Vseslav of Polotsk

Vseslav of Polotsk or Vseslav Bryachislavich, also known as "Vseslav the Sorcerer" or "Vseslav the Seer" (c. 1039–1101), was the most famous ruler of Polotsk and was briefly Grand Prince of Kiev in 1068–1069. Polotsk's Cathedral of Holy Wisdom (completed in 1066) is probably the most enduring monument in Belarus and dates to his 57-year reign.

His Life

Vselav was the son of Bryachislav Izyaslavich, Prince of Polotsk and Vitebsk, and was thus the great-grandson of Vladimir I of Kiev and Rogneda of Polotsk. 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 for his generation, since his father had not been prince in Kiev, Vseslav was excluded (izgoi) from the grand princely succession. Unable to secure the capital, which was held by Yaroslav's three sons, Vseslav started pillaging neighbouring areas of Kievan Rus. In 1066 he laid siege to Pskov but was thrown back. A year later he pillaged and burnt Novgorod, removing the bell and other religious objects from the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom and bringing them to decorate his own cathedral of the same name in Polotsk. ["Lavrentevskaia Letopis" (PSRL I), 166; "Ipatevskaia Letopis" (PSRL 2), 155; A. N. Nasonov, "Novgorodskaia Pervaia Letopis: Starshego i mladshego izvodov" (Moscow and Leningrad: ANSSR, 1950), 17, 186; "Novgorodskaia Tretaia Letopis" (PSRL 3), 212; "Novgorodskaia chetvertaia letopis" (PSRL 4), 123] After that, he was defeated by the Yaroslavichi on the Niamiha river and treacherously captured during the peace talks. ["Lavrentevskaia Letopis" (PSRL 1), 166–7.]

As Grand Prince of Kiev

During the Kiev Uprising of 1068, the crowd freed Vseslav from prison, and the veche made him grand prince of Kiev. When Grand Prince Iziaslav returned from Poland with an army seven months later to retake his throne, Vseslav escaped back to Polotsk. ["Lavrentevskaia letopis" (PSRL 1), 171–2.] After several years of complicated struggle with Iziaslav of Kiev, Vseslav 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. [The Novgorodian First Chronicle as well as the Lavrentian and Hypatian Chronicles mention his death but not the place of burial. NPL, 17, 202; "Lavrentevskaia Letopis" (PSRL 1), 275; "Ipatevskaia Letopis" (PSRL 2), 250.]

His Family

Vseslav had seven sons: Roman, Prince of Polotsk; Gleb, Prince of Minsk; Boris, Prince of Polotsk; Rogvolod, Prince of Polotsk; David, Prince of Polotsk, Sviatoslav, Prince of Vitebsk; and Rostislav. St. Euphrosyne of Polatsk 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 Literature and Legend

Vseslav in the Chronicles

Vseslav had a great reputation for sorcery. 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. ["Lavrentevskaia Letopis" (PSRL 1), 155.] In modern Belarusian 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 twelfth-century epic "The Tale of Igor's Campaign", where, as in several "byliny" or folk-tales, he is depicted as a werewolf. In "The Igor Tale", his defeat at the Nemiga River 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." [Leonard Magus, "Tale of the Armament of Igor," available online at http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/tai/tai40.htm]

Volkh Vseslavich/Volga Sviatoslavich and Vseslav of Polotsk

Vseslav may also be the basis for the bogatyr Volkh Vseslavich (literally The Wolf Son of Vseslav, although a "volkhv" was a pagan priest or sorcerer in ancient Rus, thought to possess magical powers, and thus the name may be tied to Vseslav's alleged magical as well as his lupine aspects) or Volga Sviatoslavich, who is found in a cycle of byliny. Volkh 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. [Roman Jakobson and Marc Szeftel, "The Vseslav Epos," in Roman Jakobson and Ernest J. Simmons, eds., "Russian Epic Studies. Memoirs of the American Folklore Society" 42 (Philadelphia: American Folklore Society, 1949, p. 83; available online at [http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/lrc/iedocctr/ie-texts/text-sl-volkh.html Volkh Vseslav'evich Bylina: A Poem of Vseslav the Sorcerer] . Jack V. Haney, "The Complete Russian Folktale" (Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1999), 7; Dianne E. Farrell, "Shamanic Elements in Some Early Eighteenth Century Russian Woodcuts," "Slavic Review" 52, No. 4 (Winter 1993): 725–744; Felix J. Oinas, "The Problem of the Aristocratic Origin of Russian Byliny," "Slavic Review" Vol. 30, No. 3 (Sept. 1971): 513–522.] Volkh appears in a number of drawings by the late-nineteenth and early twentieth-century Russian artist Ivan Bilibin, who was heavily influenced by Russian folklore.

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