Principality of Koknese

The Principality of Koknese was a small vassal state of the Principality of Polotsk on the right bank of the Daugava River in Livonia, in what is now Latvia. At the beginning of the thirteenth century it was ruled by the Orthodox prince Vetseke from the fortress of Koknese, about 100 kilometres upstream from Riga. According to old sources, Vetseke granted half of his land to Bishop Albert of Riga in 1205 in return for protection against the Duchy of Samogitia. When the bishop left for Germany, Vetseke rebelled, killed the Germans in Koknese and appealed to Polotsk for support. Albert returned quickly, and Vetseke burned his castle and fled to Novgorod. By 1209 the fortress had been taken by the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, and Polotsk's sovereignty over the area was revoked in 1215. The knights held the town until 1238, when it passed to the Bishopric of Riga. Archaeology shows a population of Latgalians and Selonians with a small Slavic minority.