The Battle of Skuodas or Schoden was a medieval battle fought in ca. 1259 near

Skuodas Skuodas (; Samogitian: ''Skouds'') is a city located in Klaipėda County, in northwestern Lithuania, on the border with Latvia. The Bartuva river flows through the town. History Skuodas was first mentioned in written sources in 1253. At t ...

in present-day

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

during the

Lithuanian Crusade The Lithuanian Crusade was a series of economic Christianity and colonialism, Christian colonization campaigns by the Teutonic Order and the Livonian Order under the pretext of forcibly Christianization, Christianizing the pagan Grand Duchy of Li ...

. The

Samogitia Samogitia or Žemaitija ( Samogitian: ''Žemaitėjė''; see below for alternative and historical names) is one of the five cultural regions of Lithuania and formerly one of the two core administrative divisions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

n army of 3,000 invaded

Courland Courland (; lv, Kurzeme; liv, Kurāmō; German and Scandinavian languages: ''Kurland''; la, Curonia/; russian: Курляндия; Estonian: ''Kuramaa''; lt, Kuršas; pl, Kurlandia) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. ...

and on their way back defeated the

Livonian Order The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. From 1435 to 1561 it was a member of the Livonian Confederation. History The order was formed from the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword after the ...

, killing 33 knights and many more low-rank soldiers. In terms of knights killed, it was the eighth largest defeat of the Livonian Order in the 13th century. This victory led to a

Semigallia Semigallia, also spelt Semigalia, ( lv, Zemgale; german: Semgallen; lt, Žiemgala; pl, Semigalia; liv, Zemgāl) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands located in the south of the Daugava river and the north of the Saule region of Samogitia. ...

n insurrection against the Livonian crusaders, which lasted from 1259 to 1272.

Background

In 1251,

Mindaugas Mindaugas (german: Myndowen, la, Mindowe, orv, Мендог, be, Міндоўг, pl, Mendog, c. 1203–1263) is the first known Grand Duke of Lithuania and the only crowned King of Lithuania. Little is known of his origins, early life, or r ...

, pagan

Grand Duke of Lithuania The monarchy of Lithuania concerned the monarchical head of state of Lithuania, which was established as an absolute and hereditary monarchy. Throughout Lithuania's history there were three ducal dynasties that managed to stay in power—House ...

, concluded a peace treaty with the Livonian Order: he was to be baptized and crowned as

King of Lithuania The monarchy of Lithuania concerned the monarchical head of state of Lithuania, which was established as an absolute and hereditary monarchy. Throughout Lithuania's history there were three ducal dynasties that managed to stay in power—House ...

in return for portions of Samogitia,

Nadruva The Nadruvians were a now-extinct Prussian tribe. They lived in Nadruvia (alternative spellings include: ''Nadruva'', ''Nadrowite'', ''Nadrovia'', ''Nadrauen'', ''Nadravia'', ''Nadrow'' and ''Nadra''), a large territory in northernmost Prussia. Th ...

, and Dainava. Mindaugas was crowned on 6 July 1253 and the promised lands were transferred to the Order. The Order built the

Memel Castle Memel, a name derived from the Couronian-Latvian ''memelis, mimelis, mēms'' for "mute, silent", may refer to: *Memel, East Prussia, Germany, now Klaipėda, Lithuania **Memelburg, (Klaipėda Castle), the ''Ordensburg'' in Memel, a castle built in ...

(

Klaipėda Klaipėda (; ; german: Memel; pl, Kłajpeda; russian: Клайпеда; sgs, Klaipieda) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. The capital of the eponymous county, it is the third largest city and the only major seaport in Lithuan ...

) on the border with Samogitia to serve as the basis for further expansion. After Samogitians unsuccessfully attacked the new castle, their nobles formed a military coalition, elected Algminas (or Almenas) as their leader, and organized offensive raids to Courland. After the Samogitians defeated the knights near Klaipėda and killed 12 knights in 1257, a Samogitian envoy in

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 ...

requested a two-year

truce A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...

. The truce was supported by Riga merchants, who sought to increase wax and fur trade with the Samogitians.

Battle

When the truce expired, Samogitians did not seek an extension, but once again organized a raid to Courland.Urban, William. ''The Baltic Crusade'', pp. 245–246. This raid might have been prompted by Mindaugas, who granted Samogitia in its entirety to the Order on 7 August 1259 while seeking allies against the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fr ...

that plundered Lithuanian lands in the winter of 1259. However, the exact date or year of the battle is unknown. Historian

Edvardas Gudavičius Edvardas Gudavičius (6 September 1929 – 27 January 2020) was a Lithuanian historian. He was known as one of the best historians in Lithuania specializing in the early history of Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1953, he graduated from Kaunas P ...

dated the battle late summer or early fall 1258. While the Samogitians were plundering Courland, the knights from

Kuldīga Kuldīga () (german: Goldingen) is a town in the Courland region of Latvia, in the western part of the country. It is the center of Kuldīga Municipality with a population of approximately 13,500. Kuldīga was first mentioned in 1242. It joine ...

requested reinforcements from Klaipėda. The Knights pursued retreating Samogitians, who carried their loot back home and the decisive battle took place near Skuodas. The

Livonian Rhymed Chronicle The ''Livonian Rhymed Chronicle'' (german: Livländische Reimchronik) is a chronicle written in Middle High German by an anonymous author. It covers the period 1180 – 1343 and contains a wealth of detail about Livonia — modern South Estonia a ...

blamed the defeat on the cowardly

Curonians :''The Kursenieki are also sometimes known as Curonians.'' The Curonians or Kurs ( lv, kurši; lt, kuršiai; german: Kuren; non, Kúrir; orv, кърсь) were a Baltic tribe living on the shores of the Baltic Sea in what are now the western p ...

, who did not withstand the Samogitian pressure and retreated from the battlefield leaving the knights exposed. Inspired by the success, the Samogitians almost immediately organized another raid into Courland. This time Livonian Grand Master

Burchard von Hornhausen Burkhard von Hornhausen (* before 1252; † July 13 1260 in the Battle of Durbe) was from 1257 to 1260 Landmeister in Livonia of the Teutonic Order. He was the first commander and directed the construction of the Königsberg Castle.Walter James ...

commanded the Knights. However, the Knights were careful to avoid an ambush while the Samogitians decided not to engage in a

pitched battle A pitched battle or set-piece battle is a battle in which opposing forces each anticipate the setting of the battle, and each chooses to commit to it. Either side may have the option to disengage before the battle starts or shortly thereafter. A ...

Aftermath

The battle inspired the

Semigallians Semigallians ( Latvian ''Zemgaļi''; lt, Žiemgaliai, also ''Zemgalians, Semigalls, Semigalians'') were the Baltic tribe that lived in the southcentral part of contemporary Latvia and northern Lithuania. They are noted for their long resistance ...

to rebel against the Order. The Knights, finding little success in an open battlefield turned to strategic warfare. They attacked

Tērvete Tērvete (liv. ''Terwenden'', german: Hofzumberge) is a village in Tērvete Parish, Dobele Municipality in the Semigallia region of Latvia. It is famous for the historic hillfort built for the kings of Western Semigallia (Zemgale) in the Middle ...

(Terwerten) hoping to turn the Semigallian outpost into a Teutonic castle. When the attack failed, they built a fortress in nearby

Dobele Dobele (; german: Doblen) is a town in the cultural region Zemgale in Latvia, and is located near the center of Latvia on the banks of the river Bērze. It received town rights in 1917 whilst being a part of the German occupied Courland Govern ...

(Doblen) and Goergenburg (possibly present-day

Jurbarkas Jurbarkas (; Samogitian dialect, Samogitian: ''Jorbarks'', known also by several #Etymology, alternative names) is a List of cities in Lithuania, city in Tauragė County, in Samogitia, Lithuania. Jurbarkas is located in the historic land of Kar ...

) in Samogitia. Both castles were soon attacked by the Semigallians and Samogitians. The following year, the Samogitians raided Courland again and provoked the Knights into the Battle of Durbe, where the Order suffered even greater defeat. After these disasters, it took some thirty years for the Livonian Order to restore its status and territory.Urban, William. ''The Baltic Crusade'', p. 248.

References

{{reflist, 30em, refs= {{cite journal , first=Tomas , last=Baranauskas , date=2003-03-23 , title=Mindaugo karūnavimo ir Lietuvos karalystės problemos , url=http://www.voruta.lt/mindaugo-karunavimo-ir-lietuvos-karalystes-problemos/ , journal=

Voruta Voruta may have been the capital city of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Lithuania during the reign of king Mindaugas in the 13th century. Voruta is mentioned briefly in a written source only once and its exact location is unknown. ...

, volume=6 , issue=504 , issn=1392-0677 , language=lt {{cite web, first=Tomas , last=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=2007-06-02 , language=lt {{cite web, first=Tomas , last=Baranauskas , authorlink=Tomas Baranauskas , url=http://viduramziu.istorija.net/en/c1183.htm , title=Chronology. High Middle Ages: Part 2 (1183–1283) , date=2006-08-19 , publisher=Medieval Lithuania {{cite book, first=Edvardas , last=Gudavičius , title=Mindaugas , location=Vilnius , publisher=Žara , year=1998 , isbn=9986-34-020-9 , page=273, language=lt {{cite book , first=Zenonas , last=Ivinskis , authorlink=Zenonas Ivinskis , title=Lietuvos istorija iki Vytauto Didžiojo mirties , year=1978 , location=Rome , publisher=Lietuvių katalikų mokslo akademija , language=lt , id={{LCC, 79346776 , pages=184–185 {{cite book , last1=Kiaupa , first1=Zigmantas , first2=Jūratė , last2=Kiaupienė , first3=Albinas , last3=Kunevičius , title= The History of Lithuania Before 1795 , chapter=Establishment of the State , year= 2000, publisher= Lithuanian Institute of History, location= Vilnius, isbn=9986-810-13-2, pages=63–64 {{cite book, title=The Baltic Crusade , first=William , last=Urban , year=1994 , publisher=Lithuanian Research and Studies Center , location=Chicago, Illinois , edition=2nd , isbn=0-929700-10-4 , pages=240–241

1259 in Europe

History of Samogitia