The Northern Crusades against pagans and Eastern Orthodox Christians continued intermittently from the late 12th to early 16th century. Increasingly driven by political, rather than religious aims, they were led by the Teutonic Order. Their defeat in April 1242 by one of Russia's greatest heroes, Alexander Nevsky, ended the expansion of Catholicism into Eastern Europe. Two Crusades aimed at halting the Ottoman advance into South-East Europe ended in disaster at Nicopolis in 1396, and Varna in 1444. Although the cultural symbols of crusading remained common for some time after, this essentially ended them as a viable military option.