Medieval Russian armies, in the period from 1240 to 1550, are generally recognised as being cavalry armies of noble militia and their armed servants.
A Prince would be accompanied by his Druzhina, a small retinue of heavy cavalry. Heavy armour was used, and many wore helmets with battle masks covering the whole face. The helmets of this type were very unusual visually, on the front of the dome of the helmet is a rectangular cutout for the face mask attachment. The mask has a eye cutouts and nostril holes, the mask tries to realistically picture the face of a European man.The combat purpose of the masks served as a visor giving full face protection. Masks were also intended to frighten opponents.
Often depending on conditions heavy cavalry would often dismount and fight on foot. During the period of the Mongol invasions, from the 14th Century onward, many were armed with ranged weapons (archers), who included Boyars, landed gentry and armed slaves.
At the same time, the main part of a ‘Rus’ army was the militia infantry. It was far inferior to Druzhina in armament as most could not afford it. The militia used axes and hunting spears, swords were rarely used and again from the 14th Century on most were armed with ranged weapons. They had no armour other than plain clothes and fur hats.
At the time there were numerous Princes and city states such as the well known ‘Novgorod’ and ‘Moscow’…
Rus’ inhabitants were much influenced by the Viking culture and people. This cultural and ethnic Scandinavian imprint shaped the later society of Muscovite Rus’ and the whole of Russia.
The Rus’ in ‘Novgorod’ struggled from the beginning of the 13th century against Swedish, Danish, and German crusaders. Novgorod went to war 26 times with Sweden and 11 times with the Livonian Brothers of the Sword. The German knights, along with Danish and Swedish feudal lords, launched a series of uncoordinated attacks in 1240–1242.
‘Novgorodian’ sources mention that a Swedish army was defeated at the Battle of the Neva in 1240. The German campaigns ended in failure in 1242 after the famous Battle on the Ice with Russian Prince Alexander Nevsky leading the ‘Novgorodian’s’ to victory.
‘Novgorod’ managed to escape the horrors of the 13th Century Mongol invasion because it was the only Rus’ principality to negotiate and peacefully submit to the Mongols without being formally conquered, the Republic paid a large bribe to Subutai in 1241, agreed to become a vassal, and later began to pay tribute to the khans of the Golden Horde, whilst still maintaining a sense of independence.
Up to the 15th Century, the ‘Novgorodian Republic’ expanded east and north east. Of great economic importance to the ‘Novgorodians’ were the lands to the north of the city, rich with furs, sea fauna, salt, etc.
Beginning late in the 14th Century a long and drawn out series of wars were fought with ‘Moscow’ for control of these lands. The ultimate failure of ‘Novgorod’ to win these wars meant economic and cultural decline for the city and its inhabitants. This led to the ultimate downfall of the Republic.
In 1478, Ivan III grand prince of ‘Moscow’ sent his army to finally take the city. After the takeover, Ivan took the vast majority of ‘Novgorod’s’ land, half for himself and the rest for his allies. During his reign, the Russians gained independence from the Mongol Tatars, finally ending 200 years of their rule. Ivan also made ‘Moscow’ the centre of the Russian world by considerably expanding its borders.