Viesturs Berzins
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Viesturs Berzins
Viestards (also ''Viesthard, Vesthardus, Viesturs''; died 1230) was one of the greatest Semigallian dukes in the 13th century, referred to as King Vester ( goh, konic Vesters). Life His capital was Tērvete hillfort. During the first decades of the 13th century he was allied with the Livonian Brothers of the Sword against Lithuanians, who looted Semigallia on several occasions. In 1205, joint forces of semigallians and crusaders defeated Lithuanians and killed duke Žvelgaitis. 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 when German crusaders placed their garrison in Semigallian castle of Mežotne. Viestards unsuccessfully attacked Mežotne but managed to defeat the reinforcement of crusaders coming on Lielupe river after that crusaders left Mežotne. Viestards became an enemy of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and made an alliance with his neighbors, th ...
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Semigallians
Semigallians ( Latvian ''Zemgaļi''; lt, Žiemgaliai, also ''Zemgalians, Semigalls, Semigalians'') were the Baltic tribe that lived in the southcentral part of contemporary Latvia and northern Lithuania. They are noted for their long resistance (1219–1290) against the German crusaders and Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades. Semigallians had close linguistic and cultural ties with Samogitians. Name The name of Semigallia appears in contemporary records as ''Seimgala'', ''Zimgola'' and ''Sem'' 'e'''gallen''. The -gal element means "border", while the first syllable corresponds to ''ziem'' ("north") or ''zem'' ("low"). So the Semigallians were the "people of the northern borderlands" or "people of the low borderlands", i.e. the lower parts of the Mūša and Lielupe river valleys. History During the Viking Age, the Semigallians were involved in battles with Swedish Vikings over control of the lower part of the Daugava waterway. In ''Gesta Danorum'' the Danish chron ...
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Aizkraukle
Aizkraukle (german: Ascheraden) is a town in Vidzeme region in Latvia, the administrative centre of Aizkraukle Municipality on the right bank of the Daugava River. The population in 2020 was 7,018. History In the second half of the 14th century Livonian Order built the Aizkraukle Castle, a few kilometres downstream from the ancient hillfort of Livs. The ruins of the castle still remain today. Before World War I, the settlement that stood near the site of modern-day Aizkraukle was known by its German name of ''Ascheraden''. The modern town was established in 1961 as a settlement to house the builders of the nearby hydroelectric power plant of Pļaviņas.Pospelov, p. 24 It was originally called Stučka''Latvijas PSR Administratīvi Teritoriālais Iedalījums'', p. 47 (or "", ''Stuchka''''Latvijas PSR Administratīvi Teritoriālais Iedalījums'', p. 118 and "", ''imeni Petra Stuchki'' in Russian), for Pēteris Stučka, a Latvian communist. Town status was granted t ...
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1230 Deaths
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. In conventions of sign where zero is considered neither positive nor negative, 1 is the first and smallest positive integer. It is also sometimes considered the first of the infinite sequence of natural numbers, followed by  2, although by other definitions 1 is the second natural number, following  0. The fundamental mathematical property of 1 is to be a multiplicative identity, meaning that any number multiplied by 1 equals the same number. Most if not all properties of 1 can be deduced from this. In advanced mathematics, a multiplicative identity is often denoted 1, even if it is not a number. 1 is by convention not considered a prime number; this was not universally accepted until the mid-20th century. Additionally, 1 is the s ...
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Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the Baltic states; and is bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, Belarus to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia covers an area of , with a population of 1.9 million. The country has a temperate seasonal climate. Its capital and largest city is Riga. Latvians belong to the ethno-linguistic group of the Balts; and speak Latvian, one of the only two surviving Baltic languages. Russians are the most prominent minority in the country, at almost a quarter of the population. After centuries of Teutonic, Swedish, Polish-Lithuanian and Russian rule, which was mainly executed by the local Baltic German aristocracy, the independent R ...
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Order Of Viesturs
The Order of Viesturs ( lv, Viestura ordenis) is a Latvian state order founded in 1938, which was temporarily discontinued in 1940 by the Soviet occupation of Latvia, but was re-established in 2004. The order is named after the medieval historical figure King Viesturs of ancient Semigallia Semigallia, also spelt Semigalia, ( lv, Zemgale; german: Semgallen; lt, Žiemgala; pl, Semigalia; liv, Zemgāl) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands located in the south of the Daugava river and the north of the Saule region of Samogitia. .... Classes of the Order The order is awarded in the following classes: *Grand Cross: Cross is worn suspended from a sash worn over the shoulder with a breast star. *Grand Officer: Cross is worn suspended from the neck with a breast star *Commander: Cross is worn suspended from the neck *Officer: Cross is worn suspended from a ribbon with rosette worn on the chest *Knight: Cross is worn suspended from a ribbon worn on the chest. The order also ...
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Rhymed Chronicle
The ''Livonian Rhymed Chronicle'' (german: Livländische Reimchronik) is a chronicle written in Middle High German by an anonymous author. It covers the period 1180 – 1343 and contains a wealth of detail about Livonia — modern South Estonia and Latvia. The old Chronicle The ''Rhymed Chronicle'' was composed to be read to the crusading knights of the Livonian Order during their meals. Its primary function was to inspire the knights and legitimise the northern Crusades. As such, it is infused with elements of romance and exaggerated for the purpose of drama. However, this is debated by A. Murray. He suggests that during mealtimes the knights were read sections of the Bible or the word of God, so that they could 'receive spiritual as well as corporal nourishment'. There was little of this in the ''Chronicle''. There is also the fact that the ''Chronicle'' is written in high German, and the majority of the knights who were in Livonia at that time would have spoken low German. Th ...
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Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global population. Its adherents, known as Christians, are estimated to make up a majority of the population in 157 countries and territories, and believe that Jesus is the Son of God, whose coming as the messiah was prophesied in the Hebrew Bible (called the Old Testament in Christianity) and chronicled in the New Testament. Christianity began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the 1st century Hellenistic Judaism in the Roman province of Judea. Jesus' apostles and their followers spread around the Levant, Europe, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, the South Caucasus, Ancient Carthage, Egypt, and Ethiopia, despite significant initial persecution. It soon attracted gentile God-fearers, which led to a departure from Jewish customs, and, a ...
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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 between 1211 and 1231, and ruled Aizkraukle County from his seat. In 1229, he repelled the invasion of the Semigallians and was wounded in a duel with the ruler Viestards. Last mentioned in 1234, it is believed that he, together with many other warlords of the order, fell in the Battle of Saule The Battle of Saule ( lt, Saulės mūšis / Šiaulių mūšis; german: Schlacht von Schaulen; lv, Saules kauja) was fought on 22 September 1236, between the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and pagan troops of Samogitians and Semigallians. Betwe ... in 1236. References * *{{cite book , last1=Benninghoven , first1=Friedrich , title=Der Orden der Schwertbrüder. Fratres Milicie Christi de Livonia, date=1965 , url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/o ...
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Komtur
Commander ( it, Commendatore; french: Commandeur; german: Komtur; es, Comendador; pt, Comendador), 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. Variations include Knight Commander, notably in English, sometimes used to denote an even higher rank than Commander. In some orders of chivalry, Commander ranks above (i.e. Officer), but below one or more ranks with a prefix meaning 'Great', e.g. in French, in German, (using an equivalent suffix) in Spanish, in Italian, and in Dutch (, 'Grand Commander'), Grand Cross. France History The rank of in the French orders comes from the Middle Ages military orders, in which low-level administrative houses were called and were governed by . In the Modern Age, the French Kings created chivalric orders which mimicked the military order's ranks. * The Order of ...
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Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. 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 the late 18th century in England, duels were more commonly fought using pistols. Fencing and shooting continued to co-exist throughout the 19th century. The duel was based on a Code of conduct, code of honor. Duels were fought not so much to kill the opponent as to gain "satisfaction", that is, to restore one's honor by demonstrating a willingness to risk one's life for it, and as such the tradition of dueling was originally reserved for the male members of nobility; however, in the modern era, it extended to those of the upper classes generally. On occasion, duels with swords or pistols were fought between women. Legislation against dueling goes back to the medieval period. The Fourth Co ...
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Curonians
:''The Kursenieki are also sometimes known as Curonians.'' The Curonians or Kurs ( lv, kurši; lt, kuršiai; german: Kuren; non, Kúrir; orv, кърсь) were a Baltic tribe living on the shores of the Baltic Sea in what are now the western parts of Latvia and Lithuania from the 5th to the 16th centuries, when they merged with other Baltic tribes. They gave their name to the region of Courland (''Kurzeme''), and they spoke the Curonian language. Curonian lands were conquered by the Livonian Order in 1266 and they eventually merged with other Baltic tribes contributing to the ethnogenesis of Lithuanians and Latvians. Origin The ethnic origin of the Curonians has been disputed in the past. Some researchers place the Curonians in the eastern Baltic group.Östen Dahl (ed.) 2001, ''The Circum-Baltic Languages: Typology and Contact,'' vol. 1 Others hold that the Curonians were related to Old Prussians who belonged in the western Baltic group. History The Curonians were known as ...
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Tērvete
Tērvete (liv. ''Terwenden'', german: Hofzumberge) 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 According to popular legend the Semigallians, Semigallian king Nameisis made a ring called the "namejs" so he could be identified by his family. But his enemies got hold of this information and sought the ring to kill the king (during a war) to have victories. The villagers also created these rings in order to protect the King. And for this reason Namejs is a popular ring for Latvians. In 1287, the Semigallian castle was destroyed by the Livonian Order. In 1335, the wooden castle ''Hof zum Berg'' Kalnamuiža was built by the Order of Livonia near to the site of the former Semigallian fortifications, destroyed by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Lithuanian forces in 1345. A second legend describes the story of the German crusade ...
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