Battle of the Seriza
| date | August 27, 1501 |
|---|---|
| place | On the Seritsa, 10 km south of Izborsk |
| output | Victory of the Livonian Confederation |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 6,000-20,000 | 5,000-12,000 |
The Battle of the Seriza (also: Battle of Isborsk ) took place on August 27, 1501 between the forces of the Teutonic Order under Grand Master Wolter von Plettenberg on the one hand and the forces of the Grand Duchy of Moscow and the Pskov Republic (German: Pleskau ) on the other. The Russian troops were defeated.
prehistory
Grand Duke Ivan III. of Russia pursued a policy of expansion, so that Moscow's relations with Livonia were strained. In 1492 Moscow built the Ivangorod fortress on the opposite bank of the Narva River . Two years later the Hanseatic League's office in Novgorod was closed and the Hanseatic merchants, most of them Liven, were imprisoned. Trade via Reval and Dorpat decreased significantly.
During the Russo-Swedish War 1495-1497 , Sweden captured Ivangorod and offered it to Livonia, which, however, refused. Nevertheless, this was perceived in Moscow as a Swedish-Livonian alliance. In May 1500 war broke out between Moscow and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . On May 17, 1501, Livonia and Lithuania concluded a ten-year alliance in Vilnius . In August 1501, von Plettenberg led the Livonian army to Pskow .
Course of the battle
The armies met on August 27, 1501 on the Seritsa, 10 km south of Izborsk on the western foothills of Pskov. The Russians tried to cross the river, initially with the Pskov regiment, but were thrown back. The Livonian artillery then destroyed the rest of the Moscow army, despite Russian attempts to respond with their own, inadequate artillery. In the battle, the smaller Livonian army defeated the Moscow army in large part due to the superior artillery of the Teutonic Order and the poorly equipped Russians with cannons. The defeat led Moscow to modernize its army and create standing infantry units with arquebuses .
consequences
The Livonian troops captured Ostrov and unsuccessfully besieged Pskov. The Russians took revenge by invading and looting eastern Livonia and defeated the order at Helmed , near Dorpat. The Teutonic Order won another victory in the battle of Lake Smolina in September 1502. The war ended in 1503, followed by almost 60 years of peace - until the Livonian War (1558–1583).
Coordinates: 57 ° 35 ′ 9 ″ N , 27 ° 52 ′ 54 ″ E