Prince of Vitebsk

Who he is

Name

probably Vasilko Bryacheslavich (en.wikipedia's list: 1186-1221); not pinned

Title

prince of Vitebsk

Since

1186 by the en.wikipedia list

Born

not known

Family

the Vasilkovichi of Vitebsk: son of Bryacheslav Vasilkovich (prince of Vitebsk in 1180), grandson of Vasilko Sviatoslavich of Polotsk; his son Bryacheslav will hold Vitebsk 1221-1232 and Polotsk from 1232. In 1195 Vitebsk was held by a son-in-law of David Rostislavich of Smolensk (ru.wikipedia, unnamed): if the two accounts agree, Vasilko is that son-in-law

Confidence

low

en.wikipedia (Principality of Vitebsk: list of princes; Smolensk influence from 1186; back under Polotsk after the campaign of 1195); ru.wikipedia (Ярослав Всеволодович: 'his nephews took Vitebsk, where a son-in-law of the Smolensk prince was ruling')

Overlord

the prince of Polotsk: Vitebsk came back under Polotsk after the campaign of 1195 (en.wikipedia), having been under Smolensk's influence from 1186 (and briefly Smolensk's in 1165-1167)

What it holds

• Vitebsk fort and trading quarter at the Vitba mouth
• the Daugava between Polotsk's land and Smolensk's, with Usvyat on the road to the Lovat (given to Polotsk with Vitebsk in 1021)

How it was acquired

Vitebsk passed to the Polotsk house in 1021 and became an appanage of the Vasilkovichi after 1101.

Allies and rivals

Smolensk (David's son-in-law held it in 1195); the Olgovichi and their Polotsk friends, who took it in 1195-1196.

How things stand that morning

Probably Vasilko Bryacheslavich holds Vitebsk, now in Polotsk's orbit again after the Olgovichi and the Polotsk princes took it from Smolensk's side in 1195-1196; the peace of 1196 is not known to have returned it to Smolensk. Not pinned.

Wealth

Daugava tolls, the portage road to the Lovat by Usvyat, the market.

Military

The Vitebsk fort (wood and earth) with a stone church of the Annunciation.

Threats

• the next quarrel between Smolensk and Chernigov
• Polotsk's claims

Where the sources disagree

• en.wikipedia gives Vasilko Bryacheslavich an unbroken 1186-1221, while ru.wikipedia has the Olgovichi take Vitebsk from Smolensk's son-in-law in 1195: either Vasilko lost and regained it, or the en.wikipedia list is schematic.
• The map keeps Vitebsk in the Polotsk realm, as the ground of the Polotsk house and under Polotsk again after 1195.

Evidence: A Wikipedia list of princes without dates of evidence, and the Hypatian account of 1195-1196 as summarised in ru.wikipedia.

On the map: Extent reconstructed from the later Vitebsk land; not fixed for 1200.

Primary sources for Polotsk

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Chronicle of Novgorod (kept year by year; the Synodal manuscript written in the 13th and 14th centuries). Novgorod's own record, kept at St Sophia. Read online
• The Hypatian Chronicle (the Kievan Chronicle compiled about 1200 at the Vydubichi monastery; the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle in the 13th century). The southern record. Read online
• The Livonian Chronicle of Henry, Henry of Livonia (1225 to 1227). The chief source for the Baltic mission. Read online
• Charter book of Livonia, Estonia and Courland, volume 1, 1093 to 1300 (documents of 1093 to 1300, edited 1853). The documents of the Livonian mission: Innocent III's bull of 5 October 1199 calling for a crusade to protect the Livonian church, the privileges for Bishop Albert, Archbishop Hartwig of Bremen's acts for the see of Üxküll, and the later charters that settle who held what on the Düna.
• The Tale of Igor's Campaign (about 1187 to 1200 (disputed)). A poem on Igor Sviatoslavich's defeat by the Polovtsians in 1185 that addresses the princes of the day by name: Vsevolod of Vladimir, Rurik and David Rostislavich, Yaroslav of Galich, Roman of Volhynia and the Olgovichi of Chernigov, of whom Igor himself was prince from 1198. Read online