Nameisis or Namejs (also Nameise, Nameyxe) was a Semigallian duke in the second half of the 13th century. He ruled in the western part of

Semigallia Semigallia is one of the Historical Latvian Lands located to the south of the Daugava and to the north of the Saule region of Samogitia. The territory is split between Latvia and Lithuania, previously inhabited by the Semigallian Baltic tri ...

, with his capital at

Tērvete Tērvete (liv. ''Terwenden'', ) is a village in Tērvete Parish, Dobele Municipality in the Semigallia region of Latvia. It is famous for the historic hillfort built for the kings of Western Semigallia (Zemgale) in the Middle Ages. History Acc ...

(present-day

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

). In 1279–81, he led a Semigallian uprising against the

Livonian Order The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. From 1435 to 1561 it was a member of the Livonian Confederation. History The order was formed from the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword after thei ...

, a crusading military order. Very little is known about his life. He is mentioned only in the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle and in some documents from the 14th century. For this reason he is sometimes referred as semi legendary ruler in Latvian

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

. Nameisis was mentioned for the first time in 1272 when he was one of Semigallian nobles who signed a peace treaty with the

and the Archbishop of Riga. In 1279, after the crusader defeat in the Battle of Aizkraukle, Nameisis led a Semigallian revolt against the crusaders. Nameisis made an alliance with

Traidenis Traidenis (; ; died 1282) was List of Lithuanian monarchs, Grand Duke of Lithuania from around late 1267 to 1268 until 1282. He is the second most prominent grand duke of Lithuania in the 13th century after Mindaugas. His reign ended a seven-year ...

Grand Duke of Lithuania This is a list of Lithuanian monarchs who ruled Lithuania from its inception until the fall of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1795. The Lithuanian monarch bore the title of Grand duke, Grand Duke, with the exception of Mindaugas, who was crown ...

, recognizing him as his

suzerain A suzerain (, from Old French "above" + "supreme, chief") is a person, state (polity)">state or polity who has supremacy and dominant influence over the foreign policy and economic relations of another subordinate party or polity, but allows i ...

, and managed to defeat the Livonian garrison in the Tērvete castle. In short time, Semigallians captured other castles and the crusaders were forced to leave Semigallia, except the Mežotne hillfort. In summer 1279, the crusaders made several attempts to conquer back their lost positions. They pillaged lands around Dobele and Tērvete but were unable to conquer the castles. In autumn 1280, Nameisis attacked

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, the main crusader stronghold. The attack failed because the crusaders managed to summon a great force of their Latgalian allies and set up defensive positions in front of the city. However, the Semigallians managed to capture several prisoners, including order's marshal who was sent to duke Traidenis and eventually killed in Kernave. In 1281, the Livonian army again attacked the Dobele Castle but, with the help of the Lithuanians, were defeated. In the autumn, a united crusader army (about 14,000 men) attacked Tērvete with war machines. The Semigallians were unable to resist such a force and Nameisis signed a new peace treaty with the Livonian Order. According to the treaty, the Semigallians were forced to pay a tribute and accept German judges but kept their castles and lands. After the treaty, Nameisis with the majority of Semigalians en-masse emigrated to Lithuania and was fighting crusaders in Christburg,

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

together with duke Traidenis. Since there is no mention of Nameisis after that, it is presumed that he was killed there.

Gediminas Gediminas ( – December 1341) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1315 or 1316 until his death in 1341. He is considered the founder of Lithuania's capital Vilnius (see: Iron Wolf legend). During his reign, he brought under his rule lands from t ...

4 decades later in the 1320s titled himself "the king of Semigalians" and was inviting pastors, who know Semigallian language to

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

in his letters.

Sources

{{reflist * Atskaņu chronika. Ditleba Alnpeķes “Rīmju chronika” / Atdzejojis Jēkabs Saiva. R. Klaustiņa ievads un piezīmes. - R., 1936 * Das Zeugenverhör des Franciscus de Moliano (1312) / Bearbeitet von A.Seraphim. - Königsberg i. Pr., 1912. * Dunsdorfs E. Latvijas vēsture. - Lincoln (Nebraska), 1980 Pagans of the Livonian Crusade