Battle of Rudau

Coordinates: 54°52′19″N 20°27′37″E / 54.87194°N 20.46028°E / 54.87194; 20.46028
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Battle of Rudau
Part of the Northern Crusades
Date17 or 18 February 1370
Location
Rudau north of Königsberg
54°52′19″N 20°27′37″E / 54.87194°N 20.46028°E / 54.87194; 20.46028
Result Teutonic victory
Belligerents
Teutonic Knights
 Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Commanders and leaders
Winrich von Kniprode and Henning Schindekop † Algirdas and Kęstutis
Strength
2,000–3,000 (realistically)[1][2]
Casualties and losses
26 Knights and 100[3] or 300 men[4] 1,000 men[3] or 3,500 men[4]

The Battle of Rudau (

Hermann de Wartberge
, the Lithuanians suffered a great defeat.

Background

The Teutonic Knights had waged a crusade against the

Nevėžis River; 109 people perished in the fire.[7] During truce negotiations Kęstutis, brother and right-hand man of the Grand Duke Algirdas, warned the Prussian Marshal Henning Schindekop that he would organize a retaliation.[8]
This gave time for the Knights to prepare for an attack and they organized their army in Königsberg.

Battle

Kęstutis and Algirdas led their army, composed of Lithuanians, Samogitians, Ruthenians, and Tatars,[8] to Prussia earlier than anticipated by the Knights. The Lithuanians took and burned Rudau Castle. Grand Master Winrich von Kniprode decided to take his army from Königsberg to meet the Lithuanians near Rudau.[1] Contemporary Teutonic sources do not give details about the course of the battle, which is somewhat unusual.[7] Details and battle plans were later provided by Jan Długosz (1415–1480), but his sources are unknown.[1]

The Lithuanians suffered a defeat. Algirdas took his men to a forest and hastily erected wooden barriers while Kęstutis withdrew into Lithuania.[1] Marshal Schindekopf pursued the retreating Lithuanians, but was injured by a spear and died before he reached Königsberg.[8] The Lithuanian noble Vaišvilas is presumed to have died in the battle.[9]

Losses and aftermath

Teutonic sources exaggerate the Lithuanian losses, claiming that 1,000 to 5,500 men perished due to wounds, freezing weather, and starvation.

komturs.[7] That the victory was not so one-sided as claimed by official Teutonic sources is also supported by a local legend that at a critical moment, when the Knights were about to give in to Lithuanian pressure, apprentice shoemaker Hans von Sagan replaced the fallen standard-bearer of Marshal Schindekop and led the Knights to victory.[1][8][10]

The victory was attributed to the

Virgin Mary and in her honor Kniprode established the Augustinian convent at Heiligenbeil (Mamonovo).[11] The battle marked the last serious threat from the Lithuanians in Prussia in the 14th century.[2]

References

  1. ^
    LCCN 55020366
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 0-929700-56-2
    .
  3. ^ a b According to Wigand of Marburg
  4. ^
    Hermann de Wartberge
  5. ISBN 978-0-521-45011-9
    .
  6. ^ German sources give February 17; Lithuanian sources – February 18.
  7. ^
    LCCN 74-114275
    .
  8. ^
    ISBN 1-142-41553-8
    .
  9. LCCN 55020366
    .
  10. ^ "Art Notes". The Ladies' Repository. 1 (XXXVI): 81. January 1876.
  11. ISBN 0-14-026653-4
    .
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