Battle of Saule
Probably near Šiauliai, northern Lithuania
What happened
Samogitian and Semigallian warriors, possibly led by Vykintas, fought the crusading knights of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword under Master Volkwin. German crusading knights were fighting the pagan Baltic peoples. Returning from a raid into Samogitia, the knights camped by a river, where their heavy horses got stuck in swampy ground. The lightly armed Samogitian horsemen attacked, and most of the Order, including Volkwin, fell.
Why it matters
Why it matters: It was the first large defeat of the crusading orders in the Baltic lands. It slowed their conquest and sparked uprisings among peoples they had conquered.
What came next
The surviving Brothers of the Sword joined the Teutonic Order in 1237. In 2000, Lithuania and Latvia named 22 September 'Baltic Unity Day' in memory of the battle.
Did you know?
The city of Šiauliai was first mentioned in writing in accounts of this battle and counts 22 September 1236 as its founding date.
Timeline
- 22 September 1236The Samogitians win at Saule.
- 1237The Brothers of the Sword join the Teutonic Order.
- 2000Baltic Unity Day is declared for 22 September.
- 2010A memorial with a 29-metre sundial is built at Jauniūnai.