Holy Duchess or a cruel murderer? The kniahini Olga, "equal to the apostles", who brought Christianity to Rus, did not always wear a halo. This is her second face.
The Orthodox Church honors Princess Olga as the holy precursor of Christianity in Kievan Rus. Few saints can boast the title "equal to the apostles", given in truly special cases.
She is referred to as the woman-apostle of Russia, and hagiographers compete in praising her beauty, wisdom, mercy and justice. Well ... Saint Peter would probably fall in the grave if he knew what the kniahini was doing when he was young. And she did a lot.
According to tradition, Rus was ruled by Igor Rurykowicz in the years 912-945. In the last year of his reign, he went to Drewlan for tribute, and there he lost his life, namely, he was captured and tied to two bent trees. When the trees were released, the prince's body unfortunately tore in two . In his capital - Kiev - Igor left behind a young widow Olga and a minor son Svyatoslav.
Later that same year, the Drewlanes - who had just killed her husband - sent envoys to Princess Olga proposing to marry them. They probably decided that the young widow was helpless and completely lost, and that marriage to their Prince Mala would be the perfect solution.
Perfect, but for Drewlan themselves:their leader would sit comfortably on the Kiev throne and rule Russia, and the little prince Svyatoslav would be in their power. Igor's rightful heir would probably have died suddenly in his sleep, fell out of the window, or had had some other mishap and Mal would have been well established.
Drewlanie discovering new inland shipping routes
Never underestimate your enemy. The Drewlans forgot about it
However, not everything went as planned by Igor's murderers, and the young widow turned out to be a good politician and tactician . Having received the MPs, Mała listened to them with the air of a thoroughbred poker player and seemingly agreed to their suggestion, asking them to come the next day. Pleased with themselves, the Drewlanes went to sleep without feeling anything.
Meanwhile, the kniahini ordered a very large hole to be dug behind her seat. The next day, Olga's people came to the deputies, inviting them on behalf of the ruler to a ceremony to celebrate their visit and the planned engagement.
Beautiful and dangerous. Kniahini Olga.
The proud Drewlans ordered them to be carried to their place in the boat they had arrived. The kniahini subjects complied with their request and carried them… straight down. There, however, they carefully buried the guests alive . By accepting the offer of marriage to Maja, Olga bravely planned her revenge, and the "funeral" of the delegation was just the beginning.
Her vengeance suits her
The young widow (and at the same time a maid on hand) followed the blow and continued her revenge. Here is how Nestor illustrated it in his "Tale of Bygone Years":
And Olga, sending to Drewlan, said to them:"If you really ask me, send eminent people, that I will come in honor of your prince, otherwise the people of Kiev will not let me go. ".
Hearing this, the Drewlans chose the best husbands to rule the Woodland land and sent for her. And when the Drewlans came, she ordered Olga to prepare a bath, saying:"After taking a bath, come to me." The bathhouse was set on fire, the Drewlans came in and started washing themselves; and the bathhouse was closed behind them, and she ordered [Olga] to set fire to it from the door; everyone has gone so badly.
But that was not enough. Olga sent envoys to Drewlan again, announcing that she was already going to them and asking for a lot of honey to be prepared in the castle next to which Igor is buried. She wanted to perform the funeral rites at his grave and make him a grave. What happened next? Old man Nestor will tell us the best.
Olga with her son Svyatoslav.
Then the Drewlans sat down to drink, and ordered Olga to serve her men before them. And the Drewlan to Olga said, "Where is our team we sent for you?" And she said, "They follow me with my husband's team."
And when the Drewlans got drunk, she made her cones drink to them, and she walked away and told her team to network Drewlan; and they baked five thousand of them. And Olga returned to Kiev and prepared the army for the rest of them.
Holy cruelty?
This is not the end. The Kniahini conquered the lands of Drewlan, and the siege of Iskorostenia went down in history. The city was conquered by trickery. Besieged by the army, the kniahini Iskorosten began to starve, which prompted the inhabitants to start negotiations.
Drewlanie taking a hot bath. The last one in my life.
And again Olga's cunning was revealed - she told the townspeople that she had enough killing and that each house could be bought for a few pigeons. The besieged happily agreed. At night, Olga ordered glowing tinder to be tied to the pigeons' feet and released. The birds soared straight to their lofts outside the walls and set fire to the city which quickly fell. Igor's murder problem has turned to ashes. Literally.
You'd better not mess with SUCH a woman…
Nevertheless, a paradox for me is Olga's later career, her elevation to the altars and her strong cult. It cannot be forgotten that those were "interesting" times and what seemed unusual and repulsive to us did not arouse any special emotion at the time. Nestor could also color his story a bit or repeat an already colored legend.
The duchess, who exercised regency on behalf of her minor son after her husband's death, turned out to be a seasoned politician and a good ruler who, among other things, took care of the development of trade.
Its undoubted merit was the spreading of Christianity in Rus and an attempt to introduce the country into the circle of Christian states. And that in her youth she baked up and burned a few thousand husbands, women, and children? Trifle. This, in fact, did not stop people from becoming a saint in the early Middle Ages.