The Battle of Karuse or Battle on the Ice was fought on 16 February 1270 between 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 ...

and the Livonian Order on the frozen

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

between the island of

Muhu Muhu (also called Muhumaa in Estonian), is an island in the West Estonian archipelago of the Baltic Sea. With an area of it is the third largest island belonging to Estonia, after Saaremaa and Hiiumaa. Together with neighbouring smaller is ...

and the mainland. The Lithuanians achieved a decisive victory. The battle, named after the village of

Karuse Karuse is a village in Lääneranna Parish, Pärnu County, in western Estonia. The village has twenty inhabitants (as of December 31, 2011).http://pub.stat.ee/ Otto von Lutterberg is buried in the village church. See also *Battle of Karuse ...

, was the fifth-largest defeat of the Livonian or

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

s in the 13th century. Almost all that is known about the battle comes from 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 ...

, which devoted 192 lines to the battle.

Background

The

Livonian Brothers of the Sword The Livonian Brothers of the Sword ( la, Fratres militiæ Christi Livoniae, german: Schwertbrüderorden) was a Catholic military order established in 1202 during the Livonian Crusade by Albert, the third bishop of Riga (or possibly by Theoderi ...

, a crusading military order established in 1202, set out to conquer and convert to Christianity indigenous peoples of present-day Latvia and Estonia. They subjugated 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 ...

by 1250. However, after the Livonian defeats in the 1259 Battle of Skuodas and the 1260 Battle of Durbe, the Semigallians rebelled.

Traidenis Traidenis ( pl, Trojden, be, Трайдзень) (died 1282) was the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1270 (or 1269) until 1282. He is the second most prominent, after Mindaugas, Grand Duke of Lithuania in the 13th century. His reign ended a seven-y ...

, who became

Grand Duke of Lithuania The monarchy of Lithuania concerned the monarchical head of state of Kingdom of Lithuania, Lithuania, which was established as an Absolute monarchy, absolute and hereditary monarchy. Throughout Lithuania's history there were three Duke, ducal D ...

in 1269 or 1270, supported the rebellion. In winter 1270, the Livonian Order invaded Semigalia. However, after learning that a large Lithuanian army had also invaded the region, Master Otto von Lutterberg decided to retreat to Riga. The Lithuanians marched north, reaching as far as the island of

Saaremaa Saaremaa is the largest island in Estonia, measuring . The main island of Saare County, it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hiiumaa island and west of Muhu island, and belongs to the West Estonian Archipelago. The capital of the isla ...

, which they were able to reach because the

was frozen. The Lithuanian army plundered the area, taking much

war loot Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

. It is unclear whether Semigallians joined the Lithuanians and participated in this campaign – contemporary sources do not mention them, but later sources such as '' Jüngere Hochmeisterchronik'' and Dionysius Fabricius always mention their participation. Master Lutterberg gathered a large army of Livonian knights, soldiers from the

Bishopric of Dorpat The Bishopric of Dorpat ( et, Tartu piiskopkond; nds, Bisdom Dorpat; la, Ecclesia Tarbatensis) was a medieval prince-bishopric, i.e. both a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church and a temporal principality ruled by the bishop of the diocese. I ...

, the

Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek The Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek ( et, Saare-Lääne piiskopkond; german: Bistum Ösel–Wiek; Low German: ''Bisdom Ösel–Wiek''; contemporary la, Ecclesia Osiliensis) was a Roman Catholic diocese and semi-independent prince-bishopric (part of ...

Danish Estonia Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

, as well as local tribes of Livs and

Latgalians Latgalians (, nds, Letti, Lethi, modern ; variant translations also include Latgallians, Lettigalls or Lettigallians) were an ancient Baltic tribe. They likely spoke the Latvian language, which probably became the ''lingua franca'' in present-d ...

. The Order was well-prepared for the battle: for a year it had been recruiting soldiers for an expedition into Semigalia. The Livonian army marched north to meet the Lithuanians near Saaremaa Island. The armies met on the frozen Moon Sound (probably near

Virtsu Virtsu is a small borough (') in Lääneranna Parish, Pärnu County, Estonia. It lies on the western coast of continental Estonia, and is a location of the main port for traffic to and from Saaremaa, the largest island of Estonia. The Virtsu fe ...

) on the feast day of

Juliana of Nicomedia Saint Juliana of Nicomedia is said to have suffered Christian martyrdom during the Diocletianic persecution in 304. She was popular in the Middle Ages, especially in the Netherlands, as the patron saint of sickness. Historical background Both th ...

Battle

The Livonian army positioned for the battle: troops from Danish Estonia, commanded by the Danish king's viceroy Siverith, formed the right flank; Livonian knights, commanded by Master Luttenberg, formed the center; soldiers from the Bishoprics formed the left flank. The Lithuanians arranged their sleighs as a barricade. A vanguard unit likely covered construction of the improvised barricade so that the knights could not see it. When the knights attacked, Lithuanians retreated behind their sleighs and the Livonian cavalry ran into the barricade. As the horses got stuck between the sleighs, the horses and their riders were struck by Lithuanian spears. A small number of Livonian knights managed to break through the barricade and the left and right flanks joined the fighting, but that was not enough to overcome the strong Lithuanian formation. The Lithuanians achieved a decisive victory: 52 knights, including Master Lutterberg, and some 600 low-ranking soldiers were killed while bishop Hermann of Ösel-Wiek was gravely injured and barely managed to escape. According to the

, 1600 Lithuanians were killed, but that information is very doubtful and most likely inflated by pro-Livonian bias.

Aftermath

Vice-Master Andreas von Westfalen, who acted as a Master before proper elections could be held, decided to restore the lost morale of the knights by winning a quick victory. In the middle of 1270 he learned of another Lithuanian raid into Livonia and hurried his soldiers to seek out the enemy. While the knights were resting, the Lithuanians attacked their camp and killed Andreas and twenty more knights. This is sometimes known as the Battle of Padaugava, and was the tenth-largest defeat of the Teutonic Knights in its own right. Traidenis scored another victory in 1279 during the

Battle of Aizkraukle The Battle of Aizkraukle or Ascheraden was fought on 5 March 1279 between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led by Traidenis, and the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order near Aizkraukle (german: Ascheraden) in present-day Latvia. The order suffere ...

References

{{reflist, 30em, refs= {{cite book , first=Romas , last=Batūra , editor= Karolis Zikaras , edition=2nd , title=Žymiausi Lietuvos mūšiai ir karinės operacijos , publisher=UAB Alio , year=2013 , isbn=978-9986-827-05-4 , pages=28–29, language=lt {{cite web, first=Tomas , last=Baranauskas, author-link=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 , access-date=2007-05-26, language=lt {{cite book , first=Stephen , last=Turnbull , title=Crusader Castles of the Teutonic Knights (2): The Stone Castles of Latvia and Estonia 1185–1560 , publisher=Osprey Publishing , year=2004 , pages=52 , isbn=1-84176-712-3 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F3wzkSHR4j4C&pg=PA52 {{cite book , first=William , last=Urban , title=The Baltic Crusade , publisher=Lithuanian Research and Studies Center , location=Chicago, Illinois , year=1994 , isbn=0-929700-10-4 , pages=278–280 {{cite journal , first=Rokas , last=Varakauskas , title=Ledo mūšis ties Karūzu 1270 m. (Iš lietuvių kovų prieš Livonijos ordiną XIII a.) , journal=Istorija , series=Lietuvos TSR aukštųjų mokyklų mokslo darbai , volume=3 , year=1962 , pages=147–153 , language=lt

1270 in Europe 13th century in Lithuania

Gulf of Riga Lääne County

Military history of Estonia