Battle on the Ice

Date: April 5, 1242 • Location: Räpina, Estonia

Northern Crusades: In the Battle on the Ice, Novgorod forces led by Alexander Nevsky rebuffed an invasion attempt by the Teutonic Knights at Lake Peipus on the present-day border of Estonia and Russia.

The Northern Crusades, or Baltic Crusades, were military campaigns conducted by several Catholic kingdoms and military orders in an effort to Christianize all the pagans around the southern and eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. The most notable of these campaigns were the Prussian and Livonian Crusades, the latter of which also fought against the Orthodox Christian states of Novgorod and Pskov. In some cases, such as with the Wendish Crusade, the conflicts were partly aimed at controlling the rich resources found in these lands. The Swedish Crusades were fought against Finns, Tavastians, and Karelians.