Alexander Nevsky, holy noble prince

Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (tr. Aleksandr Yaroslavich Nevskiy; pronounced [?l???ksandr j?r??s?av??t? ?n??fsk??j] (About this soundlisten); 13 May 1221 Ð 14 November 1263) served as Prince of Novgorod (1236Ð40, 1241Ð56 and 1258-1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1236Ð52) and Grand Prince of Vladimir (1252Ð63) during some of the most difficult times in Kievan Rus' history. Commonly regarded as a key figure of medieval Rus', Alexander was a grandson of Vsevolod the Big Nest and rose to legendary status on account of his military victories over German and Swedish invaders. He preserved Russian statehood and Russian Orthodoxy, agreeing to pay tribute to the powerful Golden Horde. Metropolite Macarius canonized Alexander Nevsky as a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1547.