Lithuanians 13th and 14th cen.

Look http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/matthaywood/main/Lithuania.htm

 

What I would add for this text is some specific Lithuanian weapon as sulica (kind of spear), wekiera ( mace made from oak and firestones) and paw� (type of shield). Also during the defensive operations the role of infantry was not so unimportant as described on a.m website - in fact in the case of Teutonic Knight "reizes" the main role was played by Lithuanian general levy infantry ...

Lithuanians were going to aid Mamai at Kulikovo in 1380 aswell, but were too late. I wonder if that had an effect of the outcome of the "battle".

Yea i can believe they used ambush as a tactic. They were of barbaric roots and had not strided away from them aswell. Estonians used ambush to win our most famous battle in 1210. but in 1217. we used a clear storm on tactic and we were slaughtered.

You mean the 1210. or the one in 1217.

Well in 1210. took place the battle of the �mera river. The Estonian leader Lembitu was the leader of our troops and heard that the Germans with their allies the Livonians and Latvians(there actually were no specific name for Latvians i think. There were the latgal and semgal tribes situated there at the time) were starting an offensive toward our lands from their base at Riga. Then the Estonians left their linnus(our name for a fort) from V�nnu (todays Cesis) and as i understand the chronicle, they were retreating to the river �mera. The Germans with their allies blindly followed them to the river and out of nowhere, the Estonians ambushed them from the surrounding forests and then the battle was mostly over before it got started. The Germans didn't even get a chance and were slaughtered, a big part of them were killed during running away from battle. Estonians captured a bunch of them and ripped their clothes off, cut crosses into their backs with swords and mocked the Christian knights/troops and returned to their forests, swore to slaughter the servants of Christ who will defy them next time and sent messages to every maakonda (county) to join up.

 

In 1217. there was the battle of St. Matthew's day: Estonians had understood that alone they would not stand against the iron knights and therefore sent word and gifts to the Russians to aid them in destroying the Livonian church. At the same time though the ruler of Novgorod, Mstislav, was fighting against the Hungarian kingdom on the side of Galitia. But the regent in Novgorod and a Russian prince of Pihkva promised to send troops against the Germans. The Estonians rejoiced for another victory was yet possible. So this time the Estonians were going on an offensive, but the Germans found out and formed their troops ready for battle.  The Estonian leader Lembitu called every able man from all around the countys to spill some German blood and so they came. Estonians formed an army of 6000 strong. Everyone was waiting for the Russians to arrive to Sakala, where the Estonians were waiting for them. Estonians waited for fifteen days, but no troops arrived. At the same time, the master of the German order named Folkvin had his army (3000 men) moving towards Sakala county to stop the Russians from uniting with the Estonians. The Germans moved in from the middle, the Livonians from the right and the Latvians from the left. On their way the German army raided some villages asking about the size and readiness of the Estonian force. The Estonians were waiting under the linnus of Viljandi, ready for battle. The Germans, knowing about the Estonians location and size, were ready and moved carefully unlike seven years ago. The battle started on St. Matthew's day and the Germans started off well, smashing through the Estonian centre where the Germans had their best troops. On the left, the Latvians were fighting with the troops where Lembitu himself fought with many elders or leaders of the Estonian counties. When sighting the loss and retreat of the Estonian centre, Lembitu and his other troops fell into retreat and were mainly slaughtered. Lembitu fell aswell. Then followed a chase throughout the land where the Germans, Latvians and Livonians killed our fleeing men and so fell a thousand of them. The Russians never came to battle.

 

who exactly are "Germans" in the 13th century?

The Order of the Swordbrethren, like their cousin the Teutonics, was composed of knights from all over the Holy Roman Empire plus a small number from the rest of Europe. I guess most of them were from Saxony and Mecklenburg, but I can't be sure of that because I don't have my references close at hand.

Lithuania was one of the most interesting countries in Medieval Europe.

Yea Mulder, the German knights weren't that keen on surprises huh!!!

huh they were knights...they didnt think that some one can cut you from behind...no honor u see....problem was that lithuanians understood honor otherwise

I just wish we could have allied ourselves with the Lithuanians and cut some more crosses into some knight's backs and kept them in their "pure Christian lands". Stupid knights, couldn't face us without iron armor huh........ wussies!!!

Damn the Livonians too, joining the enemy and now they don't practically exist anymore, maybe our heathen gods punished them. A bad thing to say actually

Hi TJK ..thx..nice forum

There is very little info about battle of Sinivody i will try to do some research.

I found only this

"1362 also saw the high point of Lithuanian expansion into the Russian lands. Exploiting internal conflicts of the Golden Horde Grand Duke Algirdas invaded and defeated a large Tatar army near the Blue Waters (Sinivody). This campaign saw the capture of Kiev and the Podolia."

Edited by Mulder