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"On Point"
MINSK, 2 February (BelTA) - Essentially, two women were able to influence the course of history as far back as the 12th century, influencer, film scholar, artist, and blogger Kseniya Leshchinskaya said in the latest episode of the V Teme. Nashi [On Point. The Nation’s Pride] project on BelTA’s YouTube channel, while discussing the support young Euphrosyne of Polotsk received in the monastery from her aunt, the abbess.
Commenting on the possible reasons for Euphrosyne of Polotsk entering a monastery, Kseniya Leshchinskaya drew attention to the young princess’s character, individuality, and vision. “Did people in the 12th century even have the right to something individual, their own? Back then, even the greatest philosophers published their works with references to the transmission of Divine thought,” she said.
She also does not rule out that it was precisely the expression of her own self that became key in making such a fateful decision. “Perhaps that’s why there is no information about any divine vision of Euphrosyne. Perhaps it is precisely this through which she affirms her own self. Yes, a very earthly version is also quite possible: she argued with her parents and made an impulsive decision. However, there is also a probability that she herself came to the realization to enter a monastery at the age of 12, and did it. And yet, neither in the Principality of Kiev nor the Principality of Moscow did anyone even speak of such a thing, but on the land of Polotsk it happened, circumstances unfolded in such a way that even her own aunt could provide such an opportunity to her niece. Possibly even circumventing the duke’s intentions. Essentially, two women were already able to influence the course of history back then,” Kseniya Leshchinskaya stressed.
Tour guide Sophia Macharashvili agrees that even at the age of 12, the young princess could have displayed the character of an adult with her own vision. “She could very well have resisted her parents’ plans, gone to her aunt in the monastery. She read and knew a lot, so this [passion and thirst for enlightenment] could have captivated her and subsequently turned her into a figure of such magnitude. Yes, at 12-15 years old a girl is, on the one hand, already maturing, but at the same time still a child, yet already with her own principles. However, even at 15 she could have shown who she was and for what purpose,” she stressed.
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