Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky

ALESSANDRO JAROSLAVIĆ NEWSKI. – Born in 1220 (?), died in 1263. While still a young prince, he was lieutenant at Novgorod and, in that capacity, defeated the Swedes on the Neva River in 1240, a victory that determined the boundary of Nordic influence for centuries. In 1242 he defeated the Teutonic Knights on Lake Peipus, thereby freeing northern Russia from Western domination, and consciously submitted to Tatar power. For a century, therefore, the Byzantine Church remained the sole link between Europe and Russia. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, Peter the Great had A.’s remains transferred to a monastery in Petersburg, where he was honored as a saint and national hero.