On June 10, 1233, the eldest son of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, the young prince Fyodor, died in Novgorod. He died unexpectedly, on the eve of his own wedding with the daughter of Mikhail of Chernigov, Theodulia, “the matchmaker is attached, honey is boiled, the bride is brought in, the princes are called; and enter into gladness a place of mourning and lamentation for our sins. Yaroslav's eldest heir was his son Alexander. During the organization of wedding celebrations and the funeral that followed instead of the wedding, Yaroslav, apparently, was also in Novgorod, but immediately after the completion of all the rituals, he left for Pereyaslavl. Together with him, apparently, the failed bride also left for Pereyaslavl. Later, she took tonsure as a nun under the name Evrosinya, became the founder and abbess of the Trinity Monastery in Suzdal. After death, she was canonized.
At the end of 1233, an event occurs, for a person familiar with the geography of the territory on which it happened, it is difficult to explain. At the same time, the very fact of the event cannot be disputed - the news about it has been duplicated in several chronicles. This refers to the raid of the German detachment on Tesov (modern village Yam-Tesovo, Luga District, Leningrad Region). In the annals it is written about this as follows: "That same summer, I expelled Nemtsi in Tesov, Kuril Sinkinich, and Yasha, and Vedosha into the Bear's Head, and he was bound from Madame days until the great retreat."
The border between the German lands in Estonia and the Novgorod land was approximately the same as it is now between Russia and Estonia. Tesov was about 60 km away. northwest of Novgorod. To attack it, the German detachment had to travel about 200 km. through the territory of the Novgorod principality, and the path should run through densely populated, agriculturally developed places.
Most researchers believe that Tesov was captured by the exile, i.e. a sudden raid, during which a certain Kirill Sinkinich was captured, who was then taken prisoner in Odenpe. Tesov already then was a fortified point, at the crossing of the Oredezh River on the busy Vodskaya road connecting Novgorod with the graveyards of Vodskaya pyatina. It constantly contained, albeit a small, but garrison, at the same time, there was no great wealth in it - there was nothing to plunder. In order to capture such a point, even by exile, a detachment of at least several dozen soldiers was required. It is simply impossible to conduct such a detachment on a two-hundred-kilometer march through populated areas unnoticed (otherwise there can be no question of "exile").
For example, a German equestrian detachment of several dozen soldiers, relying solely on speed, invaded the territory of Novgorod, and moved straight along the road with a forced march to Tesov, destroying everyone they met and not being distracted by the plunder of settlements. In this case, he could approach Tesov in three or four days on emaciated horses. At the same time, the corresponding news would have already come to Novgorod (messengers gallop without rest and change horses), and then we have the following picture: the Germans are approaching Tesov (what are the chances that they are no longer expected there?), And at the same time from Novgorod, located in one day's march, a detachment is already leaving to intercept them. The task of capturing the Tesov fortification, after which, on tired horses, to escape from pursuit (with goods and prisoners) in such an environment seems impossible. Of course, if you have combat prowess, knowledge of the terrain and, most importantly, crazy luck, this is possible. But no sane person would count on luck when planning such an event.
Second option. A small detachment secretly, moving off-road, in remote places and exclusively at night, without lighting fires in the cold season, managed to unexpectedly go to Tesov, attack and capture him. This detachment cannot be equestrian, since horses simply will not pass through remote places. They learn about the attack in Novgorod the next day, plus the day for the march of the squad to Tesov, thus, the attackers have a head start of two days. The question of the success of the event rests on the question of whether the attackers will be able to acquire horses on the spot, in Tesov? If not, then their death is inevitable. Theoretically, if you bring an appropriate number of horses to Tesov in advance, thus providing transport to the attackers on the way back, this option is feasible.
The third option is that a large detachment is not considered in the robbery raid. Such a raid assumes the robbery of the population from the beginning to the end, and such details are always recorded in the annals, which in this case we obviously do not observe.
And what could have been the purpose of such a campaign? Robbery is out of the question - to go so deep into enemy territory, risking being cut off from their bases, when you can quickly and simply rob border villages is stupid. And attacking a fortified and defended point is even more stupid. For the same reasons, political provocation can be ruled out.
It remains to assume that the campaign had a definite, clearly defined goal and this goal was located in Tesov. Based on the chronicle record, it is possible to make a well-founded assumption that the purpose of this could just be Kirill Sinkinich, captured by the Germans. And if we read the chronicle message literally, then we will see nothing at all about the capture of Tesov proper: "expelling Nemtsi in Tesov, Kuril Sinkinich, and Yasha, and Vedosha into Bear's Head", we are talking about the capture (unexpected, by surprise) of one person, and not fortified settlement.
It is not necessary to form a large detachment to capture one person, even a noble and moving, possibly with guards. At the same time, it is worth remembering that after the defeat at Izborsk, some part of the "Borisov child" could survive and take an active part in such an event, using their acquaintances, knowledge of the area and established order. In addition, one should not forget that at that time Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich was in captivity at Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, who was officially a subject of the Riga bishop and had relatives in the Buxgewden clan, among the elite of the crusading community of Livonia. The capture of Kirill Sikinich could have been carried out by the forces of these relatives and the remnants of the "Borisov child" in order to exchange him for the captive Yaroslav, so as not to pay for that large ransom. If this is the case, then the "Tesov incident", like the trip to Izborsk, is a private initiative, not a political action. This is indirectly evidenced by the fact that Kirill's place of imprisonment was not Dorpat, Wenden or Riga - the capitals and residences of the rulers of the Catholic regions, but the Bear's Head - the very place where the "Borisov child" left after being expelled from Pskov a year before. It is assumed that the Bear's Head (German: Odenpe) was the domain of the Buxgewden family.
Speaking about the “capture of Tesov” by the Germans in 1233, researchers usually note that since the Germans did not touch the lands of Pskov with their raid, the purpose of this action was to tear Pskov away from Novgorod. That is, the Germans defiantly attack the Novgorod lands, without touching the Pskov ones, as if hinting that the Pskovites are not their enemies, the Izborsk incident is a private initiative of individuals, for which they are not responsible and will not ask the Pskovites for the defeat, but in their Pskov has nothing to interfere with the conflict with Novgorod. In principle, there is nothing unnatural in such a design, if you do not think about the geographical position of Tesov.
By the way, when describing the German raid on the territory of Novgorod in 1240, when Tesov and the entire districts were indeed captured and plundered by them, the chroniclers used completely different words and colors.
During the "Tesovsky incident" Yaroslav Vsevolodovich himself was in Pereyaslavl, where he probably gathered troops for his planned campaign in Livonia. Upon learning of the capture of Cyril, Yaroslav did not enter into negotiations with the Germans, but immediately set out with troops in Novgorod, where he arrived already by the beginning of the winter of 1233-1234.
The implementation of a large-scale campaign against Catholics in Livonia was an old dream of Yaroslav. In 1223, during the campaign to Kolyvan, only his personal squad and the Novgorod regiments were with him. In 1228, when he brought the Pereyaslavl regiments to Novgorod, the Pskovians prevented the realization of this dream. Now at hand Yaroslav were both the Pereyaslav regiments brought by him personally, and the Novgorod army and the Pskovites also agreed to the campaign. The force, of course, gathered impressive, but it was significantly inferior even to the one that recently, under the leadership of Yaroslav, ravaged the Chernigov principality.
However, the goal of the campaign was not so ambitious. Yaroslav this time did not plan at all to defeat and destroy all the crusading forces in the Baltic States. He decided to take advantage of internal divisions in the Catholic enclave and attack only one target - Yuryev.
The fact is that the Catholic possessions in the Baltics were by no means homogeneous. In addition to the possessions of the Order of the Swordsmen, there were the possessions of the Danish king in northern Estonia, as well as the possessions of three bishops - the Riga bishop with the capital in Riga, the Dorpat bishop with the capital in Yuryev, and the Ezel-Vick bishop with the capital in Leal (present-day Lihula, Estonia). Each of these formations had their own armed forces and could pursue their own policies. From time to time, disagreements arose between them, sometimes even reaching armed conflicts. In the summer of 1233, the conflict between the representative of the pope, legate Baldwin, supported by the Dorpat bishop and the crusaders brought in from Europe (not all crusaders in the Baltic were members of the order of the Swordsmen), on the one hand, and the order of the Swordsmen, supported by the Riga bishop, on the other, grew into full-scale combat clashes in which Baldwin was defeated. Thus, Riga and the Order did not mind that the Dorpat bishop was punished by someone and that Yaroslav's preparation for a campaign against St. George's was looked upon, if not approvingly, then at least neutrally.
For the same reasons, the Pskovites, who had a peace treaty with the Riga bishop, but participated in the campaign against Yuryev, were not considered perjurers.
At the beginning of March 1234 Yaroslav began his campaign. Probably, together with Yaroslav, his thirteen-year-old son Alexander took part in the campaign. There is no exact dating of the campaign in the annals, but it is known that the peace agreement on its results was concluded before the “great retreat”, that is, before the end of April. Arriving at Yuryev, Yaroslav did not besiege the city, in the castle of which there was a strong garrison, but dismissed his troops for "prosperity", that is, he allowed to plunder the local population without restrictions. The Yuryev garrison, which by that time would be more correct to call Dorpat or Dorpat, as it turned out, was expecting help from Odenpe - Bear's Head and powerlessly watched the total devastation of the area. Yaroslav did not want to lay his soldiers under the walls of a well-fortified city, so by his actions he provoked the Germans to march from the castle. The provocation was a brilliant success. With the arrival of reinforcements from the "medvezhan", as the Russians called the inhabitants of Odenpe, the garrison of Yuriev went beyond the walls of the city and lined up for battle. However, Yaroslav was ready for this and managed by this moment to gather his squads again and concentrate them for battle.
About the course of the battle itself, it is known that the battle took place on the banks of the Omovza River (German Embach, present-day Emajõgi, Estonia), the Russians successfully withstood the German attack and attacked the German system themselves, many knights perished in a stubborn battle, after which the German army trembled and fled … Part of the army, pursued by the Russians, ran out onto the river ice, which could not stand it and fell through - many Germans drowned. On the shoulders of the fleeing Russians broke into the city, which was captured and burned. The Russian troops could not capture only the castle, which stood on a hill, in which the remnants of the defeated German army took refuge. Yaroslav did not storm it.
Battle of Omovzha. Facial annalistic set.
A small part of the German army also managed to reach Odenpe.
Yaroslav's victory was impressive. The losses of the Russian troops are minimal. After the victory, Yaroslav led his army to Odenpe, the surroundings of which were also heavily plundered. The castle itself Yaroslav decided not to storm and not even to besiege.
Bishop Herman, locked in the Dorpat castle, began peace negotiations. Yaroslav put forward rather harsh conditions: the resumption of the payment of "Yuryev's tribute", which the Germans have recently "forgotten" about, as well as the severance of some lands in the southeast from the territory of the bishopric. Also, according to the peace agreement, the Buksgevdens released Kirill Sinkinich, who was captured in Tesov, without ransom.
Having concluded peace with Dorpat, Yaroslav returned to Novgorod and disbanded the troops. One of the results of the Battle of Omovzha (under this name it went down in history) is considered to be the change of the German crusader movement in the Baltic States from the east to the south and west of the vector of its aggression. In the south, however, fate was not particularly favorable for them either. Two years after the defeat at Omovzha, the crusaders will suffer an even more severe defeat from Lithuania at Saule. As a result of this fiasco, the Order of the Swordsmen will be disbanded, and its remnants will enter the newly established Livonian Land Mastership of the Teutonic Order.
The next attempt by the Teutonic Order to expand its territory to the east will take place only in 1240. Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich managed to suspend the Drang nach Osten for six years.
