The Battle of Vitebsk was fought in 1257 between the armies of Novgorod and the Teutonic Order amid the Northern Crusades. This skirmish resulted in a Novgorodian victory, and it led to open war between the Russians and the Germans.
Background[]
The German Catholic Teutonic Order and the Russian Orthodox principality of Novgorod had been rivals for years, and Grand Prince Alexander Nevski defeated the Teutonic knights at the Battle of Lake Peipus in 1242. In the years since then, the Teutonic Order refocused its efforts on conquering the Baltics from the Lithuanians, Livonians, and other regional powers.
In 1255, Novgorod formed an alliance with Denmark, which owned lands in neighboring Estonia. A year later, war broke out between the expansionist Teutonic Order and the Danes, causing the Dano-Polish alliance to collapse. The Order, hostile to the Novgorodians, also violated Novgorodian neutrality by establishing a fort to the south of Russian-held Olysta at Grundas in Latvia and sending an army under Captain Nikolaus von Talsen into Novgorodian-held lands in Belarus. This army encamped outside of Vitebsk, while another Teutonic army lingered on the Belarusian border.
Battle[]
Offended by the Teutonic transgressions, Prince Vasilii of Belogorod led Vitebsk's 731-strong garrison and attacked the Teutonic army of 331 troops outside of the city. The Teutonic Knights charged against the Novgorodian soldiers, who had taken up position on a snowy hilltop, and the Novgorodian archers inflicted significant losses on the Germans before falling back to a safe distance. The Novgorodian spearmen proceeded to hold back the Teutonic knechten (squires) and infantry, and the Novgorodians outflanked the Teutonic army and slaughtered them. 196 Knights were killed outright, while 96 were captured while fleeing and then held for ransom. 13 Knechten and 83 Order Spearmen were taken, but the Teutonic Order agreed to pay 663 florins to Novgorod in exchange for their release. These remnants, led by Andreas, fled west to join Captain Theodericus' small force, never returning to threaten Vitebsk.
Aftermath[]
The clash at Vitebsk led to an outbreak of open war between Novgorod and the Teutonic Order, and battles took place across the frontier. Relations deteriorated with the Teutonic Order when Alexander laid siege to Jonas von Mahren's fort at Grundas, and the war raged for years, resulting in the expulsion of the Order from Livonia and the Russian conquest of Latvia.