PREDSLAVA / PEREDSLAVA VLADIMIROVNA (the year of birth is unknown, † after 1018 in Poland), the Princess of Kiev, since 1018 illegitimate wife (concubine) of King Boleslaw I the Brave of Poland.

Father

  • Vladimir I Svyatoslavich (956/958 – July 15, 1015), the Prince of Novgorod, the Grand Prince of Kiev (978–1015), the Baptist of Rus

Mother

  • Rogneda (the year of birth is unknown - † 1000/1), the Princess of Polotsk, the wife of Prince Vladimir I Svyatoslavich

Biography

She was the daughter of Vladimir Svyatoslavich and Polotsk princess Rogneda. The exact date of birth is unknown. L. E. Morozova suggests that Predslava was born between 982 and 983. [6, p. 167]. She lived in a village on the river Lybid, which was later named after her Predslavino. After Izyaslav and Rogneda left for Polotsk, she probably stayed with her sisters in Kiev. Judging by the testimony of sources, Predslava played a rather active role during the internecine war between Yaroslav and Svyatopolk. According to chronicles, it was she who informed her brother, who reigned at that time in Novgorod, about the death of the father, Vladimir I Svyatoslavich, and warned about the danger posed by Svyatopolk [2, p. 592]. It was to her that Boris's warrior Moses Ugrin, who escaped after the murder of Boris and Gleb, came, and it was her letters to Yaroslav, according to historians, that were included in the "Primary Chronical" and woven into the canvas of events [4, p. 193, 195, 197-198].

It should be noted, however, that in general, the events of the internecine struggle 1015-1019 contain many controversial issues in connection with the contradictions that abound not only in Rus sources, but also in European chronicles, primarily the Chronicles of Titmar and Gallus Anonymous [I, p. 105; V, p. 64-83]. Reconstructing the sequence of events after the death of Vladimir Svyatoslavich on July 15, 1015, researchers face several fundamental and controversial issues. The main stumbling block is the record of Titmar that Svyatopolk, who was at one time in custody, managed to escape to Poland to his father-in-law Boleslaw I the Brave [V, p. 77]. According to Rus sources, Svyatopolk was sitting in a dungeon near Kiev in Vyshgorod [7, p. 452; 8, p. 11]. At the same time, the flight of Svyatopolk was so hasty that Svyatopolk's wife, Boleslavna, remained in captivity in Kiev.

As noted by A. V. Nazarenko, the acceptance of Titmar's record about the immediate flight of Svyatopolk in 1015 means that the description of the events of the internecine struggle in ancient Russian sources is completely falsified, since in this case the entire chronicle chronology of events is called into question [7, p. 454]. If Svyatopolk was forced to quickly flee Kiev, then the power in it already belonged to one of Vladimir's sons. However, Yaroslav at that moment was definitely in Novgorod. Nevertheless, in 1018 the struggle for the princely table unfolded precisely between Yaroslav and Svyatopolk. Accordingly, in the absence of Svyatopolk, a coup d'etat took place in Kiev, in the result of which Yaroslav became the Grand Prince. This sequence of events logically leads to the conclusion that the murderer of Boris and Gleb could not have been Svyatopolk, as Rus sources say, but Yaroslav himself. This version, indirectly confirmed by the reports of "Strands about Eimund", was formulated by N. N. Ilyin [3, p. 156-169] and subsequently supported by many researchers [1, p. 129-131; 6, c. 167; 10, 25–31, etc.], however, it was criticized by A. V. Nazarenko [7, p. 452-455].

The most detailed information about Predslava contains the story of the capture of Kiev by the Polish king Boleslaw I the Brave in 1018. Among the possible reasons for the Polish campaign against Rus is the desire of the offended Boleslaw to avenge the failed matchmaking to Predslava [I, p. 35-36]. As V.T. Pashuto rightly believed, the purpose of the campaign was purely political: Boleslaw sought to plant his son-in-law in Kiev, turning him into his vassal. [8, p. 49]. This plot is absent in the early copies of The Primary Chronicle, but can be traced in the Novgorod Fourth and Sophia First Chronicles, as well as in later chronicles [II; III; IV] and in Western sources. Before the start of the campaign against Rus, not wanting to allow the union of Rus and Germany, Boleslaw wooed Predslava, but was refused. There are different points of view in historiography on the date of the matchmaking. V.N. Tatishchev believed that it took place around 1014 [9, p. 70]. The opinion of V.N. Tatishchev was refuted by V.D. Korolyuk [5, p. 254] and A. V. Nazarenko [7, p. 458–459], who attributed the date of matchmaking to 1013–1017. In any case, Boleslaw's daughter, who was Svyatopolk's wife, remained in Kiev at the time of the capture by Boleslaw the Brave. And revenge on Yaroslav and Predslava for the insult inflicted by their refusal, although it cannot be considered the main motive of Boleslaw's campaign against Kiev, still should not be completely discounted. After Boleslaw entered the city, Predslava and her sisters became prisoners of the Polish ruler.

The further development of events differ in the chroniclers. Titmar claims that Boleslaw married Predslava “illegally” and “forgetting” about his wife Ode [II, p. 137; III, p. 408; IV, p. 132]. Gallus Anonymous, on the contrary, says that Boleslaw treated Predslava as a concubine only once in order to avenge the personal insult inflicted by her refusal [I, p. 37]. As a result, Predslava was taken to Poland. It is known that later Boleslaw wanted to exchange Predslava and other captives for his daughter Boleslavna, but Yaroslav refused [7, p. 490]. No more information about Predslava is found in Rus sources.

The Polish researcher G. Labuda assumed that Predslava lived with her sisters on Lednice Island [11, s. 404-411], however, reliable information about the further fate of the sister of Yaroslav the Wise has not been attested.

Court

Moses, one of the chronicler's informants, who was captured by Poles together with Predslava [8, p. 39, 51, 310]

Sources

I. Gall Anonim. Khronika ili deianiia kniazei ili pravitelei pol'skikh / Pol'skie latinoiazychnye srednevekovye istochniki. Teksty, perevod, kommentarii. M., 1990.

II. Letopisnyi sbornik, imenuemyi Tverskoi letopis'iu // Polnoe sobranie russkikh letopisei (PSRL). T. 15. SPb., 1863.

III. Novgorodskaia chetvertaia letopis' // PSRL. T. 4. Novgorodskie i pskovskie letopisi. Ch. 1. Vyp.1. Pg., 1915.

IV. Sofiiskaia Pervaia letopis' po spisku I.N. Tsarskogo // PSRL T. 39. M., 1994.

V. Titmar Merzeburgskii. Khronika (1012–1018  gg.) // Drevniaia Rus' v svete zarubezhnykh istochnikov: Khrestomatiia / Pod red. T.N. Dzhakson, I.G. Konovalovoi, A.V. Podosinova. T. 4. Zapadnoevropeiskie istochniki / Sost., per. i komment. A.V.Nazarenko. M., 2010. S. 64–83. 

Bibliography

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6. Morozova L.E. Velikie i neizvestnye zhenshchiny Drevnei Rusi. M, 2009.

7. Nazarenko A.V. Drevniaia Rus' na mezhdunarodnykh putiakh. Mezhdistsiplinarnye ocherki kul'turnykh, torgovykh, politicheskikh sviazei IX– XII vekov. M., 2001.

8. Pashuto V.T. Vneshniaia politika Drevnei Rusi. M., 1968. 

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10. Khoroshev A.S. Politicheskaia istoriia russkoi kanonizatsii (XI–XIV vv.) M., 1986.

11. Labuda G. Studia nad początkami państwa polskiego. T. 2. Poznań, 1988