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

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

Žvelgaitis Žvelgaitis (''Svelgates''; literally: ''looker-about'') 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 by Henry of Livonia, an e ...

. 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 Mežotne (german: Mesothen) is a town in Latvia 10 km west of Bauska and 40 km south of the capital of Latvia, Riga. It lies in the historical region of Zemgale on the left bank of the Lielupe river near the Lithuanian border. Mežo ...

. 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, the Samogitians. Together they fought against the crusaders. In 1225 Viestards allowed William of Modena to preach in Semigallia however he refused to accept Christianity. In 1228 Semigallian forces under Viestards joined the Curonians 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 where he had a

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 r ...

with komtur 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 b ...

. Viestards died in 1230, but the Semigallians still were not conquered until the end of the 13th century. Viestards never accepted Christianity and accepted only one monk in Semigallia as a preacher. Although in Rhymed 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 ( 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 histor ...

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

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 ...

References

* * 1230 deaths Pagans of the Livonian Crusade Year of birth unknown {{Latvia-bio-stub