The region around Lake Al?ksne was originally settled by Finnic - speaking tribes, and from the 8th-12th centuries by Latgalians. The date of settlement at the current location of the town, then known as Olysta, Alyst, and Volyst, is given in the chronicles of Pskov as 1284. The later name "Al?ksne" comes from the Latgalian word ol?ksna, meaning a spring in the forest.
The Latgalian inhabitants of the settlement were conquered by the German crusaders of the Livonian Order in 1342 . They built a castle named Marienburg (after Mary, the mother of Jesus) on a nearby island, which served to protect trade routes from Riga to Pskov. The town which developed near the castle also became known as Marienburg.
Marienburg was captured by the troops of Ivan IV of Russia in 1560 during the Livonian War. It was incorporated into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1582. The town became part of the Swedish Empire in 1629.
Ernst Gl�ck, a Lutheran clergyman and the first translator of the Bible into Latvian, founded the first Latvian language schools in Vidzeme in 1683. It is now the Al?ksne Museum The Russian army led by Sheremetyev captured the town during the Great Northern War in 1702, doing great damage to the area and deporting all the inhabitants, including Gl�ck and his foster daughter, Marta Skavronska, who later became Empress Catherine I of Russia.
The town's island is known as Pils salas (Castle Island) and Maria Island.Al?ksne Castle is now used as an open air theater
