Alexander Peresvet

Alexander Peresvet, also spelled Peresviet (Russian: Александр Пересвет), was a Russian Orthodox monk who fought in a single combat with the Tatar champion Temir-murza (known in most Russian sources as Chelubey or Cheli-bey) at the opening of the Battle of Kulikovo (8 September 1380). The two men killed each other.

A single combat of Peresvet against Chelubei before the Battle of Kulikovo (Viktor Vasnetsov, 1914)

He is believed to have hailed from the Bryansk area and took the monastic habit at the Rostov Monastery of Saints Boris and Gleb. Later he moved to the Monastery of Pereslavl-Zalessky under the service of Dmitri Donskoi. He later moved to the Trinity Abbey where he became a follower of Sergius of Radonezh. Alexander and his friend Rodion Oslyabya joined Russian troops approaching to fight against Mamai invasion.

The battle of Kulikovo was opened by single combat between the two champions. The Russian champion was Alexander Peresvet. The champion of the Golden Horde was Temir-murza. The champions killed each other in the first run. According to a Russian legend, Peresvet did not fall from the saddle, while Temir-murza did.

Peresvet's body, together with that of his brother-in-arms Oslyabya, was brought to Moscow. The two men were buried at the 15th-century Theotokos Church in Simonov Monastery.