Battle of Lubawa or Löbau was a battle fought between the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

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, suppo ...

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

Samogitia Samogitia or Žemaitija ( Samogitian: ''Žemaitėjė''; see below for alternative and historical names) is one of the five cultural regions of Lithuania and formerly one of the two core administrative divisions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

ns soundly defeated the joint forces of the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order in the Battle of Durbe (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 ( pl, ziemia chełmińska, or Kulmerland, Old Prussian: ''Kulma'', lt, Kulmo žemė) is a part of the historical region of Pomerelia, located in central-northern Poland. Chełmno land is named after the city of Chełmno (hist ...

(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 Natangians or Notangians (Prussian: ''Notangi''; pl, Natangowie; lt, Notangai; german: Natanger) was a Prussian clan, which lived in the region of Natangia, an area that is now mostly part of the Russian exclave Kaliningrad Oblast, whereas the ...

led by Herkus Monte raided Chełmno Land and took many prisoners. Master Helmrich von Rechenberg, who was at

Chełmno Chełmno (; older en, Culm; formerly ) 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 impor ...

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 ( Upper Sorbian: Lubij) 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 ga ...

(now

Lubawa Lubawa (german: Löbau in Westpreußen, Old Prussian: ''Lūbawa'') is a town in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland. It is located in Iława County on the Sandela River, some southeast of Iława. Geographical location Lubawa is located ...

, 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 ( pl, Mazowsze) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the unofficial capital and largest city. Throughout the centurie ...

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