Prince Vseslav the Magician (Vseslav Charodey)

Vseslav Brachislavich is the most famous Polotsk prince he ruled from 1044 till 1101 and gained a nickname "the Magician". The legend says that his birth was connected with "soothsaying" or pagan magic, what gave him a prophetic soul and ability to turn into a wolf or a falcon, to overcome large distances quickly and to appear unexpectedly in various places.

Sophia cathedral was built in Polotsk after his order, it was considered to be the heart of the old Belarusian state: not only they prayed there but also spoke to the ambassadors, declared wars and peace, kept prince riches and the library founded by prince Iziaslaf. Polotsk chronicle was written there, and veche (city council) where they made decisions about the main state issues took place by the walls of the cathedral.

Sophia of Polotsk was the third temple of this kind at the Eastern-Slavonic lands along with Novgorod and Kiev, and Polotsk was one of the main political and cultural centers of the Eastern Europe. Polotsk principality was comparable to the Bavarian Duchy or Portuguese Kingdom when Vseslav was in power. The principality territory included Vitebsk, Braslav, Zaslavl’, Mensk, Orsha, Lukoml’, Logoisk, Drutsk, Borisov, and its borders stretched till the Baltic sea

Peaceful life of the principality finished in the middle of 60-ies of XI century. Vseslav made a blitzkrieg campaign against Novgorod, and came back as a winner bringing the bells from Novgorod Sophia. Very soon his armed force made another successful campaign to Novogrudok, that belonged to Kiev. The victories called worry of Kiev princes – Yaroslav’s the Wise thee sons headed by prince Iziaslav. Having united their forces, the Kiev princes attacked Mensk – the southern border of Polotsk principality and cruelly killed all the men and drove to prison all the women and children. Vseslav did not manage to come for help.

Very soon the Kiev princes called him for negotiations, making vows at the holy cross, they promised not to make harm to him, but they broke their promise and imprisoned Vseslav into a frightening earth prison in Kiev. But in a year there started people’s rebellions, and the rebels released Vseslav and declared him to be a prince of Kiev. After a short rule in Kiev Vseslav the Magician returned to Polotsk principality, that started to split up into small principalities after his death.

Vseslav the Magician’s family was internationally respected: he became a relative of the Byzantine dynasty of the Camnins after his daughter’s marriage.