Saint Paraskeva Polatskaya

Paraskeva of Polotsk, also known as Euphrosyne, Praxedis, and Praxeda (12th century, Polotsk – November 12, 1239, Rome), was a legendary 13th-century princess of Polotsk and a saint (canonized 1273) of the Catholic, Greek Catholic, and Orthodox churches. The existence of Paraskeva has been questioned by chroniclers and researchers since the time of Maciej Stryjkowski. According to unverified accounts in much later (16th-century) chronicles and narratives, Paraskeva was a princess of Polotsk and the daughter of Rogvolod (Vasily). She became a nun, lived for seven years at the Church of the Savior in Polotsk, and later made a pilgrimage to Rome (possibly fleeing the Tatars). She lived a holy life in Rome for several years and received a relic of the True Cross from Pope Alexander VI, which she sent to Polotsk to be placed in a cross-shaped reliquary with an inscription. She died in Rome. Following a rigorous examination of her miracles by Pope Gregory X, she was canonized in 1273. It is believed, however, that Paraskeva of Polotsk did not exist and that her figure is a composite of several historical or saintly prototypes: Saint Euphrosyne of Polotsk (the aunt of the supposed Paraskeva), Saint Praxedes of Rome (venerated on July 26), Euphrosyne (Zvenislava Borisovna, a cousin of Euphrosyne of Polotsk and aunt of the supposed Paraskeva), and Euphrosyne (Euphraxia) of Pskov, who was also called a daughter of Rogvolod (Vasily) and thus a sister of the supposed Paraskeva. Information about these figures reached 16th-century chroniclers in a distorted form and merged into a single persona, which was subsequently confused with Saint Praxedes of Rome.