The Battle of Karuse or Battle on the Ice was fought on 16 February 1270 between the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

and the

Livonian Order The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. From 1435 to 1561 it was a member of the Livonian Confederation. History The order was formed from the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword after thei ...

on the frozen

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

between the island of

Muhu Muhu (also called Muhumaa in Estonian) is an island in the West Estonian archipelago of the Baltic Sea. With an area of , it is the third largest island belonging to Estonia, after Saaremaa and Hiiumaa. Together with neighbouring smaller i ...

and the mainland. The

Lithuanians Lithuanians () are a Balts, Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another two million make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the Lithuanian Americans, United Sta ...

achieved a decisive victory. The battle, named after the village of

Karuse Karuse is a village in Lääneranna Parish, Pärnu County, in western Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west ...

, was the fifth-largest defeat of the Livonian or

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

s in the 13th century. Almost all that is known about the battle comes from the '' Livonian Rhymed Chronicle'', which devoted 192 lines to the battle.

Background

The

Livonian Brothers of the Sword The Livonian Brothers of the Sword (; ) was a Catholic Church, Catholic Military order (monastic society), military order established in 1202 during the Livonian Crusade by Albert of Riga, Albert, the third bishop of Riga (or possibly by Theode ...

, a crusading military order established in 1202, set out to conquer and convert to Christianity indigenous peoples of present-day Latvia and Estonia. They subjugated the

Semigallians Semigallians (; ; also ''Zemgalians'', ''Semigalls'' or ''Semigalians'') were the Balts, Baltic tribe that lived in the south central part of contemporary Latvia and northern Lithuania. They are noted for their long resistance (1219–1290) agai ...

by 1250. However, after the Livonian defeats in the 1259 Battle of Skuodas and the 1260

Battle of Durbe The Battle of Durbe (, , ) was a medieval battle fought near Durbe, 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 (r ...

, the Semigallians rebelled.

Traidenis Traidenis (; ; died 1282) was List of Lithuanian monarchs, Grand Duke of Lithuania from around late 1267 to 1268 until 1282. He is the second most prominent grand duke of Lithuania in the 13th century after Mindaugas. His reign ended a seven-year ...

, who became

Grand Duke of Lithuania This is a list of Lithuanian monarchs who ruled Lithuania from its inception until the fall of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1795. The Lithuanian monarch bore the title of Grand duke, Grand Duke, with the exception of Mindaugas, who was crown ...

in 1269 or 1270, supported the rebellion. In winter 1270, the Livonian Order invaded Semigalia. However, after learning that a large Lithuanian army had also invaded the region, Master Otto von Lutterberg decided to retreat to

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

. The Lithuanians marched north, reaching as far as the island of

Saaremaa Saaremaa (; ) is the largest and most populous island in Estonia. Measuring , its population is 31,435 (as of January 2020). The main island of the West Estonian archipelago (Moonsund archipelago), it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hi ...

, which they were able to reach because the

was frozen. The Lithuanian army plundered the area, taking much war loot. It is unclear whether Semigallians joined the Lithuanians and participated in this campaign – contemporary sources do not mention them, but later sources such as ''

Jüngere Hochmeisterchronik The ''Jüngere Hochmeisterchronik'', ''Croniken van der Duytscher Oirden'', or ''Utrecht Chronicle of the Teutonic Order'' is a Middle Dutch chronicle of the Teutonic Order. It was written in or around the city of Utrecht in the Low Countries in sev ...

'' and Dionysius Fabricius always mention their participation. Master Lutterberg gathered a large army of Livonian knights, soldiers from the

Bishopric of Dorpat The Bishopric of Dorpat was a medieval prince-bishopric, i.e. both a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church and a temporal principality ruled by the bishop of the diocese. It existed from 1211 until 1558, generally encompassing the area that now co ...

, the

Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek The Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek (; ; Low German: ''Bisdom Ösel–Wiek''; contemporary ) was a Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic diocese and a semi-independent prince-bishopric — part of Terra Mariana (Old Livonia) in the Holy Roman Empire. ...

Danish Estonia Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A Danish person, also called a "Dane", can be a national or citizen of Denmark (see Demographics of Denmark) * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, ...

, as well as local tribes of Livs and

Latgalians Latgalians (, , modern ; variant translations also include Latgallians, Lettigalls or Lettigallians) were an ancient Baltic tribe. They likely spoke a variant of Latvian language, which probably became the ''lingua franca'' in present-day Latvia ...

. The Order was well-prepared for the battle: for a year it had been recruiting soldiers for an expedition into Semigalia. The Livonian army marched north to meet the Lithuanians near Saaremaa Island. The armies met on the frozen Moon Sound (probably near

Virtsu Virtsu () is a small borough (') in Lääneranna Parish, Pärnu County, Estonia. It lies on the western coast of continental Estonia, and is a location of the main port for traffic to and from Saaremaa, the largest island of Estonia. The Virtsu ...

) on the

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

of Juliana of Nicomedia.

Battle

The Livonian army positioned for the battle: troops from Danish Estonia, commanded by the Danish king's viceroy Siverith, formed the right flank; Livonian knights, commanded by Master Luttenberg, formed the center; soldiers from the Bishoprics formed the left flank. The Lithuanians arranged their sleighs as a barricade. A vanguard unit likely covered construction of the improvised barricade so that the knights could not see it. When the knights attacked, Lithuanians retreated behind their sleighs and the Livonian cavalry ran into the barricade. As the horses got stuck between the sleighs, the horses and their riders were struck by Lithuanian spears. A small number of Livonian knights managed to break through the barricade and the left and right flanks joined the fighting, but that was not enough to overcome the strong Lithuanian formation. The Lithuanians achieved a decisive victory: 52 knights, including Master Lutterberg, and some 600 low-ranking soldiers were killed while bishop Hermann of Ösel-Wiek was gravely injured and barely managed to escape. According to the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle, 1600 Lithuanians were killed, but that information is very doubtful and most likely inflated by pro-Livonian bias.

Aftermath

Vice-Master Andreas von Westfalen, who acted as a Master before proper elections could be held, decided to restore the lost morale of the knights by winning a quick victory. In the middle of 1270 he learned of another Lithuanian raid into Livonia and hurried his soldiers to seek out the enemy. While the knights were resting, the Lithuanians attacked their camp and killed Andreas and twenty more knights. This is sometimes known as the Battle of Pārdaugava near

, and was the tenth-largest defeat of the Teutonic Knights in its own right. Traidenis scored another victory in 1279 during the Battle of Aizkraukle.

References

{{reflist, 30em, refs= {{cite book , first=Romas , last=Batūra , editor= Karolis Zikaras , edition=2nd , title=Žymiausi Lietuvos mūšiai ir karinės operacijos , publisher=UAB Alio , year=2013 , isbn=978-9986-827-05-4 , pages=28–29, language=lt {{cite web, first=Tomas , last=Baranauskas, author-link=Tomas Baranauskas , url=http://www.delfi.lt/archive/article.php?id=10760927 , title=Ar priminsime Europai apie Šiaulių mūšį? , publisher=Delfi.lt , date=2006-09-22 , access-date=2007-05-26, language=lt {{cite book , first=Stephen , last=Turnbull , title=Crusader Castles of the Teutonic Knights (2): The Stone Castles of Latvia and Estonia 1185–1560 , publisher=Osprey Publishing , year=2004 , pages=52 , isbn=1-84176-712-3 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F3wzkSHR4j4C&pg=PA52 {{cite book , first=William , last=Urban , title=The Baltic Crusade , publisher=Lithuanian Research and Studies Center , location=Chicago, Illinois , year=1994 , isbn=0-929700-10-4 , pages=278–280 {{cite journal , first=Rokas , last=Varakauskas , title=Ledo mūšis ties Karūzu 1270 m. (Iš lietuvių kovų prieš Livonijos ordiną XIII a.) , journal=Istorija , series=Lietuvos TSR aukštųjų mokyklų mokslo darbai , volume=3 , year=1962 , pages=147–153 , language=lt

1270 in Europe 13th century in Lithuania

Gulf of Riga Lääne County

Military history of Estonia