Duchess Olga. A Real Story

Princess Olga, the only female ruler in the history of Russia, is literally a bombshell. Within a few months, her name spread around the world. Millions of users are enthusiastically retelling one of the most incredible stories from the Tale of Bygone Years, about how a Kiev princess in the 10th century burned down the impregnable capital of the Drevlyans with the help of birds.

Everything sounds so fantastic that on TikTok, Olga is even being compared to Daenerys Stargardian from Game of Thrones. Dragons served him, and birds obeyed our Olga.

And this is not the only episode of Princess Olga's inventive cruelty described in the chronicles. And modern TikTokers especially like the fact that a woman who so cold-bloodedly exterminated her enemies is considered a saint in Ukraine. Actually, it was precisely because of Olga's sudden fame that we decided to make an episode about our princess and figure out what is described about Olga in the chronicles is true and what is just a beautiful legend.

In this video, we will separate myths and truth and try to show Princess Olga as she really was. Well, as much as possible, considering she lived 1,100 years ago. My name is Akim Galimov and this is a true story.

[music] So, let's move on to the 10th century, when Princess Olga lived. It was a time when the Kiev government was just beginning to strengthen and was taking the first steps towards the creation of a Rus' state. Kyiv gradually recruited the surrounding Slavic tribes.

One of these conquered tribes was the Drevlyans. They lived mainly within the borders of modern Zhytomyr region. Their main city was also Skorosti.

As a conquered tribe, the Drevlyans were obliged to pay tribute to the Kiev prince. The story of Princess Olga's burning and burning in the Tale of Bygone Years is presented as a cruel and cunning revenge for the death of her husband, Prince Igor. The chronicle says that the ancients paid tribute to Igor every year, but he allegedly became so proud that he decided to collect it a second time in one year.

Of course, this outraged the Drevlyans, and they killed the prince. By that time, Olga and Igor already had a son, Svyatoslav, who was supposed to inherit the throne, but was still too young. So Olga took power into her own hands and the first thing she did was set out to avenge the people of Derevly for the death of her husband.

Well, straight to Goly. The author of The Tale of Bygone Years tells that after a long siege and rapid battles, Princess Olga approached the city walls and turned to the Drevlyans. She demanded neither gold, nor fur, nor honey.

She only asked for three pigeons and three sparrows from each household. He said he didn't want to impose a heavy tribute like her husband had once, because the city was already exhausted from the siege. The Derevlians were delighted with such indulgence and quickly gathered the birds, handing them over to Olga with a bow.

But, having accepted the gift, she promised to lift the siege the very next day and go home. It looked as if the siege was truly over. And the residents of Korosten returned behind the walls, confident that the danger had passed.

But suddenly the story takes a sharp turn. And the chronicler describes events that later became the most famous episode of the legend of Princess Olga and has been around for over 1,000 years. It's better to quote it.

Meanwhile, Olga was distributing to the soldiers, well, that is, to the soldiers, one of whom was given a dove and the other a sparrow, and ordered them to tie a piece of work to each dove and sparrow, wrapping it in small handkerchiefs and tying it to all the doves and sparrows with a thread. End of quote.

The labor mentioned in the chronicle is a special material for lighting a fire. In ancient times, it was made from dried trotovik mushrooms and crushed korishanik. Sometimes flax or hemp fibers were used.

In terms of its flammability, labor can be compared to dry hay, but it is much smaller and prepared so that it smolders rather than burns. Its main feature is the ability to smolder and not be extinguished by the wind.

Just what you need when a bird is in flight. Once in a nest or under a roof, the roach instantly set fire to dry straw or hay. So, having prepared the birds and fixed the smoldering work on them, as the chronicler further recounts, Olga waited for the evening.

And that's when the final part of her revenge began. And Olga ordered her soldiers to release doves and sparrows when it got dark. The doves and sparrows flew to their nests, the dovecotes to their roosts, and the sparrows to their nests.

And then the dovecotes caught fire, and some even the huts and barns. And there was no yard where there was no fire, and it was impossible to put it out, because all the yards were on fire. And the people ran from the city.

And Olga ordered her soldiers to seize them. And when she took the garden, they burned it down. Well, here's the story. It could be true.

What do you think? It was in this interpretation that the legend of Princess Olga was passed down from generation to generation, until in our time historians began to notice surprising parallels with others. ancient tales.

The most striking similarity is with the Scandinavian sagas. And this is noteworthy, considering the probable Scandinavian origin of the entire dynasty of Kievan princes. If Prince Igor is indeed a variant of the Scandinavian name Ingvar, and Princess Olga is Helga, then it is quite likely that along with the names and family traditions, plots popular in Scandinavia could have reached Kyiv.

A story similar to Olga's trick is described in the collection Sakh by the Danish chronicler Saxon Grammaticus. It tells how a hero named Hadding set out on a campaign against an enemy holed up in an impregnable fortress.

It was almost impossible to take it by storm. Then Hadding ordered the birds to be caught, smoldering pieces of rope tied to their wings, and released. The birds returned to their nests in the city and within a moment the roofs of the houses were engulfed in flames.

The residents rushed to put out the fire, leaving the gate unguarded. It was then that Hading's army stormed the fortress. An impregnable fortress, birds as weapons, fire, panic and weakened defenses.

The Norwegian king Harald the Harsh did the same. In another Scandinavian saga, already recorded by Snorri with Turloson in the collection The Circle of the Earth. Such frequent repetition of the plot in various Scandinavian sources really looks like a persistent literary cliché that wandered from author to author.

But who borrowed this plot from whom? This question becomes especially interesting if we look at the time of appearance of these works. The Saga of Hading was written by Saxon Grammaticus between and 1220.

The Saga of Harald the Severe was written down by Snorri Sturluson even later, approximately between 1230 and 1235. Now let's compare this with the date of creation of the story of yesteryear.

Who was its author, Nestor the Chronicler or "the Monk Sylvester?" Historians are still debating. But one thing is beyond doubt. The chronicle was compiled within the walls of the Vydobytsky Monastery in Kyiv between approximately 113 and 1118.

That is, this is at least 100 years earlier than the aforementioned Scandinavian Sakha appeared. So, looking at the dates, this means that the plot about birds setting fire to a fortified city could well have wandered in the opposite direction. not from Scandinavia to Kyiv, but from Kyiv to Scandinavia.

If such a plot originated here, on the Kyiv hills, this, at first glance, plays in favor of the version that Princess Olga could have burned Koristen with the help of birds. Although in my opinion, from a purely practical point of view, it sounds like fiction.

But who knows what they did years ago. This is where historians who study ancient texts come to our aid. And they are not in a hurry to draw conclusions.

They remind us that the author of the story of bygone years was a monk who lived and worked within the walls of the Vydobytsky Monastery. This environment in itself made his worldview deeply religious.

He had constant access to the Holy Scriptures, so biblical imagery could be woven into his narrative even unconsciously. Researchers find many references to Old Testament plots in the chronicle.

You don't have to go far for such an example. We open the first page and the first sentence. Where did the Russian land come from and who first began to rule it? And how the Russian land came into being. So let's begin this story.

After the flood, Noah's three sons divided the land: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The story itself in The Tale of Bygone Years begins with a biblical narrative described in the Old Testament. This is a classic example of how a chronicler integrates an Old Testament plot into the text.

It is precisely such insertions that historians pay attention to when they talk about biblical borrowings in the Tale of Bygone Years. The idea of destroying the city by fire could have come to the chronicler's mind not from folk tales, but from the texts of the Old Testament, where God punishes sinful cities with flames.

The most striking example is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. According to the Bible, these two cities were mired in sin and debauchery, and God decided to wipe them off the face of the earth and rained down rain, brimstone, and fire from heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah. And the cities were destroyed by the rain.

Knowing biblical texts well, the author of The Tale of Bygone Years could well have embellished the story of Princess Olga by using a similar motif. Only instead of brimstone and fire coming down from heaven, in the Bible, in the chronicle, birds with smoldering tinder appear from heaven.

It seems that just when all this could be put to an end, archaeologists appear. While excavating the ancient and ancient city, they came across finds that tell us that what is said about Olga in the chronicle may well be true. [music] It's one thing to read a chronicle and try to guess where the truth ends and the legend begins.

And it's completely different to see the evidence with your own eyes. That's what archaeologists do. They began researching chronicle usage back in the 10th century, over 100 years ago.

Today, the capital of the Drevlyans has a slightly changed name. This is the city of Korosten in the Zhytomyr region. The old form and Korosten were preserved from Russian times until the 10th century.

So it was not difficult for the first archaeologists to determine the location of the ancient city. A more difficult task awaited next - to recreate the entire picture.

How did Korosten originate, how did it develop, and whether it really survived the great fire during the time of Princess Olga. To find answers to these questions, it took several stages of large-scale excavations and several generations of archaeologists.

And only gradually, layer by layer, did a story begin to emerge from the ground, which was to either confirm the chronicle or finally record the arson incident in the section of legends. And now it's time to thank our sponsors, ordinary Ukrainians who support our channel and thus participate in the fight against the aggressor in the information war.

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Click the sponsor button and choose the level of support and bonuses that you need. And let's create real history together. The first professional archaeologist who arrived to explore Korosten in the second half of the 10th century was the famous Ukrainian scientist Volodymyr Antonovych.

He summarized the results of his work in a fundamental work. Archaeological map of the Volyn gubyla. The results were impressive.

In Iskorostan, Antonovich discovered two ancient settlements and counted 176 burial mounds around them. The two hillforts, that is, the remains of two separate settlements, in themselves raised questions: "If one of them died in a fire, perhaps the inhabitants simply moved and created a settlement in another place nearby, populating the new hillfort." A completely logical assumption to start checking it out.

However, Antonovich did not aim to confirm or refute the chronicle legend. He was more interested in burial mounds, ancient graves, mounds in which people were buried. Excavating a mound gave faster and almost guaranteed results than exploring a settlement.

In the burial mounds, along with the skeletons of the deceased, household items, weapons, or jewelry were often found, which helped to better understand the lives of ancient people. So Antonovich follows this path and begins excavating five burial mounds.

In 1911, Antonovich's achievements in the study of burial mounds were surpassed by another prominent Ukrainian archaeologist, Vikenty Khvoyka. He excavated as many as 23 burial mounds in the vicinity of Irosten.

He was commissioned to excavate the mounds by the Imperial Archaeological Commission, the main state archaeological institution of the Russian Empire. The head of the commission, Count Oleksiy Bobrinsky, personally asked Khvoika to conduct these studies.

And it was an informal interest. The results of the excavations were to be inspected by the Russian emperor himself. Even Bobrinsky's letter to Khvoyka has been preserved.

I quote. Very esteemed Vikentii Vyacheslavovich. Bobrinsky turns to Khvoyka. I have a big request for you. The fact is that His Imperial Majesty will be at Korosten station on August 26, and on the 27th he will be on maneuvers in the city of Ovruch and will return to Korosten station again.

In those years, Korosten found itself at the epicenter of major military maneuvers. The Russian emperor personally came here to check the combat readiness of the army. Korosten station was strategically important.

A railway junction with a direct connection to Ovruch, from where it could be reached by train in less than an hour. And so that the emperor wouldn't be bored during this hour on the road, local officials came up with a kind of entertainment for him with a touch of history.

The following is a continuation of the quote from Bobrinsky's letter to Khvoyka. On the road from Korosten station to Ovruch, no more than one verst from Korosten, there is a huge mound on the right, and another one nearby. It would be desirable to excavate these mounds down to the burials, and to open the burials themselves only on the last day before the arrival of His Imperial Majesty.

End of quote. During the rule of the Russian Empire over the Ukrainian lands, excavations of the chronicled settlement itself were never carried out. Although the results of the research on the mounds clearly showed that this place is extremely promising.

Both Antonovich and Khvoyka found silver and gold jewelry in the burials of local residents, which indicated a high level of prosperity and confirmed the city's status as the capital of the Drevlyans. The second stage of Irosten's research already fell on the years of Soviet occupation in Ukraine.

This time, archaeologists finally tackled the settlement itself. In 1925, Fedir Kozubovsky began excavations here. This was his first field expedition as an archaeologist, so the report turned out to be quite modest and sometimes amateurish.

This is the description given to this report by modern researchers. Years later, in 1934, Kozubowski returned to the Institute as an experienced scientist. However, only a brief report of the main results has survived from these studies.

The archaeologist's brief report discusses the study of two ancient settlements. On one of them, the scientist found a spacious dugout with a central hearth and numerous household items dating back to approximately the 10th-12th centuries. That is, this is precisely the era of Russia.

And at another settlement, Kozubowski discovered three cultural layers. The deepest one dates back to the Stone Age, the middle one dates back to Slavic times, and the latest one dates back to the 15th century, when the Ukrainian lands were already part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Rus'. These finds indicate that the place where Korosten once stood has a long and rich history.

Even after the era in which Princess Olga lived, was there a fire? This question could be answered by seeing detailed materials from Kozubowski's archaeological explorations, but they have not survived to this day. The archaeologist's further fate was tragic.

During the years of Stalin's terror, he was arrested on fabricated charges and subjected to inhuman torture for months. It is not known for certain what exactly Kozobovsky was arrested for and whether it was related to the excavations.

In those days, even ethnographers who collected folk songs and legends from villages were imprisoned. By the way, we talked about this, in particular, in the film Ukraine.

Returning His Story 2. Kozubovsky emerged from the investigation physically and mentally broken. According to some reports, he was placed in the Kyrylivka Psychiatric Hospital in Kyiv, where he was allegedly shot by the German occupiers in 1941. A very mysterious story.

After Kozubovsky's research in Soviet times, no one studied Korosten in a comprehensive way. Archaeologists appeared here only after Ukraine gained independence in 1994. This was an expedition of the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine led by Bohdan Zvizdetsky.

Taking into account the experience of his predecessors, Zvizdetsky focused on researching the same ancient site that Kozubovsky had excavated during the Soviet era. Under a layer of earth, he discovers more than a dozen ancient buildings.

Among the finds were many women's gold and silver jewelry, but one silver temple earring with a bird-shaped ornament stood out in particular. Archaeologists have not found similar products anywhere else among the known cultures of that time.

This testifies to the originality of the Drevlyans and even to the existence of their own jewelry production. Another important detail.

Life at the settlement ceased in the middle of the 10th century. When Princess Olga ascended the Kiev throne, did she smoke with Koroste? The answer lies in the study of defensive structures. Archaeologists have recorded numerous charred remains of wooden structures.

Based on this, Zvizdetsky draws a conclusion, I will quote him. These structures burned down during a huge fire and collapsed. In the middle of the 10th century, all the investigated complexes, without exception, ceased to exist after a major fire.

We are sure that this fire should be linked to the burning in 946 and its use by Olga's troops. That is, there was a fire, but was the city set on fire by birds with smoldering labor tied to them? Archaeology can neither confirm nor refute the chronicle legend. We don't know exactly how Olga set fire to Korosten: by trickery or in a frontal assault.

But we know the main thing: the city was indeed destroyed by fire in the 10th century, that is, during her reign. And this is no longer a legend, but an established archaeological fact.

And the burned city of the Drevlyans is not the only case where Olga appears as a powerful and ruthless ruler. She impresses with her ingenuity and even scares with her tendency to sadism.

[music] All these stories are again connected with the Derevlians and chronologically unfold before Olga's campaign against Iskorosten. After the murder of her husband, Prince Igor, the Derevlyan prince Mal dares to marry Olga.

Don't be surprised, this is the Middle Ages. Mal sends envoys with such a proposal directly to Kyiv. Imagine the princess's reaction when she heard the words that the chronicle conveys like this: "We killed your husband, because he was like that wolf who robbed and plundered.

And our princes are good, so one for our prince is not enough." Olga remained silent, preferring the ambassadors to return to their boats for the night, and the next day she ordered them to be solemnly carried along with the boats to the palace. The ambassadors thought that this was the beginning of a wedding reception, but a deep pit dug in advance was already waiting in the prince's courtyard.

And when the boats with the ambassadors ended up above it, by Olga's order they were simply thrown down and buried alive. The palace of Princess Olga, mentioned in the chronicle, could become a starting point in the search for the truth.

Did this cruel massacre of the Drevlyan ambassadors really take place? As the chronicler describes it. After all, if it were possible to reliably localize the location of the palace, it would be possible to explore the surrounding area as well.

In search of traces of the pit, where, according to the chronicler, boats with ambassadors were dumped. In this pit, one could begin searching for possible remains of wood, remains of skeletons or other artifacts that could confirm or, in their absence, refute the legend.

Scientists seemed to have come closer to the solution in Soviet times. In 1970-1972, archaeologists claimed to have found the foundations of the palace in which Princess Olga lived on Starokyivska Gora next to the Tithe Church. After the research, the foundations of the building were filled in.

Instead, stones were laid out at ground level that repeat the outline of the foundation so that tourists would understand the scale of this building. 50 years have passed since then.

Today, the foundations of the ancient building are cared for by the National Historical Museum of Ukraine. On its website, when you search for the Palace of Princess Olga, it says that this is not her palace at all.

The museum explains that the found During excavations in Soviet times, architectural details were mistakenly attributed by scientists to the reign of Princess Olga. Modern research shows that the building appeared no earlier than the 10th century, at least 150 years after Olga's reign.

So, whether Olga buried the Drevlyan princes alive remains a mystery, because even the palace in which she lived has not been found. and the courtyard in front of the palace where she ordered the Drevlyan ambassadors to be buried alive in boats.

The second episode of the princess's demonstrative cruelty, described in the Tale of Bygone Years, also remains a mystery. After Olga demonstratively executed the first ambassadors, she did not stop," the chronicler writes.

The princess replied to the Drevlyans that she agreed to marry their prince, but only with great respect. He said, that's fine.

Otherwise, the people of Kyiv will not understand. The Drevlyans were delighted, decided not to skimp on the delegation and sent to Kyiv the most respected men, elders, those who held the entire Drevlyan land in their hands. When the elders arrived, Olga ordered them to wash themselves after the journey before visiting the princess.

The ambassadors were politely invited, the door was closed behind them, and the house was set on fire. They were burned alive inside.

Olga committed the third act of cruelty near the grave of her husband Igor. According to the chronicler, Igor was buried in the Drevlyan land near Iskorostyn. And now Olga turns to the Drevlyans, saying, "I'm already coming to you." I agree to marry your prince, but first prepare a lot of honey so that, as is proper, you can weep over your husband's grave.

They brought barrels of honey and organized a memorial dinner right on the spot where Prince Igor was killed. Olga played everything out as per the ritual.

She cried, ordered a high grave to be dug, and then sat down at the table. Along with her were several of her warriors who served the Drevlyans. When they were already well into it, Olga quietly stepped away and gave a signal.

Her men drew their weapons and slaughtered the entire five-thousand-strong Drevlyan delegation. Honestly, I get the impression that those Drevlyans are some kind of mentally [ __ ] people or something. The name of the tract near Korosten was Igor's Grave until the 15th century.

There are references that at the beginning of the 20th century, during World War I, a former military engineer, Baranovsky, noticed this name on a military map. Curious, he went to the place and discovered a large mound behind the towers, about 8 km from Iskorosten, about 100 meters high, cut in half by a trench.

Local villagers allegedly said that the mound was excavated at the beginning of the war, and soldiers found a skeleton with a sword under the mound. The officer in charge of these excavations took the sword with him and ordered the bones to be transferred to the village chapel.

When Baranovsky examined the bones in the chapel, among them he found a unique bronze tip of Pikhovcha. Decorated with openwork ornament in Scandinavian style and images of human faces.

Boronovsky donated this tip to the State Historical Museum in Moscow, where it is still kept. This artifact itself is not just a beautiful museum piece. It is important because it indicates the social status of the buried person.

Such a Pikhov tip could only belong to a high-ranking person, not a simple warrior, but someone from the princely circle. And the Scandinavian ornament only reinforces the assumption: "We are dealing with someone whose family had Varangian roots." All this allows some researchers to assume that the warrior found in the mound is most likely Prince Igor.

To find out for sure whether Prince Igor is really buried here and whether Olga really organized the bloody feast near his grave that the chronicler writes about, large-scale archaeological research would be needed. If scientists had found mass graves or human skeletons next to the krugan, this could have been direct archaeological confirmation of one of the most brutal episodes in the princess's biography.

But comprehensive excavations were not conducted this month, neither during Soviet times nor in independent Ukraine. So all we have is just a version.

So, returning to the three episodes of Princess Olga's brutal massacre of the Drevlyan ambassadors, it remains only to look for analogies and make assumptions, although it is impossible to completely rule out Olga's murder of the ambassadors. In the early Middle Ages, a woman in power on her own was an exceptional phenomenon.

In a patriarchal society, power was usually passed down through the male line. And a woman, even if she was a princess, was seen as a temporary figure of regency for a young son or a transitional figure to a new union. That is, he either transfers power through marriage or through his son.

After Igor's murder, Princess Olga was left a widow with a young heir, and in the eyes of her enemies, the Derevlians, this looked like an opportunity to seize power through a dynastic marriage. So, if we take Prince Mal's proposal as a fact, we can assume that it was not just a romance.

It was a political challenge and an attempt to absorb Kyiv. So Olga had two choices that fit the logic of the time. Either marry and lose power to a new husband, or retain power by demonstrating strength through revenge.

She chooses the latter and thus goes down in history. Why did Olga choose this particular path? According to historians, the chronicle provides a clue. The Drevlyans boldly tell her: "And we will do as we please with Svyatoslav." Svyatoslav, let me remind you, is Olga's young son, born out of wedlock with the murdered Prince Igor.

So it's also about maternal instinct. In traditional early societies, children from a previous marriage often became victims of political intrigue. They could have been killed simply so that there would be no heirs to the previous dynasty.

If the Drevlyans were already allowing themselves to threaten Svyatoslav, what would prevent them from carrying out these threats? And here, at the center of this story, is Olga, a widowed princess who finds herself facing an obvious threat. In the world of that time, a widow was a weak figure, without independent power, without influence, without levers of protection.

But instead of disappearing from the political arena, she chooses a different path. She takes the initiative and becomes a player. The only path that gave her a chance to retain power and protect her son was the path of revenge.

We do not know if her revenge was as bloody and elaborate as the chronicler describes, with pits, baths, feasts, and burning birds. However, even what is there is enough to see her not just as a heroine of an old legend, but as a real ruler.

The one who did not succumb to pressure, did not accept the ultimatum and did everything to protect herself, her power and her heir. [music] If you read the entire biography of Princess Olga in The Tale of Bygone Years, the first year of her reign, episodes of cruel but well-thought-out revenge on the Drevlyans, looks like a kind of introduction.

It reveals the author's main motive to lay the foundation for the image of Olga as a ruler who acts not out of emotion, but with cold calculation. The chronicler seems to intentionally emphasize: "Before us is a ruler for whom wisdom is the main weapon." And with this he prepares us for the following episodes, where Olga no longer punishes enemies, but reforms the state, using cunning to fend off the advances of the Byzantine emperor.

Ultimately, she becomes the first ruler of Russia to convert to Christianity and thereby change the course of our history. After the revenge on the Drevlyans, the chronicle tells of Princess Olga as a far-sighted reformer.

Instead of continuing to risk her life collecting tribute, as her husband Igor did, she is implementing a large-scale administrative reform. Olga established cemeteries throughout the Rus' land, permanent centers where the local population was to deliver tribute.

It also establishes, for the first time, fixed sizes of this tribute, the so-called lessons, thereby making the collection system orderly and predictable. All this made it possible to centralize power, strengthen control over territories, and reduce the risks of uprisings and abuses.

The Tale of Bygone Years briefly describes this reform. They say that Olga arranged for the prince to have dinner, lessons, and hunting trips. Against the background of the previous savage system of polity, under which the prince traveled around the lands and collected tribute personally, Olzhyn's approach looks like a real breakthrough.

Russia's first attempt to create an organized tax and administrative system. Having shown how Olga restored order within the state, the chronicler moves on to the next important stage of her life, her entry into the international arena. In general, friends, the Middle Ages were an exceptional era when faith ruled the world, and knowledge was hidden in the thick parchments of monasteries.

This medieval aesthetic is inspired by a collection of t-shirts for scouts from true-history viewer, clothing designer Diana Soroko. This collection is a way to digest anger, shock, and dependence on other people's decisions.

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Diana did most of her designs in the bathroom or in a shelter to the sounds of the shaheeds, while simultaneously checking Telegram channels and waiting to see what would be written there before the intelligence. That's what I decided to name the collection.

All proceeds from its sale go to charity. Namely one of the designer T-shirts, which is called "For the Saints, Diana wants to give you, our viewers, a real story in exchange for donating to the army." I will draw it among everyone who donates at least 200 UAH to our burning collection. Let me remind you that we are raising UAH 1,800,000 for three high-traffic control points for the aerial reconnaissance units of the special operations forces.

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You can donate using the QR code or details in the description under this video. Join us. In 955, according to Byzantine sources 957, the chronicler describes her journey to Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. This is a truly extraordinary event, because the Byzantine emperor was considered the most influential monarch in the world in the 10th century.

Olga did not need to invent a special reason for her visit to Constantinople. By that time, Rus had been actively trading with Byzantium for many years. So such a trip could have been a logical step to confirm trade agreements.

At the same time, such a visit could have been a gesture to remind other rulers of the special status of Rus'. The ceremonial reception at the palace of the Byzantine emperor was a clear signal: "Rus is recognized internationally." But all this is just the background to an event that, in the eyes of the chronicler, was truly exceptional.

The Tale of Bygone Years tells that Emperor Constantine the Purple-Born personally baptized Olga and gave her the Christian name Elena. Thus, she became the first of the Rus' rulers to convert to Christianity.

This is one of the key episodes in our history. The baptism of Princess Olga was the first step of Russia towards the civilized world. At that time, most influential states already practiced Christianity.

and Pagan Rus seemed alien and barbaric to them. Olga, by adopting a new faith, showed that Russia was ready for change, wanted to be part of the civilized world and play by its rules. This decision opened the door for the future baptism of Rus' under Prince Volodymyr and for international recognition of Kyiv as an equal among other European capitals.

It would seem that the very fact of Olga's baptism in Constantinople should be enough to make it a real event in the text of the Tale of Bygone Years. But its author doesn't stop there.

Then a little romance. He describes how, after her baptism, the Byzantine emperor began to show personal sympathy for Olga. When she was baptized, he wanted to take her as his wife.

She said: "How will you take me? You baptized me, because you yourself baptized me, and now you are like a father to me. And the emperor said: "Olga, you have surpassed me in wisdom." End of quote.

But did this scene really take place? Did the emperor of Byzantium, one of the most influential monarchs of his time, really propose to the princess of Rus, having just baptized her? Olga's visit to Constantinople itself is a fact confirmed by Byzantine sources. Emperor Constantine the Red-Born himself mentions it in a treatise on the ceremonies of the Byzantine court.

It is also mentioned by the chronicler John Skilitza, who calls Olga the archontess of Rus, the ruler who arrived in Byzantium after the death of her husband and was baptized. However, Byzantine authors do not provide any mention of courtship or marriage proposals.

So it is most likely that this episode and another literary an insert designed to emphasize the wisdom of the princess, who knows how to emerge victorious even in the most delicate diplomatic situation. The only thing that disrupts the consistency in building the chronicle image of Olga as a wise, prudent and far-sighted ruler is the description of the last years of her life.

After returning from Constantinople, where she was baptized, Olga tries to introduce Christianity in Russia. However, for the first time in her chronicle biography, she fails.

Her son Svyatoslav refuses baptism, saying that the army will laugh at him and remains faithful to the pagan faith. Then Olga turns not to Byzantium, but to the West.

She sends an embassy to the future German emperor, well, then King Otto, with a request for a Christian mission. The emperor responds by sending Bishop Adelbert.

However, this attempt also ends in failure. Our ancestors did not accepted. According to the chronicle, Vladimir will later respond to the German missionaries, which is seen as a reference to the failure of Adalbert's mission. The Christian mission leaves Russia, and real Christianization is postponed for several more decades until the reign of Prince Vladimir.

It is important that in German sources Olga has the title of Queen Regina. So, at that time she was considered equal in status to Otto the Great. [music] The author of The Tale of Bygone Years treated the princess with respect and sought to create a holistic image of a wise and strong ruler.

The text does not have a dry chronicle, there is an artistically designed story, where real events, such as the burning and quickening or baptism in Byzantium, are supplemented with fictional dialogues, exaggerations and dramatic turns. Thus, the chronicler does not simply record facts, he forms a narrative that was to be remembered, convince and become part of historical memory.

But the first historical The memory of Olga was not even formed by the chronicler, but by her grandson, Prince Vladimir. It was he who, having baptized Rus in 988, ordered the construction of the first stone Christian temple, a tithe church, in Kyiv.

According to the memoirs and praises of Yakov Mikha, he also brought the remains of his grandmother, Princess Olga, to this temple. According to legend, they were placed in a stone and carved sarcophagus.

It is believed that this sarcophagus was found by archaeologists in the 10th century under the rubble of a church destroyed by the Mongols. Today, it is not known for certain whether it really belonged to Olga.

There is no scientific confirmation of this. But no one has been able to completely refute this version either. So the legend may be true.

And why not? The only thing that historians agree on is another manifestation of the memory of Princess Olga during the reign of Vladimir the Great. Recent studies indicate that it was Vladimir, and not Yaroslav the Wise, who It was previously believed that he ordered the construction of St.

Sophia of Kiev. It was built as the main Christian temple of Rus', modeled on St. Sophia of Constantinople. The similarity of forms and church space was supposed to emphasize that Christianity came to Rus' from Constantinople.

Inside the temple, many 10th- century frescoes from that ancient era of Vladimir's reign have been preserved. And this is an important detail, because all subsequent interpretations of Princess Olga, especially in the Russian church tradition, worked towards other ideological goals.

In the 10th century, when the Russian Empire was actively appropriating the heritage of Rus', the most famous image of Olga appears in the St. Vladimir Cathedral in Kiev.

Here she is imperiously fasting with a stern, almost predatory gaze. It is this image that is the product of imperial PR and is considered canonical today. It is he who most often appears in the videos of modern TikTokers when they talk about Olga as a strict avenger.

And this is not a docker, but just another confirmation of how deeply rooted the Russian imperial heritage is and how it continues to manifest itself persistently even in our time. Another case is illustrative.

In 2021, an authoritative international economic forum, compiling a list of the most influential women in history for International Women's Day, called Princess Olga the ancestress of modern Russia and the first Russian monarch to convert to Christianity. After a wave of indignation from Ukrainians, the description had to be corrected.

Olga's story teaches that strength can go hand in hand with wisdom, and personal loss can become an impetus for major state changes. It shows how a woman who was tried to be removed from power was able not only to hold on to it, but also to change the course of history.

Her choice is an example of how to act when it seems that there is no choice. If we want to preserve our independence, we must also protect our history, because if we do not tell it to the world, someone else will do it for us. This is a real story.