The Battle of the Narew River was fought on 13 October 1282 between the armies of the

Duke of Krakow Seniorate Province, also known as the Senioral Province, was a district principality in the Duchy of Poland that was formed in 1138, following the fragmentation of the state.Kwiatkowski, Richard. The Country That Refused to Die: The Story of th ...

Leszek the Black Leszek II the Black (c. 1241 – 30 September 1288), was a Polish prince of the House of Piast, Duke of Sieradz since 1261, Duke of Łęczyca since 1267, Duke of Inowrocław in the years 1273-1278, Duke of Sandomierz and List of Polish monarchs, Hi ...

and the allied armies of the Lithuanians and the Yotvingians. The battle ended with a Polish victory

The Battle

In the autumn of 1282, a combined force of

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 ...

and

Yotvingians Yotvingians, also called Sudovians, Jatvians, or Jatvingians, were a Western Baltic people who were closely tied to the Old Prussians. The linguist Petras Būtėnas asserts that they were closest to the Lithuanians. The Yotvingians contributed ...

, claimed to number 14,000 armed men, invaded Lubelszczyzna. The invading forces were divided into three divisions. After ravaging the Lublin region, they retreated with large booty. While retreating, the Lithuanian-Yotvingian army clashed with the pursuing Polish army led by Leszek the Black at an unknown location between

Narew The Narew (; ; or ) is a 499-kilometre (310 mi) river primarily in north-eastern Poland. It is a tributary of the river Vistula. The Narew is one of Europe's few braided rivers, the term relating to the twisted channels resembling braided h ...

and Niemen. The battle is believed to have occurred: * near

Brańsk Brańsk (Podlachian language: ''Бранськ, Branśk'', , ) is a town in eastern Poland. It is situated within Podlaskie Voivodeship (province). Etymology The name of the town comes from the river Bronka, a nearby tributary of the Nurzec River ...

, on the rivers Nurek and Branka, * on the

River near Długosiodło, * near Wasilkow on the Supraśl River, * on the fields of the villages Łopiennik and Krzywe, * on the estuary of the

Czarna Hańcza The Czarna Hańcza, Chornaya Hancha () is the largest river of the Suwałki Region of north-eastern Poland and the Sapockin region of north-western Belarus. It is known for having large postglacial boulders. Originating near Lake Hańcza (the ...

River to the Niemen River, near the village of Jatwieź Duża. A Polish army of 6,000 men split the opposing forces and, after the Lithuanians had fled, crushed the army of the Yotvingians. After the victory, the Polish army went on to plunder the Bialystok Highlands. It is believed that the military strength of the Yotvingians was shattered during this battle, and the invasion in 1283 was the last raiding attack of this fierce tribe on Poland.

Citations

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Sources

* * *{{cite web , ref={{harvid, Bielsk.eu, 2020 , title=Rocznica bitwy nad Narwią i zagłada Jaćwingów. Możliwe, że doszło do niej pod Brańskiem , url=https://bielsk.eu/bransk/30101-rocznica-bitwy-nad-narwia-i-zaglada-jacwingow-mozliwe-ze-doszlo-do-niej-pod-branskiem , website=Bielsk.eu , language=pl , date=2020 Battles involving Lithuania Battles involving Poland Lithuania–Poland relations