the ancient Slavonic Chronicle “The Narratives about Temporal Ages” nearly in 862, in relation to town assignation implemented by the legendary prince Rurikh to his warrior vassals. Among the assigned towns Polotsk was mentioned as well. The Chronicle reminds that the Krivichy Slavs settled on the river Polota and assumed the name Polotchane. The river Polota gave the name to the city. The annals mention the town Polotesk, Poltesk, or – according Scandinavian sagas – Pallteskiuborg, Plateskia. Initially, the settlement founded by the Balts was located on the hills close to the river Polota, 800 m from the place where the Polota fell into the Western Dvina; the site of ancient settlement covered less than 1 hectare, and the entire non-fortified town occupied about 6 hectares.
In the last quarter of the X century the prince Rogvolod, who was independent of Kiev and Novgorod, governed the town of Polotsk. He was the first prince of Polotsk, mentioned in the chronicles, whose personal significance was stressed with the following chronicle words: “He held the lands of Polotsk and ruled them”. By the time, Polotsk had grown into the centre of the Principality – the first state in the Belarusian lands where an independent dynasty of Polotsk princes had been governing for two and a half centuries. In the times of Rogvolod, the Principality of Polotsk was quite strong, and became the cradle of the Belarusian state system, culture and spirituality, the original historical motherland of the Belarusians.
The Chronicle also reminded the events that occurred approximately in 980. The Svyatoslaviches – the princes Yaropolk of Kiev and Vladimir or Novgorod, being at enmity with each other for the throne of Kiev, were searching for backing or the Polotsk prince Rogvolod, both of them asked in marriage his beautiful daughter Rogneda. Rogvolod preferred to avoid interference in that dissension. Rogneda favoured the match-makers of Yarop...