Euphrosyne, Pradslava, Praxeda, Paraskeva in the Belarusian-Lithuanian Chronicles of the 16th Century

Abstract

The second edition of the Belarusian-Lithuanian Chronicles (Krasinski, Raczynski, Archaeological Society, etc.) contains a story about the subjugation of Polotsk by the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, called by researchers The Tale of Polotsk. It is believed that this collection of Chronicles originated in the early 16th century at the initiative of the Voivode of Polotsk, and the then Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Albrechtas Gostautas. It attempts to combine the original history of Polotsk and the Polotsk land with the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, including the legend of the Roman origin of the Lithuanian nobility. In this Tale, there is a plot that vaguely resembles an excerpt from the Life of Euphrosyne of Polotsk, but the names of the Polotsk and Lithuanian princes have been changed beyond recognition. The questions arises: who created such a convoluted story about the Polotsk princes in the pages of the second edition of the Chronicles and why? As is well known, the first edition of the Chronicles of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (late 14th – first half of the 15th century) is mainly devoted to the history of ancient Russia. At the beginning of the 16th century there was a need to create a ‘national’ historical discourse. For this purpose it was necessary to combine the so-called ‘Russian’ and ‘Lithuanian’ ethno-religious components of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, to strengthen ideologically the domination of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania in the ancient Polotsk Principality. There was a gradual transition from the cultural space of Slavia Orthodoxa to the cultural space of Slavia Romana (Ricсardo Picchio). The source-cognitive and archeographic, comparative-historical and partly hermeneutic research methods were used. As a result, it became possible to get closer to the understanding that most likely the Life of Euphrosyne of Polotsk, which could have been written in the 12th century, by the beginning of the 16th century had almost disappeared from the field of view of the intellectuals of the time, but certain echoes of the cult of the Saint remained in Polotsk, especially the shrines and the cross created for her. The Life was rewritten in accordance with the requirements of certain social groups, then its elements became part of the second edition of the Chronicle of the GDL in a much-changed form.