Olga of Kiev

Olga (Russian: ????? also called Olga Prekrasa, or Olga the Beauty, Old Norse: Helga) (died July 11, 969 in Kiev) was a Pskov woman of Varangian extraction who married the future Igor of Kiev, arguably in 903.

Related Topics:
Russian - Old Norse - July 11 - 969 - Pskov - Varangian - Igor - Kiev - 903

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The Primary Chronicle gives 879 as her date of birth, which is rather unlikely, given the fact that her only son Svyatoslav was probably born some 65 years after that date. She spent great effort to avenge her husband's death at the hands of the Drevlians, and succeeded in slaughtering many of them and interring some in a ship burial, while still alive. After Igor's death, she ruled Kievan Rus as regent (945-c.963) for their son, Svyatoslav.

Related Topics:
Primary Chronicle - Svyatoslav - Drevlians - Ship burial - Kievan Rus - 945 - 963

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She was the first Rus ruler to convert to Christianity, either in 945 or in 957. The ceremonies of her formal reception in Constantinople were minutely described by Emperor Constantine VII in his book De Ceremoniis. After her baptism she took the Christian name Yelena, after the reigning Empress Helena Lekapena.

Related Topics:
Christianity - 945 - 957 - Constantinople - Constantine VII - De Ceremoniis

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Olga was one of the first people of Rus to be proclaimed saint, for her efforts to spread the Christian religion in the country. However, she failed to convert Svyatoslav, and it was left to her grandson and pupil Vladimir I to make Christianity the lasting state religion.

Related Topics:
Svyatoslav - Vladimir I - Christianity - State religion

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