Koknese Castle | |
---|---|
Kokneses pils | |
Vidzeme, Koknese municipality, Latvia | |
Coordinates | 56°38′17″N25°25′3″E / 56.63806°N 25.41750°E |
Type | Castle |
Site information | |
Condition | Ruins |
Site history | |
Built | 1209 |
Built by | Albert of Riga |
In use | 491–492 years |
Fate | Demolished in 1701 |
Koknese Castle (Latvian : Kokneses pils, German : Burg Kokenhusen) is a complex in Koknese, Latvia, dating from the 13th century. The castle was situated on a high bluff overlooking the Daugava river valley. In 1965 a hydroelectric dam was built downriver, creating a reservoir that partially submerged the castle and flooded the surrounding valley. [1]
Before the arrival of the Teutonic Knights, Koknese was the site of a wooden hill fort inhabited by the Balts. In 1209 Bishop Albert of Riga ordered the construction of a stone castle at the site, naming it Kokenhusen. For the first 50 years of its existence, Koknese was solely used as a defensive fort, but by 1277, Koknese had enough population to receive city rights. Koknese also became a member of the Hanseatic League thanks to its strategic location on the Daugava trade route.
The castle was heavily contested between Polish, Swedish and Russian forces in the 16th and 17th centuries. It changed hands many times, while the native inhabitants endured periodic slaughter, capture, and famine. In 1701, during the Great Northern War, Koknese was finally blown up by retreating forces to avoid the strategic castle falling into advancing Russian hands. The castle was never rebuilt after this and was left unattended for 200 years before being turned into a tourist attraction by the USSR.
The town around Koknese began to reappear in the 19th century, after serfdom was abolished and a railroad station was built in the village, facilitating movement to the area. In 1900, a park was established around the castle ruins, and Koknese became a popular summer resort. The area was known for its scenic waterfalls, cliffs, and look-outs. In 1965, the Soviet government built Pļaviņas Hydro Power Plant in the town of Aizkraukle. The reservoir flooded the entire length of the Daugava to Pļaviņas. Koknese Castle, once sitting atop a high bluff, was placed at the river's edge, while the scenic Daugava valley was submerged. [2]
Bailiffs (Vogt) of Koknese (Kokenhusen): [3]
By the end of the 13th century, the territory of the Archbishopric of Riga, like that of the other bishoprics of Livonia, had become stable. For nearly three centuries, the Archbishop, along with his cathedral chapter, governed the approximately 400 square kilometer territory. As a secular lord, the Archbishop had the authority to manage the land reserves, establish towns, and mint currency, among other things. [4] [5]
The representative of the Archbishop in a secular trial was the bailiff or land-bailiff ((Latin: advocatus, German: voget, Stiftvogt, Landvogt etc.). [6] [7] Generally, land-bailiffs were administrators who collected taxes, claimed duties, and administered the law in a specific territory under the authorization of the spiritual territorial Lord Archbishop of Riga. They were responsible for concluding agreements and organizing the defense of the land. Additionally, they were required for the construction and reconstruction of the Archbishop's castles. [8] Bailiffs were vassals, appointed for a certain period.
In the Archbishopric of Riga, there were multiple bailiffs simultaneously working in their respective administrative territories. The territorial changes in the administrative districts of the Riga bishopric between 1201 and 1253/1255 document the organization of land administration in areas inhabited by Livonians, starting from 1207. Initially, the boundaries of administrative districts were based on pre-existing territorial divisions established before the conquest of crusaders. As new castles were constructed, they became the administrative centers. During the 13th to 15th centuries, the bailiffs' districts in Ydumea [9] and Lielvārde (Lenewarden) ceased to exist. However, for a brief period in the 15th century, Rauna (Ronneburg) emerged as a bailiwick.
The stone castle of Turaida (also known as Treyden, Thoreida, and built in 1214) maintained its position as the center of the bailiwick for an extended period until the secularization of the Archbishopric in 1566. [10] The origins of the Turaida bailiwick can be traced back to the early 13th century when this territory was part of the Livonian-inhabited Bishopric of Riga. In the first half of the 16th century, the bailiwick expanded to include some of the Latvian-inhabited castle districts. Koknese (also known as Kokenhusen and built since 1209) is mentioned as a bailiwick at the end of the 13th century and maintained its status as the center of the bailiwick until the Coadjutors' war of 1556-1557.
The seals of the Turaida and Koknese bailiffs, which were issued under the authorization of the Archbishop, featured a heraldic symbol of the Archbishopric of Riga - a long bishop's cross and a staff with inscriptions: "sigillum advocati toreiden" [11] and "sigillum advocati kokenhůszen." [12] These seals acknowledged the bailiffs' work and authority in the 15th/16th century.
However, the aristocracy that governed the bailiwick as an inheritable fief did not emerge from the Riga archbishopric. Instead, some vassal families, such as the von Rosen and von Tiesenhausen families, began to form a community in the 13th-14th century, with their fief possessions and bailiwicks eventually becoming the foundation for the Baltic German aristocracy which lasted nearly 8 centuries Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, Latvia declared independence soon after.
The powerful ecclesiastical lords of Livonia sought to curtail the influence of the secular knights in their territories, and they were successful in the Archbishopric of Riga. The position of land-bailiff was particularly esteemed in the 14th century, when the Archbishops of Riga had conflicts with the Teutonic Order and often resided outside of Livonia. The use of fiefs for service allowed the bailiffs to significantly increase their wealth and prestige, ensuring a steady income and strengthening their position.
Disputes over Koknese Castle between the territorial lord and the vassals von Tiesenhausen lasted nearly half a century, until 1397, when the castle was eventually gained by the territorial ruler. As a result, the centers of the bailiwicks in the 15th/16th century were stone castles and domains owned by the Archbishop.
The local knighthood, including land bailiffs, played a significant role in the administration and domestic policy of the Archbishopric of Riga. The Archbishop of Riga granted special joint-property rights, known as "Gesamthand Recht," to the most powerful vassal families of the archbishopric, including the von Rosens, who received their fief in 1350/1428 the von Tiesenhausens in 1417, the von Ungerns in 1455 and the von Üxkülls in 1477. [13] These fiefs allowed the families to govern large fief districts for several centuries and act as territorial lords, granting fiefs to their sub-vassals and building stone and brick castles. [14]
The former bailiwick of Ydumea saw castles spring up on the properties of the von Rosens: Augstroze (Rosen, Hochrosen, 1350), Lielstraupe (Gross-Roop, before 1310), Rozbeķi (Rosenbeck, ca. 1372–1395), Mazstraupe (Klein-Roop, ca. 1408), Mujāni (Mojahn, ca. 1473–1503), and Nabe (Nabbe, before 1318)
With at least nine family members serving as bailiffs of Turaida and Koknese, the von Rosen family was the most prominent and influential among the vassals in the Livonian district of the Archbishopric of Riga. The Rosen family's origins can be traced back to Theoderich (Theodericus), a brother of Bishop Albert of Riga (Albert von Buxhoeveden) (ca. 1165–1229), according to the chronicle of Henry of Livonia, Theoderich married the daughter of Prince Vladimir of Pskow (Woldemarus, rex de Plicekowe), [15] further solidifying the family's connection to the region. In 1213 Vladimir became the Bailiff of Ydumea instead of his son-in-law Theoderich. [16]
Livonia or in earlier records Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia.
The Livonian Brothers of the Sword was a Catholic military order established in 1202 during the Livonian Crusade by Albert, the third bishop of Riga. Pope Innocent III sanctioned the establishment in 1204 for the second time. The membership of the crusading order comprised warrior monks, mostly from northern Germany, who fought Baltic and Finnic polytheists in the area of modern-day Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Alternative names of the Order include Christ Knights, Swordbrothers, Sword Brethren, Order of the Brothers of the Sword, and The Militia of Christ of Livonia. The seal reads: +MAGISTRI ETFRM MILICIE CRI (Christi) DE LIVONIA.
Albert of Riga or Albert of Livonia was the third Catholic Bishop of Riga in Livonia. In 1201, he allegedly founded the city of Riga, the modern capital of Latvia. The building of the Riga Cathedral started during his tenure there in 1221.
Semigallians were the Baltic tribe that lived in the south central 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.
Wolter or Walter von Plettenberg was Master (Landmeister) of the Livonian Order from 1494 to 1535, and one of the greatest leaders of the Teutonic knights. He was an important early Baltic German.
Ordensburg is a German term meaning a "castle of a (military) order". It is used specifically for the fortified structures built by crusading German military orders during the Middle Ages.
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 tribe. 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.
Koknese is a town in Aizkraukle Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, on the right bank of the Daugava River. It has a population of nearly 3,000.
Vidzeme is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in north-central Latvia north of the Daugava River. Sometimes in German, it was also known as Livland, the German form from Latin Livonia, though it comprises only a small part of Medieval Livonia and about half of Swedish Livonia. Most of the region's inhabitants are Latvians (85%), thus Vidzeme is the most ethnically Latvian region in the country.
Vyachko, also known as Vetseke, was the prince of Koknese (Kuikenos). He later became the prince of Yuryev while in the service of Novgorod, which was the last Russian stronghold in Estonia. He died during the defense of the city against the Livonian Brothers of the Sword in 1224.
Turaida Castle is a recently reconstructed medieval castle in Turaida, in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, on the opposite bank of the Gauja River from Sigulda.
The Livonian crusade consists of the various military Christianisation campaigns in medieval Livonia – modern Latvia and Estonia – during the Papal-sanctioned Northern Crusades in the 12th–13th century. The Livonian crusade was conducted mostly by the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Denmark. It ended with the creation of Terra Mariana and the Danish duchy of Estonia. The lands on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea were one of the last parts of Europe to be Christianised. The available information is largely based on Livonian Chronicle of Henry.
The history of Riga, the capital of Latvia, begins as early as the 2nd century with a settlement, the Duna urbs, at a natural harbor not far upriver from the mouth of the Daugava River. Later settled by Livs and Kurs, it was already an established trade center in the early Middle Ages along the Dvina-Dnieper trade route to Byzantium. Christianity had come to Latvia as early as the 9th century, but it was the arrival of the Crusades at the end of the 12th century which brought the Germans and forcible conversion to Christianity; the German hegemony instituted over the Baltics lasted until independence—and is still preserved today in Riga's Jugendstil architecture.
The Principality of Koknese was a small vassal state of the Principality of Polotsk on the right bank of the Daugava River in ancient Livonia during the Middle Ages.
The House of Tiesenhausen is the name of an old Baltic-German noble family. The origins of the family are in Lower Saxony. During the Baltic crusades they settled in Livonia in the first half of the 12th century. Bishops Albert of Riga and Herman of Tartu had a sister whose husband Engelbertus de Tisenhuse was the progenitor of the family in the Baltic. After some time in southern Livonia in the early stages of occupation, Engelbertus joined his brother-in-law bishop Herman to obtain the northern Livonian country of Ugaunia around Otepää and Tartu. It was Ugaunia where the family held its main early properties and positions. Engelbertus' son married a daughter of the castellan of Koknese in Latgale and through this marriage, the family claims descent from indigenous princes of the Latgalians. Some branches of Tisenhusen clan settled later to the Latvian Vidzeme holdings of Ergli and Berzaune. From the ancestral place of Ugaunia, sons of the family managed to obtain estates in other parts of Estonia, also so-called Danish Estonia and Osilia-Rotalia, both by services and by marriages.
Lielstraupe Castle is a castle in Straupe Parish, Cēsis Municipality, in the Vidzeme region of Latvia. It was originally built by the von Rosen family in the 13th century and the village of Straupe began to develop around the castle in the 14th century, a large tower was added around 1600 and expropriated soon after. Latter reacquired and remodeled into the baroque style in the 18th century and remained inhabited until being expropriated from Hans von Rosen in 1939.
Lielvārde Castle is a castle in Lielvārde, a town in Ogre Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia.The castle was built at the steep bank of Daugava River, overseeing this important medieval waterway, before 1248 by Albert of Buxthoeven, an archbishop of Riga. During the Livonian War, Lielvārde Castle was destroyed by Russian troops in 1579. Its ruins are conserved up to the level of the second floor.
Daugavgrīva Castle is a former monastery converted into a castle, located at Vecdaugava oxbow on right bank of Daugava, in the northern part of Riga city, Latvia. Nowadays here are seen only earthen ramparts.
Terra Mariana was the formal name for Medieval Livonia or Old Livonia. It was formed in the aftermath of the Livonian Crusade, and its territories were composed of present-day Estonia and Latvia. It was established on 2 February 1207, as a principality of the Holy Roman Empire, and lost this status in 1215 when Pope Innocent III proclaimed it as directly subject to the Holy See.
Livonian Peasants' Laws were laws introduced in the 19th century for Governorate of Livonia of the Russian Empire. About the same time similar laws has been enacted in all Baltic governorates and Duchy of Courland and Semigallia. These laws changed and clarified peasants rights and obligations, who ethnically were mainly Estonians and Latvians. This development culminated in Peasant Community Code of 1866 which codified peasants self-governance.