Pabaiskas¶

In the 1380s [Historical record]¶

Pabaiskas is south of Ukmergė (Vilkmergė, Pol. Wiłkomierz). The battle of 1 September 1435, traditionally also called the Battle of Wiłkomierz or of the Šventoji, was fought by Lake Žirnajai and the Žirnaja stream. The forces of Žygimantas Kęstutaitis, commanded by his son Mykolas with Polish support, defeated Švitrigaila and the Livonian Order. Kerskorff was killed; Žygimantas Kaributaitis was wounded and died in captivity under unclear circumstances. The Order suffered a severe defeat and continued as an institution. Precise army totals and losses vary by reconstruction. VLE: Pabaiskas.

The revised novel places its fictional magical ford on the Žirnaja. The traditional Šventoji battle name is not a different literal location for that ford. See History and the Saga.

Pabaiskas


Type	place
Note	Historical battlefield by Lake Žirnajai and the Žirnaja stream, near Ukmergė. Book V places its fictional magical ford on that stream; Šventoji remains a traditional battle name, not the ford location.

Sensory sketch¶

A river valley of lakes, reed-fringed creeks and rye stubble on the first day of September: damp mist at dawn burning off to heat, the dull sound of bridle chains, drums and horn, the smell of river mud, wet wool and rotting reeds. The scene’s drowning, unburied dead and arriving scavengers are imagined sensory staging, not a verified casualty inventory.

In the saga¶

Kin-slaughter, worse than the crusades. The unburned dead and the Unbinding at its height. In Book V ch. 13 Pilkoji and twelve wolves watch from the pines; the rule that a wolf does not shed Gediminid blood keeps them out of a battle between two Gediminid hosts. Afterwards (ch. 16) she burns the dead on the slope, hundreds of pyres, and a Polish captain asks who allowed her to burn Christians. The defeat breaks this host; it does not end the Order’s institutional existence.

Getting there¶

Ukmergė is 9 km north. Vilnius is about 75 km south-east (95 km by road, two to three days). Kernavė about 40 km, Kaunas about 70 km. Polotsk, where Švitrigaila fled, lies some 250 km north-east (six or seven days with a few followers). Riga is about 200 km north.

Scenes set here¶

Book V ch. 13 Pabaisko laukas (the field, 1 Sep 1435), ch. 14 Mirštantis ordinas (the ford of the Žirnaja), ch. 16 Nedegintųjų žiema (Pabaiskas and Ukmergė, autumn 1435-spring 1436).

Relations

Events here: Battle of Pabaiskas

Timeline¶

Year	Event	Book
1435-09-01	Battle of Pabaiskas	V · The Wolf’s Legacy

Connections¶

graph LR
  ev_pabaiskas["Battle of Pabaiskas"]
  pabaiskas["Pabaiskas"]
  ev_pabaiskas -->|Location| pabaiskas
  style pabaiskas stroke-width:3px