People or land · The Selonians · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Selonia

The Selonian land runs along the left bank of the Daugava from about Jaunjelgava upstream past the later Daugavpils, and south into what is now north-east Lithuania round Rokiškis and Zarasai.

Sēlpils, facing Koknese, is its chief fort. Henry (1208) calls Sēlpils a base for Lithuanian raids into Livonia. On 1 January 1200 the land is free and pagan, close to the Lithuanians.

Who holds it

Name
None named for 1200
Title
the elders of Sēlpils and the Selonian forts
Since
not applicable
Born
not applicable
Family
No Selonian leader is named.
Confidence
low

Henry of Livonia (Brundage tr.); see sources.

Overlord

Not pinned: modern accounts make the Selonian lands subject to Koknese and Jersika (vassals of Polotsk) and the south to Lithuanian lords.

What it holds

  • Sēlpils (town record Sēlpils)
  • Selonian forts and villages along the Daugava and the lakes of the south

How things stand that morning

Free and pagan; ties to Koknese, Jersika and the Lithuanians not pinned.

Wealth

Farming; the Daugava.

Military

Hillforts. No numbers.

Threats

  • The German crusade (1208, later)
  • Lithuanian domination

Law and courts

Elders of each fort and land with the assembled men; no written law.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

  1. During 1200 (nothing dated for this land)No event in this land is recorded for 1200.

Places of note

  • Sēlpils: chief Selonian hillfort; position approximate

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Henry from 1208; bounds are reconstructions.

On the map: The southern edge toward the Lithuanian lands of Upytė and Nalšia is a guess.

Primary sources for The Selonians

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

Sources and studies

  1. Selonians (en.wikipedia)
  2. Henry of Livonia, Chronicon Livoniae, tr. J. A. Brundage, The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia (1961): Books I-III, chapters I-IX read for this record

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.