Lithuania has had three Grand Dukes—Treniota, Vaišvilkas, and Shvarn—from 1263 to 1269, following the assassination of Mindaugas, its only king.
The state has not disintegrated, however, and Traidenis, who had come to power in 1269, strengthens Lithuanian control in Black Ruthenia (the western part of contemporary Belarus on the upper reaches of the Neman River) and fights with the Livonian Order.
The circumstances surrounding Traidenis' advance to power are not clear.
While his ancestors are unknown, it is known that he came from Aukštaitija, as he was Duke of Kernavė.
From the outset, his relationships with Halych-Volhynia were tense as he replaced Shvarn, Duke of Halych-Volhynia and Lithuania.
The tension will eventually result in the 1274–1276 war.
The Lithuanians and Semigallians, led by Traidenis, raid Livonia in winter 1270, reaching as far as Saaremaa island by marching across the frozen sea.
They are confronted on their way back by the Livonian Order and its Danish allies from Tallinn on the Muhu Strait.
The Order is well-prepared for the battle: for a year it has been recruiting soldiers for an expedition into Semigalia.
The Lithuanians arrange their sleighs as a barricade and successfully stop the main cavalry force.
As horses become stuck in the improvised barricade, fifty-two knights, including the Grand Master Otto von Lutterberg, and some six hundred low-ranking soldiers are killed.
It is the fifth-largest defeat of the Livonian or Teutonic Orders in the thirteenth century.
