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Olga of Kiev

A Unsaintly Saint

By Josh MallerneePublished 3 years ago 4 min read
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Ever wondered about Saints and how they gain a title that is known throughout history? Well, none will make you question canonization more than the story of Helga otherwise known as Saint Olga of Kiev. She was canonized as the Saint of Widows and Converts in 1547 as the first saint of the Russian Orthodox Church. Many might question why she was sainted in the first place, and why she is still honored as a saint if they knew her full story.

Helga was born in 890 AD in Pskov, Kieven Rus. Not much is known about her early life other than she was most likely a regent of the Kievan Rus. She later married Prince Igor who was the ruler of Kievan Rus or Kiev. This was a section of eastern Europe that is now the Eastern sections of Belarus and Ukraine. The area reached its peak in the 11th century and was one of the more powerful kingdoms in this area. Their primary adversary at the time was the Drevlians. This is now the western sections of Ukraine and Belarus.

The two kingdoms worked together for many years and fought together against the Bynzanite Empire on several occasions. They had a good relationship up to a point. The Drevlians grew weary of bowing to the Kievan Rus. They had worked well together until Prince Igor took overrule. He would still collect taxes from the Drevlians but no longer provided the previous perks they enjoyed under his predecessors.

The Drevlians grew tired of Igor and rebelled against him when he came to collect on one trip. Led by their newly established Prince Mal. He was assassinated in a barbaric murder. The prince oversaw Igor being tied to two trees that had been bent down to the ground and then released the trees to their original position. Killing Prince Igor of Kievan Rus.

After receiving news of her husband's demise Olga was infuriated. Their son Prince Svatoslav was only three at the time and too young to take over as King. Therefore Olga became the first woman to have power in the Russian Empire. She vowed vengeance on the Drevlians.

The Drevlians were determined to make things right and sent 20 of their best men to convince the Queen to marry their prince and bind the two kingdoms together. Olga told them to wait for her decision on their boat. While waiting for her to come back with an answer Olga had a ditch dug and had the 20 men buried alive. She then sent a message back to the Drevilain telling them if she were to marry their Prince Mal they needed to send a proper escort for her to make the trip.

Prince Mal who had not heard back from the 20 men he originally sent still agreed to her request. He sent several Chieftains to escort Olga back to Drevlia. When they arrived they were greeted as guests of honor and led to a bathhouse. They were told to enjoy the bathes while the Queen prepared for her trip. The bathhouse was then locked and set on fire with the men still inside.

Olga had all but destroyed the entirety of the ruling party of Drevlian with the exception of the Prince himself. She sent a message that she would be arriving soon and wanted a feast prepared to honor her late husband. The Drevlians agreed and prepared the feast. Olga arrived and drank and ate with them. After they were good and drunk off the mead she had her soldiers kill all the Drevlians that were at the feast. They managed to kill over 5000 Drevlian soldiers.

Olga was still not satisfied with this and devised a plan to destroy Drevlian once and for all. She requested three pigeons and three sparrows from every house in Drevlian. Hoping to appease the Queen and stop further bloodshed the Prince complied and had the birds delivered. Olga then had her soldiers tie to the feet a packet of sulfur to the feet of every bird they received and released them to go back to roost. The birds flew back to their roosts in Drevlian and set the entire city on fire. There was no saving the city and those that fled were captured or killed. Olga later passed leadership to her son in 960 AD.

Historical
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About the Creator

Josh Mallernee

Struggling writer been writing since I was a kid and am now trying to make my dreams come true. Writing has always been a passion of mine and I am looking forward to seeing how my writing works here.

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