Vissewalde

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Vissewalde (Latvian Visvaldis ; † after 1230 ) was king or prince of Jersika in what is now Latvia .

Name and origin

Document from 1209

In 1209 he was referred to as Wiscewolodo in a document from Bishop Albert of Riga . This corresponds to the name Vsevolod , which was used by the princes of the Kievan Rus. In the chronicle of Henry of Latvia from around 1227/28 he was referred to as Wiscewalde , Vissewalde and similar. This corresponds to the Old Norse form Vissivaldr for Vsevolod .

In the deed and the chronicle he was always mentioned in the presence of Ruthenians, who also formed the crew of his castle, in distinction from Latvians, who were never mentioned in his vicinity. Until the 1930s, German research therefore assumed that he came from a family that came from the Kievan Rus. Latvian research, on the other hand, claimed that he was a Lettgalle or Latvian. Today it is considered possible that it could have been of Latvian or Lithuanian origin or from the Rus, but probably partly adapted to the local traditions, as a grave of a couple in high places was found in Jersika Castle, which also contained Latgalian objects.

In all written documents that have been preserved, Vissewalde was referred to as rex , king , but this designation was used there for all princes of the Rus. Vissewalde was dependent on tribute from the Principality of Polotsk . He was married to a daughter of the Lithuanian prince Daugerutis . Vissewalde was an Orthodox Christian and there were several churches in his Jersika castle.

development

Vissewalde was first mentioned in the chronicle of Henry of Latvia in 1203, when he went with Lithuanians to Riga , captured two priests there and killed a man. In 1209, Bishop Albert I of Riga moved with a large army against Jersika Castle , conquered and destroyed it. He took numerous prisoners, including Vissewaldes wife, while the prince escaped. He then submitted to the bishop in Riga in order to release the prisoners again. The Principality of Gersika became a fief of the Riga Bishopric, as evidenced by a document from that year.

According to the chronicle of Henry of Latvia, Vissewalde soon broke away from submission and marched through the country with Lithuanian troops. In 1214 and 1215 his castle was sacked by German knights from Koknese. In 1225 Vissewalde appeared in Riga on the occasion of the stay of the papal legate William of Modena . At the time he appears to have been a vassal of the bishop. In 1230 he was mentioned for the last time in a document.

literature

  • Visvaldis . In: Latvijas enciklopēdija. 5. sējums. Valērija Belokoņa izdevniecība, Rīga 2009. ISBN 978-9934-8068-0-3 . P. 838.
  • Wolfgang Laur : Reflections on the origin of the Wissewalde (Vsevolod) by Gersike (Jersika) . In Zeitschrift für Ostforschung , Volume 35 (1986), pp. 503-515.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Anti Selart : Livonia and the Rus' in the 13th century (= sources and studies on Baltic history , volume 21). Böhlau, Cologne, Weimar, Vienna 2007. ISBN 3-412-16006-7 . P. 65f.
  2. ↑ Leonid Arbusow and Albert Bauer (eds.): Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum separatim editi 31: Heinrichs Livländische Chronik (Heinrici Chronicon Livoniae). Hanover 1955, pp. 69–71 ( Monumenta Germaniae Historica , digitized version ), German in Eduard Pabst: Heinrichs von Lettland Livonia Chronicle . Reval 1867. pp. 115-119
  3. ^ Friedrich Georg von Bunge (ed.): Liv-, Esth- and Curländisches Urkundenbuch together with regesta. Volume 1: 1093-1300. Kluge and Ströhm, Reval 1853. pp. 20f. No. XV
personal data
SURNAME Vissewalde
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wiscewolidus; Wiscewolodo; Wiscewalde; Visvaldis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King or Prince of Jersika
DATE OF BIRTH 12th century or 13th century
DATE OF DEATH after 1230