Battle of Durbe

BelligerentsSamogitians
CuroniansLivonian Order, Teutonic Knights, platoons of Swedes, Danes, Old PrussiansCommanders and leadersTreniota or AlminasBurkhard von Hornhausen†Strength Around 4,000 Around 8,000 and 190 knights (initially)Casualties and losses Unknown 150 knights

The Battle of Durbe (Latvian: Durbes kauja, Lithuanian: Durbės mūšis, German: Schlacht an der Durbe) was a medievalbattle fought near Durbe, 23 km (14 mi) 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 and the Livonian Order from Livonia. Some 150 knights were killed, including Livonian masterBurkhard von Hornhausen and Prussian land marshal Heinrich Botel. It was by far the largest defeat of the knights in the 13th century: in the second-largest, the Battle of Aizkraukle, 71 knights were killed. The battle inspired the Great Prussian Uprising (ended in 1274) and the rebellions of the Semigallians (surrendered in 1290), the Couronians (surrendered in 1267), and the Oeselians (surrendered in 1261). The battle undid two decades of Livonian conquests and it took some thirty years for the Livonian Order to restore its control.