“Alexander Came from Batu”: on the Question of the Possibility of Prince Alexander's Trip to Batu's Headquarters in the Winter of 1240/1241

The Pskov Chronicle has preserved a unique testimony about the trip of Prince Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky to Batu’s headquarters. Traditionally, this account is considered an anachronism, the result of misinter-pretation by scribes who did not understand the text of their predecessors. However, a careful analysis of the events in late 1240 and early 1241 suggests that it is possible that the prince made a trip to the headquarters of the Mongolian commander at that time. The article provides some arguments in support of the probability of such a trip, as well the features, course, goals, and outcomes of the trip, which were associated with the fall of Kiev in autumn and winter of 1240 and the need to establish relations with the Mongols after the fall of the capi-tal of Russia and the loss of the latter's sovereignty. The conquest of the capital by the enemy raised the question of whether to recognize the power of the victors or defend independence with arms. The intention of the Prince of Vladimir to enter into negotiations under these conditions is very likely. The task of representing the Grand Duke of Vladimir, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, at the court of the Mongol commander forces to reconsider the problem of Prince Alexander's departure from Novgorod in the autumn of 1240. It can be assumed that the de-parture was the initiative of the prince, and the Novgorodians opposed Alexander's departure from the city. An analysis of the chronicle records shows that cases where the prince was the initiator of the rupture of relations, and cases where the Novgorodians accused the prince and asked him to leave the land are described in different categories. The departure of the prince against the will of the Novgorodians caused strained relations between the boyars and the princely government. After returning from Batu, Prince Alexander returned to Novgorod.