The Battle of Riga was an attempt by native Estonian forces to repel the Crusader knights (known as the Livonian Brothers of the Sword) and their allies during the Livonian Crusade.

History

In 1215, after the raid of Ridala and the loss of the Leole stronghold,

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

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forces agreed to co-operate for a large-scale counter-offensive. A strategic plan was formed, with the hoped-for result of "the complete destruction of the nearby German colonies". According to the plan, the Oeselians were to close the Daugava River estuary and besiege the city of

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, the Rotalians were to attack the

Livonians The Livonians, or Livs ( Livonian: ''līvlizt''; Estonian: ''liivlased''; Latvian: ''līvi'', ''lībieši''), are a Balto-Finnic people indigenous to northern and northwestern Latvia. Livonians historically spoke Livonian, a Uralic language c ...

Turaida Turaida () is a part of Sigulda in the Vidzeme Region of Latvia. Its most famous site is the Brick Gothic Turaida Castle. In 1212, a peace treaty was signed in Turaida between the Estonian tribes and the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, the Arc ...

, and the Sackalians and Ungannians were to harass the Latgalians, preventing them from coming to the assistance of Riga. At the end of April or beginning of May 1215, the Oeselians closed the estuary of the Daugava River. Old ships and wooden obstacles built on the spot were filled with rocks and sunk to prevent German cogs from escaping to sea, and Oeselian troops took up positions in a field just outside Riga. When a strong enemy force charged out of the city, they pulled back to the estuary to await reinforcements. Unexpectedly for the besiegers, two German cogs arrived from the sea. Threatened with being caught between two armies, the Oeselian fleet decided to break out to the sea. In the meantime, malevs from other counties were engaging in the areas of Livonia and Tālava, where the elder

Tālivaldis Tālivaldis or Tālibalds ( la, Thalibaldus de Tolowa; d. 1215) was a Latgalians, Latgalian Elder (administrative title), elder, the ruler of Tālava, whose support for Albert of Riga and the German crusaders brought about his death at the hands o ...

was burnt alive. They did not achieve much success because the villagers had been able to take shelter in the strongholds. The hoped-for cooperative attack did not bring any results due to the insufficient number of troops.

References

{{Reflist Riga 1215 Riga 1215 1215 in Europe History of Riga Riga 1215 Riga 1215 Riga 1215 Riga 1215