Battle of St. Matthew's Day 1217
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1217 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | Estonia | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Northern Crusades | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 58.4467, 25.4825 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Matthew's Day (Estonian: Madisepäeva lahing) was fought near Viljandi (probably in Vanamõisa) on 21 September 1217 during the Livonian Crusade. The adversaries were the Sword Brethren (a German Crusading order) with their recently converted Livonian and Latgalian allies versus an army of 6,000 Estonian men from different counties, led by Lembitu, who had attempted to unify the Estonians. The Germans won, although the converted Livonian chieftain Caupo of Turaida died. Lembitu was also killed, and many other Estonians were forced to convert.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of St. Matthew's Day (revision 1370597556), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Siege of Fellin 1602 · 11 km
- Siege of Fellin (1560) 1560 · 11 km
- Battle of Lehola 1215 · 11 km
- Battle of Viljandi (1223) 1223 · 12 km
- Battle of Viljandi 1211 · 12 km
- Battle of Karksi (1600) 1600 · 37 km
Other battles of the Northern Crusades
- Battle of Lyndanisse 1219
- Battle of Lihula 1220
- Battle on the Ice 1242
- Battle of Wesenberg (1268) 1268
- Battle of Rudau 1370
All 6 battles of the Northern Crusades →
Browse more: battles in Estonia · Europe · Medieval battles