The Battle of Strėva, Strebe, or Strawe was fought on 2 February 1348 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 the pagan

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

on the banks of the Strėva River, a right tributary of the Neman River, near present-day

Žiežmariai Žiežmariai () is a List of cities in Lithuania, town in the Kaišiadorys district municipality, Lithuania. It is located south of Kaišiadorys. The center of Žiežmariai is a state-protected urbanistic monument. History Žiežmariai were men ...

. Chronicler Wigand of Marburg publicized this battle as a great victory for the Knights: he claims that some 18,000 Lithuanians were killed or drowned while only 8 knights and 60 other soldiers died on the Order's side. Narimantas and

Manvydas Manvydas or Monwid (; died in 1348?) was the eldest son of Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and inherited Kernavė and Slonim after his father's death in 1341. Nothing else is known about his life. Matthias of Neuenburg mentioned that two so ...

, two sons of

Gediminas Gediminas ( – December 1341) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1315 or 1316 until his death in 1341. He is considered the founder of Lithuania's capital Vilnius (see: Iron Wolf legend). During his reign, he brought under his rule lands from t ...

, Grand Duke of Lithuania, are thought to be killed in the battle.

Campaign and battle

In 1347, the Teutonic Knights saw an influx of crusaders from France and England, where a truce was made during the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...

. Their expedition started in late January 1348, but due to bad weather, the bulk of the forces did not proceed further than Insterburg. A small army led by Grand Commander and future Grand Master Winrich von Kniprode invaded and pillaged central Lithuania (probably areas around Semeliškės, Aukštadvaris, Trakai) for a week before being confronted by Lithuanian troops. The Lithuanian army included contingents from its eastern territories ( Volodymyr-Volynskyi, Vitebsk, Polotsk,

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

) which shows that the army was assembled beforehand, probably for a campaign into the Teutonic territory. The Knights were in a difficult position: they could cross the frozen Strėva River only a few men at a time and once most of their forces had crossed, the remaining soldiers would be annihilated. The knights had limited supplies and could not wait. The Lithuanians, led by Kęstutis or Narimantas, also had short supplies and decided to attack by hurling arrows and spears injuring a great number. However, at the critical moment the crusaders counter-attacked with their heavy cavalry and the Lithuanians lost their formation. So many of them drowned in the river that Knights could cross it with "dry feet." This episode caused much criticism of the source: the Strėva River is shallow, especially during winter, and could not have caused such a massive drowning.

Aftermath

As a result of the defeat Lithuanians were weakened: the same year the Knights attacked and pillaged

Šiauliai Šiauliai ( ; ) is a city in northern Lithuania, the List of cities in Lithuania, country's fourth largest city and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, sixth largest city in the Baltic States, with a population of 112 581 in 202 ...

area without much of opposition and destroyed a castle in Veliuona. In the east, Lithuania lost influence in

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...

and

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...

in 1348 and in

the following year. The Knights attributed the victory to the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

and in her honor Grand Master Winrich von Kniprode established a

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

nunnery in

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

and a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

monastery in Wehlau. However, due to the change in leadership (the Grand Master Heinrich Dusemer was troubled by poor health and died in 1353) and spreading

Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

, the Knights did not take full advantage of one of the biggest defeats of the Grand Duchy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Streva Conflicts in 1348 1348 in Europe 14th century in Lithuania Streva Streva 14th century in the State of the Teutonic Order Military history of Lithuania