When we talk about the crusades, we almost always associate them with the military campaigns waged in the Holy Land against the infidels, but this type of campaign also took place in Europe:the Southern Crusade, as Juan Antonio Cebrián called the Spanish Reconquest, the Crusade against the Cathars… and the Ice Crusade .
At the end of the 1230s, the Mongol empire entered Russia with blood and fire, causing great mortality and subjugating most of the territories that comprised it. The Republic of Novgorod , an autonomous state between the Baltic and the Ural mountains, remained independent because, as history has shown (Napoleon or Hitler), it is dangerous to invade Russia in winter... and when it is not. Trying to take advantage of that "a troubled river fishermen profit «, the Catholic Church thought that it was a good moment to bring reason to the Orthodox scattered throughout the Baltic Republics and Russia. To this crusade, led by the knights of the Teutonic Order , Swedes and Danes joined, although with other, more earthly purposes... to expand to the East. The first confrontation between Aleksandr Jaroslavich , leading the Novgorod troops, and the Swedish troops came on the Neva River with the victory of Aleksandr. After this victory he will be known as Aleksandr Nevski (Alexander of the Neva ).
There was still the icing on the cake… the Teutonic Order. On April 5, 1242, Lake Pepius it was still frozen but there were already areas where the ice cap was too brittle. Above the lake, the spectacular sight of the knights in their armor contrasted with Aleksandr's poorly prepared and equipped troops. Aleksandr looked for a place where he could defend himself against the imminent attack of the Crusaders; they attacked the front and quickly broke through their defenses and when all seemed lost...the crusaders had fallen into the trap . They were attacked and overwhelmed by the wings, so they decided to leave that mousetrap to group up and attack again. The flight was disorderly and Aleksandr's men pushed the crusaders towards the area where the ice could not support the weight of the knights with their armor and horses... the ice cracked and the crusaders drowned or froze> . Faced with that disaster, they gave up and left.
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