Battles of Wenden (1577–1578) 1578
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1578 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Latvia | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Livonian War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sweden, Tsardom of Russia | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 57.3139, 25.2689 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battles of Wenden were a series of battles for control of the stronghold of Wenden (Cēsis, Kiesia, Võnnu), in present-day Latvia, fought during the Livonian War in 1577 and 1578. Magnus of Livonia besieged the town in August 1577, but was deposed and replaced by Russian forces under Tsar Ivan IV, who eventually sacked the town and castle in what became a symbolic victory. Polish forces, however, re-captured the stronghold in November and beat back a Russian counter-attack in February 1578.
In October 1578, the Russian army again laid siege to the town, but was destroyed by a smaller Swedish–German–Polish relief force. This marked the turning point in the Livonian War, shifting the initiative from the Tsardom of Russia to Sweden and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It also marked the end of the Kingdom of Livonia, which collapsed when Magnus retired to Courland.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battles of Wenden (1577–1578) (revision 1370603832), 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 Cēsis Castle (1577) 1577 · 0 km
- Battle of Wenden (1601) 1601 · 0 km
- Battle of Cēsis (1210) 1210 · 0 km
- Battle of Wenden (1626) 1626 · 0 km
- Battle of Cēsis (1919) 1919 · 0 km
- Battle of Ümera 1210 · 23 km
Other battles of the Livonian War
- Siege of Narva (1558) 1558
- Battle of Ērģeme 1560
- Siege of Fellin (1560) 1560
- Battle of the Ula 1564
- Siege of Reval (1570–1571) 1570
- Battle of Lode 1573
- Siege of Wesenberg (1574) 1574
- Siege of Velikiye Luki 1580
- Siege of Narva (1581) 1581
- Siege of Pskov 1581
All 11 battles of the Livonian War →
Browse more: battles in Latvia · Europe · Early modern battles