The greatest battle between the pagan Estonians and the crusaders during the conquest of Estonia, fought near Fellin (mod. Viljandi, Estonia).
In the spring of 1217 an army of crusaders arrived in Livonia led by a vassal of the Danish king, Albert of Orlamunde, count of Holstein. At the same time, on the initiative of Lem-bitu, the prominent Estonian leader from the district of Sakkala, an army was gathered from almost all regions of Estonia. In September the Estonians waited for a Russian auxiliary army from Novgorod that failed to arrive. Against them assembled an army consisting of crusaders, Livs, Lettgallians, and members of the Order of the Sword Brethren under the leadership of Count Albert and Volkwin, master of the order.
The two armies met on 21 September (St. Matthew’s Day, after which the battle is also sometimes named) north of Fellin; the exact place of the battle is unknown. The Germans, who were positioned in the middle of the battle line, broke through the main unit of the Estonians, and then the Livs and Lettgallians on the wings forced Estonians to flee. Many of the Estonian leaders were killed, among them Lem-bitu. Caupo, the Christian leader of the Livs, also died. According to the chronicle of Henry of Livonia and the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle, 6,000 Estonians and 3,000 Christians took part, and some 1,000 or 1,400 Estonians were killed. After the battle, the district of Sakkala accepted the crusaders’ peace terms.
-Anti Selart
Bibliography
Benninghoven, Friedrich, Der Orden der Schwertbruder (Koln: Bohlau, 1965).
Urban, William L., The Baltic Crusade (Chicago: Lithuanian Research and Studies Center, 1994).
World History
