Battle of Karuse

Coordinates: 58°33′N 23°27′E / 58.55°N 23.45°E / 58.55; 23.45
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Battle of Karuse
Part of the
Moon Sound, frozen Baltic Sea
58°33′N 23°27′E / 58.55°N 23.45°E / 58.55; 23.45
Result Lithuanian and Semigalian victory
Belligerents Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Semigallians
Danish Estonia
Commanders and leaders Traidenis Otto von Lutterberg †
Friedrich von Haseldorf
Hermann of Buxhoeveden
SiverithCasualties and losses 1,600 killed[1] 52 knights and 600 low-rank soldiers

The Battle of Karuse or Battle on the Ice was fought on 16 February 1270 between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Livonian Order on the frozen Baltic Sea between the island of Muhu and the mainland.[2] The Lithuanians achieved a decisive victory. The battle, named after the village of Karuse, was the fifth-largest defeat of the Livonian or Teutonic Orders in the 13th century.[3] Almost all that is known about the battle comes from the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle, which devoted 192 lines to the battle.[1]

Background

The

Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1269 or 1270, supported the rebellion.[1]

In winter 1270, the Livonian Order invaded

war loot. It is unclear whether Semigallians joined the Lithuanians and participated in this campaign – contemporary sources do not mention them, but later sources such as Jüngere Hochmeisterchronik and Dionysius Fabricius always mention their participation.[1]

Master Lutterberg gathered a large army of Livonian knights, soldiers from the

feast day of Juliana of Nicomedia.[1]

Battle

The Livonian army positioned for the battle: troops from Danish Estonia, commanded by the

Danish king's viceroy Siverith, formed the right flank; Livonian knights, commanded by Master Luttenberg, formed the center; soldiers from the Bishoprics formed the left flank.[1] The Lithuanians arranged their sleighs as a barricade.[4] A vanguard unit likely covered construction of the improvised barricade so that the knights could not see it. When the knights attacked, Lithuanians retreated behind their sleighs and the Livonian cavalry ran into the barricade.[6] As the horses got stuck between the sleighs, the horses and their riders were struck by Lithuanian spears. A small number of Livonian knights managed to break through the barricade and the left and right flanks joined the fighting, but that was not enough to overcome the strong Lithuanian formation.[1] The Lithuanians achieved a decisive victory: 52 knights, including Master Lutterberg, and some 600 low-ranking soldiers were killed while bishop Hermann of Ösel-Wiek was gravely injured and barely managed to escape. According to the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle, 1600 Lithuanians were killed, but that information is very doubtful and most likely inflated by pro-Livonian bias.[1]

Aftermath

Vice-Master Andreas von Westfalen, who acted as a Master before proper elections could be held, decided to restore the lost morale of the knights by winning a quick victory. In the middle of 1270 he learned of another Lithuanian raid into Livonia and hurried his soldiers to seek out the enemy. While the knights were resting, the Lithuanians attacked their camp and killed Andreas and twenty more knights.[5] This is sometimes known as the Battle of Pārdaugava near Riga, and was the tenth-largest defeat of the Teutonic Knights in its own right.[3] Traidenis scored another victory in 1279 during the Battle of Aizkraukle.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Varakauskas, Rokas (1962). "Ledo mūšis ties Karūzu 1270 m. (Iš lietuvių kovų prieš Livonijos ordiną XIII a.)". Istorija. Lietuvos TSR aukštųjų mokyklų mokslo darbai (in Lithuanian). 3: 147–153.
  2. ^ "Karusės mūšis". Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  3. ^ a b Baranauskas, Tomas (22 September 2006). "Ar priminsime Europai apie Šiaulių mūšį?" (in Lithuanian). Delfi.lt. Retrieved 26 May 2007.
  4. ^
    ISBN 1-84176-712-3
    .
  5. ^
    ISBN 0-929700-10-4
    .
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-9986-827-05-4
    .
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