Saint Olga of Kiev

Description

Saint Olga (Church Slavonic: Ольга, in the baptism — Elena; born c. 890–925, in Pskov – died 969 AD in Kiev) was a regent of Kievan Rus’ for her son Svyatoslav from 945 until 960. Due to the imperfect transliteration between Old East Slavic and the English language, the name Olga is synonymous with Olha. The baptism of Olga took the name Elenа. She is known for her obliteration of the Drevlians, a tribe that had killed her husband Igor of Kiev. Even though it would be her grandson Vladimir that would convert the entire nation to Christianity, because of her efforts to spread Christianity through Rus’, Olga is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church with the epithet “Equal to the Apostles” and her feast day is the 11th of July.

While Olga’s birthdate is unknown, it could be as early as 890 AD and as late as 925 AD. According to the Primary Chronicle Olga was born and lived in Pskov (Old East Slavic: Плесковъ, Пльсковъ). Little is known about her life before her marriage to Prince Igor I of Kiev and the birth of their son, Svyatoslav. Igor was the son and heir of Rurik, founder of Rurik dynasty. After his father’s death Igor was under guardianship of Oleg, who had consolidated power in the region, conquering neighboring tribes and establishing a capital in Kiev. This loose tribal federation became known as Kievan Rus’, a territory covering what are now parts of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.

The Drevlians were a neighboring tribe with which the growing Kievan Rus’ empire had a complex relationship. The Drevlians had joined Kievan Rus’ in military campaigns against the Byzantine Empire and paid tribute to Igor’s predecessors. They stopped paying tribute upon Oleg’s death and instead gave money to a local warlord. In 945, Igor set out to the Drevlian capital, Iskorosten (today known as Korosten in northern Ukraine), to force the tribe to pay tribute to Kievan Rus’. Confronted by Igor’s larger army, the Drevlians backed down and paid him. As Igor and his army rode home, however, he decided the payment was not enough and returned, with only a small envoy, seeking more tribute.[10] Upon his arrival in their territory, the Drevlians murdered Igor. According to the Byzantine chronicler Leo the Deacon, Igor’s death was caused by a gruesome act of torture in which he was “captured by them, tied to tree trunks, and torn in two.”[ D. Sullivan has suggested that Leo may have invented this sensationalist version of Igor’s death, taking inspiration from Diodorus Siculus’ account of a similar killing method used by the robber Sinis, who lived near the Isthmus of Corinth and was killed by Theseus.