Landskrona

After the Swedes conquered South-West and Central Finland in the second half of the 12th – first half of the 13th centuries, their expansion was suspended for several decades. A new series of Russian-Swedish clashes began only in the 80s of the XIII century . In 1283, the Swedes, passing through the Neva River , raided the Novgorod lands , but on the way back were intercepted by the Novgorodians on the Neva River. The following year, a new unit of Swedes was defeated by the Novgorodians at the mouth of the Neva. The year 1292 was marked by the mutual raids of Russians and Swedes.

The Third Swedish Crusade in 1293 marked the beginning of a new phase of hostilities. The official goal of the campaign was the conversion of the "pagans" to the Christian faith, but the real one was to strengthen Swedish rule in South-Western Karelia . As a result of the campaign, the city of Vyborg was founded, which for a long time was the center of Swedish domination. Soon, 14 Karelian communities fell under his authority. The city intercepted a busy trade route along the Vuoksa River , which went from the Baltic Sea to Lake Ladoga , and threatened the mouth of the Neva River, which represented the main exit to the sea for the Russians. Because of internal Russian civil strife, the Novgorodians were able to organize a campaign against Vyborg only in the winter of 1294 , but even then they were able to allocate relatively small forces for it, as a result of which the campaign ended in failure.

In 1295 , the Swedes tried to gain a foothold on the other end of the Vuoksa waterway, capturing the city of Korela , located on the second mouth of the Vuoksa River, which flows into Lake Ladoga . Thus, the Swedes not only strengthened their dominance on the Karelian Isthmus , but also cut off the Finnish tribes from direct communication with the Novgorod Republic . Taught by bitter experience, the Novgorodians immediately sent an army, captured the city and killed the entire garrison, from which only two people were saved.

Having failed in Ladoga , the Swedes decided to move the tip of the strike to the banks of the Neva. The capture of the main Russian exit to the sea placed Swedish control over the entire trade and economic life of Veliky Novgorod and a large part of Russia ^{[1] [2] [3]} .

Novgorodians in those years did not have any fortifications at the mouth of the Neva. From the nearest fortresses ( Koporye , Ladoga and Korela) to the mouth of the Neva there were two to three days' journey, and from Novgorod the journey took more than a week. The maintenance of a Russian fortress there would have been costly, and at the same time, it would have been constantly at risk of capture from the sea ^[4] .

The plan of the Swedes was to build a strong fortress during the summer season, under the cover of a large army, the garrison of which would be able to withstand the attack of the Novgorodians during the winter, when the bulk of the Swedish army will return to Sweden ^[5] .

The Swedish government understood that the founding of the Swedish city on the Neva , affecting the vital interests of the Novgorod Republic , should have caused a much more powerful opposition from the Russians than the previous actions of the Swedes, so the campaign was preceded by serious preparation. Ships and warriors were gathered from many areas of Sweden, a large amount of food was pre-purchased. An experienced master fortifier from Italy was hired to participate in the campaign, and many construction masters from Sweden were supposed to help. At the head of the campaign was Torgils Knutsson , the de facto ruler of Sweden. It is assumed that 30-50 ships and 1100 soldiers participated in the campaign (perhaps this number includes only “noble” ones) ^[6] . Never before had such a large enemy fleet entered the mouth of the Neva.

The Swedes left Stockholm on May 30, 1300. ^[7]

I wanted to reap on the pagans,
Landskrona fortress ordered to build.
Eleven hundred soldiers were assembled.
Swam from Sweden to distant distances.
I think, on the Neva never
such vessels had not sailed before.
Soon a beautiful harbor was found
putting their ships on the pivots.
On top of the sidewalks tied,
the waves and the wind so that they are not stolen.
Between the Neva and the Black River
fortresses with an impregnable wall
in the place where those rivers merged paths
(it’s better for them not to find a fortress).
From the south to the Gulf of Neva flowed,
from the north the Black River flowed into.
(" The Chronicle of Eric ", lines 1462-1477, per. Alexander Zheltukhin ^[8] )

The place for the foundation of the fortress was most likely chosen in advance. Landskron began to build on the cape, formed by the flow of the Okhta into the Neva . It was the closest place to the sea, never flooded with water. Okhta served as a good natural harbor for the fleet. Okhta and Neva covered the future fortress from three sides, and only from the south there were no obstacles for the enemy. It was in this place that ditches began to dig for protection. The place was very convenient - it was no coincidence that the village of Nevskoye Ustia subsequently appeared on the same place, and after three hundred years the Nienschanz fortress was founded.

The Swedish attack took the Novgorodians by surprise. Prince Andrei Alexandrovich was absent. Despite this, the Novgorodians began to gather forces for a counterattack. Soon the Swedes received news that the Russians were building up strength on one of the islands of Lake Ladoga . The fortifications had not yet been built, so the Swedish command decided to attack the Russians first. A large detachment was sent on ships, but when he stepped out into the lake, he fell into a storm and was forced to land on the west bank. Waiting for the storm, the soldiers plundered the surrounding villages, but when the storm calmed down on the fifth day, it turned out that the Swedes ran out of supplies and were forced to return to Landskrona without completing the task ^[9] . A Swedish outpost was left on Orekhovy Island . As the Russian army approached, the sentinels retreated to Landskrona.

The Russians, having landed on the shore, made an attempt to burn the Swedish ships. Having chopped up a tree, they made huge rafts, “tall as at home,” set fire to them and lowered them down the Okhta, at the mouth of which stood the Swedish fleet. Fortunately for the Swedes, they noticed the danger in time and managed to block the rafts with a log ^{[10] [11]} .

The fortress was not completed yet, but the moat was already dug. The Russians, approaching the fortress by land, rushed to the assault, trying to overcome the moat. The battle was fierce, but the Swedes, having made a sortie, managed to repel the assault. The Russians retreated to the edge of the forest, hiding behind the notches they had made, after which the parties concluded a ceasefire for a day. The Swedish army began to prepare for a new battle, but in the morning it turned out that the Russian army had left. Apparently, the Novgorod command came to the conclusion that under the given conditions they would not be able to take Landskron ^{[4] [12]} .

After the departure of the Novgorodians, the Swedes continued to build fortifications until the fall. When the fortress was built, a garrison of 300 soldiers was left in it, and the rest of the army went home, plundering the neighborhood on the way ^[13] . The Swedish fleet returned to Stockholm on September 29, 1300 ^[10] .

Italian and Swedish fortresses in those years were built of stone. The presence of Italian and Swedish builders in the army suggests that, according to the original plan, Landskrona was also to be built of stone. But in the vicinity of the city there were no exits of natural stone or granite boulders , so a tree-earthen fortress was built.

Landskrona was in terms of a rectangle about 15,000 m² in size and was approximately twice as large as the Vyborg fortress . She was surrounded by two parallel ditches more than 2 meters deep. Each ditch was a trapezoid in section, the walls of the ditch had an inclination angle of about 40 °. The width of the outer ditch along the bottom is about 15 meters, the width of the inner one, located 14-15 meters behind the first, is 11 meters. From the sweeping away, the walls of the ditch were lined with wooden blocks - chopped pine logs cut in half, laid along the slope close to each other.

The site selected for construction was uneven, and the builders blocked the lowlands with tree branches, and from above, over the entire area of ​​the fortress, created a wood-earthen platform for leveling. It was based on rows of wooden crates 8-16 meters wide, covered with turf , sand and other materials. The fortress wall had eight towers , on which vices and easel crossbows were located. In the western part of the fortress was a donjon tower, which was a 5.5 × 5.5 meter square plan cut down from logs with a diameter of up to 30 cm into a paw. The tower was buried in the ground two meters below the Neva level, had a well and, possibly, was used as an observation one.

The fortress was a powerful defensive structure created by real masters ^{[14] [15] [16] [17]} .

The Swedish capture of the Neva estuary and the unsuccessful assault on the Landskrons caused great concern in Novgorod. It was clear that if you did not take the fortress before the start of navigation, the Landskrona garrison would receive help and defeat the Swedes would become even more difficult. The new campaign became an all-Russian affair. Grand Duke Andrei Aleksandrovich arrived in Novgorod with an army, who stood at the head of the campaign. The Novgorod militia was collected, and Karelian detachments joined the army. Prince Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver came to the aid of the Novgorodians.

The position of the Swedes in Landskrona was very difficult. After the departure of the main forces, the garrison had no connection with Sweden. A significant portion of the products has deteriorated, leading to illness and many deaths. The local population was opposed to the invaders, and the garrison was under siege, unable to obtain fresh provisions. There were few people in the fortress who could fight, and those who remained lost their fighting spirit. The only hope was for help from Sweden, which was supposed to arrive with the start of navigation ^[4] .

The advance detachment of Russians approached the fortress in May and, without stopping, proceeded towards the mouth of the Neva. The Swedes, led by the commandant, made a sortie, but fell under attack and returned. The commandant of the fortress was wounded. With the approach of the main Russian forces the assault began. It continued without stopping day and night, the tired detachment was replaced by a new one. The Swedes did not have the opportunity to respite, and a turning point soon occurred. A fire broke out in the fortress, the Russians burst inside and killed most of the defenders. A small group of soldiers retreated to the dungeon and continued to resist for some time, but was forced to surrender ^{[11] [18]} . Landskrona fell on May 18, 1301 .

Thus ended the largest attempt at that time by the Swedes to gain a foothold on the Neva ^[19] .

Landskrona was burned and destroyed. The winners returned home with the prisoners. The detachments of the Tver prince, who did not have time for battle, returned to Tver .

After the fall of Landskrona, the war continued for more than 20 years, but Sweden no longer undertook such offensive operations. The failure of the campaign contributed to the fall of Torgils Knutsson and the subsequent execution. The military operations of the Swedes consisted mainly of predatory raids and piracy, which caused dissatisfaction with the Hansa , which required compensation for losses and guarantees of free navigation ^[20] .

In 1310, the Novgorodians built new fortifications in the Korela fortress. In 1314, Sweden’s supporters in Korel killed the Russians and turned over to the Swedes, but with the swift approach of the Russian army, the supporters of the Russian government prevailed, letting the Novgorodians into the city. The Swedes and their supporters were killed ^[21] .

In 1311, the Russians made a major voyage on ships to Central Finland. In 1313, the Swedes sacked Ladoga . 1317 - a new campaign of the Swedes on Lake Ladoga . In 1318, the Novgorodians made a major raid on Finland, during which they took the Abo Castle and seized the church tax “ St. Peter 's denarius ” collected in five years in Finland ^[22] .

In 1322, both sides made their last attempt to take control of the Karelian Isthmus. The Swedes made a trip to Korela, but it ended in complete failure. The Russians made a major trip to Vyborg ^[23] .

The campaign was led by Grand Duke Yuri Danilovich . Large forces were gathered. Six rocket launchers were used to shell the castle. The siege lasted about a month, many prisoners were taken, but it was not possible to capture the castle ^[24] .

Despite the long hostilities, the position of the parties has not changed since the end of the 13th century. The failures of recent campaigns showed the futility of further clashes. Both Russia and Sweden were torn apart by serious internal conflicts. The Hansa , which suffered losses from hostilities, exerted pressure on both sides, demanding an end to the war. As a result, on August 12, 1323 ^{[25], the} Orekhov peace treaty was concluded between Russia and Sweden on the terms of a compromise.

The contract was concluded on Orekhovy Island in the newly built Russian fortress Oreshek . On the Russian side, Grand Duke Yuri Danilovich was present, and directly from Novgorod, the posadnik Bartholomew Yuryevich and the thousand-man Avram ^[26] . Yuri Danilovich was named in the treaty the Grand Duke (rex magnus, mukle konungher), and the Swedish king Magnus was simply the prince (rex, konungher) ^[27] . The agreement fixed the current state of things, recognizing the Swedes and Russians actually occupying the land. This was the only treaty of the Novgorod Republic, concluded directly by the Grand Duke ^[28] . The Orekhov peace treaty was the first peace agreement between Russia and Sweden, which determined all subsequent peace treaties up to the Tyavzinsky peace treaty ^[29] .

After the destruction of Landskrona, the fortress did not resume for a long time, but due to its convenient geographical position in the XIV-XV centuries. settlements arose at the mouth of Okhta. At the end of the 15th century, according to the Scribe Book of 1500, several dozen courtyards with one village were located here. At the beginning of the XVI century. the small town on Okhta is known as the Nevsky Estuary, which by the end of the century had grown and had the Sovereign's guest house , customs, and also a cemetery with the Church of Michael the Archangel, which, apparently, was located directly on the territory of the former Landskrona.

In the Time of Troubles, the whole territory was captured by the Swedes. In 1611, on the left bank of Okhta, on the site of Landskrona, the Nyenschanz fortress was laid, and on the right bank there was Nien (Nyenstadt) posad, which subsequently received city rights. Both the fortress and the city lasted until the conquest of Ingermanland by Peter I in 1703 . Before the Russian troops approached Nienschanz, the city buildings were burned down by the Swedes themselves, the population of the city was evacuated, and after the seizure of the fortress and the destruction of wooden fortifications on its ramparts, an explosion was carried out, partially destroying the earthworks. Later, a nursery (and then a shipyard) was built on the territory of the fortress, and Nyen Posad was set aside for artisan settlements (Okhta settlements).

Archaeological observations and studies of the cultural layer were carried out on the Cape Okhta under the direction of P.E. Sorokin since 1992. In the mid-2000s, it became known about the planned construction of a business district with a skyscraper in this place - the so-called Okhta Center . Since 2006, large-scale archaeological excavations began at the site of the proposed construction, during which the walls and ditches of Nyenskans were discovered, and with further research, Landskrona fortifications.

The fortress was preserved much better than expected. About 12,000 m² were uncovered. Well preserved ramparts, the remains of the walls, the base of a unique wooden tower- dungeon . Traces of fire were found, crossbow bolts and arrowheads of an easel crossbow were found. Excavations yielded unique scientific material and made it possible to get an idea of ​​the fortress and answer many controversial questions.

Landskrona was a tree-earthen fortress, and not a stone one, as some historians suggested. The donjon tower fits well with the description of the site of the last battle of the Swedes. Many design features prove that Landskrona was a well-fortified and powerful fortress for its time.

In the course of subsequent excavations, traces of the fortification that existed in this place before Landskrona were also discovered. There is no news about him in the sources. Later, the remains of a Neolithic site located at this place when the Neva itself did not exist yet were discovered here, and Cape Okhta was the shore of the ancient sea.

The archaeological site was called the Petersburg Troy . The public began to demand the transfer of the construction of a skyscraper to another place and the preservation of the Okhta Cape for science. As a result, the construction project was canceled ^[30] .

• Nienschanz
• Swedish-Novgorod Wars
• Russian-Swedish Wars
• Eric's Chronicle

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