Viestards (also ''Viesthard, Vesthardus, Viesturs''; died 1230) was a Semigallian duke in the 13th century, referred to as King Vester ().

Life

His capital was

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 ...

hillfort. During the first decades of the 13th century he was allied with the

Livonian Brothers of the Sword The Livonian Brothers of the Sword (; ) was a Catholic Church, Catholic Military order (monastic society), military order established in 1202 during the Livonian Crusade by Albert of Riga, Albert, the third bishop of Riga (or possibly by Theode ...

against

Lithuanians Lithuanians () are a Balts, Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another two million make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the Lithuanian Americans, United Sta ...

, who looted Semigallia on several occasions. In 1205, joint forces of semigallians and crusaders defeated Lithuanians and killed duke

Žvelgaitis Žvelgaitis (Svelgate) was a Lithuanian duke who died in 1205. He is the first Lithuanian duke whose name is known from reliable sources. The account of his expedition and death is given in ''Livonian Chronicle of Henry'' by Henry of Latvia, a ...

. In 1208 Viestards led a united Semigallian and crusader army into Lithuania but was heavily defeated. In 1219 Viestards came into conflict with German bishop

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert Computers, Inc., a computer manufacturer in the 1980s * Albert Czech Republic, a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street mar ...

when German

crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

placed their garrison in Semigallian castle of

Mežotne Mežotne () is a village in the Mežotne Parish of Bauska Municipality in the Semigallia region of Latvia, 10 km west of Bauska and 40 km south of the capital of Latvia, Riga. It is located on the left bank of the Lielupe river near ...

. Viestards unsuccessfully attacked Mežotne but managed to defeat the reinforcement of crusaders coming on

Lielupe The Lielupe ( in Latvian language, Latvian Literal translation, literally: ''Large River'', , ) is a river in central Latvia. Its length is (the length would reach if the Mēmele River were counted as part of the Lielupe). The surface area of ...

river after that crusaders left Mežotne. Viestards became an enemy of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and made an alliance with his neighbors, the

Samogitians Samogitians ( Samogitian: ''žemaitē'', , ) are the inhabitants of Samogitia, an ethnographic region of Lithuania. Many speak the Samogitian language, which in Lithuania is mostly considered a dialect of the Lithuanian language together with t ...

. Together they fought against the crusaders. In 1225 Viestards allowed

William of Modena William of Modena ( – 31 March 1251), also known as ''William of Sabina'', ''Guglielmo de Chartreaux'', ''Guglielmo de Savoy'', ''Guillelmus'', was an Italian clergyman and papal diplomat.

to preach in Semigallia however he refused to accept Christianity. In 1228 Semigallian forces under Viestards joined the

Curonians :''The Kursenieki are also sometimes known as Curonians.'' The Curonians or Kurs (; ) were a medieval Balts, Baltic tribe living on the shores of the Baltic Sea in the 5th–16th centuries, in what are now western parts of Latvia and Lithuania. ...

in their attack against main crusader stronghold- Riga. However they were unsuccessful in storming the city. In 1229 Viestards led semigallian revenge raid in crusader lands around

Aizkraukle Aizkraukle () is a town in Aizkraukle Municipality, of which it is the administrative centre. Most of Aizkraukle is situated on the right bank of the Daugava River. As defined by Latvian law, Aizkraukle belongs partially to Vidzeme and partially ...

where he had a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...

with

komtur Commander (; ; ; ; ), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric orders and fraternal orders. The title of Commander occurred in the medieval military orders, such as the Knights Hospitaller, for a member senior to a Knight. ...

of Aizkraukle

Marquart von Burbach Marquart or Marquard of Burbach (died 1236) was a knight of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword (from 1210). He came from a noble family in Burbach, a few kilometers east of Marburg in western Germany. Marquart was commander of Aizkraukle Castle be ...

. Viestards died in 1230, but the Semigallians still were not conquered until the end of the 13th century. Viestards never accepted

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

and accepted only one monk in Semigallia as a preacher. Although in

Rhymed Chronicle The ''Livonian Rhymed Chronicle'' () is a chronicle written in Middle High German by an anonymous author. It covers the period 1180 to 1343 and contains a wealth of detail about Livonia (present-day south Estonia and Latvia). The Old Chronicle ...

Viestards is referred as king of Semigallia today it is believed that he reigned only in western part of Semigallia with a centre in Tērvete. Eastern part of Semigallia with a centre in Mežotne hillfort most likely was not under Viestards rule until 1219. After Viestards death in 1230 area around Mežotne fell in the hands of German crusaders.

Legacy

The

Order of Viesturs The Order of Viesturs () is a Latvian state order (honour), order founded in 1938, which was temporarily discontinued in 1940 by the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940, Soviet occupation of Latvia, but was re-established in 2004. The order is nam ...

(''Vesthardus Rex'') was founded in 1938 to commemorate the spirit of independence of the people of ancient

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 ...

References

* * {{cite web , url=http://www.president.lv/pk/content/?cat_id=1268 , title=Order of Viesturs , publisher=Chancery of the President of Latvia , access-date=2007-05-29 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070304050645/http://www.president.lv/pk/content/?cat_id=1268 , archive-date=2007-03-04 , url-status=dead 1230 deaths Pagans of the Livonian Crusade Year of birth unknown