Battle of Lubawa or Löbau was fought between the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

and Prussians in 1263 during the

Great Prussian Uprising The Prussian uprisings were two major and three smaller uprisings by the Old Prussians, one of the Baltic tribes, against the Teutonic Knights that took place in the 13th century during the Prussian Crusade. The crusading military order, supp ...

. The pagan Prussians rose against their conquerors, who tried to convert them to Christianity, after

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

ns and

Samogitia Samogitia, often known by its Lithuanian language, Lithuanian name ''Žemaitija'' (Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Žemaitėjė''; see Samogitia#Etymology and alternative names, below for alternative and historical names) is one of the five ...

ns soundly defeated the joint forces of the Teutonic Knights and 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 thei ...

in the

Battle of Durbe The Battle of Durbe (, , ) was a medieval battle fought near Durbe, east of Liepāja, in present-day Latvia during the Livonian Crusade. On 13 July 1260, the Samogitians soundly defeated the joint forces of the Teutonic Knights from Prussia (r ...

(1260). The first years of the uprising were successful for the Prussians, who defeated the Knights in the Battle of Pokarwis and besieged castles held by the Knights. The Prussians launched raids against the

Chełmno Land Chełmno land (, or Kulmerland) is a part of the historical region of Pomerelia, located in central-northern Poland. Chełmno land is named after the city of Chełmno. The largest city in the region is Toruń; another bigger city is Grudziąd ...

(Kumerland), where the Knights first established themselves in the late 1220s. The apparent aim of these raids were to force the Knights to devote as many troops in defense of Chełmno as possible so that they could not provide help to the besieged castles and forts. In 1263 the Natangians led by Herkus Monte raided Chełmno Land and took many prisoners. Master Helmrich von Rechenberg, who was at

Chełmno Chełmno (; older ; , formerly also ) is a town in northern Poland near the Vistula river with 18,915 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the seat of the Chełmno County in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. Due to its regional importance ...

at the time, collected his men and pursued the Natangians, who could not move quickly due to a large number of captives. The Teutonic Knights intercepted the Prussians near

Löbau Löbau (; , ) is a city in the east of Saxony, Germany, in the traditional region of Upper Lusatia. It is situated between the slopes of the Löbauer Berg and the fertile hilly area of the Upper Lusatian Mountains. It is the gateway to this volca ...

(now Lubawa, Poland). Their heavy warhorses smashed the Natangian formation, but Herkus Monte with trusted warriors attacked and killed the master Helmrich and marshal Dietrich. Leaderless knights were defeated, and forty knights perished along with a number of low-ranking soldiers. In terms of killed knights, it was the sixth largest defeat of the Teutonic Knights in the 13th century. After the battle it looked like the Prussians might win the uprising, but because of their infighting between numerous clans, they did not seize the opportunity to strike the final devastating blow. Instead individual clans continued to act on their own.

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Town of Löbau in Prussia
on Map of mid 17th century. Land of Löbau (Latin: Lobovia) partially taken up by

Masovia Mazovia or Masovia ( ) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the largest city and Płock being the capital of the region . Throughout the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Lobau Military history of Prussia 1263 in Europe

Lobau The Lobau () is a floodplain in Vienna, Austria. Located in the south-east of the city, on the northern bank of the Danube, it is a part of the Danube-Auen National Park. History Before 1870 The Danube meandered through the flat Marchfeld ...

Conflicts in 1263