Battle of Saule

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


caption=
date=September 22 1236
place=probably near Šiauliai in Lithuania
territory=
result=Samogitian and Semigalian victory
combatant1=Livonian Brothers of the Sword
Pskov Republic
Livonians
Lettigallians
Estonians
combatant2=Samogitians
Semigalians
commander1=Volkwin†
commander2=Vykintas
strength1=3,000
strength2=4,000 to 5,000
casualties1=50-60 knights killed
2700 dead
casualties2=Unknown
notes=The Battle of Saule ( _de. Schlacht von Schaulen; _lv. Saules kauja; _lt. Saulės mūšis" or "Šiaulių mūšis) was fought on September 22 1236 between the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and pagan Samogitians. Some 60 or 50 knights were killed, including the Livonian Master, Volkwin; it was the earliest large-scale defeat suffered by the orders in Baltic lands. [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 ] The Sword-Brothers, the first Catholic military order established in the Baltic lands, was soundly defeated and its remnants accepted incorporation into the Teutonic Order in 1237. The battle inspired Curonians, Semigallians, and Selonians, Baltic tribes previously conquered by the Sword-Brothers, to rebel. Some thirty years' worth of conquests on the left bank of Daugava were lost. [lt icon cite encyclopedia |editor=Jonas Zinkus, et. al |encyclopedia=Tarybų Lietuvos enciklopedija |title=Saulės mūšis |year=1987 |publisher=Vyriausioji enciklopedijų redakcija |volume=3 |location=Vilnius, Lithuania |pages=633]

Background

The Sword-Brothers were established in 1202 in Riga to conquer and convert pagan Baltic tribes to Christianity. By the 1230s under the leadership of Master Volkwin, the Order was coping with strained financial resources, decreasing manpower, and ill reputation. The Order was in conflict with the pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, two of its biggest supporters, over Estonia.cite book|first=William |last=Urban |title=The Prussian Crusade |publisher=Lithuanian Research and Studies Center |location=Chicago, Illinois |edition=2nd ed. |year=2000 |isbn=0-929700-28-7|pages=142-147] In fall of 1236 a party of crusaders arrived from Holstein; it demanded to be led into a battle. Volkwin led a war party with the assistance of the prince of Pskovcite book| first=Eric| last=Christiansen |title=The Northern Crusades |publisher=Penguin Books |year=1997 |edition=2nd ed. |isbn=0-14-026653-4|pages=102-103] southward into pagan Samogitia. Earlier in the year the Order obtained a papal bull announcing a crusade against pagan Lithuania and Samogitia.cite encyclopedia | editor=Simas Sužiedėlis | encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Lituanica | title=Saulė-Šiauliai, Battle of | year=1970-1978 | publisher=Juozas Kapočius | volume=V | location=Boston, Massachusetts | id=LCC|74-114275 | pages=73-74]

Events of the battle

The knights raided some settlements of the Samogitians. On the knights' return to the north, however, they encountered a determined group of Samogitians at a river crossing. Unwilling to risk losing their horses in the swampland, the Holsteiners refused to fight on foot, forcing the knights to camp for the night. The next morning, on the day of Saint Maurice, the main pagan forces composed of Samogitians, probably led by Duke Vykintas, and Lithuanians arrived at the camp. The Lithuanian light cavalry flung javelins at short range, which were highly effective against the unwieldy Livonian heavy cavalry. The slaughter of these troops, including Volkwin, sowed the seed of confusion in the Livonian ranks. The lightly-armed native forces under the command of the Brothers soon fled from the battle. Those crusaders and knights who tried to flee to Riga were allegedly killed by Semigallians. [lv icon cite web| url=http://www.historia.lv/alfabets/S/sa/saules_kauja/raksti/dedumietis.002.htm |title=Saules kaujas 1236.gada 22.septembrī norises rekonstrukcijas mēģinājums |author=Dedumietis, D. |date=2001-11-20 |accessdate=2007-05-10]

The exact place where the battle took place is not known. The "Chronicum Livoniae" by Hermann de Wartberge says the battle was fought in "terram Sauleorum". This may be near Šiauliai ( _de. Schaulen, _lv. Saule) in Lithuania or, less likely, near the small town of Vecsaule near Bauska in what is today southern Latvia. "Saule/Saulė" means "the Sun" in both Latvian and Lithuanian languages.

References