On April 5, 1242, the Teutonic Knights of Livonia fought the Battle of Ice, on the frozen lake Peipus, in the Republic of Veliky Novgorod, a medieval state in northern Russia. The goal was to convert the Baltic Orthodox to Catholicism. The Novgorods, armed with a light equipment, managed to flee in disarray to the Teutonic, who ran disorderly with their heavy armor until the surface of the lake broke.