Jersika (Kingdom)
Coordinates: 56 ° 15 ′ 15.5 ″ N , 26 ° 11 ′ 55.7 ″ O Jersika or Gerzike ( Gerseka, Gercike, Berzika ) was the political, military and cultural center of a Greek Orthodox kingdom of the same name in the Middle Ages as "Latvia" ( terram, quae Lettia dicitur ). As Jersika is in the historical sources (1203-1375), a castle and a city on the Daugava referred. They are located about 10 km south of Līvāni , 165 km from Riga in Latgale .
Jersika at the beginning of the 13th century
At the beginning of the 13th century, Jersika was in tributary dependence on the Grand Duke in Polotsk , as was the principality of Koknese and the Liv areas at the mouth of Daugava .
The last ruler of Jersika was Visvaldis ( Vissewalde ), a Latvian or a Latvian Viking , the only local prince whom the Chronicle of Henry of Latvia dubbed King ( rex ) and thus indicates his high status under constitutional law.
The campaign against Jersika
The policy of Bishop Albert of Livonia (1199–1229) was aimed at securing a free route to Russia for German and Gotland merchants . To achieve this, he had to extend his rule to the Kingdom of Jersika. From 1203 to 1209, Bishop Albert and the Order of the Brothers of the Swords fought the Kingdom of Jersika and the allied Lithuanians. During a war campaign in the autumn of 1209, the bishop's army captured the town and castle of Jersika and burned them down. Visvaldi's wife, Queen of Jersika, was captured.
Jersika as a vassal state of the crusaders
After this defeat, King Visvaldis was forced to accept the peace dictate of the Bishop of Livonia in 1209. He had to give his hereditary kingdom to the bishop and only got a part of the Greek Orthodox faith back as a fief. It was a feudum oblatum . In this case three flags were used as symbols of investment. The personal submission of the king took the form of commendation. With the deeds of gift of 1224 and 1230, the king lost further territories in favor of the German knights and the Catholic Church. A document from the year 1239 testifies to the end of the kingdom of Jersika.
literature
- Heinrich von Lettland: Livonia Chronicle (= selected sources on the German history of the Middle Ages. 24, ISSN 0067-0650 ). Edited by Leonid Arbusow . Newly translated by Albert Bauer. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1959.
- Eduard Šturms: The location of Gercike and some other prehistoric castles of Latvia (= Contributions of Baltic University. 48, ZDB -ID 566244-8 ). Baltic University, Pinneberg 1947.