OLGA(in baptism - Elena) (? - 07/11/969) - Kyiv princess, wife of Prince Igor, an Orthodox saint.
About the origin of Olga in the annals, only vague traditions have been preserved. Some chroniclers believed that she was from Pskov, others took her out of Izborsk. In later sources it is reported that her parents were commoners, and in her youth she herself worked as a carrier across the river, where Prince Igor, who hunted in those places, met her. Other legends, on the contrary, claim that Olga came from a noble family, and her grandfather was the legendary Prince Gostomysl. There is also a message that before marriage she bore the name Prekrasa, and Olga was named after the Kyiv prince Oleg, who raised her husband and arranged their marriage.
According to The Tale of Bygone Years, in 903 Olga was married to Prince Igor.
After the murder of Igor by the Drevlyans (945), Olga rejected the courtship of the Drevlyan prince Mal and brutally dealt with the rebellious tribe. According to the chronicle legend, the princess ordered the first Drevlyansky ambassadors to her to be buried alive in the ground, and the participants of the second embassy to be burned in a bathhouse. Inviting the Drevlyans to Igor's feast, she ordered her warriors to kill the guests she hated. Having besieged the main city of the Drevlyans, Iskorosten, in 946, Olga demanded that the inhabitants of the city give her three doves and three sparrows from each yard, promising to leave if her demand was met. Delighted, the Drevlyans collected the birds and gave them to the Kievan princess. Olga ordered her soldiers to tie pieces of smoldering tinder to the paws of the birds and release them into the wild. Pigeons and sparrows flew to their nests in Iskorosten, after which a fire broke out in the city.
Having become the ruler of Kyiv, Olga pursued a course towards even greater subordination of the Slavic tribes to the power of Kyiv. In 947, she established fixed tribute rates for the Drevlyans and Novgorodians by organizing tribute collection points - graveyards. In 955, Olga converted to Christianity and subsequently contributed to the spread of this religion in Russia. Throughout Russia, Christian churches and chapels were erected, crosses were erected. In foreign policy, Olga strove for rapprochement with Byzantium. In 957, she visited Constantinople, where she met with the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. However, relations between Russia and Byzantium under Olga did not always remain allied. In 959, Olga asked the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I (an opponent of Byzantium) to send missionaries to Russia to preach Christianity. However, by 962, when Roman preachers led by Bishop Adalbert arrived in Russia, relations between Russia and Byzantium normalized. Having met with a cold, even hostile reception, Adalbert was forced to return with nothing. Despite Olga's persuasion, her son

“Let's take Igor's wife - Olga, for our prince Mal, and we will do what we want to Igor's son Svyatoslav!” - the Drevlyans boasted in 945, recalling the old days, when one tribal leader, having defeated another, became the owner of the wealth, family and power of the vanquished. But much has already changed in the life of the Slavs, and Olga, who assumed the supreme power in Kiev in her childhood, was not guided by primitive traditions.

The Tale of Bygone Years says little about Olga's origins. Perhaps she was the daughter of the Pskov ruler - a vassal of the Kiev prince. She became a wise ruler, it is no coincidence that contemporaries called her things. Olga was also a real daughter of her time. "The Tale of Bygone Years" contains a colorful story about Olga's cruel revenge on the Drevlyans. one

Tribute regulation In order to continue to avoid uprisings similar to the Drevlyanian, the princess for the Drevlyans and residents of the Russian north (possibly for other territories of Russia) introduced lessons, which determined how much tribute the subjects had to pay. In addition, places were allocated - graveyards, where tributaries themselves brought tribute to the princely people. There was a second form of tax collection - cart. A remarkable domestic scientist of the XIX century. S.M. Soloviev saw in Olga's transformations a wise state step that strengthened the unity of the country and the central government.

Relations with Byzantium. Baptism of Olga Olga did not start long trips, but she herself visited Constantinople with an embassy in 955 (or in 957 G.). Probably, then a new agreement was concluded between Russia and Byzantium, but this agreement did not reach us. Chronicles report that the Greeks greeted the princess with honor, richly bestowed. The emperor became the godfather of Olga, who converted to Christianity in Constantinople.

Perhaps Olga intended to baptize Russia, but she did not take decisive steps in this direction. Even her son Svyatoslav refused to be baptized, saying that his combatants would laugh at him. However, there were already quite a few Christians among the Viking warriors. Under a Christian ruler, no one prevented Christians from professing their faith. In Kyiv there was a church of St. Elijah.

6. "I'm coming for you!" The reign of Svyatoslav (962-972).

Svyatoslav In 962, the matured Svyatoslav took the state

new power. He did little internal affairs, entrusting them to his mother and the boyars. The war completely owned the thoughts of the prince. He was brought up as a warrior, walked lightly like a leopard, did not carry with him supplies, boilers, or tents on campaigns, ate game caught by hunting, roasting it on coals, slept on the ground, spreading a horse sweatshirt, with a saddle in his head, setting off on the enemy, sent to say: "I'm going to you!" All his soldiers were the same - the chronicle adds to the story about Svyatoslav.

Campaigns of Svyatoslav on the Volga, the defeat of Khazaria (965-967) Svyatoslav conquered the Vyatichi, who paid tribute to the Khazars. Then the prince took possession of the Khazar fortress on the Don Sarkel. He defeated the Yases and Kasogs (ancestors of the Ossetians and Circassians) and took tribute from them. A contemporary of Svyatoslav, the Arab writer Ibn-Khaukal supplements the information in The Tale of Bygone Years about Russian campaigns on the Volga during the reign of Igor's son. According to him, the Russian squads invaded the Volga Bulgaria, reached the city of Bulgara, and then entered the Mordovian lands. On the Lower Volga, the capital of Khazaria, Itil, and many other cities were plundered and destroyed, of which "not a trace remained." The Khazar Khaganate actually ceased to exist. On the site of Sarkel, the ancient Russian colony Belaya Vezha arose. On Taman, the Russians had the city of Tmutarakan, which became the center of a rather extensive Russian possession, inhabited by representatives of various peoples.

Consequences of the defeat of Khazaria. The results of the defeat of Svyatoslav Khazaria were contradictory. On the one hand, the Khaganate wanted to dominate the East Slavic tribes and tried to interfere with the policy of uniting all the Eastern Slavs under the rule of the Kievan princes. But, on the other hand, the fall of the Khazar state opened the way to the west for the Pechenegs. They soon became masters of the Black Sea steppes. The Pechenegs destroyed the Slavic settlements to the east and south of the rivers Suda and Ros. An immediate threat arose for the cities of the Middle Dnieper, in particular for Kiev itself. The Khazars carried on a lively trade with the Russians, and the Pechenegs blocked the eastern trade routes of Russia and in the near future hampered the Russian-Byzantine trade, because. merchant caravans, sailing down the Dnieper, waited at the rapids.

Danube campaign of Svyatoslav 967-968. Svyatoslav, of course, did not think about all this when he returned from the Volga to Kyiv with booty and Khazar captive slaves. His conquests were enormous: only the border of the temporary possessions of Russia in the southeast stretched for 3 thousand km. The fame of Russian victories boomed around, and the cunning Byzantines decided to "hire" a successful barbarian leader to conquer Danube Bulgaria, which at the beginning of the 10th century, having gained independence from the Empire, began to threaten Byzantium, but then from the 960s. weakened due to internal strife. Emperor Nikifor Foka promised the prince a large tribute. In 967-968. Svyatoslav is fighting on the Danube. In the Battle of Dorostol, a 60,000-strong Russian army defeated a 30,000-strong Bulgarian army. Svyatoslav occupied the Danube cities and settled in Pereyaslavets-on-the-Danube. The prince no longer wanted to hand over Bulgaria to the Byzantines, he dreamed of a powerful Russian-Bulgarian kingdom, and he already saw his shield on the gates of Constantinople.

Pechenegs near Kyiv Meanwhile, in 969, the Pechenegs almost took Kyiv. Svyatoslav quickly returned to Russia. His mother and boyars greeted him with a reproach: “You are looking for foreign lands, but you neglect your own!” “I don’t like to live in Kyiv,” Svyatoslav answered, “I want to live in Pereyaslavets-on-the-Danube, there is the middle of my land, blessings from different countries converge there: from Byzantium - pavoloks (silk fabrics), golden utensils, wine and fruits, from the Czech Republic and Hungary - silver and horses, and from Russia - furs, honey and servants (slaves)! However, having buried Olga, who soon died, he arranged internal Russian affairs: he divided Russia between his sons and entrusted the latter with the care of the homeland. In Kyiv, the eldest son of Svyatoslav, Yaro-polk, was sitting, in the Drevlyansk land, the second son, Oleg, and in the north in Novgorod, the youngest illegitimate son, Vladimir.

Second Danube campaign 970-971 The prince himself rushed off to the Danube, where, with his ally and vassal - the Bulgarian king - captured Plovdiv, entered Thrace and intended to move to Constantinople. But in the battle of Arcadiopol, the Russian army was defeated. About 20 thousand people died. The Russian-Bulgarian troops near Preslav were also defeated. Svyatoslav with 10 thousand soldiers was locked up in Dorostol and was under siege for three months.

Several times the Russians tried to break through from Dorostol. Svyatoslav addressed the soldiers: “We have nothing to choose from! Willingly or not, we must fight. Let us not disgrace the Russian land, but lie down with bones, the dead have no shame. Let's get strong. I will go ahead of you, and if my head falls, think about yourself!”

The Greek historian Leo the Deacon described the battles between the Rus and the Byzantines as follows:

“The troops converged, and a strong battle began, which for a long time was in balance on both sides. The Rosses, having acquired the glory of victors from neighboring peoples, considering it a terrible disaster to lose it and be defeated, fought desperately. The Romans (Byzantines), who defeated all enemies with their weapons and their valor, were also ashamed to be defeated. On that day, the Russians repelled 12 Greek attacks and retreated to Dorostol in the evening. The next day, the soldiers of Svyatoslav repulsed the assault on the fortress, and a day later “... at sunset, the Rus left the city, lined up in a solid phalanx and, stretching out their spears, decided to go on a feat. The battle has opened. The Scythians strongly attacked the Romans, stabbed them

with spears, hitting the horses with arrows and knocking the horsemen to the ground. Then Anemas (one of the famous Greek warriors), seeing Svyatoslav, with fury and fury striving for our soldiers and encouraging his regiments, galloped straight at him, hit him in the most key bone and threw him prone to the ground. But he could not kill: the chain mail armor and the shield with which he armed himself from Roman swords protected him. The horse of Anemas was struck to the ground with frequent blows of spears, then, surrounded by a phalanx of Scythians, this man fell, surpassing all his peers in military exploits.

So the Russians, encouraged by his fall, rushed at the Romans with a loud and wild cry. Frightened by their extraordinary onslaught, the Romans began to retreat. Emperor John Tzimisces threw into battle a select cavalry detachment - "immortals". “Suddenly, a storm with rain that rose up and spread through the air upset the Russians, because the dust that had risen harmed their eyes.” The Greeks hit the flanks and rear. Svyatoslav with great difficulty made his way to Dorostol and took refuge in it again.

Peace treaty with the Greeks. The death of Svyatoslav Soon, at the suggestion of the Byzantines, they made peace ( 971 g.): Svyatoslav renounced Bulgaria, gave Dorostol and the prisoners, swore not to fight against the Greeks, and the Byzantines let the Russians go to the sea, giving each Russ bread for the road and silver. Moreover, the Russians also took tribute on the dead soldiers. An important condition of the agreement was the obligation of the Byzantines not to obstruct Russian merchants. The world was very honorable, but it did not please Svyatoslav. “I will go to Russia and bring more squads,” the prince thought. But that was not destined to come true: at the Dnieper rapids, the thinned army of the Pechenegs was waiting. The Russian boats failed to break through them. Svyatoslav released the cavalry squad with the governor Sveneld to Kiev, and he himself wintered on the Dnieper. Cold, hunger, illness and wounds took many winterers to the grave, and in the spring of 972, when trying to climb up the Dnieper, the rest of the squad and Svyatoslav perished. Pecheneg Khan Kurya ordered to make a bowl for feasts from the skull of the famous prince. Kurya believed that from such a bowl, along with wine and koumiss, he would receive the courage, good luck and strength of Svyatoslav.

§ 3. Norman theory and disputes around it. Reference material.

1. The emergence of a discussion on the problem of the formation of the state of Russia.

2. Normanism and anti-Normanism in the 18th century.

3. The development of the discussion in the XIX century.

4. Ideological speculation around the problem in 1930-1950.

5. The current state of the problem of the origin of the state of Russia.

6. Scientists about the origin of the terms "Rus" and "Rus".

The conditional date of the emergence of the ancient Russian state can be considered 882 - the year of the unification of Kiev and Novgorod under the rule of one prince. However, many scientists begin the history of Russia from 862, when the Varangians were called. Around the question of the beginning of Russian statehood, about who the Ruses are and where the name of the country "Rus" came from, for a long time there have been disputes.

Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga - how does she patronize Orthodox Christians? You can read the life of this great Russian saint in the article.

The Kyiv scribes did not make any special effort to glorify the morning star of Russian Christianity, the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga. A confused and extremely tendentious story * The Tale of Bygone Years, a small fragment in “Memory and Praise to Vladimir” by Jacob Mnikh, a somewhat late origin of legends scattered across various chronicles and editions of a prologue life - that, in fact, is all that she brought to us Old Russian writing from legends about the Grand Duchess. Therefore, the work of a modern historian becomes somewhat similar to the restoration of a mosaic icon. From the multitude of smalt cubes of various shades and sizes scattered in disorder, it is necessary to recreate a face that is unique in its majesty and beauty. Erudition and logic are powerless here. Of the many combinations, the closest to the truth is the one that is prompted by an aesthetic instinct and a living sense of faith, and not by a thorough knowledge of social relations and the political situation. The story is much more solid and elegant in its composition than it seems to those who see it as nothing more than a collection of obscure phrases and unintelligible sounds. The specificity of history is that it is always Sacred History. Therefore, the only thing left for us is to look intently and reverently at the faces of the saints, such as they were glorified by God, and not try to reshape them according to our own, even very pious, taste. Only then will prayerful contemplation be able to turn into conversation and communication with eternally living people, for, according to the chronicler, “the souls of the righteous do not die, and the memory of the righteous is immortal.”

We do not know exactly when and where Olga was born. The only thing that can be asserted more or less reliably is that the Pskov land was the birthplace of the princess. The chronicle says that Oleg brought Igor a wife from Pskov itself, and the compiler of one of Olga’s lives, a Pskovite himself, notes that “Olga was born in the Pleskov country, her name was Vybuto, her father had an unfaithful existence, so her mother was not baptized from the Varangian language and from sort of not a prince, not a noble<…>About the name of the father and mother, scripture does not express anywhere ... ". Most likely he is right. In order to attribute the birth of the Grand Duchess instead of a rich and famous city to a modest village on the banks of the Velikaya River, 12 miles south of Pskov, good reasons were needed. Yes, and fellow countrymen know better. At least Olga, already at the height of her power, did not completely forget Vybutskaya. She was part of the personal possessions of the princess, and she ordered to erect a temple of the Most Holy Theotokos nearby. The only point in which we allow ourselves to disagree with the hagiographer is the statement about the saint's humble origins. It is unlikely that at the beginning of the IX century. a Varangian in those places could be an ordinary peasant. And there was no need for the Varangian king Igor to take a wife from ordinary villagers.

In the ninth century the small trade and craft settlement of Pskov, of course, was not yet the great city that later became famous in Russian history. Nearby, along the Volkhov River, the main highway of the path from the Varangians to the Greeks passed, Lord Veliky Novgorod was gaining strength, becoming the center of the ancient Russian economy, and violent political events were unfolding. It was much calmer on the Velikaya River, but even here, along a branch of the Great Way, Greek, Arab and Norman merchants sailed from Scandinavia to Constantinople and back, and sometimes detachments of brave Vikings appeared on their formidable boats, looking for profitable use of their military skills. The all-Russian government of Prince Oleg, which had recently established itself in Kyiv, had to put under its control the entire route from the Varangians to the Greeks. To do this, at all strategically important points, customs officials, soldiers of guard detachments and heads of crossings, recruited mainly from the Varangians, were required. One of the representatives of this military-commercial aristocracy was Olga's father, who was in charge of the crossing in Vybutskaya village. It was there, among merchants and warriors, that the first Russian saint saw the light.

The Creator richly endowed the girl. She was extremely beautiful, smart, brave and chaste. Her powers of observation and a broad outlook were to develop unusually in the company of overseas guests, from whom one could hear breathtaking stories about Persia and India, Rome and Constantinople, Scandinavia and Germany, different peoples, customs and faiths. Even then, young Olga should have heard the name of the God of Christians, so unlike the usual Scandinavian and Slavic gods. And in order to preserve her dignity and chastity among the insidious and lustful warriors, the beautiful Olga herself had to be dexterous, resourceful and sometimes cruel. The legendary legend of the “Book of Powers” ​​depicts this side of the life of the future saint. The young Prince Igor, who wandered into the Pskov forests while hunting, wanted to cross to the other side of the Velikaya River and, already sitting in a boat, discovered that the carrier was an unusually beautiful girl. The prince began to flirt with her and was clearly discouraged when he received a bold, wise and very sharp rebuff, reinforced by the threat to go to the bottom with Igor if he tried to use force. Ashamed, Igor silently left, and soon sent matchmakers to the chaste virgin.

Duchess Olga. Beloved wife

According to the Tale of Bygone Years, Oleg drew attention to Olga's beauty and mind during one of his trips to Pskov. In 903, he arranged the marriage of the prince with a captivating Pskov woman. Olga most likely was neither the first nor the only wife of Igor, but almost immediately became the most beloved. So “Igor then had other wives, but Olga, for her wisdom’s sake, more than other chtyashe.” The beautiful princess achieved even more: she managed to take second place in the political hierarchy of the ancient Russian state and firmly hold it throughout the entire reign of Igor, directing her husband's policy in the right direction. Igor, of course, listened to her advice.

Kievan Rus was a rather ephemeral political entity. The multi-lingual tribes of the East European Plain did not bind together anything but military strength and common trade interests. The Kyiv princes controlled the Dnieper-Baltic military-trade route, receiving significant profits from its maintenance and from the trade of the tribute collected for the polyuds. The authority of the Rurikovich power rested on dominance over trade routes. However, there was no unity in Kyiv policy regarding the future fate of these trade routes. The trading party, which consisted of Varangian and Slavic merchants, among whom there were many Christians, advocated the further strengthening of mutually beneficial relations with Khazaria, Scandinavia, and especially with Byzantium. The idea of ​​joining the Byzantine community was very attractive to them, which could increase both the prestige and trade opportunities of the Russian state, and which was unthinkable without Christianization. A retinue party, mostly pagan, was pulling in the other direction. Its goal was by no means the continuation of predatory raids, as historians often represent, but the establishment of complete dominance over all Eastern European, Black Sea and Baltic trade. Such powerful economic centers as Khazaria and Volga Bulgaria were to be destroyed as dangerous competitors. But the main object of hatred was Byzantium, for the destruction of which the retinue party was ready to devote all its forces and means. It was his military entourage that pushed Igor to try to realize this suicidal dream. Suicidal - because the bustling trade route, which fell into the hands of an uncontrolled monopolist, withers away in fifty to a hundred years. Olga always understood this, and her policy was aimed at strengthening peaceful relations with her neighbors. And Byzantium seemed to her to be the model to which the Russian state should be equal in everything. In those years, so far only on the basis of a coincidence of interests, Olga's contacts were established with Kyiv Christians.

The princess managed to neutralize the retinue influence on Igor for quite a long time, but the moment came when her position was shaken. The son Svyatoslav grew up, who, according to Tatishchev, was born in 920 and was the center of all the hopes of the Kyiv military. The energetic heir, apparently, quite easily managed to persuade the aged Igor to adventure. In 941, when the Russian-Byzantine treaty of 911 expired, Igor gathered a powerful army and moved to Constantinople. Ruining everything in its path, the Rus reached almost the Byzantine capital. The Byzantines, bewildered by surprise, managed to stop the atrocities of the pagans only by mobilizing all the forces of the empire, recalling three large armies and the best commanders from other fronts. Only near the town of Hieron on the Bosphorus, using the terrifying "Greek fire", the Byzantines defeated Igor's fleet. But even after that, part of the Rus fought for a long time on the coast of Asia Minor.

Having rested for a year, in 943, Igor, instigated by his son, decided to try his luck again. This time the campaign was organized with the scope and ingenuity inherent in Svyatoslav. A coalition was created of the worst enemies of Byzantium: the Hungarians, the Pechenegs, and the Khazars, who tacitly supported the campaign, were irritated by the persecution of Jews begun in the empire. “Igor gathered many warriors: the Varangians, Rus, and glades, and Slavs, and Krivichi, and Tivertsy - and hired the Pechenegs, and took hostages from them, - and went to the Greeks in boats and on horses, trying to avenge himself.” The only allies of Byzantium were the Bulgarians, and the empire was threatened, if not with destruction, then with a terrible shock. And suddenly something extraordinary happened. Having reached the Danube, Igor stopped and obviously listened favorably to the proposal of the Greek ambassadors for peace. They promised large cash gifts and renewed tribute payments. For the king, who decided to crush the empire - not so much. The chronicler's reference to the fact that the Rus did not want to take risks in the fight against an unclear outcome is unconvincing: brave warriors are also used to not such hopeless enterprises.

Undoubtedly, in the hidden struggle for influence over Igor, the party of peace, led by Olga, eventually won. The princess managed to neutralize the influence of her son and induce her husband to a truce with the Greeks. The rest of the summer and autumn of 943 were occupied with negotiations on a long-term peace treaty, which was eventually concluded, marking the establishment between Russia and the power of the Romans of peace and a close military alliance.

The treaty and the procedure for its ratification are interesting material both for establishing the then position of Olga in the Russian state, and for a correct understanding of the role of Kievan Christians in the politics of Russia. The text of the agreement begins with the words: “We are ambassadors and merchants from the Russian family, Ivor, the ambassador of Igor, the Grand Duke of Russia, Vuefast, from Svyatoslav, the son of Igor, Iskusevi from Princess Olga; Sludy from Igor, nephew Igorev; Uleb from Volodyslav; Ianitsar from Predslava; Shihbern Sfandr from Uleb's wife…” Svyatoslav, as the direct heir, is mentioned immediately after Igor. He has his own ambassador, who defends his personal interests. If at that time, as the chronicle claims, Svyatoslav was three years old, it is unlikely that the baby would need a personal ambassador. Our doubts about Svyatoslav's infancy are also confirmed by Konstantin Porphyrogenitus, who reports that in the early 40s "the monoxyls coming from outer Russia to Constantinople are from Nemogard, in which Sfendoslav, the son of Ingor, the archon of Russia, was sitting." Nemogard-Novgorod was a traditional springboard for moving to the Kyiv table. In third place is Olga, who had an exceptional influence on Kyiv politics. Iskusevi defended in Constantinople not only the political prestige of the archontissa, but also her commercial interests, which the princess never forgot. Olga was one of the largest landowners in Russia. The chronicler reports that “Vyshgorod was the city of Olgin<…>and her places and graveyards, and her sleigh stand in Pskov to this day, and along the Dnieper there are places for catching birds, and along the Desna, and her village Olzhichi has survived to this day. Further in the contract are the names of the ambassadors of the rulers of the 22 largest political and commercial centers of Russia. A few years later, a delegation of the same representatives will go with Olga to Constantinople.

Christianity

Traces of the victory of the Christian party in the struggle for influence on Igor are undoubtedly those places in the agreement in which the superiority of Christians and the neglect of Perun's admirers are clearly felt. And the ceremony of swearing in Igor's army gave Kyiv Christians a reason to demonstrate their strength: while the prince with the pagan part of the army swore the inviolability of the contract before the idol of Perun, the Christian soldiers swore before the Greek ambassadors in the church of St. Ilya. “It was a cathedral church, as there were many Varangian Christians.

Almost immediately after the conclusion of the contract, the greedy combatants dragged Igor into a new adventure, this time not even having the romantic luster of a campaign against Constantinople. Envying the youths of the voivode Sveneld, who “made up the essence of weapons and ports”, and, undoubtedly, regretting that they did not get into the composition of the expedition to the Caspian Sea, which smashed the rich Arab cities in the interests of Byzantium, the soldiers prompted the prince to peel off the tribe of the Drevlyans like sticky. Whether by his own folly or by someone's evil instigation, Igor decided that this was not enough. He, on reflection, said to his squad: “Go home with tribute, and I will return and look like more.” The Drevlyans, led by their prince Mal, quite rightly reasoned that with such a practice of collecting tribute, they would soon die of starvation, and decided to take a chance. The reckless prince found his terrible end somewhere in the forests near Iskorosten. He was torn in two by birches, not even worthy of a decent funeral. Olga and Svyatoslav were in Kyiv at that time.

We are opening perhaps the most mysterious page in the life of St. Olga. Who does not remember from childhood the chilling, but in their own way unusually poetic tales of cruel revenge on the Drevlyans! The logic of the myth is bizarre, and sometimes a work of folk fantasy lies behind a completely plausible story, and, on the contrary, the unthinkable phantasmagoric nature of the plot serves as perhaps the main proof of its authenticity - the impossible is not invented. It is hard to believe that the story of Olga's revenge is just a fiction. It is too non-standard for a rather stereotyped form of a folk legend, and at the same time quite realistic and concrete. If this is a myth, then a myth in the sense that A.F. Losev gave to this word - “in words this wonderful personal story” of the pagan Olga, a story that makes almost physically palpable the dark and terrible features of that very Slavic religion that is now being tried imagine almost a triumph of spiritual freedom and humanism.

Historians perceive Olga's revenge as a fiction primarily because she logically and consistently reproduces the main features of the pagan funeral rite. From this, for some reason, it follows that the story of revenge is nothing more than a fabulous interpretation of it. It is often forgotten that the man of archaic times took his religious duties extremely seriously, perhaps even more seriously than he should have. Igor died a miserable prisoner and was simply buried in the ground without any funeral ceremony. According to Slavic beliefs, the afterlife of a person depended on his status at the time of death and on the splendor of the funeral. Who, if not beloved by Igor Olga, was to honor the memory of her late husband! And Olga, with all the earnestness of a faithful pagan, did everything in her power to pay her last debt to her husband. In her revenge, she not only punished the rebels, but also consistently reproduced all parts of the funeral ritual.

According to the rules of a primitive military duel, the winner is the heir to the vanquished. And it was possible to ascend the princely throne only by marrying the widow of the ruler. According to this archaic custom, Mal acted when he sent 20 of the best Drevlyansk husbands to woo Olga. The Drevlyans were well aware of the proud disposition of the Varangian princes and counted on nothing more than a truce and a postponement of the punitive expedition. However, Olga's reception exceeded all expectations. The princess not only calmly listened to the news of her husband's death, but also favorably accepted the presentation of the matrimonial project: “Your speech is kind to me - I can’t resurrect my husband; but I want to honor you tomorrow before my people. This is where the ambassadors should think. In her own words, Olga began the ritual of the wedding game, well known from archaic rituals and fairy tales: the groom receives the bride only by guessing her riddle, otherwise he loses his head. And the riddle has already been uttered: “to honor” someone in Slavonic meant both “honour” and “revenge”, “kill”. The Drevlyans did not guess any of Olga's riddles.

And the riddles continued: “Now go into your boat and lie down in the boat with pride, and in the morning I will send for you, you say: we don’t ride horses, we don’t go on foot, but carry us in the boat; and they will lift you up in a boat.” The ambassadors perceived this as a usual part of the matchmaking ceremony, when the matchmakers, in order to deceive evil spirits, came “neither on foot nor on a horse”, “day or night”, entering the bride’s hut, first talking about extraneous things, etc. But the meaning of the riddle was menacing. Neither on foot nor on horseback, but in a boat, in the hands of fellow tribesmen, a noble Russian followed to his last refuge. The boat was a traditional burial accessory for both Slavs and Scandinavians. And so it happened the next morning: having brought the ambassadors to Holguin's yard, the people of Kiev threw them into a deep grave. “And, leaning towards the pit, Olga asked them: “Is honor good for you?” They answered: "Worse for us than Igor's death." And ordered them to fall asleep alive; and covered them up." Some chronicles add that the ambassadors were burned in the pit.

Revenge has just begun. Soon Olga sent the Drevlyans a demand to send even better husbands to Kyiv as matchmakers, saying that the people of Kiev would not let her go without an honorary escort. When the next group of Drevlyansk aristocrats arrived for slaughter, the princess invited them to go to the bathhouse. It looked like an ordinary manifestation of concern for the guests. But the Drevlyans forgot that the Slavs had a custom to heat a bath for the dead and put water for ablution. Long after the baptism of Russia, the questionnaires and confessions kept the item: “On Great Saturday, and on the Fifty, when we create memory for the dead, didn’t you order the baths to be heated?” and relied on penance. When the Drevlyans entered the bathhouse, they treated them like the dead: they locked them up and burned them.

Olga’s third riddle was formulated more transparently than the first two: “I’m already coming to you, prepare many honeys in the city where my husband was killed, let me cry on his grave and create a feast for my husband.” It was not difficult to guess who would become a victim in the ritual sacrifice at Igor's grave. The Drevlyans were not even alarmed by the fact that the princess directly called them murderers. When asked where the men sent for her to Kyiv, Olga excused herself: “They are following.” After the grave weeping, a mound was poured and a feast began, at which the Drevlyans got drunk. It's time for the funerary war game. And then Olga's squad brought down on the careless Drevlyans instead of ritual blows with swords - the real ones. “And cut them down five thousand. And Olga returned to Kyiv and gathered an army for the rest.

Cunning riddles and bizarre pagan rites have been replaced by brute but honest military force. The punitive troops led by Svyatoslav attacked the Drevlyansk land. In the first battle, the rebels were crushed by the onslaught of the Kyiv squad. A heavy tribute was laid on the defeated Drevlyans. Returning to Kyiv, the princess suddenly found out that she had forgotten about one more funeral rite.

Returning with a sense of duty done, Olga must have felt like the sole ruler of Russia. However, pagan warriors from Svyatoslav's entourage, eager for power, fiercely hated the influential princess, an ardent supporter of peace with Byzantium. She, of course. did not forget the unexpected finale of the campaign against Tsargrad. And now the proud daughter of the Varangians, who so cunningly performed the Slavic funeral ritual, was directly, like a soldier, reminded that the wife, as a faithful slave, should follow her husband to the afterlife, and the sooner the better. It was simply indecent for Igor's beloved wife to remain alive. Not yet old, full of ambitious plans, the princess had to hang herself or cut her throat.

Olga found herself, as a modern philosopher would say, in an existential situation where, on the verge of despair and death, the last questions of being are exposed. Mind, heart, will to live - the whole being of the princess protested against the meaningless end. What seemed necessary and natural when viewed from the outside turned out to be a cruel absurdity in relation to herself. Why do Igor and the gods need this senseless sacrifice? Is it really true that behind the coffin Olga is waiting for the sad life of the princess - or, perhaps, retribution for the massacre of the Drevlyans? Prior to this, Olga did not have to seriously think about the validity of traditional views on death and the afterlife. And they were already somewhat shaken in the motley and multinational Kyiv. Olga must have repeatedly heard the speeches of both Khazar Jews and Mohammedan Arabs. The princess constantly communicated with the Kyiv Christians, among whom were many of her fellow tribesmen who turned their backs on Odin and Thor. They all said that in the afterlife the position of a person is determined not by wealth and nobility, not by the splendor of the funeral and the number of victims, but by good deeds. Killers, liars and traitors, if they do not repent, await terrible torment in the next world. And the conscience, not completely twisted by pagan fanaticism, undoubtedly reminded Olga more than once that there was no justification for her atrocities against the Drevlyans. In the face of unexpected “voluntary” death, especially when there is something to blame yourself for, the world seems gloomy and meaningless. A terrible picture of the burial of a noble Rus, as described by the Arab traveler Ibn Fadlan, should have risen before Olga's eyes. After the death of her husband, while preparations are underway for the funeral, a woman doomed to death must have fun, feast, move from tent to tent, surrendering to her fellow tribesmen, after which each of them utters a sacramental phrase that he did it solely out of love and respect for the deceased ... Here in on the day of the funeral, they bring a rus resting in the boat ... The boat is filled with gold, jewelry, silks and covered with the blood of sacrificial animals ... Slaves are being killed ... A staggering, heavily drunk woman is brought to the boat. There is senseless horror in her eyes ... A tall, broad-shouldered old woman in a black robe awaits her - the “angel of death” ... The relatives of the deceased raise the woman above the crowd, and she, as if half asleep, utters the words suggested in advance: “Here I see my father and mother ...” In the second times: “Here are all my dead relatives ...” In the third: “Here I see my master sitting in the garden, and the garden is beautiful and green, and men and youths are with him, so he calls me - so take me to him ...” Her they put her on a boat and give her a farewell cup of wine, over which she sings a funeral song... She tries to sing as long as possible, but the old woman hurries her menacingly... They put her under the arms into the hut of the deceased, she tries to escape, but in vain... The six relatives of the deceased exercise their right to love next to the corpse of the deceased ... There is a roar of tambourines, designed to drown out the screams of the murdered ... The men strangle her with a thick rope, and the old woman methodically plunges a knife under each rib ... It's all over. Fire in a few minutes turns their bodies and unnecessary wealth into dust. And those standing around rejoice at the strong wind, which will quickly carry the souls of the dead to the underworld.

…And what if the Truth belongs to Christians? Their God does not require bloody sacrifices - on the contrary, He Himself became a victim, descended to earth and accepted a shameful death in order to save people from evil and the power of Satan. Christ promises those who believe in Him not just consolation beyond the grave, but the Resurrection and real life. Such a God, of course, will not leave in difficult times.

There is something else in Christianity that finally pushed Olga to the decision to be baptized: Christian law forbids suicide, the thought of which her soul resolutely opposed. However, will she be able to stay alive while Svyatoslav's people are in power? Will not a son prone to adventures destroy a still quite fragile state? It was necessary to go to Constantinople in order to be baptized there, to receive support not only from Kyiv Christians, but also from Byzantium. Only in this way could Olga save her soul, save her life and regain power.

The chronicle calls the emperor who baptized Olga Konstantin, the son of Leonov (Konstantin VII Porphyrogenet, - Porphyrogenitus), and the date of baptism is 955. Historians usually called 957, since, in their opinion, it was to him that the story of Constantine in his treatise "De ceremoniis Aulae" about two receptions of Olga in the palace. However, it was surprising that the porphyry-born author did not say a word about the baptism of the pagan princess. At the same time, as G. Ostrogorsky convincingly showed, after carefully analyzing the rank of reception, Olga was received at court as a Christian. To explain these contradictions, many elegant scientific theories were invented: the emperor described the reception as a model for the future, and it was inappropriate to talk about baptism, Olga was baptized in Kyiv secretly, on the eve of the trip; there were two trips, in 955 and in 957, and not one; Olga was baptized in 959 in Kyiv, etc. Source analysis provides very little support for these concepts.

G. G. Litavrin completely confused everything, in the early 80s. proving, on the basis of a thorough analysis of Constantine's story, that Olga went to Constantinople not in 957, but in 946. There were no serious attempts to challenge this dating, they preferred to simply ignore it. But in the place of the previous constructions there was a gaping void. G. G. Litavrin himself tried to fill it in, challenging Ostrogorsky's opinion about Olga's Christianity at the time of his meeting with Constantine VII. He suggested a second trip to Constantinople in 955, when Olga was baptized by the Patriarch. This concept appears neither well-founded nor convincing.

A witty and unexpectedly solving all contradictions hypothesis was proposed by O. M. Rapov: Olga was baptized in 944 by Emperor Roman I Lakapin. We will try to substantiate this opinion.

It is generally accepted that the name of the emperor "Konstantin son of Leonov", contained in the Laurentian list of PVL, is the original reading. Meanwhile, PVL researchers have long proved that in the ancient text there was no emperor's name at all, and in some sources the emperor is called Roman.

The chronicle date is generally accepted as credible; At the same time, special significance is attached to the coincidence of the date with the indication of “Memory and Praise” by Jacob Mnich that Olga died in 969, having lived as a Christian for 15 years. However, historians are well aware that annalistic dates cannot always be taken as absolute chronology. As for the coincidence of PVL and “Memory and Praise”, it can be noted that in Praise to Olga, which constitutes an independent section of this work, literary historians discovered undoubted interpolations. The whole story about the “miracle with a window” with a subsequent chronological indication is also a later revision. The date of 15 years was calculated by the interpolator based on the same PVL.

Finally, the story of the courtship of the emperor in the text of the chronicle is sometimes perceived as a mischievous invention introduced by the chronicler. However, let us ask ourselves a question: which of the Byzantine emperors could plan a marriage with Olga? Both Konstantin and Roman II were married. But Roman I Lecapenus was widowed back in 937! The political benefits from the personal union of Russia and Byzantium were colossal for the empire.

The German chronicler, the successor of the Reginon of Pryum, directly says that Olga “was baptized in Constantinople under the Emperor Roman of Constantinople.” With the generally accepted attribution of this chronology to Adalbert, the unfortunate bishop of Russia, who spent a year in Kyiv, one can hardly believe that the chronicler confused Constantine VII with his son Roman II, who recently ascended the throne. Adalbert was well aware of this.

If we accept the version that Olga was met in Constantinople in 946 as a Christian, then the silence of Constantine VII about baptism becomes simply inexplicable. He reigned in 945, and already in 946 Olga was baptized. We cannot assume another visit to Constantinople in the summer of 945, but regarding the baptism in Kyiv, G. G. Litavrin rightly noted: “No matter how witty this or that hypothesis may be, it should not contradict the testimony of all sources without exception.” This is exactly the case with the Kievan theory. Everything falls into place if we assume that Olga was baptized in 944 by Roman I. There was no need for Constantine to mention in the treatise an event two years ago, and even with the participation of a hated usurper father-in-law.

The indication of the Byzantine chronicler Skilitsa is of fundamental importance: “And the wife of a Russian archon who once set sail against the Romans, named Elga, when her husband died, sailed to Constantinople. Baptized and having shown preference to the true faith, after the preference (this) she was honored with a high honor, and returned home. This message is placed at the beginning of the reign of Constantine VII. It may mean that the baptized Olga arrived in Constantinople in 946 and was awarded a high honor. It is interesting for us that the princess was baptized shortly after the death of her husband.

It may be objected to us that it was purely physically impossible for Olga to be in Constantinople in 944: the PVL dates the death of Igor to 945, and the end of the fight against the Drevlyans in 946. It is mentioned that all summer after the death of Igor Olga stood near Iskorosten. However, after the scientifically substantiated re-dating of the campaign against the Greeks (943), all chronicle dates are shifted. If we take into account that the Old Russian year began on September 1, then there is nothing impossible in the fact that in the fall of 943 (944 according to the old style) an agreement was concluded with the Greeks, Igor was killed in winter, and spring went to reprisal against the Drevlyans. The mention of the siege of Iskorosten, which lasted all summer, does not matter to us here, since this is one of the latest inserts in the text of the chronicle. In this way. in the summer and autumn of 944, it was quite possible for Olga and, most importantly, urgently needed to be in Constantinople.

In summer or autumn, St. Olga arrived in Constantinople at the court of Emperor Romanus Lecapenus. Despite her desperate situation, the basileus received her favorably. The request for baptism and the offer of an alliance greatly pleased the emperor. He exclaimed: “Will I proclaim this word to the Patriarch!” . The elevation of a Christian princess to the Kyiv throne by the Byzantine troops would immediately provide the empire with a powerful and loyal ally. But even more attractive seemed to the widowed emperor the prospect of marrying the archontissa of the Rus, unusually smart and still beautiful. A personal union with the power of the Romans would immediately include Russia in the economic and political system of the empire. Christianization carried out by Princess Vasilisa would have been accomplished quickly and painlessly. Instead of strong and dangerous rivals of Byzantium, the Russians would have turned into peaceful citizens of the imperial outskirts.

Princess Olga - “I am a pagan, baptize me yourself”

Olga was well aware of the threat to Russia posed by the unexpected sympathy of the emperor. However, her position was not such that one could refuse directly. The princess, as always, found an unexpected and witty way out. “She, on reflection, answered the king: “I am a pagan; if you want to baptize me, then baptize me yourself, otherwise I will not be baptized.” An ordinary sailor who reached the royal purple, “Mr. Roman Vasilevs was a simple and illiterate man who did not belong<…>to those who followed Roman customs from the very beginning…” The Emperor, most likely, did not know about the church ban on marriage between a godfather and a goddaughter. Therefore, he did not notice the catch in Olga's words.

Soon, in Hagia Sophia of Constantinople, Emperor Roman and his son, Patriarch Theophylact, did what Olga sailed to Constantinople for. The first of the Russian princely house, St. Olga was baptized with the name Elena, in honor of the mother of Constantine the Great. This name contained a whole program of actions to convert Russia to Christianity. Understanding perfectly well the importance of what had happened, the Patriarch turned to the holy princess with words that can be called the Annunciation to the Russian people: “Blessed are you in the Russian wives, for you loved the light, but left the darkness. The sons of Russia will bless you until the last generations of your grandchildren. St. Olga stood “like a soldered lip”, delving into the commandments of the Christian faith and into the principles of moral teaching. Listening to the instructions of the Patriarch on prayer, fasting, abstinence and observance of the church charter, she took the demand for generous alms especially close to her heart. It is with Olga that the tradition, so characteristic of Russian Christianity, of combining prudent state administration with widespread charity begins. And in this area, the work begun by St. Olga, was picked up and brought to an unprecedented scale by St. Vladimir.

However, political interests were not forgotten either. For Russia, which, according to the hope of St. Olga, was soon to become a Christian, it was necessary to secure a worthy place in the Christian world. The emperor was greatly disappointed when he learned that the princess managed to hold him and marriage between them was impossible, but his desire to establish a close alliance with Russia did not diminish. Roman "gave her numerous gifts - gold, and silver, and curtains, and various vessels." These funds were enough to recruit in Constantinople a solid military detachment from the Varangians who served there. With such forces, the return of the throne became quite real. But alliances have gone further. The emperor called Olga his "daughter". It was more than an honorary title. The fact that Roman became the princess's successor was an exceptional success. Prior to this, the emperor was considered a godfather only among the Bulgarian basileus. Now the rivalry with Bulgaria for supremacy in the Byzantine community has gone further. The Russian rulers moved from the last place in the system of international relations of the empire, determined by the title ocpxoov, to the first - υιοζ βασιλεωζ . Roman Lakapin, who consistently oppressed and humiliated the weakening Bulgarian kingdom, clearly wanted to convey its role in the commonwealth of a powerful and, moreover, separated from the empire by a great distance of Russia.

Pleased with such an extraordinary success, which greatly increased her chances in the struggle for the throne of Kyiv, St. Olga went for a farewell conversation with the Patriarch. She brought a precious dish to Hagia Sophia, possibly taken from imperial gifts. In 1252, it was still carefully kept in Constantinople, where it was seen by the Russian pilgrim Dobrynya Yadreykovich, the future Archbishop Anthony of Novgorod. In his notes, he noted: “A dish of great gold was served by Olga the Russian, when she took tribute, going to the Tsar-city. In the dish of Olzhin, there is a precious stone, Christ is written on the same stone; and from that Christ people receive seals on all good things; in the same dish, everything is topped with pearls.” In a conversation, St. Olga anxiously said: “My people and my son are pagans - may God save me from all evil.” She was clearly worried about the fate of the upcoming expedition to Kyiv. But the Patriarch reassured her: “Faithful child! You were baptized into Christ and put on Christ, and Christ will keep you as He has kept you.<…>Moses from Pharaoh, David from Saul, the three youths from the furnace, Daniel from the beasts - so He will deliver you from the wiles of the devil and from his nets. Encouraged by the Patriarch, St. the princess returned to Kyiv, where she faced a difficult struggle with the pagans for power and for the fate of Christianity in Russia.

We do not know how the political coup in Kyiv took place. It did not result in a serious armed civil strife - otherwise its traces would not have disappeared from the sources at all, and the relationship between mother and son would have been hopelessly damaged. Apparently, the diplomatic Olga managed to convince her son that it was not safe to make enemies in the person of the emperor and all Kyiv Christians. In the face of an army that far outnumbered the forces of his squad, Svyatoslav chose to yield. Undoubtedly, he hoped for a quick death of his already elderly mother. But St. Olga God let go another quarter of a century, of which 15 years she was the sole ruler of Kyiv.

The princess immediately fell upon state concerns, which she skillfully combined with the service of the Good News. The incident with Igor showed that the disorder of the tax system promotes robbery and rebellion, and the very possibility of killing the prince testified to the weak centralization of the state. And St. Olga travels all over Russia, establishing "lessons and graveyards" - the size and places of tribute collection, simultaneously strengthening her power in remote areas. Only in a sufficiently strong state could baptism be carried out quickly and without internal upheavals. The authors of the hagiographies single out another aspect of her reforming activity: fixing the amount of tribute was accompanied by its significant relief and more equitable redistribution. Christian mercy immediately left a seal on all the activities of St. Olga. Later, Jacob Mnich, in his praise, will describe with admiration how she lived, “decorating herself with alms, dressing the naked, giving drink to the thirsty, looking after strangers and showing mercy to every widow and orphan and beggar, and giving everyone what they need with peace and love of heart” .

According to the “Book of Powers”, Olga “going around the cities and villages throughout the Russtey of the earth, preaching piety to all people and teaching them the faith of Christ<…>tributes and dues are easy to set, and idols are crushing, and on the idol places the crosses of Christ are delivered. We do not know how wide was the scope of the missionary activity of St. Olga. Her sermon was, no doubt, ubiquitous. However, the destruction of pagan temples, most likely, did not go beyond the boundaries of her personal possessions (however, very extensive). St. Olga did not try to use force for the baptism of Russia, knowing how fierce the resistance of the pagans would be, and not considering the whip the best preacher of the Gospel. She was soon to realize that without a church organization independent of the Greeks, it would be unthinkable for Russia to accept Christianity as its own, popular religion. The baptism of the Bulgarians by St. Boris realized relatively quickly and painlessly, not least because he managed to get the Byzantines to grant autocephaly to the Bulgarian archdiocese. A close alliance with Roman I, it would seem, promised such an opportunity. But in Constantinople there was another unforeseen change.

Turn

Olga spent the whole summer of 945 near Iskorosten, fighting against the newly rebellious Drevlyans. It must have been there that ambassadors from Byzantium arrived with the message that on December 16, 944, Roman was overthrown and sent into exile by his own sons. Constantine Porphyrogenitus, who had been pushed into the background back in the 1920s, soon returned to power. In the event of a change of power in one of the allied countries, the Byzantine diplomatic order required the renegotiation of treaties. Olga decided to take advantage of this opportunity to go back to Constantinople and resolve the issues that worried her personally with the emperor.

This time, in addition to creating an independent church organization in Russia, Olga dreamed of strengthening her international authority. Apparently, she was guided by the idea of ​​“taking a detour” of Svyatoslav, who had a strong antipathy to Christianity. Her plans included marrying her son to a Byzantine princess. A marriage with a porphyry-bearing princess would immediately raise the prestige of the Russian sovereign, and the obstinate prince would be forced to be baptized. Together with him, the squad would be baptized, and then the whole country. Olga repeatedly told Svyatoslav, who feared ridicule from the soldiers if he adopted Christianity: “If you are baptized, then everyone will do the same.” Clearing the way to this marriage, Olga separated her son from his beloved Malusha, who had given birth to Vladimir just shortly before (according to the chronicle report, according to which Vladimir was a little over 70 in 1015). And although, according to pagan customs, there was nothing illegal in their marriage, the princess exiled her slave to Vybutovo.

Olga prepared thoroughly for the trip to Constantinople. The princess wanted this time to appear before the emperor in all the splendor of her power. The caravan that set off from Kyiv at the beginning of the summer consisted of dozens of ships, which accommodated 1,500 people. The retinue included the wives of the rulers of all the major centers of Russia, including at least 6 princesses. Olga was accompanied by several dozen ambassadors and merchants, representatives of the Kyiv boyars. The expedition was commanded by her somewhat mysterious relative, whom Konstantin calls anepsia - a nephew. We cannot assume that Svyatoslav himself is hiding under this name. Not to name the heir to Konstantin did not make any sense. Maybe it was the mysterious brother of Svyatoslav - Uleb, who is mentioned in general by the little reliable Joachim Chronicle? Its traces are also preserved in Igor's treaty with the Greeks. There, in one of the first places, Ulebov's wife, a very influential person, is mentioned. There is no Uleb himself, although the ambassador “Uleb from Volodislav” is mentioned. It is possible that this place should be read “Volodislav from Uleb”, since the chronicler could distort the text of the agreement in order to hide an unpleasant story that happened in the princely house: Uleb was killed by his brother because he professed Christianity.

The first disappointments awaited Olga immediately upon arrival in Constantinople. The ally of the overthrown Roman, and even arrived with a huge fleet, was greeted with incredulity. Then Olga recalled with bitter resentment how she was kept in the harbor for more than one week before being allowed into Constantinople. However, things gradually improved. Kyiv diplomats managed to achieve exclusive privileges for the princess. When on September 9, 946, a solemn reception took place in the magnificent hall - Magnavra, Olga approached the emperor, not supported, as usual, by two eun-ears. Instead of relying on proskinesis, the princess greeted the emperor with a slight bow and talked to him while standing. Among the frescoes in the tower of St. Sophia of Kyiv, which, as S. A. Vysotsky managed to prove relatively recently, depict Olga's visit to Constantinople, a scene of a reception at the emperor has been preserved. The princess in a stemma and a white maforia stands before the emperor alone, without the accompaniment of eunuchs. The artist recorded one more detail: instead of crossing his arms over his chest as a sign of humility, St. Olga holds them with raised palms towards the viewer. On the one hand, this gesture should fix her independence, on the other hand, this is the application of Prince Yaroslav, the customer for the paintings, to canonize her great-grandmother. The blessed ones are usually depicted on icons with their palms facing the viewer.

In the evening, a feast was given in honor of the princess. Olga received the right to sit at the same table with the zosts - the highest ladies of the court, who had the privilege of dining with the emperor. Thus, St. Olga received the same privilege. The atmosphere in the presence of the princess was already so family-like that the empress seated her seven-year-old daughter-in-law Berta, who was uncomfortable eating sitting on her children's throne, with her on the throne of Theophilus. When dessert was served, Olga found herself at the same table with the imperial family and again talked with the basil. After the feast, the retinue of Olga, divided according to the model of the Byzantine court into seven categories, were presented with the imperial “gifts of generosity”. Among the modestly gifted was a certain presbyter Gregory, apparently, who spiritually nourished the Christians from Olga's retinue. The people of Svyatoslav, whether through the disdain of the princess or the hostility of the Byzantines, ended up in the penultimate place, having received 5 miliaris each. The princess herself was presented with 500 miliaris in a golden bowl with jewels, a modest amount, but still a considerable one.

Duchess Olga. disappointment

But ahead of St. Olga was mostly disappointed. She was taken around Constantinople, the emperor invited her to the hippodrome, which is also depicted on the frescoes of Hagia Sophia. However, all this was done only in order to sweeten the bitter pill of the collapse of all her hopes to the proud princess. Allied agreements were renegotiated, trade negotiations were successful. Olga promised the emperor “howl to help” for the upcoming expedition to recapture Crete from the Arabs (which ended in failure in 949). However, she was denied ecclesiastical autocephaly. The unity of the Eastern Churches under the despotic rule of the Patriarch of Constantinople was the idee fixe of the Byzantines. The marriage project also failed. The fanatical hater of the “barbarians” and the zealot of the purity of the porphyry blood Constantine VII refused to marry his daughter, referring to the mythical prohibition of Constantine the Great to extradite the princesses abroad. Later, apparently referring to Olga's matchmaking, Constantine instructed his son: either to get his daughter as a wife, or to give your daughter to Vasileus as a wife or son of Vasileus, you must also reject this unreasonable request of theirs<…>Let the basil of the Romans never be related through marriage with a people committed to special and alien customs ... ". Even the title of "daughter of basileus" was not reserved for Olga. In his work “On Ceremonies”, Porphyrogenet stubbornly calls her archontissa.

The farewell reception on October 18 was already cold and tense. This time the retinue of the princess was divided into only four categories, and Olga herself was awarded the amount of only 200 miliaris. Representatives of the unfortunate fiance Svyatoslav were simply not invited. However, these small injections were for St. Olga is nothing compared to the main blow: the short-sightedness of the imperial court threatened the baptism of Russia.

Returning to Kyiv, St. Olga still did not lose hope and continued to prepare the ground for the adoption of Christianity. She starts building churches. Olga was the first to start the competition between Kyiv and Constantinople. The Saints of the “Apostle” of 1307, under May 11, contain the entry: “On the same day, the consecration of St. Sophia Kyiv in the summer of 6460” (925). This news is confirmed by the Joachim Chronicle and the German chronicler Titmar of Merseburg. Sophia Cathedral appeared in Kyiv, while the St. Sophia Monastery, founded by the princess, was to become a Christian cultural center and a supplier of personnel for the future Russian Church. Olga bequeathed the whole of her native Vybutskaya to the Cathedral of the Most Holy Theotokos, built nearby, and in Pskov, after a vision she had had, she ordered the erection of a church in honor of the Holy Trinity.

The missionary preaching of St. Olga sowed the seeds of Christianity in the most remote regions of Russia. Small Christian communities sprang up everywhere. Even in the citadel of paganism - the squad of Svyatoslav, many were baptized. Svyatoslav, "if someone was going to be baptized, he did not forbid, but only laughed at him," however, he himself was adamant, and to all his mother's persuasions he only answered that for unbelievers "Christian foolishness is faith." The prince was not going to change the free life of a pagan Viking for the embarrassing joy of life in Christ. He was waiting for the moment when the seventy-year-old Olga would cede power to him. The princess understood this and strove to carry out the baptism of Russia as soon as possible: only in this case it was possible not to fear for the fate of the sprouts of Christian life planted by her.

But in Constantinople they remained just as deaf to the hopes of the mission among the Rus. This caused somewhere in the mid-50s. gap between St. Olga and the emperor. When Constantine, who needed urgent military assistance against the Arabs, sent a reminder of allied obligations to Kyiv, Olga escorted the ambassadors out, recalling the humiliations that she had endured in the harbor of Constantinople. Convinced of the futility of hoping for the Greeks, the princess decided to try her luck in the West, among the Latins.

Under 959, in the chronicle of the successor of Reginon of Pryumsky, there is an entry: “They came to the king, - as it turned out later, in a false way, - the ambassadors of Helen the Queen of Rugs, who was baptized in Constantinople under the Constantinopolitan emperor Roman, and asked to consecrate a bishop and priests for this people” . This message is so unusual that many, for example, A. V. Kartashev, out of misunderstood Orthodox patriotism, refused to believe in the possibility of such a step on the part of St. Olga. However, the fact remains: the princess sent ambassadors to the Saxon king Otto I, who was preparing to become the German emperor, with a request to establish a bishopric; this implied her autocephalous status. Olga hoped that Otto, who was a zealous missionary among the Slavs, would agree to such conditions. However, in the West, autonomies were never even heard of, and therefore, without thinking twice, they simply appointed the monk Libutius as a Russian bishop. However, his departure to Kyiv was delayed. The Byzantines reacted very nervously to the German interference in Russian affairs and immediately broke off relations with Saxony. Otto decided to use the question of the Russian episcopacy, blackmailing the Greeks with it in the struggle for recognition of his imperial title. Libutius died before reaching his diocese, and in 961 he was replaced by the notary of the royal office, brother Adalbert. He immediately left for the place, but returned the following year, “because he did not succeed in anything for which he was sent, and saw his efforts in vain; on the way back, some of his companions were killed, while he himself barely escaped with great difficulty.

From the message of the unlucky “Russian” bishop, it is not clear what happened in Kyiv and ruined all his plans. It is possible that St. Olga, making sure that Adalbert did not bring the desired autocephaly, again placed her hopes on Byzantium. This seems to be evidenced by the fact that in 961 the Rus took part in the expedition of the commander Nikephoros Foki to Crete. But something else is not excluded. The decisive and intolerant methods of planting Christianity, inherent in the German missionaries, caused an outburst of indignation among the pagan party in Kyiv. Olga had to cede power to her son. Around the beginning of the 60s. Svyatoslav regains his leading role in the Russian political arena. St. Olga goes into private life, devoting herself to the upbringing of her grandchildren so that they can continue the Christianization of Russia. She pinned special hopes on the eldest, Yaropolk. Worst of all, by the irony of history, the situation was with the youngest, Vladimir: in his family for a long time they could not forgive the grandmother of Malusha's exile.

Duchess Olga. The role of the ruler of the State

Svyatoslav embarked on long-planned military adventures, crushing one after another the commercial competitors of Russia. He completely forgot about Kyiv, and Olga had to take on the usual role of the ruler of the state during his field trips. The land, abandoned by the prince to the mercy of fate, became an easy prey for the predatory nomads who flooded the Eastern European steppes after the “brilliant” defeat by Svyatoslav of Khazaria, which had hitherto held them back. “In the year 968. The Pechenegs came to Russian land for the first time, and Svyatoslav was then in Pereyaslavets ...”. St. Olga had to lead the defense of Kyiv. The city was saved by a miracle, only thanks to a trick that we can confidently attribute to the princess. Voevoda Pretich, having crossed to the city from the other side of the Dnieper, told the khan that he was leading the rearguard of the returning Svyatoslav. The name of the invincible warrior had an effect, and the Pechenegs retreated. And the people of Kiev sent a bitter reproach to the prince: “You, prince, are looking for someone else’s land and take care of it, but you left your own, and the Pechenegs almost took us, and your mother, and your children. If you do not come and protect us, then they will take us. Don’t you feel sorry for your fatherland, your old mother, your children?”

The shamed Svyatoslav quickly returned and defeated the Pechenegs. However, he soon got bored again in Kyiv. Confident in a close victory over the hated Byzantium and the creation of a great Eastern European empire, he decided to leave the inhospitable Dnieper expanses and move the capital to Pereyaslavets on the Danube. St. Olga no longer had the strength or desire to argue with her son, whose near and inglorious end she foresaw. The only thing she asked Svyatoslav was to wait for her approaching death: “When you bury me, go wherever you want.” “Three days later Olga died, and her son and her grandchildren and all the people wept for her with a great cry…”. She passed away to the Lord on July 11. With her death, not only the Kyiv Christians, who lost their powerful patroness, felt orphaned, but also the pagans, to whom the saint generously, without counting, gave alms. During her peaceful and wise reign, a whole generation of Kyivans has grown up.

They buried her, unusually for the princes of Kyiv, modestly and quietly. There were no fabulous riches placed in the coffin, no ritual funeral laments. The princess categorically forbade funeral feasts, face-dressing, and the laying of a mound over her grave; she ordered only the sending of gold to Constantinople to the Patriarch for the remembrance of the soul. Christian priests buried her with prayers and hymns, still unusual for Kievites, about the resting place “where there is no sickness, no sorrow, no sighing.”

After the demise

A quarter of a century after the blessed death of St. Olga, when her prediction about the imminent baptism of Russia came true, St. Vladimir extracted the relics of his grandmother from the earth, which turned out to be incorrupt, and solemnly transferred them to the Church of the Tithes. They were laid in an open tomb and soon became one of the most important Kyiv shrines, from which many suffering people received healing. During the years of the Mongol invasion, the relics were hidden underground and were rediscovered only in the 17th century. Metropolitan Peter Mohyla. However, in the 18th century, at the time of the hidden persecution of the shrines, the Synod again seized them under pressure from the government, without vouching for their authenticity. Canonization of St. Olga was committed somewhere at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, quietly and inconspicuously, without any formal act - they never doubted her holiness.

The feat of St. Olga, perhaps, is not as noticeable and loud as the real revolution carried out in Russia by St. Vladimir. She was not destined to see Christian Russia. But, probably, it was not in vain that the compilers of the “Book of Powers” ​​placed the extensive life of the princess in the first place - outside the degrees. And it is no coincidence that a modest but emphasized veneration of the saint was always preserved in Russia. Without her labor in cultivating the seeds of faith on Russian soil, such a quick and stunning victory of Christianity under St. Vladimir. Her efforts to implement the full entry of Russia into the Byzantine community laid the foundation for the most powerful influence of Byzantine culture, which shaped Russian culture. Such features of the spiritual appearance of the first Russian saint as wisdom, calmness alien to exaltation, the ability to both prayerful deeds and state and cultural creativity forever determined the archetype of Russian holiness. And therefore, “sons of Russia, until the last descendants of grandchildren” will cherish in their hearts the eternal memory and gratitude to the great prayer book for the Russian land.

Accepted abbreviations:

PVL - The Tale of Bygone Years;

PSRL - Complete collection of Russian chronicles;

VV - Byzantine temporary;

VI - Questions of history;

VDI - Bulletin of Ancient History.

Many facts from the life of one of the greatest rulers of Russia are still unknown to this day. Princess Olga, whose brief biography has many "white spots", is today one of the most odious people

Origin of Princess Olga

Historians and researchers of Olga's life and work have not yet come to a consensus about her origin. Several sources of those years give different information about the origin of the future wife of Grand Duke Igor.

So, one of the recognized sources of those times - "The Tale of Bygone Years" - indicates that the future Princess Olga, whose brief biography does not give accurate data about her parents, was brought from Pskov.

Another source - "The Life of Princess Olga" - claims that she was born on Pskov land, in the village of Vybuty. commoner, which is why the names of her parents remained unknown.

The Jokimov Chronicle mentions that the future wife of the Prince of Kyiv was of the noble Izborsky family, and her roots go back to the Varangians.

Another version: Olga is the daughter

Marriage

Igor's acquaintance with his future wife is also shrouded in a mass of inaccuracies and mysteries. The "Life" says that the future Princess Olga, whose brief biography is sometimes contradictory in different sources, met her future husband in Pskov, where the prince was hunting. He needed to cross the river, and, seeing the boat, Igor got into it. After the prince discovered that his ferryman was a beautiful girl. She refused all courtship of her passenger. And when the time came to choose a bride for the prince, he remembered the girl in the boat and sent messengers after her with a marriage proposal. So Olga became the wife of the Russian. Princess Kyiv, whose brief biography has since been traced more clearly, was a good and wise wife. Soon she gave birth to Igor's son - Svyatoslav.

The murder of Prince Igor

Prince Igor was a great conqueror, he constantly raided neighboring lands with his retinue, collecting tribute from weak tribes. One of these campaigns became fatal for the Russian prince. In 945, Igor and his retinue went to the neighboring Drevlyans for the due tribute. Taking away a lot of wealth, destroying villages and desecrating the local population, the Russians went home. However, on the way back, the prince with a small number of soldiers decided to return and again rob the Drevlyane lands. But the local men, making sure that the prince was coming with a small army, attacked him and killed him.

Revenge on the Drevlyans

Upon learning of the death of her husband at the hands of the Drevlyans, Olga grieved for a long time. Princess Kyiv, whose brief biography is described in The Tale of Bygone Years, turned out to be a wise wife and ruler. According to the customs of that time, it was acceptable. Naturally, Olga could not get around this tradition. Gathering a squad, She began to wait. Soon, ambassadors from the Drevlyans came with a proposal for a wedding for the sake of uniting the Russian and Drevlyan lands. The princess agreed - this was her revenge.

The gullible Drevlyans believed her, entered the capital, but were captured, thrown into a pit and covered with earth. So, some of the most daring and brave Drevlyans were destroyed. The second batch of ambassadors was also killed by cunning - they were burned in a bathhouse. When Olga and her retinue approached the gates of Iskorosten, the main city of the Drevlyans, under the pretext of celebrating a feast (commemoration) for the prince, she drugged her enemies, and the retinue chopped them down. According to the chroniclers, about five thousand Drevlyans died then.

In 946, the princess went with an army to the Drevlyane lands, destroyed them, collected taxes and established a mandatory, fixed tax rate, but she did not succeed in occupying Iskorosten. The city was impregnable. Then Olga burned the city to the ground with the help of pigeons and sparrows, tying a burning cloth to their paws. Schoolchildren are told who Princess Olga is. The short biography for elementary school children omits the full story of revenge. The attention is mainly paid to the years of her reign and the adoption of the Christian faith.

Princess Olga: brief biography, years of reign

After the death of Igor, their son Svyatoslav became his successor, but in fact all power was concentrated in the hands of his mother, both while he was young and after he came of age. Svyatoslav was a warrior, and spent most of his time on campaigns. Landscaping and controlled territories were carried out by Princess Olga. A brief biography of the ruler indicates that this woman founded several cities, including Pskov. Everywhere she ennobled her lands, erected walls around large villages, built churches in honor of Christian saints. During the reign of Olga, excessive taxes were replaced by fixed fees.

The foreign policy of the princess also deserves attention. Olga strengthened ties with Germany and Byzantium. This was facilitated, first of all, by her adoption of the Christian faith.

Baptism of Princess Olga

Princess Olga was named the first sign of Christianity on Russian soil. A short biography for grade 4 pays special attention to this event. In the written sources of past years, there is no single date for the adoption of Christianity by the princess. Some say 955, others say 957.

Having visited Constantinople, Olga was not only baptized in the Christian faith, but also renewed the trade agreements signed by her late husband. The princess was baptized by VII himself and the priest Theophylact. They named her Elena (according to Christian custom).

Returning home, Olga tried in every possible way to introduce her son Svyatoslav to the new faith, but the prince was not imbued with this idea and remained a pagan, fearing the condemnation of the squad. And yet, he did not forbid his mother to build cathedrals and churches. Olga remained in Kyiv, actively participated in the upbringing of her grandchildren. Perhaps it was this fact that led to the fact that the son of Svyatoslav, Vladimir, baptized Russia in 988, thereby uniting it.

In 968, the Pechenegs attacked the Russian land. Olga was in the besieged capital along with her grandchildren. She sent a messenger for Svyatoslav, who at that time was on another campaign. The prince arrived home, defeated the Pechenegs, but Olga asked her son not to plan another campaign, as she was seriously ill and foresaw the near end. In 969, Princess Olga died and was buried according to the Christian rite. The legend says that the relics of the Grand Duchess were incorruptible.

In the 16th century, Olga was canonized as a saint.

Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duchess Olga is one of the most enigmatic figures in Russian history. I tried very hard to make this post with minimal deviations in religion, although for me this is a very difficult task, since all the sources that I could find connect the Grand Duchess Olga precisely with the establishment of Christianity in Russia. Contemporaries called it "The Root of Orthodoxy". And religious scholars emphasize that it was during her reign that the seeds of the Faith of Christ were successfully planted. I apologize for this digression. And I will try to simply tell about the Great ruler of Kievan Rus.

Until now, the origin of the future Great ruler is not known for certain. The most common version is that Olga was born in the Pskov land, her family tree goes back to Gostomysl. The Joachim Chronicle reports that Olga belonged to the family of the ancient Russian princely dynasty of the Izborskys. She was born into a pagan family in the village of Vytuby not far from Pskov, standing on the Velikaya River. According to other sources, Olga was from a simple peasant family. There is a version that the future Grand Duchess belongs to one of the Bulgarian princely families. There is also an opinion that she came from a Scandinavian family. A very rare version is that Olga was the illegitimate daughter of Prophetic Oleg.

Already in her early youth, Olga was characterized by a deep mind and an exceptional moral purity in a pagan environment. The ancient authors call the princess God-wise, the wisest in the family, and it was purity that was the good soil on which the seeds of the Christian faith bore such a rich fruit.
Olga was also distinguished by external beauty. When the future Kyiv prince Igor saw her while hunting in the northern forests, he flared up with a strong passion for her and began to seek meetings with her, inclining the girl to carnal relations. However, the wise and chaste Olga began to admonish the prince not to become a slave to his passions, since he, as a prince, should be a bright example of good deeds for people.

Artist Sazonov "The first meeting of Olga and Igor"

With the blessing of Igor's guardian, Prophetic Oleg, in 903 Saint Olga became the wife of Prince Igor. Since 912, after the death of Prince Oleg, Igor began to rule in Kyiv with autocracy. He successfully carried out several military campaigns. During the reign of Igor, who was loyal to the Christian religion, the faith of Christ spread in Kyiv so much that Christians made up a significant part of society. That is why the peace treaty with the Greeks, concluded shortly before the death of Prince Igor, was approved by two religious communities in Kyiv: Christians and pagans. In 945, Prince Igor was killed by the Drevlyans. Fearing revenge for the murder of the Kyiv prince and wanting to strengthen their position, the Drevlyans sent ambassadors to Princess Olga, offering her to marry their ruler Mal. But Olga, then still a pagan, rejected the offer of the Drevlyans. By cunning, having lured the elders and all the noble men of the Drevlyans to Kyiv, she avenged them with a painful death for the death of her husband. Olga repeatedly took revenge on the Drevlyans until they submitted to Kyiv, and their capital Korosten was burned to the ground. As a pagan, she could not ascend then to the commandment of forgiveness and love for enemies.
Deviating a little from the topic, I want to put one question to which I would like to hear versions of the answers of respected accomplices and accomplices. As the widow of a pagan ruler, according to the laws of the pagan society of pagan Russia (I apologize for such repetitions), Olga had to ascend the funeral pyre and be buried with her husband. So how did the princess manage to avoid this? The famous historian Oleg Rapov in the book "The Russian Church in the 9th - the first third of the 12th century." considers the version that Olga was baptized even before the trip to Byzantium. And with her unfeminine wisdom, she was able to convince the pagans around her that she could not act according to their laws, otherwise she would violate the will of her God. However, this version is absurd. For, as stated above, Olga terribly took revenge on the Drevlyans for the murder of her husband. It is known from history that the princess did not spare anyone, even children.
After the death of Prince Igor, Olga successfully ruled the state and strengthened the power of the Grand Duchy of Kyiv.
The Grand Duchess traveled around the Russian land in order to streamline the civil and economic life of the people. Under her rule, the Russian land was divided into regions, or volosts, in many places she set up churchyards, which became administrative and judicial centers.
God-wise Olga went down in history as a great creator of the culture of Kievan Rus. She resolutely refused a second marriage, retaining the throne of the grand duke for her growing son Svyatoslav. Grand Duchess Olga put a lot of work to strengthen the defense of the country. By the time of Olga's reign, historians attribute the establishment of the first state borders of the Russian state - in the west with Poland.
History has not preserved the names of Olga's first Christian mentors, probably because the princess's conversion to Christ was associated with Divine admonition. One of the ancient texts says this: “Oh wonder! They themselves do not lead the Scriptures, nor have they heard the Christian law and the teacher about piety, but diligently learn the disposition of piety and love the Christian faith with all your heart. About the inexpressible Providence of God! Not from a blessed person did I learn the truth, but from above a teacher I have God's Wisdom. Saint Olga went to Christ through the search for Truth, seeking satisfaction for her inquisitive mind; an ancient author calls her "God's chosen guardian of wisdom." The Monk Nestor the chronicler narrates: “From an early age, Blessed Olga sought wisdom, which is the best in this world, and found a valuable pearl - Christ.”

Sergei Kirillov "Baptism of Princess Olga"

In 955, the princess went to Constantinople, where she was received with honor by Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (913-959) and Patriarch Theophylact (933-956). Historians tell that the emperor was shocked by the beauty of Olga and began to seek her love. However, the wise princess informed the emperor that she wanted to be baptized, and that she would like the emperor himself to become her godfather. The Byzantine ruler understood the train of thought of the wise Russian guest, but could not refuse. According to the chronicle, soon Olga received holy Baptism with the name Elena, in honor of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Empress Elena. As the princess wished, Emperor Constantine himself became her godfather. Patriarch Theophylact instructed the Russian princess in the truths of the Orthodox faith. After baptism, Olga returned to Kyiv, taking with her the holy cross, icons, liturgical books. Here began her apostolic ministry. She led many people of Kiev to Christ and holy Baptism, and made attempts to influence her son, a convinced pagan, cowardly afraid of the condemnation of the squad. Prince Svyatoslav remained deaf to his mother's calls. Without forcing her son, Olga prayed with humility: “God's will be done. If God wants to have mercy on my family and the Russian land, may he lay it on their hearts to turn to God, as God is a gift to me. Grand Duchess Olga built in Kyiv, on the grave of Prince Askold, a church in the name of St. Nicholas, laid a wooden church in the name of Hagia Sophia the Wisdom of God.
Then, with the preaching of the holy faith, the holy princess went to the north. At the confluence of the Pskov River with the Velikaya River, Saint Olga saw the "beam of the Tri-radiant Deity" - a sign of God's care for Russia. The Grand Duchess put a cross on that place and founded a temple in the Name of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity. She prophetically announced that "a great city" would be erected here. It is historically reliable that the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duchess Olga was the founder of Pskov. Upon her return to Kyiv, she sent a lot of gold and silver to the construction of the Pskov temple.
At the end of her life, Grand Duchess Olga endured many sorrows. Svyatoslav, who did not accept holy Baptism, left his elderly mother and moved to the city of Pereyaslavets on the Danube. In addition, he interfered with her activities to establish Christianity in Russia. In 968 Kyiv was besieged by the Pechenegs. The Grand Duchess and her grandchildren, among whom was Prince Vladimir, were in mortal danger. When the news of the siege reached Svyatoslav, he hurried to help, and the Pechenegs were put to flight. The holy princess, being already seriously ill, asked her son not to leave until her death. She did not lose hope to turn her son's heart to God, and on her deathbed she did not stop preaching. On July 11, 969, Saint Olga reposed in the Lord, bequeathing not to arrange feasts on her own, but to perform a Christian burial.

Olga was buried in the ground according to the Christian rite. Her grandson Grand Duke Vladimir I Svyatoslavovich the Baptist transferred the relics of his grandmother to the Church of the Holy Mother of God founded by him in Kyiv. According to the Life and the monk Jacob, the body of the blessed princess was preserved from decay. Her “glowing like the sun” body could be observed through the window in the stone coffin, which was ajar for any true Christian believer, and many found healing there.
During the reign of Yaropolk (970-978), Grand Duchess Olga began to be revered as a saint. Since that time, the day of memory of St. Olga (Helena) began to be celebrated on July 11, at least in the Church of the Tithes itself. However, the official canonization (general church glorification) apparently took place later - approximately in the middle of the 13th century. Her name becomes christening early, in particular among the Czechs. In 1547, Olga was added to the canon of saints as Equal to the Apostles. Besides her, only 5 women in Christian history received such an honor - Mary Magdalene, the First Martyr Thekla, the Martyr Apphia, the Byzantine Queen Elena and the Enlightener of Georgia Nina.

The memory of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duchess Olga is celebrated on July 24 according to the new style or July 11 according to the Julian calendar.
Revered primarily as the patroness of widows and newly converted Christians.

I congratulate everyone who bears the name Olga, Helga, Elga, as well as those born from July 24 to November 11 and bearing the name Elena, on Angel Day.