[1][better source needed] The first written record of him dates from 1203 and tells of how he, together with the Lithuanians attacked the newly established city of Riga.

Between 1203 and 1208, Visvaldis, together with the Lithuanians repeatedly raided Livonian lands and tried to gain full control of the River Daugava.

They did not meet significant resistance and plundered Visvaldis's capital, the Jersika hillfort, taking his wife prisoner.

Visvaldis's feudal charter is the oldest such document surviving in Latvia, and calls him "the king of Jersika" ("Vissewalde, rex de Gercike").

In later years, Visvaldis's lands were repeatedly divided among Bishop Albert of Riga and the Livonian Brothers of the Sword.