13th–15th century military campaigns by the Teutonic Order
Lithuanian Crusade
Part of the Northern Crusades
Lithuanians fighting Teutonic knights (14th-century bas-relief from Malbork Castle)
Date
1283–1422
Location
Western Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Samogitia, Prussia, Livonia
Result
Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War, Treaty of Melno
Belligerents
Teutonic Order
Livonian Order
Allies:
Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Bohemia
Margraviate of Moravia
Hainaut-Holland
Lower Bavaria
Duchy of Austria
Kingdom of England
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Duchy of Samogitia
Allies:
Kingdom of Poland (since 1385)
Vassals:
Principality of Smolensk
Tatars from Golden Horde
Commanders and leaders
Grand Master of the Teutonic Order
Allies:
King Louis of Hungary
King John of Bohemia
Charles of Moravia
William II of Hainaut and Holland
Peter of Bourbon
Henry of Lower Bavaria
Albert III of Austria
Henry IV of England
Grand Duke of Lithuania
v
t
e
Crusades
Ideology and institutions
Crusading movement
In the Holy Land (1095–1291)
First
1101
Norwegian
Venetian
1129
Second
Third
1197
Fourth
Fifth
Sixth
Barons'
Seventh
1267
Catalan
Eighth
Lord Edward's
Fall of Outremer
Later Crusades (1291–1717)
Crusades after Acre, 1291–1399
Aragonese
Smyrniote
Alexandrian
Savoyard
Barbary
1390
1398
1399
Nicopolis
Varna
Holy Leagues
1332
1495
1511
1526
1535
1538
1571
1594
1684
1717
Northern (1147–1410)
Kalmar
Wendish
Swedish
1150
1249
1293
Livonian
Prussian
Lithuanian
Russian
Against heretics (1209–1485)
Albigensian
Drenther
Stedinger
Bosnian
Bohemian
Despenser's
Hussite
Popular (1096–1320)
People's (1096)
Children's
Shepherds' (1251)
Crusade of the Poor
Shepherds' (1320)
Reconquista (722–1492)
v
t
e
Lithuanian Crusade
Saulė
Skuodas
Durbė
Karuse
Aizkraukle
Turaida
Christmemel
Medininkai
Memel
Medvėgalis
Pilėnai
Strėva
Kaunas
Rudau
Grunwald
The Lithuanian Crusade was a series of campaigns by the Teutonic Order and the Livonian Order under the pretext of forcibly Christianizing the pagan Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Livonian Order occupied Riga in 1202 and in the 1230s they settled in Chełmno Land, a fief of Poland. They first conquered other neighboring Baltic tribes—Curonians, Semigallians, Latgalians, Selonians, and Old Prussians—in the Livonian Crusade and Prussian Crusade.
The first raid against the Lithuanians and Samogitians was in 1208. From then on, the orders played a key role in Lithuanian politics, but they were not a direct threat until the 1280s. By that time, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was already a centralized state and could mount defenses. For the next century, the order organized annual colonialist reise (raids) into Samogitian and Lithuanian lands, without great success but at immense human cost. Border regions in Samogitia and Suvalkija became sparsely inhabited wilderness due to ethnic cleansing, although the order gained very little territory. The resulting wars between the Teutonic Order and Lithuania were one of the longest conflicts in the history of Europe.
The grand duchy finally converted to Christianity in 1386, when Grand Duke Jogaila accepted baptism from Poland before his wedding to reigning Queen Jadwiga and coronation as king of Poland. However, the baptism did not stop the crusade, as the order publicly challenged the sincerity of the conversion at the papal court. Lithuania and its new ally, Poland, defeated the order in the decisive Battle of Grunwald in 1410, which is often cited as the end of the Lithuanian Crusade and the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The final peace was reached by the Treaty of Melno (1422), ending 225 years of warfare.
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