Šiauliai Inhabitants – the Defenders of the State from Outside Enemies
Unexpectedly, or perhaps as planned, in 1348, Šiauliai inhabitants decided to attack the forces of the Order marching by. They later paid for this action because the Order did not forget it: in the same year, in the revenge campaign the knights destroy Dubysa (in 1358, this castle is repeatedly destroyed), Kuliai, Bauska, Šiauliai castles. It is thought that these castles were partially abandoned because most of their defenders had re-grouped and retreated to the interior of the state and were waiting for the Knights of the Cross, who were ready to go to the depth of the country as they believed in an easy victory. This served the purpose, because the crusaders were prevented from pushing forward and were forced to return. Unfortunately, due to this courageous resistance, the land of Šiauliai was completely devastated and ravaged, poorly inhabited. In the chronicle of the Baltramiejus Hionekė, this assault of the crusaders is described as complete devastation of the land, leaving very few inhabitants in the vicinities. The fights against outer forces and disagreement with local Samogitian noblemen led to the decline of the nobility layer in Šiauliai land, and the very land barely survived: among the majority of Samogitian lands, mentioned in the treaty between Samogitians and Livonia, signed in 1390, Šiauliai is not noted.
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