The
Battle of Aizkraukle or
Ascheraden was a battle fought on March 5 1279 between the
Grand Duchy of LithuaniaThe Grand Duchy of Lithuania was an Eastern and Central European state from the 12th /13th century until 1795. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the pagan Baltic tribes from Aukštaitija...
, led by
TraidenisTraidenis or Troyden was the Grand Duke Lithuania from 1270 till 1282. He is the second most prominent, after Mindaugas, Grand Duke of Lithuania in the 13th century. His reign ended a seven-year unrest period after Mindaugas was assassinated in 1263 and firmly established the Grand Duchy as a...
, and the
Livonian OrderThe Livonian Order was an autonomous Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order and a member of the Livonian Confederation from 1435–1561. After being defeated by Samogitians in the 1236 Battle of Schaulen , the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword were incorporated into the Teutonic...
near
AizkraukleAizkraukle is a town in Vidzeme region in Latvia, the administrative centre of Aizkraukle municipality on the right bank of the Daugava River.-History:Aizkraukle before the World War I was formerly known by its German name of Ascheraden...
in present-day
LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , and to the southeast by Belarus . Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden...
. The Order suffered a great defeat: 71 knights, the Grand Master Ernst von Rassburg, and the leader of the knights from
Danish EstoniaDanish Estonia refers to the territories of present-day Estonia that were ruled by Denmark firstly during the 13th-14th centuries and again in the 16th-17th centuries....
Eilart Hoberg were killed. It was the second-largest defeat of the Order in the 13th century. After this battle Duke Nameisis of the
SemigalliansThe Semigallians are one of the Baltic tribes that lived in Zemgale, in the southcentral Latvia...
recognized Traidenis as his
suzerainSuzerainty is a situation in which a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary some limited domestic autonomy. The superior entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a suzerain...
.
In 1273 the Order built a castle in Dünaburg (
DaugavpilsDaugavpils is the second largest city in Latvia. It is located approximately 230 km south-east of the Latvian capital, Riga, on the banks of the Daugava River. Daugavpils has a favorable geographical position as it borders Belarus and Lithuania . It is located some 120 km from the...
) on lands nominally controlled by Traidenis.
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The
Battle of Aizkraukle or
Ascheraden was a battle fought on March 5 1279 between the
Grand Duchy of LithuaniaThe Grand Duchy of Lithuania was an Eastern and Central European state from the 12th /13th century until 1795. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the pagan Baltic tribes from Aukštaitija...
, led by
TraidenisTraidenis or Troyden was the Grand Duke Lithuania from 1270 till 1282. He is the second most prominent, after Mindaugas, Grand Duke of Lithuania in the 13th century. His reign ended a seven-year unrest period after Mindaugas was assassinated in 1263 and firmly established the Grand Duchy as a...
, and the
Livonian OrderThe Livonian Order was an autonomous Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order and a member of the Livonian Confederation from 1435–1561. After being defeated by Samogitians in the 1236 Battle of Schaulen , the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword were incorporated into the Teutonic...
near
AizkraukleAizkraukle is a town in Vidzeme region in Latvia, the administrative centre of Aizkraukle municipality on the right bank of the Daugava River.-History:Aizkraukle before the World War I was formerly known by its German name of Ascheraden...
in present-day
LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , and to the southeast by Belarus . Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden...
. The Order suffered a great defeat: 71 knights, the Grand Master Ernst von Rassburg, and the leader of the knights from
Danish EstoniaDanish Estonia refers to the territories of present-day Estonia that were ruled by Denmark firstly during the 13th-14th centuries and again in the 16th-17th centuries....
Eilart Hoberg were killed. It was the second-largest defeat of the Order in the 13th century. After this battle Duke Nameisis of the
SemigalliansThe Semigallians are one of the Baltic tribes that lived in Zemgale, in the southcentral Latvia...
recognized Traidenis as his
suzerainSuzerainty is a situation in which a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary some limited domestic autonomy. The superior entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a suzerain...
.
In 1273 the Order built a castle in Dünaburg (
DaugavpilsDaugavpils is the second largest city in Latvia. It is located approximately 230 km south-east of the Latvian capital, Riga, on the banks of the Daugava River. Daugavpils has a favorable geographical position as it borders Belarus and Lithuania . It is located some 120 km from the...
) on lands nominally controlled by Traidenis. The castle was of great strategic importance: it was used as a base for raids into central Lithuania in hopes that weakened Traidenis would discontinue his support of Semigalians who rebelled against the Order. When Traidenis besieged the castle for a month, but failed to capture it, the Order started organizing a grand campaign into Lithuania hoping to strike a final blow and force Traidenis out of war.
The army of Livonian Order reached as far as
KernavėKernavė , a medieval capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, today is a tourist and archeological village in Širvintos district municipality in southeast Lithuania...
. They did not meet any open resistance and plundered many villages. On their way home the knights were followed by a small force of Traidenis troops. When the enemies approached Aizkraukle, the Grand Master sent most of the local warriors home with their share of loot. At that point Lithuanians attacked and achieved a decisive victory.
The Order lost its achievements over six preceding years: Semigallians, who were one of the first to retreat from the battlefield, rebelled once again and submitted to Traidenis for protection. However, Traidenis died ca. 1282 and Grand Duchy of Lithuania was unable to reap all the benefits. The Order decided to elect one Grand Master with the
Teutonic KnightsThe Order of the Teutonic Knights of St. Mary's Hospital in Jerusalem , or for short the Teutonic Order , is a German Roman Catholic religious order. It was formed to aid Catholics on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to establish hospitals to care for the sick and injured...
so that any future attacks would be carried out simultaneously from the west and north.