Innocentius
08-03-2007, 15:22
Why is it that the Battle on the Ice (or the Battle of Lake Peipus) in 1242 has become the event most associated with the Teutonic Order and the Northern Crusades? From a historical point of view, Peipus was in no way a significant event, especially not when compared to other battles fought by the Teutonic Order in the same century. The armies were small, and the actual amount of Teutonic knights minimal. The Russians achieved an easy victory due to their numbers and the over-confidence of the "Germans" (only a very small part of the army was german, most were estonians and other natives). Furhtermore, the battle had no real long-term consquences as the Teutons were able to continue their raids into Lithuania only a year later. Also, the most prominent Catholic sources tells us very little of the battle. Of course, this might be because it was a defeat - medieval chroniclers didn't like to get too deep about their own defeats - but also because it simply wasn't significant enough. We have much better (Catholic) sources on way worse defeats of the 13th century. Only the Novgorod chroniclers seem to make "a big deal" of the battle.
When compared to battles such as the disasters of Saule in 1236 and at Durben in 1260, Lake Peipus seems like nothing. But honestly, how many of us learnt of Durben before we learnt of Peipus? I'm pretty sure there are many who know of Peipus, but few who've heard of Saule or Durben. Why is this? Is this all Sergei Eisenstein's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Eisenstein) fault?
When compared to battles such as the disasters of Saule in 1236 and at Durben in 1260, Lake Peipus seems like nothing. But honestly, how many of us learnt of Durben before we learnt of Peipus? I'm pretty sure there are many who know of Peipus, but few who've heard of Saule or Durben. Why is this? Is this all Sergei Eisenstein's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Eisenstein) fault?