Battle of Saule

1236 CE.

Shown on the map at 56.115°, 23.514°.

The Battle of Saule (Lithuanian: Saulės mūšis / Šiaulių mūšis; German: Schlacht von Schaulen; Latvian: Saules kauja) was fought on 22 September 1236, between the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and pagan troops of Samogitians and Semigallians. Between 48 and 60 knights were killed, including the Livonian Master, Volkwin. It was the earliest large-scale defeat suffered by the orders in Baltic lands. The Sword-Brothers, the first Catholic military order established in the Baltic lands, was soundly defeated, and its remnants accepted incorporation into the Teutonic Order in 1237. The battle inspired rebellions among the Curonians, Semigallians, Selonians, and Oeselians, tribes previously conquered by the Sword-Brothers. Some thirty years' worth of conquests on the left bank of Daugava were reversed. To commemorate the battle, in 2000, the Lithuanian and Latvian parliaments declared 22 September to be the Baltic Unity Day.

Text from the Wikipedia article Battle of Saule, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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