Battle of the Neva

Alexander Nevsky Fighting the Swedes, by Boris Chorikov

Date	15 July 1240
Location	Neva River, Russia
Result	Novgorodian victory

Belligerents

Novgorod Republic
Supported by:
People of Ladoga

Kingdom of Sweden
Supported by:
Finns
Tavastians
Norwegians

Commanders and leaders

Alexander Nevsky

Bishop Thomas

The Battle of the Neva (Russian: Невская битва, Nevskaya bitva, Swedish: slaget vid Neva, Finnish: Nevan taistelu) was fought between the Novgorod Republic and Karelians against Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and Tavastian armies on the Neva River, near the settlement of Ust-Izhora, on 15 July 1240. The battle is only mentioned in Russian sources, which raises doubts about its significance or even existence.

The purpose of the invasion was probably to gain control over the mouth of the Neva and the city of Ladoga and, hence, seize the most important part of the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks, which had been under Novgorod's control for more than a hundred years. The battle was part of the medieval Swedish-Novgorodian Wars and continuum to Finnish-Novgorodian wars.

The existence of the battle is only known from Russian sources. The first source to mention the battle is the Novgorod First Chronicle from the 14th century. According to the chronicle, on receiving the news of the advancing Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and Tavastian fleets, the 20-year-old Prince Alexander Yaroslavich of Novgorod quickly moved his small army and local men to face the enemy before they had reached Lake Ladoga. The chronicle described the battle as follows:

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