Paraskeva of Polotsk

Paraskeva of Polotsk (called in some sources also Euphrasia or Praxedis) is a legendary princess of Polotsk. Her story appears in chronicles and accounts of much later date, from the sixteenth century, and the article we start from says that chroniclers and scholars, beginning with Maciej Stryjkowski, doubt that she existed.

According to those unconfirmed accounts, Paraskeva was the daughter of Rogvolod (Vasily), prince of Polotsk, and became a nun. She lived seven years beside the church of the Saviour in Polotsk, then went on pilgrimage to Rome, perhaps to escape the Tatars, and lived there in holiness for several years; she is said to have died at Rome on 12 November 1239. The same article says she was numbered among the saints in 1273 and is regarded as a saint by the Catholic, Greek-⁠Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

Scholars think she did not exist as a separate person. Her figure is believed to have arisen from the blending of the memory of real saints: Euphrosyne of Polotsk, Paraskeva (Praxedis) of Rome, honoured on 26 July, Euphrasia, cousin of Euphrosyne, and Euphrosyne of Pskov. The source used is the Belarusian Wikipedia article.