ABSTRACT
The Semgallians were a tribe inhabiting the Aa river basin south and west of Riga in what today is Latvia. Most natives probably took refuge in the woods and prepared ambushes which inevitably bothered the hostile forces. These circumstances made possible the survival of the Semgallian people, though they were not populous, nor wealthy, nor unusually warlike. King Vester at Terweten and the other Semgallians were naturally angry. Divided, the Semgallians would be conquered settlement by settlement. But Vester’s attacks failed to drive the crusaders out of Mesoten. The Germans had their first foothold south of the Dvina. The crusader position deteriorated even further when Mindaugas joined the pagan alliance and the Russians promised him assistance in driving the westerners from Livonia. The Christianized Semgallians were summoned for an attack on Samogithia, a campaign that was such a disaster that the following spring the Semgallians felt able to revolt.
