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 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 forces of the

Grand Duchy of Moscow The Grand Principality of Moscow, or Muscovy, known as the Principality of Moscow until 1389, was a late medieval Russian monarchy. Its capital was the city of Moscow. Originally established as a minor principality in the 13th century, the gra ...

and

Principality of Novgorod-Seversk The Principality of Novgorod-Seversk or Novhorod-Siversk was a medieval Rus' principality centered on the town now called Novhorod-Siverskyi. The principality emerged after the central power of Kievan Rus' declined in the late 11th century, and ...

. The Lithuanian forces were defeated. The

Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars The Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars (also known as the Russo-Lithuanian Wars or simply Muscovite Wars or Lithuanian Wars)The conflicts are referred to as 'Muscovite wars' () in Polish historiography and as 'Lithuanian wars' in Russian one; English his ...

renewed in 1500. In 1501,

Ivan III of Russia Ivan III Vasilyevich (; 22 January 1440 – 27 October 1505), also known as Ivan the Great, was Grand Prince of Moscow and Sovereign of all Russia, all Russia from 1462 until his death in 1505. Ivan served as the co-ruler and regent for his bli ...

sent a new force under the command of towards

Mstislavl Mstislaw or Mstislavl is a town in Mogilev Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Mstsislaw District. In 2009, its population was 10,804. As of 2024, it has a population of 10,019. History Mstislavl was first mentioned in t ...

. Local princes

Mstislavsky The House of 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 ...

together with

Ostap Dashkevych Ostaphii "Ostap" Dashkevych ( Ukrainian: Остафій Дашкевич; born in Ovruch 1470 – died after 1535) is one of the earliest recorded leaders of an organized Cossack defense force. Dashkevych held a position of starosta in Cherkasy ...

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

Stanislovas Kęsgaila Stanislovas Jonavičius Kęsgaila (; died 1527) was a Lithuanian nobility, Lithuanian nobleman, son of Jonas Kęsgaila from the Kęsgaila family. Stanislovas Kęsgaila was the Elder of Samogitia (1486–1522), Grand Hetman of Lithuania (1501–150 ...

. Neither Mozhayskiy nor Kęsgaila dared to attack and the Russian forces retreated without a battle. The main task of the Russians was to prevent the joint military actions of the entire coalition (

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

and the

Great Horde The Great Horde (, ''Uluğ Orda'') was the rump state of the Golden Horde that existed from the mid-15th century to 1502. It was centered at the core of the former Golden Horde at Sarai on the lower Volga. Both the Khanate of Astrakhan and the ...

) against Muscovy, as a result of defeating a large group near Mstislavl this task was successfully completed.

References

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