Siege of Polotsk 1518
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate. Wikidata lists more than one location for this battle; the first is shown.
Key facts
| Year | 1518 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Belarus | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Muscovite-Lithuanian Wars | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 55.4833, 28.7667 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Polotsk was laid in 1518 by forces of the Grand Duchy of Moscow on Polotsk during the Fourth Muscovite–Lithuanian War (1512–1522). The Lithuanians defended the city. According to a legend, Saint Prince Casimir Jagiellon appeared before the Lithuanian troops and helped them to achieve victory. It was the first miracle attributed to Casimir, which perpetuated his cult and led to his eventual canonization.
The growing and strengthening Grand Duchy of Moscow engaged in a series of wars with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania over control of the former territories of Kievan Rus'. A new war erupted in 1512. In 1518, Russian forces from Novgorod, commanded by Vasily Nemoy Shuysky, and Pskov, commanded by Ivan Vasilievich Shuysky, attacked Polotsk. The Russian army also included detachments of heavy artillery. They set siege towers and fired volleys against the city walls. However, soon the attackers faced food shortages. The Russians would cross the Daugava River in search of food. The Lithuanians sent reinforcements to the city, commanded by Albertas Goštautas, Voivode of Polotsk. The Lithuanian army also included a detachment of Polish mercenaries under Jan Boratyński. The Lithuanians attacked a Russian party searching for food.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Polotsk (revision 1378889258), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Siege of Polotsk (1579) 1579 · 1 km
- Siege of Polotsk (1563) 1563 · 2 km
- First Battle of Polotsk 1812 · 2 km
- Second Battle of Polotsk 1812 · 2 km
- Battle of Klyastitsy 1812 · 46 km
- Battle of the Ula 1564 · 70 km
Other battles of the Muscovite-Lithuanian Wars
- Battle of Mstislavl 1501
- Battle of the Siritsa River 1501
- Siege of Smolensk (1502) 1502
- Battle of Kletsk 1506
- Siege of Smolensk (1514) 1514
All 6 battles of the Muscovite-Lithuanian Wars →
Browse more: battles in Belarus · Europe · Early modern battles