Battle of Durbe

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Durbe
partof=Northern Crusades


caption=Livonian Confederation in 1260, showing the location of the Battle of Durbe
date=July 13 1260
place=Near Durbe
territory=
result=Decisive Samogitian victory
combatant1=Samogitians
combatant2=Livonian Order, Teutonic Knights, platoons of Swedes, Danes, Old Prussians
commander1=Treniota ?
commander2=Burchard von Hornhausen
strength1=Around 4,000
strength2=Unknown
casualties1=Unknown
casualties2=150 knights killed
notes=

The Battle of Durbe ( _lv. Durbes kauja, _lt. Durbės mūšis) was a medieval battle fought near Durbe, 23 km east of Liepāja, in present-day Latvia during the Northern Crusades. On July 13 1260 the Samogitians soundly defeated the joint forces of the Teutonic Knights from Prussia and Livonian Order from Livonia. 150 knights were killed including Livonian Master Burchard von Hornhausen and Prussian Land Marshal Botel. It was by far the largest defeat of the knights in the 13th century: in the second-largest battle near Aizkraukle 71 knights were killed. [lt icon cite web| first=Tomas |last=Baranauskas |authorlink=Tomas Baranauskas | url=http://www.delfi.lt/archive/article.php?id=10760927 |title=Ar priminsime Europai apie Šiaulių mūšį? | publisher=Delfi.lt | date=2006-09-22 |accessdate=2007-05-09 ]

Battle

The Livonian Order had been fighting the Samogitians since 1253, when Mindaugas was crowned as King of Lithuania and transferred parts of Samogitia to the Order. In 1257 a two-year truce was made, but the Samogitians were eager to fight again and defeated the knights in the Battle of Skuodas in 1259. Such success encouraged the Semigallians to rebel.

When the armies of the Prussian and Livonian Orders and their allies met in Memel (Klaipėda), a castle that the Livonian Order built in 1253, they learned that the Samogitians were raiding Courland. The knights decided to march towards present-day Latvia and stop the Samogitians. The enemies met at the Durbe Lake. When the battle started, local Curonians and Estonians abandoned the knights because the knights did not agree to free any Curonians captured from the Samogitian camp. After this treason the knights were surrounded and suffered heavy losses. Some 150 knights perished along with hundreds of secular knights or low-rank soldiers.

Though the battle is described in the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle in great detail, no contemporary sources mention who was the leader of the Samogitians. Only Simon Grunau, in his chronicle written ca. 1517–1526, mentions that it was Treniota.lt icon cite encyclopedia | last=Ivinskis | first=Zenonas | editor=Vaclovas Biržiška | encyclopedia=Lietuviškoji enciklopedija | title=Durbės kautynės | year=1939 | publisher=Spaudos Fondas | volume=VII | location=Kaunas | pages=226-229 ]

Aftermath

Numerous rebellions against the Teutonic Order across all Baltic lands followed, including the Great Prussian Insurrection, which lasted from 1260 to 1274. Parts of Zemgale and Courland regained independence. It took some thirty years for the Livonian Order to restore its control.cite book| title=The Baltic Crusade | first=William | last=Urban | year=1994 | publisher=Lithuanian Research and Studies Center | location=Chicago, Illinois | edition=2nd ed. | pages=246-248 | isbn=0-929700-10-4]

In the aftermath of the defeat, Duke Treniota is alleged to have convinced his uncle Mindaugas, King of Lithuania, to relapse from Christianity and break the peace treaty with the Teutonic Order. Treniota organized military campaigns into Livonia and earned support from the Lithuanians. In 1263 Treniota assassinated Mindaugas, usurped the Lithuanian throne and the nation reverted back to paganism. Ensuing instability prevented the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from taking full advantage of the favourable situation. However, the Orders were preoccupied conquering back rebelling territories and did not pose a greater danger to Lithuania until 1280's. [cite book |last=Kiaupa |first=Zigmantas |coauthors= Jūratė Kiaupienė, Albinas Kunevičius |title= The History of Lithuania Before 1795 |chapter=Establishment of the State |origyear= 1995|edition= English|year= 2000|publisher= Lithuanian Institute of History|location= Vilnius|id= ISBN 9986-810-13-2|pages=63-64] In this sense the battle bought time for the new Lithuanian state to mature, strengthen, and expand before facing full-scale crusade.

References

External links

* [http://www.historia.lv/alfabets/D/DU/durbes_kauja/raksti/zelenkovs.htm Durbes kauja 1260 gada 13 jūlijā]
* [http://viduramziu.lietuvos.net/en/c1183.htm Chronology]