St. Olga, Mass Murderer

[c. 879–969] FEAST DAY: July 11

The founders of Russia’s first royal family were not Slavs, but Vikings. Rurik (c. 830–79), the first prince of Novgorod, in what is now Ukraine, was just one in a steady stream of Scandinavian warrior-adventurer-traders who sailed down the Volga and the Dnieper rivers in search of plunder or, when in a less aggressive mood, in search of a good deal on furs and slaves.

In Rurik’s day tribes populated the immense landmass that we call Russia. There was no czar, no central political authority, and not many towns—Novgorod being one of the exceptions. Reliable historical accounts from this period are hard to come by, so no one is certain how Rurik became prince of Novgorod. One version says that the people of Novgorod hired an army of Viking mercenaries led by Rurik to drive off an enemy tribe, the Pechenegs. The Pechenegs were fearsome warriors, but the Vikings were better. They scattered the Pechenegs, then returned to Novgorod, where they expected a hero’s welcome. Instead, the Novgorodians and the Vikings quarreled—over what, no one can say. The quarrel escalated until the Vikings turned on the Novgorodians, conquered the city, and established Rurik as prince.

Rurik was succeeded by Oleg, in all probability his brother-in-law, who set about consolidating Viking power in the region, conquering neighboring tribes and establishing a new capital in Kiev. Oleg’s reign marked the beginning of centralized power in Russia.

Olga entered this dynasty by her marriage to Oleg’s son and heir, Igor. As prince of Kiev, Igor continued his father’s policy of subduing more and more tribes and extracting tribute from those tribes that were too difficult to subjugate completely. The Drevlians were among the tribute payers. They had tried to shake off the prince of Kiev during Oleg’s life, had rebelled at the time of Oleg’s death, and in 945 had risen up again, refusing to pay their annual assessment to Igor.

With a large armed force Igor set out for Iskorosten, the Drevlians’ chief town (today known as Korosten, on the Uzh River). Confronted with this show of force, coupled with threats of worse to follow, the Drevlians backed down and paid Igor what they owed him. It was a happy ending, yet as the prince and his army rode home to Kiev, Igor convinced himself that considering all the trouble the Drevlians had caused, they ought to cough up more. After ordering his men to carry the tribute home, Igor turned his horse around and headed back into the Drevlian territory, determined to coerce a supplemental payment from them.

Without his army, Prince Igor did not look nearly so dangerous. The Drevlians murdered him, then dumped his body in a hastily dug grave. Meanwhile the chief men of the tribe began to scheme: if Igor’s widow Olga married Mal, their chief, the Drevlians would be princes and all the other tribes would fall under their rule. Igor and Olga’s son, Svyatoslav, was not a consideration: he was a young boy whom they could bully now and dispose of later. Thoroughly pleased with their scheme, the Drevlians chose twenty of their most distinguished men to bring the news to Olga.

Olga must have been a shrewd customer. When the Drevlian embassy arrived at her door with news that Igor was dead, Olga gave them a gracious welcome. Encouraged by her cordiality, the ambassadors put aside diplomacy for perfect candor: they admitted their people had killed Igor, adding that since he was “like a wolf, crafty and ravening,” he had it coming. But along with this sad news they had a proposal for Olga: their prince, Mal, was eager to become her husband.

Suppressing her grief and rage, Olga gave the Drevlian ambassadors a pleasant answer. “Your proposal is pleasing to me,” she said. “Indeed my husband cannot rise again from the dead.” Nevertheless, she did want to think it over. Olga suggested the ambassadors return the next day for her answer. After the Drevlians had gone their way, Olga commanded her servants to dig a deep ditch beside her stronghold.

The next day the ambassadors returned, dressed in all their finery, ready to hear Olga confess her willingness to become their princess. Instead Olga ordered her guard to seize the Drevlians and throw them into the pit. From the edge of the pit Olga called down to the envoys, inquiring how they liked their visit to Kiev so far. They cried, “Our case is worse than Igor’s!”

And they were right. A quick thrust from a sword or spear had ended Igor’s life, but the twenty ambassadors were about to be buried alive. As Olga turned away, she gave the order to fill in the pit.

Before the fate of the ambassadors could reach the Drevlians, Olga sent a message to Prince Mal: she had received his proposal of marriage, but if he wanted her to come to him, he must send the most distinguished men of his tribe to serve as her escort. From this message Mal imagined that his scheme to become prince of Kiev was progressing nicely. He sent the escort at once.

Once again Olga played the gracious hostess. She welcomed the Drevlians, even offering them the use of her bathhouse to clean up after their long ride. Once the last man was safely inside, Olga had her guards seal the doors and set fire to the building. Everyone in the bathhouse was burned alive.

Olga sent yet another message to Prince Mal. She was coming at last. But she wanted an opportunity to weep over her late husband’s grave and honor his memory with a traditional funeral banquet. She asked Mal and all his most important men to be her guests and urged the prince to have plenty of mead on hand.

Outside Iskorosten Olga found Igor’s humble grave. As her men heaped up a proper mound over their prince, Olga wept like a dutiful wife. With the funeral rites complete, Mal led Olga into his hall for the traditional feast. He asked about the escort he had sent to her. Olga replied that they were on their way, accompanied by Igor’s personal bodyguard.

Acting as hosts, Olga and her entourage kept the mead flowing. Prince Mal and his people were so delighted by how easily everything was going their way, no one noticed that Olga and her people were not drinking. When at last all the guests were stupefied with drink, the men of Kiev drew their weapons and set about the grim business of killing everyone in the hall. Our main source for this story, The Primary Chronicle, claims that five thousand men were slain. That number is probably a medieval exaggeration. But it is likely that Olga’s men cut down in cold blood several hundred Drevlians.

Yet Olga’s rage still had not run its course. She returned to Kiev, collected an army, and marched on Iskorosten. By now the Drevlians were terrified of this woman. They sent her a message, offering to pay anything she demanded in ransom, but Olga did not want money. She ordered her soldiers to set fire to the city. As flames engulfed the wooden houses and walls, the inhabitants streamed out the gates, running into the open plain between their burning city and Olga’s army. Many of them were slaughtered by Olga’s troops. The ones who survived Olga sold into slavery.

With the destruction of Iskorosten, Olga’s desire for vengeance was satisfied.

Nine years later, in 954, Olga traveled to Constantinople. The chronicles do not tell us why. It’s possible she wanted to form an alliance with the emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitos. In Constantinople, the greatest, richest, most luxurious city in the Mediterranean world, Olga converted to Christianity. Once again we have no details about her decision. Given her conduct when she returned home, we know that Olga’s conversion was sincere, which makes it even more frustrating that we do not have any clue who or what influenced her to give up her cruel, pagan ways.

When Olga asked the emperor to serve as her godfather, he countered by asking Olga to become his wife. She put him off, suggesting that he ask her again after her baptism. It was a clever move. In Kiev she ruled as a princess in her own right over a vast territory. In Constantinople she would have the grand title of empress, but no power. After the baptism, when Constantine repeated his marriage proposal, Olga had an answer: she could not marry him; Church law forbade a goddaughter to marry her godfather.

And so, Christian but still a powerful and independent princess, Olga returned home.

Filled with zeal for her new faith Olga built churches in Kiev, Pskov, and elsewhere. She tried to bring her people into the Church, but most of them resisted all attempts to convert them. When she invited missionaries from Germany to come preach in her lands, they were murdered by the people of Rus (the land that incorporated most of Ukraine and part of modern Russia). Even within her own family she made no converts. When she died, it appeared that her attempt to make Rus a Christian nation had been a colossal failure.

Nonetheless, what began with Olga would be brought to fruition by her grandson, Vladimir. The Russians and Ukrainians venerate her as “the first from Rus to enter the kingdom of God,” giving her the title “Equal to the Apostles,” because she brought the Christian faith to their land.