tribal confederation · Scandinavia and the Baltic

Selonians

600 CE – 1208 CE (approx.) · capital Sēlpils

Small Baltic people on the south bank of the Daugava, the first of the Latvian tribes to fall to the German crusaders in 1208.

Origins

The Selonians settled in what is now south-eastern Latvia and north-eastern Lithuania during the first millennium, between the Semigallians and the Latgalians. Their name survives in the region of Sēlija. They lived in communities centred on hillforts, without a single ruler.

Rule and society

Archaeology shows farming villages, fortified hills and graves rich in bronze ornaments. Their position on the Daugava trade route brought them under the influence of Polotsk and, by the 12th century, of the Lithuanians, who used their main fortress, Sēlpils, as a base for raids.

Decline and legacy

In 1208 Bishop Albert of Riga and the Livonian Brothers of the Sword besieged and took Sēlpils, and the Selonians accepted baptism. Their land was later divided between the Livonian Order and the Archbishopric of Riga, and a short-lived Bishopric of Selonia was founded. The Selonians merged into the Latvian and Lithuanian peoples.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Selonians. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/selonians
MLA
“Selonians.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/selonians. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Selonians.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/selonians.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Selonians’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/selonians (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻