Svjataja Evfrosinija igumen'ja Polockaja. Poisk istoriceskogo lica mezdu agiograficeskoj tradiciej i letopis'nymi zapiskami

Saint Evfrosiniia of Polotsk. Looking for the historical character, among
hagiographic tradition and chronical records.
Saint Evfrosiniia of Polotsk is one of the major female figures of the XII century in
Kyivan Rus. Hagiographical texts written in the honour of her ??? Life, Liturgical Hymn
and Akhatist hymn ??? depict an interesting and colorful portrait of this saint woman: she
is called to have been quite well-educated, to have copied religious books, founded two
monasteries, a female and a male one, and to have gone to Jerusalem in her last years.
Studies about the historical setting in which Evfrosiina lived revealed that she was a
princess (Predslava, daughter of the prince of Polotsk Svjatoslav-Jurij Vsevolodovich)
and that, in a particular period of power vacancy in the Pricipality, toghether with other
women of her family, she played a political role, getting a personal stamp to sign up official
documents.
Unfortunately, none of these news is confirmed by chronicles, which describe a
very different character: a young princess, named Prassede, or Paraskeva, who dedicated
to monastic life, copied books and set off for a pilgrimage to Rome. Is Prassede the
same Predislava-Evfrosiniia? Or is she her sister Eupraxia? Did she travel to Jerusalem
or to Rome? These are the main still opened questions, which the present study aim to
focus and, if possible, to clear up.