Not many women could exact revenge on the tribe of people
that killed her husband and become a saint, but Olga of Kiev did. Born c. 890
CE, Olga was venerated as a saint for her role in the conversion to
Christianity of people across the Rus’. While it was her grandson that
ultimately made Christianity the state religion, her own baptism and conversion
set the wheels in motion.
Yet, it’s not her conversion to Christianity that is the
best known story about her. Olga’s husband, Igor of Kiev, was killed by the
neighboring Drevlians. As their son was only three years old at the time, Olga
ruled Kievan Rus as regent until he would come of age. In an attempt to gain
control of this region, the Drevlians sought to marry the now-widowed Olga to
their own Prince Mal. She, however, was determined to remain unmarried and in
power so that her son would inherit his father’s rule.
Now this is where the story begins to get interesting. The
Drevlians sent their twenty best men to “persuade” Olga to marry Prince Mal.
She had them buried alive. Olga then sent word to Prince Mal that she had
accepted his proposal but required his most distinguished members of court so
that she might travel to his court to be married. When these men arrived, Olga welcomed
them warmly and suggested that they wash after the long journey. After the men
entered the bathhouse, Olga had the doors locked and set the building ablaze,
ridding herself of the best men that the Drevlians had to offer.
If that weren’t enough, she then invited the remaining Drevlians
to a funeral feast so she might mourn over her husband’s grave before
remarrying. When all of the Drevlians were drunk, she ordered her soldiers to
kill them. Over 5,000 people were killed in this attack before she returned to
Kiev to prepare for an attack on those that remained in their capital of
Iskorosten.
The Drevlians begged Olga for mercy and offered to pay for
that mercy with honey and furs. Instead, Olga asked for three pigeons and three
sparrows from every house, to which the people were happy to comply. To each
soldier of her army, Olga gave a pigeon or sparrow with the order to attach a
piece of sulfur bound with small pieces of cloth with a thread. The birds were
then released. They flew back to their nests and coops. Though I am unclear
exactly how it was accomplished, this led to the capital being engulfed in a
fire that destroyed the entire city. Olga’s soldiers captured people as they
fled the city. She had some captives killed while others she gave as slaves to
her followers. The few that remained were left to pay tribute.
She remained regent until her son came of age. Olga
frequently evaded proposals of marriage and defended the city of Kiev against a
siege in 968 CE.
There is a profile of Olga of Kiev in the following book:
Princess Behaving
Badly (Real Stories from History Without the Fairy-Tale Endings) by Linda
Rodriguez McRobbie
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