Alexander Nevsky, Prince of Novgorod in the thirteenth century, won his surname by defeating Scandinavian Crusaders who attacked his city at the Battle of the Neva in 1240 in the hope of forcing his people to submit to the Roman Church. He was soon required to face another attempt, this time from the direction of modern-day Estonia and Germany.

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.

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