The Battle of Viljandi was a battle during the

Livonian Crusade The Livonian crusade refers to the various military Christianisation campaigns in medieval Livonia – in what is now Latvia and Estonia – during the Papal -sanctioned Northern Crusades in the 12–13th century. The Livonian crusade was cond ...

in 1211 in

Viljandi Viljandi (, german: Fellin, sv, Fellin) is a town and municipality in southern Estonia with a population of 17,407 in 2019. It is the capital of Viljandi County and is geographically located between two major Estonian cities, Pärnu and Tartu ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. The battle ended with no decisive victory for the invaders as they were unable to take the stronghold. They did however, manage to

baptise Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

the people inside the stronghold. In spring 1211, a larger objective for the

Livonian Brothers of the Sword german: Schwertbrüderordenfrench: Ordre des Chevaliers Porte-Glaive , image= , caption= , dates=1204–1237 , country= Terra Mariana , allegiance= Catholic Church , garrison= Wenden (Cēsis), Fellin (Viljandi), Segewold (Sigulda). Aschera ...

was to take the stronghold of

. They plundered the neighbourhood, robbed their food supplies, and killed and kidnapped the villagers who were staying in the villages nearby. Some of the prisoners were brought in front of the stronghold where they were killed to frighten the defenders, before being cast off into the moat. In the first collision in front of the stronghold gate, the defenders managed to fend off with heavy casualties the attackers and equip themselves with the enemy's equipment. The besiegers built a

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

, the moat was filled with wood and the turret was rolled onto it. From there they threw spears and crossbowmen fired upon the defenders. The

Estonians Estonians or Estonian people ( et, eestlased) are a Finnic ethnic group native to Estonia who speak the Estonian language. The Estonian language is spoken as the first language by the vast majority of Estonians; it is closely related to other ...

also tried to light the turret. It was here the Germans first used a bricole on Estonian soil. With the bricole they threw rocks into the stronghold day and night, inflicting relatively serious damage. Soon the invaders managed to break one of the fortifications, but behind it there was another. Also, the Estonians were able to put out the fires lit on parts of the stronghold. Unable to take the stronghold in five days, the invaders started negotiating on the sixth day. Because there was a lack of water, many wounded and killed in the stronghold, the elders were willing to make peace with the besiegers. They allowed only the priests inside the stronghold, who were said to have sprinkled holy water on the stronghold, houses, men, and women. Massive baptism didn't occur, it was deferred because of "very enormous bloodspilling". Having sons of elders and noblemen as hostages, the German army retreated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viljandi 1211, Battle Of Battles of the Livonian Crusade Battles involving Estonia 1211 in Europe Battles involving Livs Battles involving Letts Battles involving the Livonian Brothers of the Sword Conflicts in 1211 Viljandi