Lembitu of Lehola

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Lembitu of Lehola (died September 21, 1217) was one of the best-known Estonian leaders in the struggle to oppose the conquest of the Estonian lands by the German Livonian Brothers of the Sword at the beginning of the 13th century.

Lembitu, also referred to in Estonian as Lembit and in Latin as Lambite, Lembito or Lembitus, was first mentioned in chronicles in 1211 with regard to a military expedition. Troops led by Lembitu destroyed a troop of missionaries in the historical Estonian eldership of Sakala and made a raid as far as Pskov, then a town of the Novgorod Republic. In 1215, Lembitu's Lehola (Leal) stronghold (situated near the present town of Suure-Jaani) was taken by Germans and Lembitu was taken prisoner. He was released in 1217.

Lembitu attempted the unification of all Estonians in order to withstand the German conquest. He managed to assemble an army of 6,000 Estonian men from different counties, but was killed in the following Battle of St. Matthew's Day in September, 1217.