„The 500th Anniversary of the Battle of Orsha. 1514-2014”
Obverse, reverse. Co-author Germantas Kalinauskas.
Silver Ag 925 (hallmarked, numbered). Ø 51 mm. Mintage: 99 pcs. Struck by Lithuanian Mint in 2014.
Silver Ag 925 (hallmarked, numbered). Ø 51 mm. Mintage: 99 pcs. Struck by Lithuanian Mint in 2014.
At the end of the fifteenth century the Grand Duchy of Moscow became stronger and the state of Lithuania engaged in never-ending wars with this aggressive state. Proclaiming itself a unifier of the Russian lands, Moscow attacked the Eastern cross-border areas of Lithuania and after extensive fights, with the assistance of the renegade Michael Glinsky, took the fortress of Smolensk and attempted to farther to the inner lands of Lithuania, including Vilnius. To defend the state and its territory, the Lithuanian ruler Sigismund I the Old sent the Lithuanian and Polish army, which defeated the Moscow army at the confluence of the Dnieper and Kropivna Rivers on September 8.
The Great Hetman of Lithuania Constantine Astrozhski demonstrated with this victory that using modern means of combat – harquebus armed infantry and field artillery, and properly utilising all the available cavalry forces, – it is possible to defeat a more numerous enemy and achieve a victory, which is one of the most successful battles in the history of the Lithuanian arms.
The Great Hetman of Lithuania Constantine Astrozhski demonstrated with this victory that using modern means of combat – harquebus armed infantry and field artillery, and properly utilising all the available cavalry forces, – it is possible to defeat a more numerous enemy and achieve a victory, which is one of the most successful battles in the history of the Lithuanian arms.
Historian Prof. Dr. Valdas Rakutis