Battle of Saule

The Battle of Saule (Saulės mūšis / Šiaulių mūšis; Schlacht von Schaulen; Saules kauja) was fought on 22 September 1236, between the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and pagan troops of Samogitians and Semigallians. Between 48 and 60 knights were killed, including the Livonian Master, Volkwin. It was the earliest large-scale defeat suffered by the orders in Baltic lands. The Sword-Brothers, the first Catholic military order established in the Baltic lands, was soundly defeated and its remnants accepted incorporation into the Teutonic Order in 1237. The battle inspired rebellions among the Curonians, Semigallians, Selonians, Oeselians, tribes previously conquered by the Sword-Brothers. Some thirty years' worth of conquests on the left bank of Daugava were lost. To commemorate the battle, in 2000 the Lithuanian and Latvian parliaments declared 22 September to be the Baltic Unity Day. The Sword-Brothers were established in 1202 in Riga to conquer and convert pagan Baltic tribes to Christianity. By the 1230s under the leadership of Master Volkwin, the Order was coping with strained financial resources, decreasing manpower, and ill reputation. The Order was in conflict with the papacy under Pope Gregory IX and the Holy Roman Emperor, two of its biggest supporters, over Estonia. However, on 19 February 1236, Pope Gregory IX issued a papal bull declaring a crusade against Lithuania. Volkwin was reluctant to launch offensive actions against Lithuanian lands. His reluctance was determined by understanding that the Order lacked strength to wage war against the Lithuanians. The lack of strength was a result of interior conflicts with the Bishopric of Riga. Besides that, the Livonian Sword Brothers had still little knowledge of the lands lying south to the Order's territory. Volkwin delayed starting military actions for an entire summer, hoping to escape a risky operation into unexplored lands. However, the insistence of Pope Gregory IX forced him to lead a new campaign.