Vidzeme

North Vidzeme was inhabited by Livs and Latgals since 500 BC. The region was part of Latgale until the 13th century, when the southern and eastern parts of the province, and their Liv population, were under the rule of the Bishop of Riga. The rest of the region was the State of the Livonian Order. After the crushing of the Order in 1561, Latgale and Vidzeme became part of the Dukedom of Pardaugava, which was under Lithuanian rule until 1569, when it was taken over by Poland. In 1628, after the Swedish-Polish war, Vidzeme was awarded to Sweden, ushering in a time of benevolent rule (from 1629 to 1721) under which the Swedish king introduced laws giving the peasants more rights and freedoms, and establishing schools for Latvian children. Active in these schools was the priest Ernst Gluck, who founded several schools in Aluksne and translated the Bible into Latvian for the first time. Family names were given to the peasants in 1826, and in the second half of the 19th century, they were allowed to buy out their homes and land, creating the first free Latvian peasantry. During the first awakening of Latvian cultural awareness, the town of Dikji saw the first song festival (1866) and the first theatre performance (1868).

Today the traditional culture of Vidzeme can be seen in the style of the houses: typically they consist of a threshing barn and bath house connected to living rooms. The Liv dialect has survived in the western territory of the region, along the Gulf of Riga.

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