The Battle of Mstislavl took place on 4 November 1501 between the forces of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Lit ...

and the forces of the Grand Duchy of Moscow and Principality of Novgorod-Seversk. The Lithuanian forces were defeated. The

Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars The Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars (also known as Russo-Lithuanian Wars, or just either Muscovite Wars or Lithuanian Wars)The conflicts are referred to as 'Muscovite wars' ( pl, wojny moskiewskie) in Polish historiography and as 'Lithuanian wars' in ...

renewed in 1500. In 1501,

Ivan III of Russia Ivan III Vasilyevich (russian: Иван III Васильевич; 22 January 1440 – 27 October 1505), also known as Ivan the Great, was a Grand Prince of Moscow and Grand Prince of all Rus'. Ivan served as the co-ruler and regent for his blin ...

sent a new force under the command of towards

Mstislavl Mstislaw or Mstislavl ( be, Мсціслаў, [], russian: Мстиславль [msʲtʲɪˈslavlʲ], pl, Mścisław, lt, Mstislavlis) is a town in the Mogilev Region, Eastern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Mstsislaw District ...

. Local princes

Mstislavsky Mstislavsky ( Russian Мстиславский) was a Russian princely family of Gediminid origin who prior to their move to Russia ruled the principality of Mstislavl. In the following, the Mstislavsky family produced some notable military command ...

together with

Ostap Dashkevych Ostap Dashkevych (Ukrainian: Остап Дашкевич; born in Ovruch – died after 1535) is considered to be the first recorded leader of a Cossack defense force (according to Dmitri Bantysh-Kamensky, Dmytro Doroshenko, and others). However ...

organized the defense and were badly beaten on 4 November. They retreated to Mstislavl and Mozhayskiy decided not to attack the castle. Instead, Russian forces besieged the city and pillaged surrounding areas. Lithuanians organized a relief force, brought by

Great Hetman Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

Stanislovas Kęsgaila. Neither Mozhayskiy nor Kęsgaila dared to attack and the Russian forces retreated without a battle.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mstislavl Battles involving Russia Battles involving the Grand Duchy of Lithuania 1501 in Europe Conflicts in 1501 Military history of Belarus