The fall of St. George's and the death of Prince Vyachko in 1224 at the hands of the Germans did not make a depressing impression on Russian contemporaries. The annals speak of this event as, of course, sad, but insignificant. The attention of the chroniclers was distracted by the battle on Kalka, which took place a year earlier, an event, in their opinion, truly grandiose and tragic. In contrast to them, the Germans themselves attached great importance to the capture of St. George's and assessed it as a decisive victory in the struggle against the Russians for the lands of Estonia.
After Yaroslav left Novgorod, the Novgorodians again asked for a prince from Yuri Vsevolodovich, and he again offered them his son Vsevolod. However, the situation in Novgorod was such that less than four months had passed when the young prince ran away again, it was he who escaped - secretly, at night, with the whole court and squad from Novgorod and, having sent the message to his father, settled in Torzhok. Yuri, having received news from his son, raised into arms the main forces of his principality - brother Yaroslav, nephew of Vasilko Konstantinovich and invited his brother-in-law to participate in the campaign (Yuri was married to the daughter of Vsevolod Chermny Agafya), who had just participated in the battle on Kalka and miraculously from there escaped Prince Mikhail Vsevolodovich of Chernigov, and also came to Torzhok.
It was in Torzhok that further negotiations took place between Yuri and the Novgorodians. Yuri had considerable forces at hand, so in the negotiations he took a tough stance - he demanded the extradition of a number of Novgorod boyars and the payment of a large sum of money in exchange for canceling the campaign against Novgorod and returning him the prince, that is, his patronage. The Novgorodians refused to extradite the boyars, but promised to punish them with their own court (two of them were eventually executed), agreed to pay a total amount of at least 7,000 (10,000, according to V. N. Tatishchev) hryvnias (the required amount was received by Yuri), but something incomprehensible happened to the prince. Apparently, Yuri realized that the young Vsevolod was completely unsuitable for the role of the Novgorod prince, and Yaroslav probably did not want to go to Novgorod again, perhaps he was not satisfied with the conditions for returning or the resentment against the Novgorodians did not pass, so Yuri offered the Novgorod table to Mikhail Vsevolodovich. One can hardly imagine what kind of situation was going on in Novgorod at that moment, if the head of the Yuryevich clan offers a Novgorod table, in theory, one of the richest and most honorable, bypassing his brother not to anyone, but to a representative of the olgovichi who are eternally hostile to Yuryevichs.
Mikhail Vsevolodovich agreed to Yuri's proposal and after a while arrived in Novgorod. The first and last thing that Mikhail decided for the Novgorodians was to negotiate with Yuri Vsevolodovich regarding the return of the Novgorodians captured by the latter during the just ended conflict and the goods seized in Torzhok and the Novgorod volost. As will be seen from subsequent events, Mikhail probably had a certain influence on Yuri, either through the latter's wife, who was Mikhail's sister, or for some other reason, therefore Mikhail conducted negotiations with Yuri in the interests of Novgorod extremely successfully, finally reconciling the parties and Having received from Yuri free of charge everything he wanted, after which he returned to Novgorod … where he abandoned the Novgorod principality, and immediately returned to Chernigov.
Novgorod was once again left without a prince and once again had to bow to Yaroslav Vsevolodovich. Undoubtedly, both Yaroslav and the Novgorodians understood that there was no better candidate for the Novgorod reign than Yaroslav Vsevolodovich in the foreseeable political space and was not expected in the near future. Despite this, and perhaps that is why, Yaroslav agreed to go to Novgorod far from immediately, although he did not refuse the Novgorodians. Under the pretext of the necessity of organizing the wedding of his relative, designated in the chronicles as "meeting", with the Murom prince Yaroslav Yurievich, he left the ambassadors to await his decision. However, before he had time to deal with the wedding, or to release the ambassadors, news of another Lithuanian raid on Toropets and Torzhok came to Pereyaslavl. Despite the fact that Toropets was part of the Smolensk principality, and Torzhok was part of the Novgorod principality, Yaroslav, perhaps in order to finally convince the Novgorodians of the need to accept his conditions when entering the reign, showing them, so to speak, the goods in person, and perhaps because Toropets and Torzhok were already bordering areas with his principality, equipped for a campaign, quickly organizing a small coalition, which, in addition to him, included his brother Vladimir and his son, the Toropets prince Davyd Mstislavich, the brother of Mstislav Udatny, and also, possibly another brother of Yaroslav Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich and nephew Vasilko Konstantinovich.
Some researchers believe that under the name Vladimir the chronicles do not mean the brother of Yaroslav Vladimir Vsevolodovich, but the prince Vladimir Mstislavich, who reigned in Pskov at that time, and the brother of Mstislav Mstislavovich Udatny and Davyd Mstislavovich Toropetsky. In favor of both the one and the other version, a variety of arguments are given, which it does not make sense to analyze in detail within the framework of this article. The version of Vladimir Vsevolodovich's participation in the campaign, and not Vladimir Mstislavovich's, seems more reasonable.
The Novgorod army also set out on a campaign from Novgorod, but, apparently, as usual, it was in such a hurry that by the time Yaroslav overtook Lithuania near Usvyat, the Novgorodians were still under Rusa (modern Staraya Rusa, Novgorod oblast). By the way, from Pereyaslavl to Usvyat the distance in a straight line is about 500 km, from Novgorod to Usvyat about 300 km, and from Novgorod to Rusa, even taking into account the need to bypass Lake Ilmen - less than 100 km.
Apparently, the battle at Usvyat was difficult, and the victory for Yaroslav Vsevolodovich was not easy. The chronicles speak of the loss of Lithuania in 2000 people and the capture of the Lithuanian prince, who was not named. Prince Davyd Mstislavich died in the battle, and the chronicle also notes the death of Yaroslav's personal sword-bearer (squire and bodyguard) named Vasily, which most likely indicates that the battle was very stubborn and that Prince Yaroslav was directly in its midst. One way or another, the victory was won, the prisoners of Novgorod and Smolensk were freed, the Lithuanian booty was taken away.
After the victory at Usvyat, Yaroslav went straight to Novgorod, where he reigned, in the words of the chronicle, "with all his will." We do not know the details of the prince's agreement with the Novgorodians, but if we run a little ahead, we will see that in 1229 the Novgorodians again try to change the conditions of Yaroslav's reign at home and set him the following conditions: do not slat; on all our will and on all letters Yaroslavlikh you are our prince; or you are ours, and we are ours. " In the chronicle quotation, the term "zealot" is not entirely clear. Various researchers assess its significance in different ways: from the tax on Catholic churches in Novgorod (the goddess) to the princely tax for performing pagan rites or fines for crimes against the church. Researchers did not agree on this issue; nevertheless, it is obvious that at the time these demands were made, both "zabozhnichie" and princely courts in the volosts took place. It is likely that these were the conditions Yaroslav put forward to the Novgorodians when they entered the reign after the Battle of Usvyat.
This was already the third, but by no means the last reign of Yaroslav in this extremely wealthy, but so rebellious and capricious city. It was 1226, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich was 36 years old. By this time, probably between 1224 and 1226. he had another son named Andrei.
At the beginning of the next 1227, Yaroslav organized a large winter campaign in the lands of the Finnish tribe Em (Tavastov). From Novgorod, Yaroslav's army moved along the river. The meadows, along which it reached the Gulf of Finland, crossed it on ice from south to north or northwest and invaded the boundaries of modern Finland west of the Vyborg Bay.
The relationship of Novgorod with the Finnish tribes inhabiting the territory of modern Finland and the Karelian Isthmus (Korela, Em, Sum) remains a subject of dispute among researchers to this day. The most reasonable and reasoned seems to be the opinion of those who argue that by the beginning of the XIII century. Korela, which occupied the territory around Lake Ladoga and the Vyborg Bay, was already under the strong influence of Novgorod, while the Sumy, who lived mainly along the coast of the western part of the Gulf of Finland and the southern part of the Bothnian Bay, was more attracted to Sweden. The territory of the Emi, or Tavasts, which occupied an intermediate position between Sumy and Korela (the central part of Finland, up to the northern tip of the Gulf of Bothnia), was just controversial, Sweden and Novgorod alternately claimed it.
The campaign of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich in 1227 was aimed precisely at strengthening the power of Novgorod in the lands of Emi, but when he arrived there, Yaroslav became convinced that the Catholic preaching and the influence of the Swedes there were already so insurmountable that he decided to confine himself to collecting tribute (read "plunder of the population") and devastating the territory, in fact, a hostile state.
Despite the harsh natural and weather conditions (deep snows, severe frosts, the absence of any beaten track), the hike turned out to be extremely successful. In addition to the huge field, marked by all the chronicles, captured by Yaroslav (there were so many prisoners that on the way back some had to be killed, and some were simply released), a huge tribute was collected, divided between Novgorod and Yaroslav. The military success of the campaign, which was impossible without competent organization and intelligent leadership, demonstrated by Yaroslav, was beyond doubt, and the return of the Novgorod army to Novgorod through the lands of Korel (Karelian Isthmus) was triumphant.
At the same time, it is noteworthy that, despite the absolute success of the campaign as a military enterprise, from a political point of view, it demonstrated the complete defeat of the Novgorod principality, and more broadly, the entire Old Russian state as a whole, in the struggle for influence in the Central Finland. Of course, it is in no way to blame Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich for this defeat - on the contrary, with his activity and aggressive policy he tried to regain lost positions in this region, the struggle was lost long before him and not so much by secular rulers - princes, as by spiritual rulers. Moreover, this struggle was lost not only in Finland, but also in the lands located on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland - on the lands of modern Estonia and Latvia.
Studying the historical materials of the Early and High Middle Ages, a researcher certainly draws attention to the fact that the starting positions of the ancient Russian state in the development of the Eastern Baltic were much better than those of the states that later became its competitors in this region. The Germans, Danes and Swedes appeared on the territory of modern Latvia, Estonia and Finland much later than the Russians, when the Russian presence in these lands already had certain traditions and a noticeable influence on the local population. Nevertheless, within literally half a century, after the beginning of the expansion of the Catholic states in the eastern direction, these territories were lost for the ancient Russian state.
And this is not a matter of the technical or military superiority of our western neighbors - it did not exist as such. A professional Russian vigilante was in no way inferior to a European knight. The fact is that at the disposal of these very European knights were powerful weapons, which they used very effectively and which the Russian princes were deprived of. This refers to the Christian preaching.
One of the main functions of religion in society is the sacralization of state power, and Christianity is the best suited for this purpose. Power based on religion is much stronger, just as religion backed by power has more influence on the flock. The Catholic Church, apparently, understood the necessity and usefulness of mutual support for the secular and spiritual authorities better than the Orthodox, as a result of which an almost ideal mechanism of conquest and conquest was created. In Europe, the Catholic Church and the state in the implementation of the expansionist policy went hand in hand, supporting each other and helping each other, not shying away from, among other things, the forcible conversion of neophytes to Christianity. The church allowed the newly created dioceses to be added to the possessions of one or another secular ruler, thus expanding his territory and influence, and the state by military force defended church institutions on its own, and sometimes on adjacent territory. Unlike the Catholic, the Orthodox Church did not welcome the forcible baptism of pagans, but at the same time it did not engage in active preaching of Orthodoxy either, in fact, letting the solution of the tasks of spreading Orthodox Christianity take its course.
The activity of organizing such events as the baptism of neophytes was not peculiar to the secular rulers of the ancient Russian state. The princes believed that the spread of Christianity and the strengthening of the faith among their subjects, and even more so among the pagan tributaries, was the prerogative of exclusively spiritual authorities. The spiritual authorities, headed by the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Metropolitan of Kiev, were in no hurry to preach Orthodox Christianity. The activity of Orthodox preachers, in comparison with Catholic ones, should be recognized as extremely low. Orthodoxy penetrated into the territories adjacent to Russia in a natural way, in fact, its preachers were not specially trained missionaries, like the Catholics, but ordinary people - merchants traveling between lands, and peasants moving from one region to another. The main distributor of Orthodoxy was, oddly enough, it was the princes who seized and "tortured" new territories for their principalities, although for them the activity of spreading Christianity was far from being in the first place.
In this regard, I would like to pay tribute to Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, who, unlike his predecessors and heirs, not only understood the benefits of introducing neophytes to Christian culture, but also tried to engage in actual missionary activity.
On his return to Novgorod, Yaroslav, apparently having familiarized himself on the spot with the situation on the northern coast of the Gulf of Finland and the western coast of Ladoga, came to the conclusion that it was necessary to strengthen Orthodox Christianity in this region. This was the only way to effectively resist the Swedish expansion. To this end, he summoned a large group of Orthodox priests from the Vladimir principality to organize permanent missions on the lands of the Korela. In the annals, this action of Yaroslav is noted as follows: “The same summer. Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodich. send a multitude of Korѣl to baptize. not all people are few”.
Yaroslav's merit in many respects lies in the fact that he was able to appreciate the usefulness of preaching Orthodoxy in the territories adjacent to Russia. He, of course, was not a pioneer in this matter, for example, similar actions were carried out in Estonia by his father-in-law Mstislav Udatny fifteen years earlier (at the same time, even when faced with dull resistance from the Novgorod church, which refused to present priests for preaching) during his the first Novgorod reign. Yaroslav, assessing the effectiveness and prospects of such a strategy, put it to a new level - he organized the successful baptism (and quite voluntary) of an entire people, and not some separate region or parish. Unfortunately, his successors either failed to appreciate this initiative, or were unable to use such a strategy for some other reason. As a result, the active preaching of Orthodoxy was resumed by the Russian Church only in the second half of the XIV century, at the time of Sergius of Radonezh and Dionysius of Suzdal.
Having completed the campaign against Emi, and having carried out the baptism of the Korels, Yaroslav began preparations for an even larger event - a large campaign to Riga.
List of used literature:
PSRL, Tver annals collection, Pskov and Novgorod chronicles.
Livonian rhymed chronicle.
A. R. Andreev. “Grand Duke Yaroslav Vsevolodovich Pereyaslavsky. Documentary biography. Historical Chronicle of the XIII century.
A. V. Valerov. "Novgorod and Pskov: Essays on the political history of North-Western Russia XI-XIV centuries."
A. A. Gorsky. "Russian lands in the XIII-XIV centuries: ways of political development."
A. A. Gorsky. "Russian Middle Ages".
Yu. A. Limonov. "Vladimir-Suzdal Rus: essays on socio-political history."
I. V. Dubov. "Pereyaslavl-Zalessky - the birthplace of Alexander Nevsky."
Litvina A. F., Uspensky F. B. “The choice of the name of the Russian princes in the X-XVI centuries. Dynastic history through the prism of anthroponymy”.
N. L. Podvigin. "Essays on the socio-economic and political history of Novgorod the Great in the XII-XIII centuries."
V. N. Tatishchev "Russian History".
AND I. Froyanov. “Rebellious Novgorod. Essays on the history of statehood, social and political struggle at the end of the 9th - the beginning of the 13th century”.
AND I. Froyanov. “Ancient Russia IX-XIII centuries. Popular movements. Princely and Vechevaya Power”.
AND I. Froyanov. "On the princely power in Novgorod in the 9th-first half of the 13th century."
D. G. Khrustalev. "Russia: from invasion to" yoke "(30-40 years. XIII century)".
D. G. Khrustalev. “Northern Crusaders. Russia in the Struggle for Spheres of Influence in the Eastern Baltic States of the XII-XIII Centuries”.
I. P. Shaskolsky. “The papal curia is the main organizer of the crusading aggression of 1240-1242. against Russia.
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