Gleb Vseslavich (died September 13, 1119) was the

prince of Minsk The Principality of Minsk was an appanage principality of the Principality of Polotsk and centered on the city of Minsk (today in Belarus). It existed from its founding in 1101 until it was nominally annexed by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in ...

between 1101 and 1119. During his reign, Minsk was at war with

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

and

Polotsk Polotsk () or Polatsk () is a town in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It is situated on the Dvina River and serves as the administrative center of Polotsk District. Polotsk is served by Polotsk Airport and Borovitsy air base. As of 2025, it has a pop ...

. He was the son of

Vseslav of Polotsk Vseslav Bryachislavich ( 1029 – 24 April 1101; also known as ''Vseslav the Sorcerer'' or ''Vseslav the Seer'') was Prince of Polotsk (1044–1101) and Grand Prince of Kiev (1068–1069). Together with Rostislav Vladimirovich and voivode Vys ...

and founded the Minsk branch of

Rurikids The Rurik dynasty, also known as the Rurikid or Riurikid dynasty, as well as simply Rurikids or Riurikids, was a noble lineage allegedly founded by the Varangian prince Rurik, who, according to tradition, established himself at Novgorod in the ...

Reign

In 1104, his city of Minsk was under siege from the voivode Putiata, Oleg Sviatoslavich, and Yaropolk Vladimirovich, the son of

Vladimir II Monomakh Vladimir II Monomakh (; Christian name: ''Vasily''; 26 May 1053 – 19 May 1125) was Grand Prince of Kiev from 1113 to 1125. He is considered a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and is celebrated on May 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics), May 6 ...

. In 1106, he had partaken the raid on the Baltic tribe of

Semigallians Semigallians (; ; also ''Zemgalians'', ''Semigalls'' or ''Semigalians'') were the Balts, Baltic tribe that lived in the south central part of contemporary Latvia and northern Lithuania. They are noted for their long resistance (1219–1290) agai ...

. In 1116, he started the war with Monomakh and burned down

Slutsk Slutsk is a town in Minsk Region, in central Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Slutsk District, and is located on the Sluch (Belarus), Sluch River south of the capital Minsk. As of 2025, it has a population of 59,450. Geography ...

. In response to that, Monomakh with his sons,

Davyd Sviatoslavich Davyd Sviatoslavich was the ruler of Murom and Chernigov. The date of his birth is uncertain. Before his father's death was appointed to the Pereyaslav Principality, however in 1076 he ran to Murom which was located as far away as possible from ...

, and sons of Oleg Sviatoslavich assaulted

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

. The Monomakhs took

Orsha Orsha (; , ; ) is a city in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It is situated on the fork of the Dnieper, Dnieper River and Arshytsa River, and it serves as the administrative center of Orsha District. As of 2025, it has a population of 101,662. History ...

Drutsk Drutsk (, ; , , also known as ''Дрютескъ'' (''Dryutesk'') or ''Дрюческъ'' (''Druchesk'') in the Middle Ages), is a historical town in Belarus, 40 kilometres (ca. 25 miles) west of Mogilev. The town was established in 1078 as an o ...

, and took Minsk under siege. Gleb started negotiations with Vladimir who in spirit of the upcoming

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

holidays agreed to conclude a peace. Completely ignoring the conditions of the signed peace treaty, Gleb resumed his hostilities in 1119. The same year,

Mstislav Vladimirovich Mstislav I Vladimirovich Monomakh (; Christian name: ''Fedor''; February 1076 – 14 April 1132), also known as Mstislav the Great, was Grand Prince of Kiev from 1125 until his death in 1132. After his death, the state began to quickly disint ...

, the son of Monomakh, took Gleb as a prisoner to

where the last one died shortly.

Family

*Wife: since 1090

Princess Yaropolkovna of Minsk Princess Yaropolkovna of Minsk (1074 – 3 January 1158) was the daughter of prince Yaropolk Iziaslavich of Volhynia and Kunigunde von Orlamünde; the princess-consort of Gleb Vseslavich of Minsk ( 1090–1118); and, according to some scholarly ...

(died 1158), a daughter of Yaropolk Iziaslavovich *Sons: # Rostislav (died 1165), Prince of Minsk 1146–1165 and

Prince of Polotsk The Prince of Polotsk ruled the Principality of Polotsk within the realm of Kievan Rus' or within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the mid-9th century to 1307. History Rogvolod, Rogvold, a non-Rurik Dynasty, Rurikid Varangians, Varangian, was t ...

1151–1159 # Volodar (died 1167+), 1146–1167, Prince of Minsk 1151–1159, 1165–1167, and Prince of Polotsk 1167 #Vsevolod (died 1159/1162), Prince of Iziaslav 1151–1159, Prince of Strezhev 1159–1162 #Iziaslav (died 1134)

Notes

References

Bibliography

*Alekseyev L. V. — Polotsk Land // Medieval Russian Principality 10th—13th centuries — published 1975 1119 deaths Iziaslavichi family (Polotsk) People from Polotsk 12th-century princes from Kievan Rus' Eastern Orthodox monarchs Year of birth unknown People from Minsk {{europe-noble-stub