The Battle of the Siritsa River (also Seritsa) took place on 27 August 1501 between the forces of the
Livonian Order under Grand Master
Wolter von Plettenberg
Wolter (or Walter) von Plettenberg (c. 1450 – February 28, 1535) was the Master (''Landmeister'') of the Livonian Order from 1494 to 1535 and one of the greatest leaders of the Teutonic knights. He was an important early Baltic German.
...
on the one side and the forces of the
Grand Duchy of Moscow and
Pskov Republic
Pskov ( la, Plescoviae), known at various times as the Principality of Pskov (russian: Псковское княжество, ) or the Pskov Republic (russian: Псковская Республика, ), was a medieval state on the south shore of ...
on the other. The Russian forces were soundly defeated.
Grand Prince
Ivan III of Russia
Ivan III Vasilyevich (russian: Иван III Васильевич; 22 January 1440 – 27 October 1505), also known as Ivan the Great, was a Grand Prince of Moscow and Grand Prince of all Rus'. Ivan served as the co-ruler and regent for his blin ...
pursued expansionist policies, which strained Moscow's relations with Livonia. In 1492, Moscow built
Ivangorod Fortress
Ivangorod Fortress (russian: Ивангородская крепость, et, Jaanilinna linnus, vot, Jaanilidna) is a 15th century castle in Ivangorod, Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It is located on the east bank of the Narva river which curren ...
opposite of
Narva
Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru county, at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia international border. With 54 ...
and two years later closed down the
Hanseatic
The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=German language, Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Norther ...
office in
Novgorod. Hanseatic merchants, most of them Livonians, were imprisoned. The trade through
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...
and
Tartu diminished significantly.
[ During the ]Russo-Swedish War (1495–1497)
The Russo-Swedish War of 1495–1497, known in Sweden as the Stures' Russian War ( sv, Sturarnas ryska krig) was a border war which occurred between the Grand Duchy of Moscow and the Kingdom of Sweden. Although the war was relatively short, and ...
, Sweden captured Ivangorod and offered it to Livonia, an offer which was refused. Moscow perceived that as a Swedish–Livonian alliance. As negotiations failed, Livonia began preparing for war. In May 1500, a war broke out between Moscow and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Lit ...
. On 17 May 1501, Livonia and Lithuania concluded a ten-year alliance in Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
. In August 1501, von Plettenberg led a Livonian army, reinforced with 3,000 mercenaries from Lübeck, towards Pskov.
The armies met on 27 August 1501 on the Siritsa River, 10 km south from Izborsk
Izborsk (russian: Избо́рск; et, Irboska; vro, Irbosk, Irbuska, label=Seto) is a rural locality (village) in Pechorsky District of Pskov Oblast, Russia. It contains one of the most ancient and impressive fortresses of Western Russia. ...
, on the western approaches to Pskov. The Pskovian regiment attacked the Livonians first but was thrown back. The Livonian artillery then destroyed the remainder of the Muscovite army despite a Russian attempt to reply with their own, insufficient, artillery force. In the battle, the smaller Livonian army defeated the Muscovite army (drawn from the cities of Moscow, Novgorod, and Tver
Tver ( rus, Тверь, p=tvʲerʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is northwest of Moscow. Population:
Tver was formerly the capital of a powerful medieval state and a model provincial town in the Russian ...
, as well as from Pskov – which was not formally part of Muscovy until 1510) in large part due to the Order's formidable artillery park and the Russians' significant shortage of guns of any kind.Richard Hellie
Richard Hellie (May 8, 1937 – April 24, 2009) was an American historian.
Richard Hellie was born in Waterloo, Iowa, on May 8, 1937, to Ole Hellie and Elizabeth Larsen. His mother was a schoolteacher, and his father was a journalist. Ole worked s ...
, ''Enserfment and Military Change in Muscovy'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971), 156; Michael C. Paul, "The Military Revolution in Russia 1550-1682," ''The Journal of Military History'' 68. No. 1 (Jan. 2004), 20, 27. The defeat prompted Moscow to modernize its army by creating standing
Standing, also referred to as orthostasis, is a position in which the body is held in an ''erect'' ("orthostatic") position and supported only by the feet. Although seemingly static, the body rocks slightly back and forth from the ankle in the s ...
infantry units armed with arquebus
An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier.
Although the term ''arquebus'', derived from the Dutch word ''Haakbus ...
.[
Livonian troops then captured Ostrov and unsuccessfully besieged Pskov. The Russians retaliated by invading and plundering eastern Livonia and defeating the Order at Helmed near ]Dorpat
Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...
. The Order won a victory at the Battle of Smolin in September 1502. The war ended in 1503 when Lithuania sued for peace. Peace between Livonia and Moscow lasted until the Livonian War
The Livonian War (1558–1583) was the Russian invasion of Old Livonia, and the prolonged series of military conflicts that followed, in which Tsar Ivan the Terrible of Russia (Muscovy) unsuccessfully fought for control of the region (pr ...
(1558–1583).[
]
References
External links
Interactive timeline of the Livonia–Moscow War (1501–1503)
{{Russian Conflicts
Siritsa
Siritsa
Siritsa
the Siritsa River
History of Pskov