THEY were followed by merchants from Bremen, and other German colonists, who in time founded flourishing towns such as Riga near the coast, and gradually spread inland. They had conquered Pskov, and were desirous of attacking Novgorod, but Alexander drove them out of Pskov, and met them in a pitched battle on the ice of Lake Peipus. The Germans were defeated and such numbers of them slain that the ice is supposed to have turned red. The battle was called the ‘Ice Massacre’, AD 1242.*
On the death of his father, Alexander succeeded to the princedom of Suzdal and the over-lordship,* and as he fully realized that Russia was too disorganised to be able to offer any resistance to the Tartars, he went down to the Golden Horde to be officially recognized and do homage.* He even induced the people of Novgorod to pay their share of the poll-tax,* and by paying the tribute regularly, kept the Tartars from making inroads on his country. He died in 1263.*
Abridged
The Battle on the Ice was fought on April 5th, 1242. If such bloodshed seems unfitting for a saint, it is worth noting that modern historians are inclined to think that the mediaeval chroniclers overstated it, and that the fall of a few German knights was sufficient to hand Alexander the victory.
That is, in 1252 he became Prince of Vladimir, capital of Vladimir-Suzdal.
Alexander was not craven, however: asked to venerate an image of Genghis Khan, he politely refused, and following a tense pause Batu admitted that he was impressed. Alexander must have been anxious, though. Michael of Chernigov had done the same in 1246, and he was murdered.
Great Novgorod lies far to the northwest of Russia, beyond difficult marshy country, and it was tempting to defy Batu Khan. However, Alexander had to think about cities within Batu’s reach, such as Kiev and Vladimir.
Précis
A second attempt to force Novgorod to accept Roman Catholicism failed when Alexander defeated German crusaders on the ice of a frozen Lake Peipus near Pskov, in 1242. He rose soon afterwards to be Prince of Vladimir, inheriting lands under the control of Genghis Khan’s grandson, whom he kept at bay without bloodshed by paying tribute. (56 / 60 words)
A second attempt to force Novgorod to accept Roman Catholicism failed when Alexander defeated German crusaders on the ice of a frozen Lake Peipus near Pskov, in 1242. He rose soon afterwards to be Prince of Vladimir, inheriting lands under the control of Genghis Khan’s grandson, whom he kept at bay without bloodshed by paying tribute.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: because, besides, despite, may, otherwise, since, until, whereas.
About the Author
Lucy Cazalet née Hopper was born in Moscow in 1870. Together with her husband Frederick, also Moscow-born, she managed the historic [getpostlink:muir-and-mirrielees-1] department store on Theatre Square, now known as TsUM, and was something of an authority on pewter and porcelain. After the Revolution of 1917, the couple and their children escaped to England, where Lucy died in 1956. Her book, published in 1915, is testimony to the desire to improve relations between Imperial Russia and the British Empire in the Edwardian age.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Captain. Colonist. Even.
2 Dream. Ice. Regular.
3 Over. Prince. Settle.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
lns (11+1)
aliens. lanes. leans. lens. liens. lines. lions. loans. loins. loonies. loons.
lionise.
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