Otto von Lutterberg
Encyclopedia
Otto von Lutterberg was the Ordensmeister of the Livonian Order
of the Teutonic Knights
from 1266 to 1270, and was in command of the Livonian Order in 1268 when the Knights were heavily defeated by a Russian army at the Battle of Rakvere.
It was von Lutterberg who separated the heavy wedge formation of the knights into two at the Battle of Rakvere in order to prevent encirclement by the far more numerous Russians, leaving one of the two wedges in an ambush formation in a wood. The plan misfired, the men of the second wedge misjudging the course of the battle and bursting from the wood to plunder the Russian camp, only to find the Russians unbeaten. Von Lutterberg survived the ensuing encirclement, rout and pursuit of the Livonian Order's forces, only to be killed in 1270 at the Battle of Karuse
against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
.
Livonian Order
The Livonian Order was an autonomous Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order and a member of the Livonian Confederation from 1435–1561. After being defeated by Samogitians in the 1236 Battle of Schaulen , the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword were incorporated into the Teutonic Knights...
of the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
from 1266 to 1270, and was in command of the Livonian Order in 1268 when the Knights were heavily defeated by a Russian army at the Battle of Rakvere.
It was von Lutterberg who separated the heavy wedge formation of the knights into two at the Battle of Rakvere in order to prevent encirclement by the far more numerous Russians, leaving one of the two wedges in an ambush formation in a wood. The plan misfired, the men of the second wedge misjudging the course of the battle and bursting from the wood to plunder the Russian camp, only to find the Russians unbeaten. Von Lutterberg survived the ensuing encirclement, rout and pursuit of the Livonian Order's forces, only to be killed in 1270 at the Battle of Karuse
Battle of Karuse
Battle of Karuse or Battle on the Ice was fought on February 16, 1270 between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Livonian Order on the frozen Baltic Sea. In 1270 Lithuanians and Semigallians led by Traidenis, Grand Duke of Lithuania from ca. 1269 to 1282, raided Livonia and reached as far as...
against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
.