Editing Alexander Nevsky (section)

==Early life==
Born in [[Pereslavl-Zalessky]] around the year 1220, Alexander was the second son of Prince [[Yaroslav II of Vladimir|Yaroslav Vsevolodovich]].{{sfn|Fennell|2014|p=99}} His mother was {{ill|Feodosia Mstislavna|ru|Феодосия Мстиславна}}, daughter of [[Mstislav Mstislavich]] The Bold. From the ''Tales of the Life and Courage of the Pious and Great Prince Alexander'' found in the ''[[Pskov Chronicles|Second Pskovian Chronicle]]'' ({{circa|1260–1280}}) comes one of the first known references to Alexander Yaroslavich:<ref name="Begunov1955p11-15">Begunov, K., translator, ''Second Pskovian Chronicle'', ("Isbornik", Moscow, 1955) pp. 11–15.</ref>

{{blockquote|
By the will of God, prince Alexander was born from the
charitable, people-loving, and meek the Great Prince Yaroslav, and
his mother was Theodosia. As it was told by the prophet [[Isaiah]]:
'Thus sayeth the Lord: I appoint the princes because they are
sacred and I direct them.'

...He was taller than others and his voice reached the people
as a trumpet, and his face was like the face of [[Joseph (son of Jacob)|Joseph]], whom
the Egyptian [[Pharaoh]] placed as next to the king after him of
Egypt. His power was a part of the power of [[Samson]] and
God gave him the wisdom of [[Solomon]]... this Prince Alexander: he
used to defeat but was never defeated...
}}

He spent most of his youth in Pereslavl-Zalessky.{{sfn|Fennell|2014|p=99}} Little is known about the activities of Yaroslav's children before the year 1238.{{sfn|Fennell|2014|p=99}} Alexander's eldest brother Fyodor died in 1233 at the age of 14.{{sfn|Fennell|2014|p=99}}