Order of Medieval Women
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PictureSt. Olga, Mikhail Vasilyevich Nesterov, 1892 CE, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg. Credit Alamy Photos
​St. Olga of Kiev, d 969
Ancestral Roots Line  241:2


Daughter of Oleg, Danish Prince of Kiev, widow to Igor of Kiev,  mother to three year old son Svyatoslav, regent of Kievan Rus for eighteen years.  In 945, three years after the birth of their son, Igor was assassinated by the Drevlyans, a Slavic tribe, for exhorting huge sums from his subjects to pay for his campaigns against the Byzantines.   The Drevlians proposed Olga’s marriage to their Prince Mal, uniting their kingdoms, but she was not interested, determined to remain in power and preserve it for her son.  The Drevlians sent twenty of their best men to persuade her to marry their Prince and give up her rule of Kievan Rus, she had them buried alive.   Sending word to Prince Mal that she accepted the proposal but required their most distinguished men to accompany her on the journey to persuade her people to accept the offer of marriage. The Drevlians sent their most noble men and after welcoming them she invited them to refresh in the bathhouse to which she had the doors locked and burned  them alive. 

With the best and wisest men out of the way Olga planned to destroy the remaining Drevlians by inviting them to a funeral feast  to mourn over her husband’s grave.  When her enemies became drunk she ordered them killed, annals report about 5,000 victims.  Returning to Kiev to prepare the army to attack the survivors the Drevlians begged for mercy offering to pay for their freedom offering honey and furs. Instead Olga asked for three pigeons and three sparrows from each house, not wanting to burden the villagers any further, they happily complied.  Olga gave each soldier a pigeon or a sparrow and ordered them to wrap a piece of sulfur with small pieces of cloth and attach with a thread to each bird.  That night her soldiers were instructed to light the cloth and release the birds, enabling them to fly to their nests, setting all the houses on fire simultaneously.  Olga caught the people fleeing the city, capturing the elders of the city, killing some, others to be slaves and the remainder left to pay tribute.  

In 957, Olga was invited to visit Constantinople at the invitation of the Emperor Constantine VII.  He saw that she was very fair of countenance and wise and upon her return trip about 960 to Constantinople remarked that she was worthy to reign with him in his city. When Olga heard his words she replied that she was still a pagan; if he desired to baptize her he should perform this function himself; otherwise, she was unwilling to accept baptism. The Emperor accordingly baptized her, “Helena” as her Christian in honor of the Byzantine empress.  Constantine then again made known to her that he wished her to become his wife to which she replied, "How can you marry me, after yourself baptized  me and called me your daughter? For among Christians that is unlawful, as you yourself must know" to which the Emperor said, "Olga, you have outwitted me.” He gave her many gifts and dismissed her still calling her his daughter.  

Olga remained regent ruler changing the system of tribute gathering which is considered to be the first legal tax system in Eastern Europe and was the first to bring Christianity into the pagan society, grandson Vladimir the Great made Orthodox Christianity the official religion of Kievan Rus.

Map of the Principality of Kiev
References and Further Reading
  • Connor, Carolyn L.   Women of Byzantium.  Yale University Press, 2004.
  • Jackson-Laufer, Guida M.  Women Who Ruled: A Biographical Encyclopedia.  Barnes & Noble Books, 1998.
  • “Olga.”  Foundation for Medieval Genealogy.  Russia, Rurikid, Introduction, Chapter 1 Origins, Grand Prices of Kiev, Origins [862]-1019, Sviatoslav.” Web. 23 October 2015.   //fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/RUSSIA,% 20Rurik.htm.
  • “Regent Dowager Grand Duchess Olga of Kiev and Novgorod (Russia).   Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership, Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership, Italy .  Web 06 December 2014.   //www.guide2womenleaders.com/italy_substates.htm. ​​
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  • Home
  • About
    • Mission
    • Membership >
      • Genealogical Sources
  • Women of Consequence
    • Early Middle Ages (500-1000) >
      • St. Adelaide of Burgundy
      • St. Bathilde
      • St. Bertha of Kent
      • St. Clothilde
      • St. Olga of Kiev
      • St. Theophana
    • High Middle Ages (1000-1300) >
      • Adelaide of Turin and Susa
      • St. Adela of Normandy & England
      • Anne of Kiev
      • Berengaria of Castile
      • Blanche of Castile
      • Ela, Countess of Salisbury
      • Eleanor of Aquitaine
      • Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd
      • Margaret de Quincy
      • Matilda, the Empress
      • Matilda (Eadgyth) of Scotland
      • Nicholaa de la Haye
      • Sikelgaita, heiress of Salerno
    • Late Middle Ages (1300-1500) >
      • Caterina Sforza
      • Dorothea of Brandenburg
      • Elizabeth de Clare, 11th Lady of Clare
      • Isabella d’Este
      • Isabella I of Castile
      • Isabella of France
      • Jeanne de Belleville
      • Joanna of Flanders
      • Lucrezia Tornabuoni
      • Margaret Beaufort
      • Philippa of Hainault
  • Roll of Honor
    • Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians
    • Anna Comnena, Princess of Byzantium
    • Beatriz Gallindo, La Latina
    • Christine de Pizan
    • Emma of Normandy
    • St. Hildegard von Bingen
    • Hrotsvit von Gandersheim
    • Jacqueline Felice de Almania
    • St. Joan of Arc
    • Matilda of Tuscany
    • St. Rodegunda (Radegund)
    • St. Theodora, Byzantine Empress
    • Trota of Salerno
  • Connections
  • Genealogical Charts
    • House of Sforza
    • Welsh Ancestry of English Royalty
    • Descendants of Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd
    • Houses of della Rovere and Gonzaga
    • House of Este
    • House of Trastamara
    • Lords of Clisson
    • Descendants of Jeanne la Flamme
    • House of Medici
    • Genealogy of Nicholaa de la Haye
    • Welsh Kings
  • Maps
    • Early Middle Ages >
      • Kingdom of Burgundy
      • Merovingian Kingdoms
      • Kent England
      • Principality of Kiev, Drevlyans
      • Thuringi & Franci, 6th century Europe
      • Quedlinburg, Germany, circa 962 AD
    • High Middle Ages >
      • Turin & Susa, Italy circa 1050 AD
      • Europe circa 1000 AD
      • Spanish Kingdoms 1210 AD
      • France & Burgundy circa 1032 AD
      • England & France 1152-1327 AD
      • Salisbury, England
      • England & France in the Reign of Henry I
      • Wales
      • Lincoln, England
      • Norman Lands in Italy & Sicily
    • Late Middle Ages >
      • Forli, Italy
      • Sweden circa 1658
      • Usk, Wales and Cambridge, England
      • Ferrera & Mantuga, Italy
      • Iberian Peninsula 1257-1492
      • England & France 1152-1327
      • Clisson, Anjou, France
      • Brittany, France
      • Florence, Italy
      • England & Wales circa 1399
      • Hainault
    • Roll of Honor >
      • Kingdom of Mercia and Surrounding Kingdoms
      • Byzantine Empire 1000-1100
      • Iberian Peninsula 1257-1492
      • Paris, France
      • Dominions of Cnut
      • Bingen, Germany circa 962 AD
      • Gandersheim, Germany circa 962 AD
      • Military Campaign of Joan of Arc
      • Canossa & Tuscany, Italy
      • Eastern Roman Empire circa 565 AD
      • Duchy of Salerno
  • Members Only
    • The Board
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