History
Jersika was established in the 10th century as an outpost of the principality of Polotsk on the old "trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks". It was ruled by Orthodox Christan princes from the Latgalian-Polotsk branch of the Rurik Dynasty.
In 1209 Visvaldis, the prince of Jersika, was militarily defeated by bishop Albert of Riga and the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, and his Lithuanian wife taken prisoner. He was forced to submit his kingdom to Albert as a grant to the Bishopric of Riga, and received back only a portion of it as a fief. Visvaldis' feudal charter is the oldest such document surviving in Latvia, and in this charter Visvaldis is called "the king of Jersika" ("Vissewalde, rex de Gercike", in another document also "Wiscewolodus rex de Berzika").
In 1211 the part of Jersika controlled by Albert which was known as "Lettia" ("terra, quae Lettia dicitur") was divided between the bishopric of Riga and the Livonian Brothers of the Sword.
After the death of Visvaldis in 1239 his fief passed to the Livonian Order, but this was repeatedly contested by the rulers of Lithuania and Novgorod, who periodically sought to conquer the territory.
Read more about this topic: Principality Of Jersika
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