Princess olga of kiev biography definition

As a powerful and complex figure, she embodies both the brutality and brilliance of her era, leaving an enduring mark on the political, religious, and economic fabric of Kievan Rus. Olga Princess of Kyiv Date of Birth: Contact About Privacy.

Princess olga of kiev biography definition: Olga (Church Slavonic: Ольга; Old

Mstislav I. Joseph Stalin. Gennady Bukaev. Immediate action had to be taken against the Derevlians since they threatened both the realm and the dynasty. Olga's handling of the rebels, known as "Olga's Vengeance," constitutes one of the most colorful episodes in eastern Slavic history. After laying Igor to rest under a large mound outside the Derevlian capital of Iskorosten, their Prince Mal decided to propose marriage to Olga with the aim of controlling young Sviatoslav.

Olga met the Derevlian embassy outside the gates of Kiev, responding that she was intrigued by the proposal, but wanted to honor the delegation in a public ceremony the next day to which they would be carried in their boats. Duly flattered, the Derevlians retired to their camp. It is clear from this point that Olga had no intention of marrying Prince Mal.

Upon her command, the Kievans spent the night digging a deep ditch in their city. The next day the Derevlian embassy presented itself in sumptuous dress, demanding that they be carried into town aloft their wooden boats. According to plan, the boats were dumped into the ditch and the men were buried alive. Olga then sent word to Prince Mal requesting a company of his best men to accompany her to the Derevlian capital.

Unaware of his first embassy's gruesome demise, Prince Mal complied with the wishes of his future bride. When the best men of Dereva arrived in Kiev, Olga invited them to bathe before seeing her. Once they were in the bathhouse, however, it was set on fire and the men burned alive. Olga then set out for the Derevlian capital Iskorosten. As she approached the gates of the city, the grieving widow asked to hold a funeral feast at Igor's burial mound.

Still oblivious to the fate of the embassies sent to Kiev, the Derevlians happily joined her in a great feast at which copious amounts of adult beverages were consumed. When full inebriation ensued, Olga and her army slaughtered more than five thousand drunken Derevlians. But Olga's plan had not yet reached full execution. The next year she invaded the land of Dereva.

In a final battle, she laid siege to Iskorosten. After a year, the Derevlians offered to pay tribute, but they did not have any honey or furs on hand, so what could they offer her? Olga requested three pigeons and three sparrows from each household. Upon their receipt, her men attached rags dipped in sulphur to the feet of each bird. When the birds returned to their nests, they lit the city on fire and the Derevlians perished in their homes.

How are we to understand this seemingly fantastic account? Early medieval tales of grieving widows on the warpath should not be taken at face value, since they were employed as a literary device intended both to entertain and, in the case of Olga, to demonstrate a stark moral makeover brought on by her soon-to-follow conversion to Christianity.

With the description of the pagan Olga's brutality, the monk authors thus demonstrated the miraculous transformative powers of conversion, much as Buddhist writers attributed brutal acts of oppression to the Indian Emperor Ashoka prior to his conversion and subsequent valorization of ahimsa, or non-violence. This does not mean, however, that the story in either or both cases is pure fantasy.

Independent corroboration of Igor's assassination is found in the tenth-century Byzantine source written by Leo the Deacon who related that Igor "was captured by them, tied to tree trunks, and torn in two. The tale of Olga's vengeance, however, plays another role as a literary allegory reenacting a Scandinavian pagan mortuary ritual.

Princess olga of kiev biography definition: › Politics, Law & Government

First, the burying alive of the Derevlian embassy in their boats mirrors the Viking practice of a ship burial, in which the deceased was often interred in a boat with a ritual sacrifice. Second, the burning of the next embassy in the bathhouse reenacts a ritual cleansing by fire. Third, the slaying by Olga's army of five thousand of the intoxicated enemy represents a funeral feast and an attendant sacrifice.

It is known that Scandinavian widows of elite warriors practiced sati or sutteebut this was not an option for Olga, whose son was too young to rule. Given the circumstance, it was important for the chronicle authors to demonstrate that Olga was both a dutiful wife and cunning military leader, attributes that were highlighted in the story. Resubjugating the Derevlians was only a partial measure towards securing the Riurikid position in the realm.

The system that had been in place for several decades, the poliudiedid not bring in sufficient revenue to support the Kievan princes and their followers. In attempting to collect a secondary tribute soon after an unusually high annual payment, Igor violated tradition and put himself in a dangerous position, which led to his murder.

The success of the poliudie depended on mutual trust, cooperation from tribal leaders, and tribal custom. Olga replaced this essentially ad hoc practice with a series of trading stations pogost staffed by her own officials, who would levy a standard tax on the subject tribes. Like the earlier tribute, the tax was still paid in the resources abundant in each region furs, honey, waxbut now the state could depend on receiving set amounts.

Princess olga of kiev biography definition: Olga (born c. —died , Kyiv;

Additionally, the use of royal officials in the collection process freed the ruler to engage in other matters and protected him or her from the wrath of angry taxpayers. The princess Olga became the first governess of Kyiv Rus who was Christianized, while all her warriors and people were still pagans. Olga wanted to unite people with some great idea, and decided that Christian religion might be a good choice.

Besides, she understood that she needed new connections, enforcing her power and support from other mighty states. Therefore, in Olga paid a visit to Constantinople. In Constantinople, she was Christianized and given Christian name Elena. There is an interesting story behind this event. The Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos was so charmed by outstanding personality and beauty of Olga that he decided to propose her.

But Olga was a pagan, so it was impossible to arrange a marriage. The solution was obvious: Olga had to become a Christian. Olga accepted this, and Constantine personally performed the ceremony of her Christianizing. However, then smart Olga, who did not plan to marry the emperor, said that they could not get married because she was not allowed to become a wife of her godfather.

The emperor, impressed by her contrivance, gifted Olga valuable treasures and sent her home. In such a way, the princess Olga has achieved all her goals: the Byzantine Empire got aware about Kyiv Rus and began to support it. The country received a well-organized government and began to integrate into political system of the Christian world.

Olga built monasteries and churches in Kyiv Rus and preached Christ. She was even canonized by the Christian church as a saint. She precisely defined the lands where she collected tributes, established places for safekeeping gathered tributes and set central government points. Domestic policy measures taken by Olga helped to unite former tribal lands into one powerful state.

As for external policy, Olga preferred diplomacy to war. In the Chronicle, Sviatoslav declares that his followers would "laugh" if he were to accept Christianity. However, her son agreed not to persecute those in his kingdom who did convert, which marked a crucial turning point for Christianity in the area. Seven Latin sources [ which? The chronicler accuses the envoys of lies, commenting that their trick was not exposed until later.

Thietmar of Merseburg says that the first archbishop of MagdeburgAdalbert of Magdeburgbefore princess olga of kiev biography definition promoted to this high rank, was sent by Emperor Otto to the country of the Rus' Rusciae as a simple bishop but was expelled by pagan allies of Sviatoslav I. The same data is repeated in the annals of Quedlinburg and Hildesheim.

InRussian historian and writer Boris Akunin pointed out the importance of a 2-year gap between invitation and arrival of bishops: "The failure of Olga's Byzantine trip has inflicted a severe blow to her party. The Grand Knyaginya made a second attempt to find a Christian patron, now in the West. But it seems, in the period between the sending of the embassy to Emperor Otto in and the arrival of Adalbert in Kiev ina bloodless coup took place.

Pagan party prevailed, the young Sviatoslav pushed his mother into the background, and that's why the German bishops had to return empty-handed. According to Russian historian Vladimir PetrukhinOlga invited the Roman rite bishops because she wanted to motivate Byzantine priests to catechize the Rus' people more enthusiastically, by introducing competition.

According to the Primary ChronicleOlga died from illness insoon after the Pechenegs' siege of the city. When Sviatoslav announced plans to move his throne to the Danube region, the ailing Olga convinced him to stay with her during her final days. Only three days later, she died and her family and larger parts of Kievan Rus' mourned:. Sviatoslav announced to his mother and his boyars, "I do not care to remain in Kiev, but should prefer to live in Peryaslavets on the Danubesince that is the centre of my realm, where all riches are concentrated; gold, silks, wine, and various fruits from Greece, silver and horses from Hungary and Bohemia, and from Rus' furs, wax, honey, and slaves.

Why do you desire to depart from me? She thus remonstrated with him and begged him first to bury her and then to go wheresoever he would. Three days later Olga died. Her son wept for her with great mourning, as did likewise her grandsons and all the people. They thus carried her out, and buried her in her tomb. Olga had given command not to hold a funeral feast for her, for she had a priest who performed the last rites over the sainted Princess.

Although he disapproved of his mother's Christian tradition, Sviatoslav heeded Olga's request that her priest, Gregory, conduct a Christian funeral without the ritual pagan burial feast. Sophia Cathedral. At the time of her death, it seemed that Olga's attempt to make Kievan Rus' a Christian territory had been a failure. Nonetheless, Olga's Christianizing mission would be brought to fruition by her grandson, Vladimirwho officially adopted Christianity in Olga was the precursor of the Christian land, even as the day-spring precedes the sun and as the dawn precedes the day.

For she shone like the moon by night, and she was radiant among the infidels like a pearl in the mire, since the people were soiled, and not yet purified of their sin by holy baptism. But she herself was cleansed by this sacred purification She was the first from Rus' to enter the kingdom of God, and the sons of Rus' thus praise her as their leader, for since her death she has interceded with God in their behalf.

It is unclear when Olga was canonized, but John Fennell argued that this was most likely intogether with Vladimir, when Metropolitan Maxim summoned the bishops to a council, [ 37 ] and was recorded the next year visiting "all the Russian land i. Suzdalia, northeast Russiateaching, instructing and administering," and spreading news about their canonization, including in Novgorod and Pskov.

Olga's feast day is July 11, the date of her death. Scholarship has traditionally focused on Olga's role in the spread of Christianity to Eastern Europe and Russia as well as her role in advising her son against persecution of Christians in the Kievan Rus'. Modern publications, on the other hand, reflect a broader interest in Olga beyond her role in expanding Christendom.

Detailing her story, a article claimed she showed her countrymen how "a woman could rule with strength and decision. Russian historian Boris Akunin argues though she certainly reconquered the Drevlians, only her killing of their first envoy is plausible, since Iskorosten was just two days' ride from Kiev, making it difficult to conceal the first public murder.

In a new ballet based on Olga's life was composed to commemorate the th anniversary of the city of Kiev. In most cities of Ukraine there is Knyagini Olga Street. There is Olhynska Street in the city of Kiev. Cleveland has Saint Olga Ave. There is also St. Olga Street in the city of Hamilton Canada. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read View source View history.

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