto von Rodenstein? Was he punished for his raskor treachery? Yes. Fate brought Dovmont Pskov to avenge that betrayal. In 1269, when the Livonians came to Russia again, they approached Pskov with an army of 18,000 men. The allied Novgorodians with Prince Yuri hurried to the aid of the besieged city. Knowing that help was close, Dovmont made a daring sortie outside the city walls and attacked the unsuspecting knights * (brothers of the crusaders).
In this battle, the swords of two famous warriors of their time crossed - the prince of Pskov and the Livonian * (Teutonic) master. And Rodenstein came out of that battle with a wound inflicted by the blade of a soldier who got out alive from the bloody raskor trap.
Sword of Prince Dovmont. Perhaps it was he who wounded Master von Rodenstein in the battle of Pskov.
After the defeat at Rakovor, the Germans made no attempts to invade Russia for another 30 years.
The grandiose and forgotten Rakovor battle took place on February 18, 1268 between the united army of North-Eastern Russia on the one hand and the forces of the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order, the Catholic bishops of the eastern Baltic states and the Danish king on the other.
This is one of the largest battles in the history of medieval Europe, both in terms of the number of participants and the number of soldiers killed in it. After the almost simultaneous death of Alexander Nevsky and the Lithuanian king Mindaugas in 1263, the alliance of Vladimir Russia and Lithuania against the Teutonic Order, which had been thoroughly entrenched by that time in the Eastern Baltic and seriously threatened the very existence of the latter, collapsed in 1263.
In the Lithuanian state, after the death of Mindaugas, military clashes began between his heirs and associates, as a result of which most of them died, and for example, the Nalshan prince Dovmont (Daumantas) was forced to leave his homeland and, together with his family and squad, went to Pskov, where he was received to serve as a governor. In general, the young Lithuanian state, having lost its central power, again disintegrated into separate principalities and did not manifest itself in the foreign policy arena for a long time, confining itself to the defense of its own land and occasional raids on the territory of its neighbors. However, these raids did not pursue political goals.
Russia, unlike Lithuania, after the death of Alexander Nevsky escaped serious strife. Novgorod resignedly accepted Yaroslav Yaroslavovich, who became the Grand Duke of Vladimir, to reign, several successful campaigns of the Pskov voivode Dovmont, baptized according to the Orthodox rite under the name of Timothy, to Lithuania (1265 - 1266) finally eliminated the Lithuanian threat to the western borders of Russia. The most serious threat to Russia in the north was now represented by the Catholic enclave on the lands of Livonia and Latgale (modern Estonia and Latvia).
The structure of this enclave was quite complex. The north of Livonia was occupied by the subjects of the King of Denmark, "the king's men", they owned the cities of Revel (Kolyvan, Tallinn) and Vesenberg (Rakovor, Rakvere), as well as all the lands from the Narva River to the Gulf of Riga along the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland to a depth of 50 km. In central and southern Livonia, as well as Latgale, the possessions of the Order and of the Livonian archbishops, whose nominal head was the Archbishop of Riga, were a fair amount of patchwork. For example, Riga, Dorpat (Yuryev, Tartu), Odenpe (Bear's Head, Otepää), Hapsal (Hapsalu) with the surrounding area, belonged to the archbishop, and Wenden (Cesis), Fellin (Viljandi) and other regions belonged to the Order. Contradictions periodically arose between the Danes and the Order, as well as between the Order and the Archbishop, even reaching armed clashes, but it was by the mid-1260s that these contradictions were overcome and all three political forces were able to act as a united front. It would be at least strange if the enclave did not take advantage of this circumstance and did not try to expand its borders to the east.
Since the seizure of Yuryev by the crusaders in 1226, renamed by the invaders to Dorpat or Dorpat, they have repeatedly attempted to subjugate the lands east of Lake Peipsi and the Narva River, that is, the territory occupied by the Izhora and Vod tribes, by that time, mainly already Christianized according to the Orthodox rite. However, each time they met with sometimes unorganized, but always stubborn and fierce resistance from their eastern Orthodox neighbors - Veliky Novgorod and its outpost on the western borders - Pskov. In those cases when the princes of Vladimir Rus came to the aid of these cities, the enterprises of the crusaders ended in severe military defeats (the battle of Yuryev in 1234, the Battle of the Ice in 1242, etc.). Therefore, the next attempt to advance its influence to the east was being prepared especially cunningly and carefully.
When and where exactly - in the office of the Riga Archbishop or the Order, a plan arose to inflict a military defeat on Novgorod by provoking its conflict with the Danes and then intervening in this conflict remains a mystery. If we proceed from the one whose role in the implementation of this plan was the most active, then the Order should be recognized as its initiator. However, the handwriting itself, the style with which this plan was conceived, is rather characteristic of the papal chancellery. Be that as it may, the plan was created, agreed and approved by all stakeholders. Its essence was that the Danish side, as the militarily weakest, provokes Novgorod with its aggressive actions to a military campaign with limited forces in northern Livonia. In Livonia, the Novgorodians will be awaiting the combined forces of the enclave, the inevitable defeat of the core of the Novgorod army follows, after which, while the Novgorod community is recovering and gathering new forces, a series of lightning-fast seizures of fortified points follows on the territory east of Narva and Lake Peipsi.
The formal reason for the conflict was the intensified oppression of Novgorod merchants in Revel, the capital of the "king's land". There have also been pirate attacks on merchant ships in the Gulf of Finland. For Novgorod, trade was the main source of income, so the Novgorod community reacted extremely painfully to such events. Internal disagreements in such cases faded into the background, the community consolidated, demanding an immediate and tough response from its leaders.
This happened at the end of 1267, the Novgorodians began to prepare for the campaign. Grand Duke Yaroslav Yaroslavovich tried to take advantage of these circumstances and wanted to lead the army gathered by the Novgorodians to Polotsk, which he planned to subordinate to his influence. Under pressure from the Grand Duke's governor, Prince Yuri Andreevich, the united squads set out on a campaign in the direction of Polotsk, but a few days' journey from Novgorod, the Novgorod squad organized a spontaneous veche. The Novgorodians announced to the governor of the Grand Duke that they would not go to Polotsk or Lithuania. Presumably, Yuri Andreevich was extremely dissatisfied with this turn of affairs, however, the Novgorod governors nevertheless managed to convince the princely governor to join his squad to the general campaign, the purpose of which at the same veche was elected, seemingly weak and militarily defenseless Rakovor and Revel. The Russians swallowed the bait carefully planted by the Order and Riga.
The Russian army was not prepared for the assault on a well-fortified stone castle, which was Rakovor at that time. The Russians devastated the surroundings, approached the castle, but having lost seven people in an attempt to take the city by an unexpected assault, "exile", they retreated. For a successful systematic assault, appropriate siege devices were needed, which the Russian army, which was originally going to plunder the Polotsk and Lithuanian lands, did not stock up. The Russians retreated, the army returned to Novgorod.
An unexpected change in the direction of the campaign, the absence of carts with siege equipment and, as a result, a high speed of movement, as well as the fact that the Russian army practically did not linger near Rakovor - all this played an unexpectedly salutary role for the Russians - the Catholics did not have time to intercept the Russian army. It seemed that the carefully verified plan of the enclave had thwarted, but immediately from Novgorod from the permanent trade missions available there to Livonia, reports began to come in about the impending new campaign against Racovor and Revel. The plan did not fail, it was simply delayed.
In the second trip to Rakovor, it was planned to involve a much larger force. Weapons were forged in Novgorod, and siege equipment was mounted in the courtyard of the Novgorod archbishop. The Novgorodians managed to convince the Grand Duke Yaroslav Yaroslavovich of the necessity and benefit of a campaign to Livonia. Other princes of the Vladimir land also decided to take part in the campaign: Dmitry Alexandrovich Pereyaslavsky (son of Alexander Nevsky), Svyatoslav and Mikhail Yaroslavichi (sons of the Grand Duke) with the Tver squad, Yuri Andreevich (son of Andrei Yaroslavovich, brother of Nevsky), as well as Prince Dovmont from Pskov squad. Without the direct approval of the Grand Duke, such a coalition, of course, could not take place. In addition, princes Konstantin and Yaropolk are named in the annals as participants in the campaign, but with certainty about their origin we can only say that they were Rurik. The force was going to be quite impressive.
At the height of the gathering, ambassadors from the Archbishop of Riga arrive in Novgorod with a request for peace in exchange for not participating in Novgorod's military operations against the Danes. “And the Germans sent their ambassadors, people of Riga, Veliazhans, Yuryevtsi, and from other cities, flatteringly saying:“ Peace be with you, get over the kolyvants and eat your hands and we don’t bother them, but kiss the cross ”. And kissing the ambassadors of the cross; and there he went, Lazor Moiseevich took all of them to the cross, the bishops and the noblemen of God, as if they would not help them with a Kolyvanian and a shellfish; ”. (quote from the annals). The leaders of the Novgorod community were not naive people and suspected the ambassadors of insincerity. To make sure of the honesty of their intentions, the plenipotentiary representative of the community, Boyar Lazar Moiseevich, was sent to Riga, who was supposed to swear in the top leadership of the Order and the Archbishopric of Riga, which he successfully did. Meanwhile, troops were drawn into northern Livonia from all the lands controlled by the enclave. The trap for the Russians was about to slam shut.
On January 23, 1268, the Russian army in full force with a wagon train and siege devices left Novgorod, soon the Russians crossed the Narva and entered the Livonian possessions of the Danish king. This time the Russians were in no hurry, dividing into three columns, they were systematically and purposefully engaged in devastating hostile territory, slowly and inevitably approaching the first goal of their campaign - Rakovor.
The chronicle describes in detail the episode with the discovery by the Russians of the cave, in which the local residents took refuge. For three days the Russian army stood near this cave, not wanting to storm it, until the "master of the vicious" was able to let water into the cave. How this operation was carried out and where this cave could have been is not known for certain. We only know that the "chud" from the cave "pobegosha" and the Russians "cut them out", and the booty found in this cave, the Novgorodians gave to Prince Dmitry Alexandrovich. There are no natural caves in northern Estonia that could accommodate more than 20-30 people. The fact that the Russian army spent on the siege and plundering of the shelter, in which barely two dozen people could be hiding, testifies to the fact that the Russians were really in no hurry and approached the process of plundering northern Livonia very thoroughly.
The Russian army advanced through the hostile territory, without encountering any resistance, the forces were so great that the military campaign seemed like a pleasure trip. Nevertheless, it is likely that the leaders of the campaign received information that the enemy army had entered the field and was preparing to give battle, since immediately before the military clash, the army was again assembled into a single fist.
Historians still argue about where exactly the battle took place. The chronicle says that the meeting with the united army of the enclave took place on the Kegole river. This toponym has not survived to this day; most researchers associate it with the small river Kunda near Rakvere. However, there is another opinion on this issue, which seems to me to be more reasonable. This refers to the hypothesis that the Rakhor battle took place 9 km northeast of Kunda - on the Pada river near the village of Makholm (modern village of Viru-Nigula). In the literature, there are different arguments for both one and the other place. It seems to me decisive the argument that it was the crossing of the Padu that was the most convenient place to wait for the approach of the Russian army. Northern Estonia is still replete with intermittent, difficult-to-pass bogs and wooded uplands. The only convenient place for the construction of a permanent road has been and is still the coastal strip along the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, along which the Tallinn-Narva highway still passes. Before crossing the Pada River, this road comes out of a kind of "defile", several kilometers wide, bounded in the south by wooded and swampy terrain, and in the north by the Gulf of Finland, and bypassing this place when moving from the east towards Rakvere is very problematic. Moreover, after crossing the Padu, the road turns to the south, moving away from the coast and, thus, the army waiting for the enemy would have to scatter its forces on reconnaissance and guard duty on a wide front, while, while waiting for the enemy near Maholm, the military leader could allow to concentrate in this place the bulk of the troops, without dispersing forces.
So, on the morning of February 18, 1268, the Russian army turned down the camp and in full force moved towards the village of Makholm to cross the Padu. Rakovor is about 20 kilometers away. Cavalry reconnaissance has already reported that on the western bank of the Pada there is an enemy army in numbers clearly exceeding the capabilities of the "Kolyvan Germans", but the confidence of the Russians in their numerical superiority, as well as the agreements with Riga and the Order, sealed by the kiss of the cross, gave significant reasons for optimism. The Russian command decided to give battle. The shelves are ready, the armor is up, the streets are planted, the bows are drawn. The trap slammed shut.
What did the Novgorod thousand Kondrat and the mayor Mikhail Fedorovich feel when they saw the combined army of the entire "German land" lined up on the banks of the Pada, prepared for battle? What did the Russian princes, Litvin Dovmont think about? One thing is certain: despite the fact that the presence in the enemy army of "noblemen of God", "vlizhan", "Yuryevtsy", all the others, whose leaders "kissed the cross" a month ago, did not participate in hostilities for them, of course , unexpectedly, there was no confusion in the Russian army.
The Germans and Danes occupied the western bank of the Pada, standing on the side of the hill, on the top of which the commander was probably stationed. The smooth slope, gently sloping down into the valley, was very convenient for the attack of heavy knightly cavalry. It was decided to let the Russians cross the river, and then attack from top to bottom. Along the western bank of the Pada in this place, a swampy stream still flows, which became a natural separator of the two troops before the battle. The banks of this small stream became the very place where two huge troops collided. Old-timers Viru-Nigula still call him "evil" or "bloody" ...
There is no reliable information about the number of troops participating in the Rakhor battle. The Livonian Rhymed Chronicle speaks of thirty thousand Russians and sixty times smaller (that is, half a thousand) of the Allied army. Both the first and second figures raise more than serious doubts. Without going into the details of the discussion that unfolded about the number of troops participating in the battle, I will say that the opinion that both the Russian and German troops numbered about fifteen to twenty thousand people seems to me the most plausible.
The basis of the order of battle of the enclave's troops were the knights of the Teutonic Order, who entered the battlefield in their favorite formation - a wedge or "pig", which testifies to the offensive nature of the battle on the part of the Germans. The right flank of the "pig" was defended by the Danes, on the left the troops of the archbishop and the militia lined up. The general leadership of the army of the enclave was carried out by Yuryevsky (Dorpat) Bishop Alexander.
The Russian army was formed as follows. On the right flank stood the Pereyaslavl squad of Prince Dmitry Alexandrovich, behind it, closer to the center, the Pskov squad of Prince Dovmont, in the center - the Novgorod regiment and the viceroy squad of Prince Yuri Andreyevich, on the left flank the squad of the Tver princes stood. Thus, the most numerous Novgorod regiment stood up against the "pig". The main problem of the Russian army was that it lacked one-man command. The oldest among the princes was Dmitry Alexandrovich, but he was young and not so experienced. Prince Dovmont was distinguished by his mature age and great experience, but he could not apply for leadership, due to his position - in fact, he was just a commander of the Pskov detachment and he was not a Rurikovich. Prince Yuri Andreevich, the grand-ducal governor, did not enjoy authority among his comrades-in-arms, while the leaders of the Novgorod community did not have princely dignity and could not command the princes. As a result, the Russian troops acted without obeying a single plan, which, as we will see, had a detrimental effect on the outcome of the battle.
The battle began with the attack of the German "pig", which fell on the center of the Novgorod regiment. At the same time, both flanks of the allied army were attacked by the Tver and Pereyaslavl regiments. The army of the Dorpat bishop entered into battle with the Pskov detachment. The Novgorod regiment had the hardest part - the armored wedge of the knightly cavalry, when struck shortly, developed tremendous strength. Apparently, the Novgorodians, who were familiar with this formation firsthand, deeply echeloned their battle formation, which gave it additional stability. Nevertheless, the pressure on the Novgorod regiment was so serious that at some point the regiment's formation collapsed, panic began, Prince Yuri Andreevich, along with his squad, succumbed to a panic mood and fled from the battlefield. The defeat of the Novgorod regiment seemed inevitable, but at that moment Prince Dmitry Alexandrovich showed himself in the most commendable way - he abandoned the pursuit of the defeated Livonian militia, gathered around him as many soldiers as he could and made a swift attack on the flank of the advancing German wedge.
The fact that such an attack was possible, given the original position of the regiments, suggests that by this time the militia and the bishop's detachment had already been defeated and fled from the battlefield, freeing up space for Dmitry's attack. Indirectly, the author of the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle also testifies to the rapid defeat of the episcopal regiment, mentioning the death of its leader, Bishop Alexander, at the very beginning of the battle. Probably, not all of the Pereyaslavl squad participated in the attack on the "pig", its main part, apparently, was carried away by the pursuit of the retreating, Prince Dmitry was able to collect only a small part, which saved the "pig" from complete destruction. Nevertheless, the German system hesitated, which allowed the Novgorod regiment to regroup and continue organized resistance.
After repelling the attack of the Pereyaslavl squad, the Teutons continued their attack on the Novgorod regiment. The battle began to take on a protracted nature, its epicenter moved in one direction or the other, someone ran forward, someone back, the attacks rolled in waves one on top of the other. The Danish detachment shuddered and fled from the battlefield, the Tver squad rushed to pursue him.
By the end of daylight hours, a few hours after the start of the battle, the Novgorod regiment finally collapsed, however, the Teutons were so tired that there could be no question of pursuing the retreating Russians. The Teutons limited themselves to an attack on the Russian convoy, which they managed to capture. Perhaps this was the key moment of the entire campaign, since it was in the wagon train that there were siege devices intended for the assault on Rakovor and Revel. There is no doubt that these devices were immediately destroyed.
With the onset of dusk, the princely squads began to return, pursuing the defeated units of the Danes, Livonians and Germans, again gathered, regrouped and the Novgorod regiment was ready to attack. In the daytime battle, the Novgorod mayor Mikhail Fedorovich was killed, fifteen more Novgorodian "vyatyh husbands", listed in the chronicle by name, the thousand Kondrat disappeared without a trace. The surviving commanders offered to carry out a night attack and repulse the train from the Teutons, but at the council they decided to attack in the morning. At night, the Teutons, aware of their extremely dangerous situation, left. The Russians did not pursue them.
The Battle of Rakovor is over. For three more days, the Russian army, emphasizing their victory, stood on the battlefield - they were picking up the wounded, burying the dead, collecting trophies. It is unlikely that the losses of the Russians were too great - in the medieval battle "face to face" the main losses were borne by the losing side precisely in the course of the persecution by the victors, and not in the course of direct "clarification of relations". Russian troops did not flee from the battlefield near Rakovor, which cannot be said about most of their opponents "and drove them three ways to the city, seven miles, as if neither urine nor horses would walk like a corpse" (quote from the chronicle), that is, horses Russian soldiers could not move because of the abundance of corpses lying on the ground. Probably, there was no talk about the continuation of the campaign, since the Russian train was destroyed, and at the same time the engineering devices necessary for the siege were lost, which could not be restored on the spot, otherwise, why would they have been taken from Novgorod. Without the assault on Rakovora, the campaign lost all meaning, turned, in fact, into a repetition of the autumn sortie. Only Prince Dovmont was not satisfied with the results achieved, who with his retinue continued the campaign, "and capture their land and to the sea and war Pomorie and packs return, fulfill your land is full" (quote from the chronicle). Some modern researchers believe (and perhaps not entirely unfounded) that there was no additional sortie by Dovmont, and the chronicle record speaks of the Rakorsk campaign itself as part of the entire Russian army, but their position does not convince me personally. Dovmont proved himself to be a fearless and indefatigable warrior, an outstanding strategist and tactician, with his small but mobile and experienced squad, hardened in numerous campaigns and battles, the backbone of which were immigrants from Lithuania, personally loyal to their leader, he could afford to pass with fire and sword across unprotected enemy territory. An indirect confirmation of the fact that Dovmont's sortie did take place is the fact that the retaliatory campaign of the Teutonic Order to Russia in June 1268 was aimed at Pskov.
Each of the parties participating in the battle attributes the victory to itself. German sources speak of five thousand killed Russians, but how could they have counted them if the battlefield remained with the Russians, who left it no sooner than all the dead were buried? Let's leave this on the conscience of the chronicler. The only basis on which a conditional victory could be awarded to the enclave is the Russians' refusal to storm Rakovor and the termination of their campaign. All the other data we have - the flight of most of the Catholic army, huge losses among the Danes, the bishop's army and the Livonian militia, although organized, but still the retreat of the order detachment from the battlefield, which was left behind the Russians, the Dovmont raid - all this testifies about the victory of Russian weapons.
In order to finally put an end to the question of the winner in the Rakor battle, it is necessary to analyze the events that took place after it. An event of this magnitude could not but have consequences that would not have been noted by the pen of the chronicler.
After returning from the Rakorsk campaign, the Russian army was disbanded. Dmitry Alexandrovich, and the rest of the princes dispersed to their destinies, taking their squads with them. Only the grand-ducal governor remained in Novgorod - Prince Yuri Andreevich, who had fled from the battlefield. Not one source mentions any military preparations in Novgorod; complete calm reigned in the Novgorod land.
We see an absolutely opposite picture in the lands of the Teutonic Order. Already from the beginning of spring, small raids of the Germans began on the territory controlled by Pskov - the Germans were robbing the border villages, taking people away. One of these raids ended in a battle on the Miropovna River, during which Prince Dovmont defeated a much larger detachment of Germans. Under the cover of small raids, the Order gathers all possible forces and already at the beginning of the summer of the same 1268 organizes a grandiose campaign against Pskov, motivating it with the need for "revenge" for the Rakorsk battle. What kind of revenge can we talk if, in their own words, the Germans won the battle? For this campaign, the Order gathers all the forces that it had in the eastern Baltic at that time. According to the testimony of the same chronicler, the author of the Livonian rhymed chronicle, an army of eighteen thousand people was assembled in total, the army was headed by the master Otto von Lutherberg himself, who died two years later in the battle on the ice at Karuzen (Karuzin). If inwardly the Teutons considered themselves victors under Rakovor, where does such a thirst for revenge come from?
German chroniclers, in order to emphasize the valor and combat skill of the knight brothers, almost always deliberately underestimated the number of their own troops and overestimated the number of enemy troops. It is possible that speaking about the number of their troops, the Germans specifically mentioned only the number of mounted soldiers, "forgetting" to count the militia and auxiliary troops, which, nevertheless, took an active part in the battles. Estimating the size of the troops that set off on a campaign against Pskov at the end of May 1268, the Germans themselves call a huge figure for that time - eighteen thousand. Let me remind you that according to the same chronicler, the German army in the Battle of Rakhor was only 1,500 fighters. These figures, both in the first and in the second case, cannot arouse complete confidence, but why such inconsistency - in one case, the number of troops is catastrophically underestimated, and in the other, with some maniacal pride, to describe the large number and magnificence of the detachments assembled on the campaign? It can be explained only by one thing: the Rokorsk company ended in a difficult battle, and the Pskov company ended with a retreat and an armistice after several skirmishes and sorties of the Pskovites outside the city walls. The reader of the chronicle should have understood that in the first case, the Germans defeated a huge army with insignificant forces, and in the second it did not even come to battle, since the Russians were frightened by the Teutonic power. However, first things first.
The defense of Pskov in 1268 deserves a separate description, here it can only be noted that even such a grandiose undertaking did not bring the Order any success. After a ten-day siege, hearing about the approach of the Novgorod squad, which was not going to help the Pskovites, the Teutons retreated across the Velikaya River and concluded an armistice with Prince Yuri, who had arrived to help the Pskovites, "on the whole will of Novgorod." Where did the Novgorodians, "defeated" near Rakovor, get such an army in three and a half months, at the approach of which the Teutons (eighteen thousand, by the way!) Did not risk remaining on the eastern bank of the Great and retreated? In February, the Teutons "won a victory" at Rakovor over the aggregate host of Russian princes, and in June, having a much larger army, they did not accept battle with the forces of only Novgorod and Pskov, which, by the way, near Rakovor, among others, they had just "defeated" ... Let's try to explain this contradiction.
In the order army, according to the Livonian chronicler, the Livonian and Latgalian militias were recruited, some "sailors" were added (nine thousand, half of the army, where they came from, historians are still guessing), but the "men of the king", that is, the Danes, and also knightly detachments and militias from the papal regions (Riga, Yuryev, etc.) are not mentioned as participants in the campaign. Why weren't they there? The answer is simple. Most of the combat-ready men from these areas remained "corpses" in the field near Makholm near Rakovor, there was simply no one to fight near Pskov. And such a combined composition of the order troops is explained by the fact that they recruited everyone who can carry weapons, regardless of their fighting qualities, just for the volume. Two years later, in an attempt to interrupt the Lithuanian raid on the Battle of Karuzen, his last battle, Otto von Lutherberg was unable to recruit even two thousand soldiers, although he was preparing for a serious battle.
Obviously, the goal of the campaign against Pskov was not the achievement of any military or political goals, but simply a bluff, a demonstration of "strength", an attempt to convince the Russians that the Order could still oppose them with something. The Order was not going to really fight. There was no strength. The low level of combat training of the German army after the Battle of Rakor is also evidenced by the successful battles conducted by Dovmont against the Germans in April and June 1268 - on the Miropovna River and near Pskov, where Dovmont inflicted two painful defeats on the crusaders, one during the pursuit of a detachment retreating with prey, the second during a sortie during a siege. It should be noted that both at Miropovna and near Pskov, the German detachments had a multiple numerical advantage.
And the last thing. After the unsuccessful siege of Pskov, a lengthy negotiation process began between Novgorod and representatives of the enclave, as a result of which a peace treaty was signed. The text of this treaty has not survived, but the chronicles betray its essence: “And having seen Nemtsi, I sent ambassadors with a prayer:“ We bow to all your will, we retreat all Norovs, but do not shed blood ”; and tako Novgorodians, guessing, taking the world to their will "(quote from the chronicle). That is, the representatives of the Catholic enclave under this agreement refused to further expand to the east across the Narva River in exchange for the cessation of hostilities. This peace was not broken until 1299.
Let us once again recall the sequence of the main events after the end of the Rokorsk campaign: the victory of the Russians in a small battle with the German detachment at Miropovna in April, the German demonstrative campaign against Pskov, which did not pursue any military or political goals, which ended in retreat at the sight of the Novgorod squad (in June) , peace negotiations and the conclusion of a peace treaty on "all the will of Novgorod" (February 1269) and a long peace. In my opinion, the sequence of these events clearly indicates the lack of opportunities for serious armed resistance among the Germans and Danes after the Battle of Rakor.
Thus, based on the results of the Rakor battle and the events that followed it, we can confidently state that on the banks of the Pada River on February 18, 1268, the Russian army won a heavy, but indisputable victory, which stopped the crusader expansion in the eastern Baltic for more than thirty years.
