Revenge of the Princess Regent of the Grand Duchy of Kievan Rus

The canonized princess of the grand duchy of Kievan Rus, in present-day Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, carried out terrible revenge against the tribe that killed her husband.

The saint "Olga of Kiev" was once the one who waged a cruel revenge.

In 945, Prince Igor, ruler of Kievan Rus (the principality with a large territory in present-day Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, with its capital in Kiev) traveled to the fringes of his empire. A local tribe, the Drevlians, stopped paying tribute, captured Igor, and subjected him to a gruesome form of torture and murder. But soon, the Drevlians paid dearly for the cruel revenge of Igor's wife, Princess "Olga of Kiev".

In the 15 years after her husband's death, Princess Olga spent almost all of her time trying to find a way to destroy the Drevlian people. In 1547, the Russian Orthodox Church declared her a saint, and today, "Olga of Kiev" remains the patron saint of widows and converts in Ukraine.

Regent of Kievan Rus

Princess Olga was born around the year 900, in what is now Pskov, Russia, near the border with Estonia. But at the time, the city was part of a vast Viking empire known as Kievan Rus.

Byzantine Empire (red), with Constantinople as its capital and Kievan Rus Empire (in blue), with its capital Kiev circa 11th century

Olga herself was a Varangian, a descendant of the Vikings who first settled in the Kievan Rus empire. At less than 15 years old, she married Grand Prince Igor I, ruler of Kievan Rus.

A generation earlier, Igor's predecessor and adoptive father, Prince Oleg, consolidated power in Kievan Rus and established the new capital, Kiev. But there was one tribe he couldn't completely control: the Drevlians. With their own identity and goals, the Drevlians sided with Kievan Rus in the wars with the Byzantine Empire and paid tribute to Oleg. But when he died in 945, their attitudes changed.

That year, when Prince Igor went to the Drevlian tribal capital (today the city of Korosten in northern Ukraine) to collect tribute, they brutally murdered him. According to the Byzantine chronicles, 'they bent two birch trees down, tying them to the sides of the prince's feet. Then they dropped the tree straight back, tearing the prince in half."

But the Drevlians underestimated his wife - Princess Olga. At that time, Olga was about 20 years old and had a three-year-old son, Sviatoslav. And since her son was too young to rule the country, Olga took over as regent of Kievan Rus.

Monument to Princess Olga in Michael Square, Kiev.

Immediately, Princess "Olga of Kiev" began to seek revenge against the Drevlians. And it was the enemy who gave her a chance.

After brutally murdering Prince Igor, Prince Mal of Drevlian brazenly proposed to the regent Kievan Rus. Now that Olga was still single, Mal thought he could bring Kievan Rus' territory under Drevlian control through that marriage.

Before Igor's body was cold enough, Mal sent twenty sons to Kiev to convince Olga to marry him. Of course, Olga has no intention of marrying the man who killed her husband. Even so, Drevlian's proposal gave her a chance. Instead of refusing the offer, Olga welcomed the emissaries to Kiev and promised to honor them. She then ordered the soldiers to dig a ditch.

The next day, messengers dressed in beautiful clothes arrived at the reception. Olga led them to the edge of the ditch, and motioned for the soldiers to throw them all into the ditch, burying them alive.

Princess Olga of Kiev is still not satisfied. After burying the Drevlian emissaries alive, Olga immediately contemplated her next act of revenge.

Before news of Olga's revenge reached the Drevlians, the princess wrote to Prince Mal. Olga asks Mal to send his best warriors to Kiev to escort her back to Drevlian as a bride.

Olga took revenge by burying and burning the enemy messengers - 15th century chronicle illustration.

Continuous and cruel revenge

Unaware of Olga's wrath and the fact that twenty emissaries had been killed, Mal continued to send a group of leaders to escort them.

When the Drevlian chiefs arrived, Olga suggested that they wash up after their journey. And when they entered the bathroom, the regent locked the door, burning down the entire building. No one survived.

Olga still wasn't angry, but the princess knew she had to act fast. Before Mal and the Drevlians realized the bloody fate of the messengers, Olga and her army moved quickly north of the Drevlian capital.

Upon arrival, she organized a funeral feast for her husband and invited Drevlian warriors to attend as a gesture of goodwill. But when the Drevlians were drunk, Olga's loyal warriors drew their swords and slaughtered 5,000 people.

At that time the Drevlians feared that Olga would not stop until she had wiped out their entire tribe. The survivors knelt and begged Olga to accept the tribute and return to Kiev.

The princess of Kievan Rus refused the offer, instead besieging the Drevlian capital for over a year until they begged for mercy.

Olga makes a peace offer. 'Give me three pigeons and three sparrows from each house' - recorded the ancient East Slavic chronicle of Kievan Rus. "I don't want to impose a heavy tribute like my husband, I'm just asking for this small gift from you," Olga said.

An illustration of Princess Olga's next revenge.

The Drevlians immediately agreed, surprised at the small price to pay for peace. But Olga had another plan.

The Kievan Rus chronicle records: 'At this time Olga gave each soldier in her army a pigeon or a sparrow, commanding them to attach to each bird's feet a piece of sulfur tied with pieces of sulfur. small piece of cloth'.

That night, Olga told her soldiers to burn the cloth and release the birds. The birds immediately flew to their flocks inside the thatched-roofed houses of the Drevlian people, simultaneously igniting terrible fires.

According to the Kievan Rus chronicler, "There was not a single house that did not burn down and the fire could not be extinguished, because all the houses burned at the same time."

'The people tried to flee the town, and Olga ordered the soldiers to arrest them. She captured the city, set it on fire and captured the elders of Drevlian'. The Princess of Kiev massacred the captives, some sold into slavery, and only a few were allowed to stay and rebuild the town.

The terrible revenge of the female regent Kievan Rus was finally completed, leaving the Drevlian tribe shattered and destroyed.

Canonized by Catholics and Orthodox

The "Olga of Kiev" burned its enemies alive, buried messengers alive, and destroyed an entire town. So how did she become a saint in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches?

In the 10th century, when Olga ruled the Kievan Rus, they were all pagan, of Northern European Viking descent. Meanwhile, the Byzantine Empire near Kiev was on a mission to convert their neighbors to Christianity.

After Olga completed her revenge against the Drevlians, Emperor Constantine VII invited her to visit Constantinople. Along the way, Olga converted to Christianity. And when she returned to Kiev, she also called on her people to convert.

A 19th-century painting depicting Saint Olga of Kiev.

The Byzantines declared Olga 'equal to the Apostles' because of her conversion. 'She shined like the moon at night', the Byzantine chronicles record, 'and she shone among the pagans like a pearl in a quagmire, for the people were soiled and unwashed from their sins. by baptism'.

The Byzantine emperor also agreed with that. When Emperor Constantine VII met Olga, he proposed to her. Princess Kiev refused, but this time, she did it without bloodshed.

Later, in 1547, the Russian Orthodox Church also officially named Princess Kievan Rus 'Saint Olga of Kiev', patron saint of widows and converts.