Alexander Nevsky,
Dmitry Donskoi,
Sergei Eisenstein,
Russian Orthodoxy,
Russian History,
historiography
Abstract
The church veneration of the Saint Prince Alexander Nevsky began with the efforts of Metropolitan Kirill (13th century) who tried to attach special importance to the prince's funeral and emphasized Alexander 's tonsure before his death. The historical experience of the prince as a political figure was relevant during the second half of the 13th century and until the 14th century. The local canonization of the prince in 1381, among other things, indicated the connection of the image of Alexander Nevsky with the Battle of Kulikovo and, through it, with prince Dmitry Donskoy. The glorification of 1547 included the historical memory of the saint into the system of state ideology of the newly created kingdom. Peter the Great's policy was a radical breakdown of the established tradition of venerating Alexander: the emperor tried to follow as much as possible the Russian Orthodox practice. Peter included the historical memory of the prince in the ideology of the empire he created. The image of Alexander Nevsky as a national hero existed in parallel with his image of a saint until 1917. In the Soviet years, thanks in large part to the film by Sergei Eisenstein, the prince was deprived of his holy image.
