Vseslav of Polotsk
Encyclopedia
Vseslav of Polotsk (c. 1039 – 1101), also known as Vseslav the Sorcerer or Vseslav the Seer, was the most famous ruler of Polotsk and was briefly Grand Prince of Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

 in 1068–1069. Together with Rostislav Vladimirovich and voivode Vyshata
Vyshata
Vyshata was a Novgorodian general and voivode, whose father is supposed to have been posadnik Ostromir and whose son was another statesman, Yan Vyshatich...

 made up a coalition against the Yaroslaviches triumvirate. Polotsk's Cathedral of Holy Wisdom (completed in 1066) is one of the most enduring monuments on the lands of modern Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

 and dates to his 57-year reign.

His Life

Vselav was the son of Bryachislav Izyaslavich, Prince of Polotsk
Prince of Polotsk
The Princes of Polotsk ruled the Principality of Polotsk within the realm of Kievan Rus or within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the mid ninth century to 1307.Rogvold, a non-Rurikid Varangian, was the first Prince of Polotsk...

 and Vitebsk, and was thus the great-grandson of Vladimir I of Kiev
Vladimir I of Kiev
Vladimir Sviatoslavich the Great Old East Slavic: Володимѣръ Свѧтославичь Old Norse as Valdamarr Sveinaldsson, , Vladimir, , Volodymyr, was a grand prince of Kiev, ruler of Kievan Rus' in .Vladimir's father was the prince Sviatoslav of the Rurik dynasty...

 and Rogneda of Polotsk
Rogneda of Polotsk
Rogneda of Polotsk is the Slavic name for Ragnhild, whose father Ragnvald came from overseas and established himself at Polatsk in the mid-10th century....

. He was born in ca. 1030–1039 in Polotsk (with Vasilii as his baptismal name) and married around 1060.

He took the throne of Polotsk in 1044 upon his father's death, and although he was the senior member of the Rurik Dynasty
Rurik Dynasty
The Rurik dynasty or Rurikids was a dynasty founded by the Varangian prince Rurik, who established himself in Novgorod around the year 862 AD...

 for his generation, since his father had not been prince in Kiev, Vseslav was excluded (izgoi
Izgoi
Izgoi is a term found in medieval Kievan Rus'. In primary documents, it is used to indicate orphans protected by the church. In historiographic writing on the period, it meant a prince in Kievan Rus' who was excluded from succession to the Kievan throne because his father had not held the throne...

) from the grand princely succession. In fact, since he was the only major prince in Rus not descended from Yaroslav
Yaroslav I the Wise
Yaroslav I, Grand Prince of Rus, known as Yaroslav the Wise Yaroslav I, Grand Prince of Rus, known as Yaroslav the Wise Yaroslav I, Grand Prince of Rus, known as Yaroslav the Wise (Old Norse: Jarizleifr; ; Old East Slavic and Russian: Ярослав Мудрый; Ukrainian: Ярослав Мудрий; c...

, he was, according to Simon Franklin and Jonathan Shepard, "an outsider from within"

Unable to secure the capital
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

, which was held by Yaroslav's three sons, Vseslav started pillaging the northern areas of Kievan Rus. In 1065, he laid siege to Pskov
Pskov
Pskov is an ancient city and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, Russia, located in the northwest of Russia about east from the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population: -Early history:...

 but was thrown back. In the winter of 1066-1067, he pillaged and burnt Novgorod the Great, removing the bell and other religious objects from the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom
Saint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod
The Cathedral of St. Sophia in the Kremlin in Veliky Novgorod is the cathedral church of the Archbishop of Novgorod and the mother church of the Novgorodian Eparchy.-History:...

 and bringing them to decorate his own cathedral of the same name in Polotsk. His attack threatened to cut the sons of Yaroslav in the Middle Dnieper region off from Scandinavia, the Baltic region, and the far north, important sources of men, trade, and income (in furs for example) for the Rus princes in the Middle Dnieper. The attack also forced the young Mstislav, then enthroned in Novgorod, to flee back to his father, Iziaslav
Iziaslav I of Kiev
Iziaslav Yaroslavich , Kniaz' , Veliki Kniaz of Kiev , King of Rus'...

, in Kiev, and was thus and affront to the Kievan grand prince. The Yaroslavichi joined forces and marched north, sacking Minsk (then under the control of Polotsk) and defeating Vseslav in battle on the Nemiga River
Battle on the river Nemiga
Battle on the Nemiga River was a combat of the Russian feudal period that occurred on March 3, 1067 on the Niamiha River. The description of the battle is the first reference to Minsk in the chronicles of Belarusian history.- Background:...

 on March 3, 1067 Vseslav fled but was treacherously captured during the peace talks in June, when Iziaslav violated his oath. He was then imprisoned in Kiev.

As Grand Prince of Kiev

During the Kiev Uprising of 1068, brought about by defeat at the hands of the Kipchaks on the Alta River and Iziaslav's unwillingness to arm the veche
Veche
Veche was a popular assembly in medieval Slavic countries.In Novgorod, where the veche acquired the greatest prominence, the veche was broadly similar to the Norse thing or the Swiss Landsgemeinde.-Etymology:...

 so its members could march out and face the nomads a second time, the crowd freed Vseslav from prison, and proclaimed him grand prince of Kiev, forcing Iziaslav to flee to Poland. Returning with an army seven months later, Iziaslav retook his throne, and Vseslav fled back to Polotsk. After several years of complicated struggle with Iziaslav of Kiev, he finally secured Polotsk in 1071. During the last 30 years of his reign, his chief enemies were Vsevolod Yaroslavich and his son Vladimir Monomakh.

Vseslav died April 24, 1101, the Wednesday before Good Friday according to the Russian Primary Chronicle—indeed the chronicles strangely link the two events, as if the sorcerer had died as a result of the crucifixion and resurrection. He was buried in the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom in Polotsk.

His Family

Vseslav had six sons:
  1. Roman (?-1114/1116), Prince of ? (probably of Drutsk). Roman perished either in Ryazan or Murom. His widow became a nun and lived in Polotsk, Saint Sophia Cathedral
    Saint Sophia Cathedral in Polotsk
    The Cathedral of Holy Wisdom in Polotsk was built by Prince Vseslav Briacheslavich between 1044 and 1066...

     where she opened her charity. They had no children.
  2. Gleb Vseslavich
    Gleb Vseslavich
    Gleb Vseslavich was the prince of Minsk between 1101 and 1119. During his reign Minsk was at war with Kiev and Polatsk. He started the Minsk branch of Prince of Polotsk as son of Vseslav the Seer....

    , Prince of Minsk;
  3. Rogvolod-Boris
    Rogvolod-Boris
    Rogvolod Vseslavich, baptismal name Boris, was the Prince of Drutsk and Polotsk. He was the son of Vseslav of Polotsk, Grand Prince of Rus. Rogvolod probably was named in honor of his ancestor Rogvolod....

    , Prince of Drutsk;
  4. Davyd, Prince of Polotsk,
  5. Sviatoslav, Prince of Vitebsk;
  6. Rostislav (?-?). He presumably was the Prince of Lukoml
    Lukoml
    Lukoml is a village in Lukoml selsoviet, Chashniki district, Vitsebsk Voblast, Belarus, by the Lukoml Lake.-History:Early references to Lukoml in Russian chronicles are dated by 1078, when in was burned by Vladimir Monomakh. In 15-16th centuries it constituted a separate principality. In 1563 it...

     and later in 1129 sent by Vladimir II Monomakh
    Vladimir II Monomakh
    Vladimir II Monomakh |Basileios]]) was a Velikiy Kniaz of Kievan Rus'.- Family :He was the son of Vsevolod I and Anastasia of Byzantium Vladimir II Monomakh |Basileios]]) (1053 – May 19, 1125) was a Velikiy Kniaz (Grand Prince) of Kievan Rus'.- Family :He was the son of Vsevolod I (married in...

     to Byzantium
    Byzantium
    Byzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...

     with the rest of Vseslaviches. Who was his wife is uncertain as well as his descendants.

  • There are some discussion whether Vseslav had six or rather seven sons. Some historians (L.Alekseev and V.Tatishchev
    Vasily Tatishchev
    Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev was a prominent Russian statesman, and ethnographer, best remembered as the author of the first full-scale Russian history...

    ) believe that Boris is baptized name of Rogvolod and both of them one and the same person.

St. Euphrosyne of Polatsk
Euphrosyne of Polatsk
Euphrosyne of Polotsk was the granddaughter of a prince of Polotsk, Vseslav....

 is sometimes said to be his daughter, although her date of birth is given as 1120, two decades after Vseslav's death and thus she could not be his child; other sources, however, say she is the daughter of Sviatoslav Vseslavich, and thus the granddaughter of Vseslav. She founded a number of monasteries in Polotsk and the surrounding region and is considered one of the patron saints of Belarus.

Vseslav in the Chronicles

Vseslav had a great reputation for sorcery
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...

. The Russian Primary Chronicle states that he was conceived by sorcery and was born with a caul (the remains of the placenta) on his head, and that the sorcerers told his mother that this should be bound to his head for the rest of his life as it was a sign of good luck. In modern Belarusian
Belarusian language
The Belarusian language , sometimes referred to as White Russian or White Ruthenian, is the language of the Belarusian people...

 he is known as Usiasłaŭ the Sorcerer; in Russian he is Vselav Charadei or Vseslav Veshchii, Vseslav the Sorcerer or Vseslav the Seer.

Vseslav in "The Tale of Igor's Campaign"

Vseslav also appears in the 12th-century epic The Tale of Igor's Campaign
The Tale of Igor's Campaign
The Tale of Igor's Campaign is an anonymous epic poem written in the Old East Slavic language.The title is occasionally translated as The Song of Igor's Campaign, The Lay of Igor's Campaign, and The Lay of...

, where, as in several byliny or folk-tales, he is depicted as a werewolf. In The Igor Tale, his defeat at the Nemiga River
Battle on the river Nemiga
Battle on the Nemiga River was a combat of the Russian feudal period that occurred on March 3, 1067 on the Niamiha River. The description of the battle is the first reference to Minsk in the chronicles of Belarusian history.- Background:...

 is shown to illustrate that inter-princely strife is weaking the Russian land. Vseslav is also said to be able to hear the church bells (stolen from Novgorod) of his cathedral at Polotsk all the way from Kiev:

"In the seventh age of Troyán Vséslav cast his lots for the Maiden dear to him."

"He with wiles at the last tore himself free: and galloped to the city of Kíev; with his weapon took hold of the golden throne of Kíev; galloped from them like a wild beast at midnight from Bĕ́lgorod, swathed himself in a blue mist, rent asunder his bonds into three parts, opened wide the gates of Nóvgorod, shattered the Glory of Yarosláv [the First]; galloped like a wolf from Dudútki to the Nemíga."

"On the Nemíga the sheaves are laid out with heads; men thresh with flails in hedgerows; on the barn-floor they spread out life; they winnow the soul from the body."

"On the blood-stained Nemíga the banks were sown with bane,—sown with the bones of the sons of Russia."

"Prince Vséslav was a judge to his subjects, he appointed cities for the princes: but he himself at night raced like a wolf from Kiev to the Idol [or, (accepting the reading of the text unaltered)—to the Lord] of Tmutarakáń, raced, like a wolf across the path of the great Khors."

"To him at Polotsk they rang the bells early for matins at Saint Sophia; and he at Kíev heard the sound."

Volkh Vseslavich/Volga Sviatoslavich and Vseslav of Polotsk

Vseslav may also be the basis for the bogatyr
Bogatyr
The bogatyr was a medieval heroic warrior of Kievan Rus' and the Novgorodian Republic, akin to a Western European knight errant.- Kievan Rus' :...

 Volkh Vseslavich or Volga Sviatoslavich, who is found in a cycle of byliny
Byliny
Byliny may refer to:*Byliny, plural of bylina, a traditional East-Slavic narrative poem*Byliny, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship...

. Volkhvs were priests of the pre-Christian Ruthenian religion and were thought to possess magical powers. This fact may be tied to Vseslav's alleged magical as well as his lupine aspects. In the Ruthenian Christianity volkhv is said to have been the son of a serpent and the Princess Marfa Vseslavevna and could transform himself into a wolf and other animals. That, of course, sounds as a fairy tale, however Christianity as a religion while still being challenged by people that followed the older traditions used this misinterpretation to outcast the followers of Slavic paganism. Volkhvs of Novgorod were well known to challenge the well established Christianity in Kiev in the 11th century, which resulted in Vseslav's victory when Mstislav Iziaslavovich fled to Kiev. Not long after that the same volkhvs were calling to uprising against Gleb Sviatoslavovich. Volkh appears in a number of drawings by the late-nineteenth and early 20th-century Russian artist Ivan Bilibin
Ivan Bilibin
Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin was a 20th-century illustrator and stage designer who took part in the Mir iskusstva and contributed to the Ballets Russes. Throughout his career, he was inspired by Slavic folklore....

, who was heavily influenced by Russian folklore.

See also

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