The Problems of the Geography of the Battle of Durbe

Abstract

Fought on 13 July 1260, the Battle of Durbe marked a significant victory for the Samogitians against the Teutonic Order, leading to political shifts that included revolts among the Curonians and Prussians and a change in King Mindaugas’s policies. The article examines the geographical challenges surrounding the Battle of Durbe (1260), focusing on the localisation of Georgenburg Castle and the battlefield itself. It reevaluates two traditionally accepted locations: Georgenburg Castle, long associated with Jurbarkas on the Nemunas River, and the battlefield, commonly placed near the modern town of Durbe by Lake Durbe in Courland (modern Latvia). These assumptions are deemed poorly substantiated and are challenged through a detailed analysis of primary sources and historiographical debates.
The article traces the historiographical tradition of identifying Georgenburg with Jurbarkas, a view dominant from the nineteenth century until the 1980s. This identification, which is supported by scholars like Max Toeppen and Zenonas Ivinskis, is questioned due to the inconsistencies in primary sources and strategic considerations. The castle, built in 1259 in Karšuva (Samogitia) on ‘St George’s Hill’ by Livonian Master Burchard von Hornhausen, is described in sources like Peter Dusburg’s chronicle and the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle. Critics, including William Urban (1983) and Alvydas Nikžentaitis (1996), argue that the location of Jurbarkas on the Nemunas, far from the battle site (150–200 km), is logistically implausible for the Teutonic campaign. Urban suggests a location closer to Klaipėda, possibly near the Venta or the Akmena rivers, to align with the Order’s goal of securing connections between Prussia and Livonia. Alvydas Nikžentaitis further disputes the identification of Jurbarkas, noting that later fourteenth-century Georgenburg castles (e.g., near Veliuona) indicate the reuse of the name, thus undermining the continuity with the 1259 castle. Gintautas Zabiela (1997) proposes Vilkų Laukas, near the Jūra River, as a more likely site, identifying two contemporaneous hillforts (Kūplė and Veringa) as the Teutonic and Samogitian castles, respectively. This hypothesis may be supported by a legend from the sixteenth-century Lithuanian chronicle linking a ‘Jurbarkas’ founded by Barkus (possibly derived from Burchard) to the Jūra River, aligning with Vilkų Laukas rather than the Nemunas.
The traditional localisation of the Battle of Durbe near Lake Durbe, close to the modern town and a fourteenth-century Teutonic castle, is also scrutinised. Primary sources, including the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle and Peter Dusburg’s chronicle, consistently describe the battle as occurring ‘in a field by the Durbe River’ in Courland, with no mention of a lake or a castle. The article critiques the historiographical shift, starting with Oskar Kienitz (1849), toward associating the battle with Lake Durbe, an assumption perpetuated by scholars like Juliusz Latkowski and Zenonas Ivinskis. Reinforced by Pēteris Stepiņš’s archaeological work at the Dīri burial ground near Durbe in the 1960s, this view lacks evidence linking the site to the battle. The absence of Lake Durbe in sources suggests that the battle occurred further north along the Durbe River, possibly near such settlements as Dunalka, where a hillfort (Elkakalns) and a road crossing the river make it a plausible location. Alternative sites, such as the Darba (or Durba) River near Darbėnai (proposed by Jonas Šliūpas) or the Durbinis stream near Telšiai, are considered but deemed less likely due to naming discrepancies or the minor significance of these waterways. The proximity of the post-battle events like the Curonian revolt, the first Lithuanian garrison in Dzintare Castle, and the massacre at Vartaja (twelve days later) may indirectly support a location along the Durbe River.
It may thus be concluded that the traditional identifications of Georgenburg with Jurbarkas and of the Battle of Durbe with Lake Durbe are unsupported by primary sources and strategic logic. Georgenburg is most convincingly located at Vilkų Laukas hillforts on the Jūra River, which is supported by both archaeological evidence and historical traditions. The Battle of Durbe likely occurred along the Durbe River, north of Lake Durbe. While alternative locations like the Durbinis stream are considered, the Durbe River remains the most credible geographical marker.