Battle of Durbe The Battle of Durbe ( , , ) was a medieval battle fought near Durbe , east of Liepāja , in present - day Latvia during the Livonian Crusade . On 13 July 1260 , the Samogitians soundly defeated the joint forces of the Teutonic Knights from Prussia and Livonian Order from Livonia . 150 knights were killed including Livonian Master Burchard von Hornhausen and Prussian Land Marshal Henrik Botel . It was by far the largest defeat of the knights in the 13th century : in the second - largest Battle of Aizkraukle 71 knights were killed . The battle inspired the Great Prussian Uprising ( ended in 1274 ) , rebellion of the Semigallians ( surrendered in 1290 ) , the Couronians ( surrendered in 1267 ) , and the Oeselians ( surrendered in 1261 ) . The battle undid two decades of Livonian conquests and it took some thirty years for the Livonian Order to restore its control . Background . The Livonian Order had been fighting the Samogitians since 1253 , when Mindaugas was crowned as King of Lithuania and transferred parts of Samogitia to the Order . The Samogitians did not recognize the transfer and fought for their independence . For the Knights , Samogitia was strategically important region as it physically separated their Prussian and Livonian branches . After the Samogitians killed 12 knights in the Battle of Memel near the newly built Memel Castle ( Klaipėda ) in 1257 , a two - year truce was concluded . Once the truce expired , the Samogitians invaded Courland and defeated the knights in the Battle of Skuodas in 1259 . Such a success encouraged the Semigallians to rebel . The Knights attempted to strengthen their strategic position and attacked Tērvete ( Terwerten ) hoping to turn the Semigallian outpost into a Teutonic castle . When the attack failed , they built a fortress in nearby Dobele ( Doblen ) and Georgenburg ( possibly present - day Jurbarkas ) in Samogitia . The Semigallians attacked Dobele , but due to poor siege tactics suffered heavy casualties . The Samogitians did not attack Georgenburg directly but built a fortress nearby , cutting off the castle from its supplies and continuously harassing the garrison . Battle . Livonian Grand Master Burchard von Hornhausen organized a large army for a campaign against the Samogitians . On 25 January 1260 , the Knights obtained a papal bull blessing the crusade from Pope Alexander IV and concluded a peace treaty with Siemowit I of Masovia . When the armies of the Prussian and Livonian Orders and their allies met in the Memel Castle , they planned to reinforce the besieged Georgenburg . However , they learned that a large Samogitian force was raiding Courland and the knights decided to march towards present - day Latvia and stop the Samogitians . The enemies met on the southern shore of the Durbe Lake . The Knights were plagued by internal disagreements . For example , Danes from Estonia refused to dismount from their heavy horses which were not well - suited for battle in a swampy terrain . When the battle started , local Curonians abandoned the knights because the knights did not agree to free any Curonians captured from the Samogitian camp . Peter von Dusburg even alleged that the Curonians attacked the Knights from the rear . The Estonians and other local people soon followed the Curonian example and abandoned the Knights . After this treason the Knights were surrounded and suffered heavy losses . Some 150 knights perished along with hundreds of secular knights or low - rank soldiers . Though the battle is described in the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle in detail , no contemporary sources mentioned who was the leader of the Samogitians . Only Simon Grunau , in his chronicle written ca . 1517 – 1526 , mentioned that it was Treniota . In 1982 historian Edvardas Gudavičius published a study arguing that Treniota was not a Samogitian and could not have commanded a Samogitian army . Inga Baranauskienė argued that the battle was led by Alminas , Samogitian elder elected before 1256 . Aftermath . Numerous rebellions against the Teutonic Order across all Baltic lands followed , including the Great Prussian Uprising , which lasted from 1260 to 1274 . Zemgale rebelled for 30 years while Courland surrendered in 1267 . The Curonians together with the Samogitians attacked Teutonic castles west of Venta River . On 3 February 1261 , on their way back the pagans again defeated the Knights near Lielvārde ( Lennenwarden ) , killing 10 knights . Oeselian rebellion was suppressed in 1261 . These battles undid some 20 years of Livonian conquest and it took some thirty years for the Livonian Order to restore its control . In the aftermath of the defeat , Duke Treniota is alleged to have convinced his uncle Mindaugas , King of Lithuania , to relapse from Christianity and break the peace with the Teutonic Order . Treniota organized military campaigns into Livonia and earned support from the Lithuanians . In 1263 Treniota assassinated Mindaugas , usurped the Lithuanian throne and the nation reverted to paganism . Ensuing instability prevented the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from taking full advantage of the weakened Orders . However , the Orders were preoccupied reconquering rebelling territories and did not pose a greater danger to Lithuania until 1280s . In this sense the battle bought time for the new Lithuanian state to mature , strengthen , and expand before facing a full - scale crusade .