- Sēlpils
Sēlpils or Sēļpils or Selpils (Latin: "castrum Selonum", "the castle of the
Selonians ," German: "Selburg") was the military and political center of ancientSelonia , a Baltic land that lay in what is now northernLithuania and in southernLatvia east of the Semigallian lands and mostly on the left bank of theDaugava river.Archaeological evidence shows that Sēlpils, 17 km northwest of modern
Jēkabpils , was a major settlement between the 10th and 13th centuries. Used as a base for raids by the Selonians and their Lithuanian allies into Latgalian and Livonian lands, Sēlpils was first mentioned in theChronicle of Henry of Livonia , which describes its capture by the Livonian Order and their Christianized ethnic Livonian allies in 1208. Sēlpils was briefly the seat of a Seloniandiocese (1218 -1226 ), and then came under the rule of the Livonian Order, which constructed fortifications there for the Advocate (German: "Vogt") of the Order. These were destroyed by the Swedes in1704 , during theGreat Northern War , and only traces of the foundations are visible at the site today.References
*Arveds Švābe, ed.: "Latvju enciklopēdija". Stockholm: Trīs Zvaigznes, 1952-1953.
*Edgars Andersons, ed.: "Latvju enciklopēdija 1962-1982". Lincoln: American Latvian Association, 1983-1990. Entry "Sēlija" available at [http://www.historia.lv/alfabets/S/Se/selija/encik/selija_le_1962.htm historia.lv] . Retrieved
26 February 2006 .*Vytautas Kazakevičius: [http://www.istorija.lt/la/arch20-01engKazok.htm "Selonian archaeological sites in Lithuania"] Retrieved
26 February 2006 .
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