The battle of Karuse 1270

The Battle of Karuse, like the more famous defeat suffered by the Teutonic Knights on Lake Peipus in1242 against the Russians, was the other major defeat suffered by the Teutonic Knights on the ice – this time on the Baltic Sea and against the Lithuanians. The environment of thoselands was particularly inhospitable and dark for foreigners who undertook the conquest of those territories. The battle of Karuse took place during a period when the presence of the Teutonic Order in the Baltic was being challenged by the revolt of the local pagan populations, who won numerous and important battles against the Teutons. Only the constant arrival of European crusaders and the possession of important fortresses allowed the Teutons to succeed in maintaining their positions and contributing to the conversion of the pagans to Christianity after decades of struggle. The scarcity of sources for those events limits the knowledge of historians; mainly it is the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle, document compiled in Teutonic environment around the end of the 13th century, nevertheless showing a partisan narrative in recounting the military operations of the crusaders.