Atlas of Battles

siege, early modern

Siege of Polotsk

Siege of Polotsk was a siege conducted in 1579 at Polatsak, in what is now Belarus. It was part of the Livonian War, which ran from 1558 to 1583.

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Polatsk. Abloga and assault
Polatsk. Abloga and assault. Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought1579
WherePolatsak, Belarus55.487N, 28.761E
Belligerents22px Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealthagainst22px Tsardom of Russia
Part ofLivonian War1558 to 1583

Where it sits in the Livonian War

Siege of Narva, 1558Siege of Fellini, 1560Battle of Ergeme, 1560Battle of Nevel, 1562Battle of Ula, 1564Siege of Reval, 1570Siege of Weissenstein, 1572Battle of Lode, 1573Siege of Wesenberg, 1573Battles of Wenden, 1578Siege of Polotsk, 1579Siege of Velikiye Luki, 1580Battle of Toropets, 1580Battle of Zavolotchia, 1580Siege of Narva, 1581Battle of Shklov, 1581Battle of Mogilev (1581), 1581Siege of Pskov, 158115581581Siege of Polotsk, 1579
19 placed engagements of the Livonian War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date1579 (year precision)
to 30 August 1579
PlacePolatsak, Belarus
55.487N, 28.761E
KindSiege, early modern
Commanders
  • Stefan Bathory
  • Mikołaj Mielecki
  • Jan Zborowski
  • Gáspár Bekes
  • Mikołaj Radziwiłł the Red
  • Krzysztof "Piorun" Radziwiłł
Siege of PolotskSiege of PolotskSiege of PolotskFirst Battle of PolotskSecond Battle of PolotskSiege of Polotsk (1563)Battle of KlyastitsySiege of PolotskBattle of KlyastitsyVitsyebskDaugavpilsVelikiye LukiOrshaMaladzyechnaRēzekne100 km55.487N, 28.761E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

Nearest engagements

Contested ground: this site was fought over 5 times between 1518 and 1812.

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1579

Siege of Polotsk is one of 1,390 engagements of the 16th century in the atlas and one of 103 in present-day Belarus.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q4337433, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Siege of Polotsk (1579), revision 1370744496, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.