The adoption of Christianity

Grand Duchess Olga became the first ruler of Kievan Rus to accept the Christian faith. However, after her baptism, the princely squad and all the people were still pagans. Even the son of the future saint, the Grand Duke of Kiev Svyatoslav Igorevich, was not a Christian.

According to The Tale of Bygone Years, Olga was baptized in 957 in the capital of Byzantium, Constantinople. She went there, entrusting Kiev to her son Svyatoslav, who by that time had grown up and could run the state. In Tsargrad, Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus and Patriarch Theophylact of Constantinople baptized the Russian princess personally: "And she was named in baptism by the name Helen, as well as the ancient queen mother of Emperor Constantine I."

In the Christian East, it was customary to baptize in honor of a saint, and the name Olga was still pagan at that time, so she was baptized in honor of the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, Helena. True, now, having a saint named Olga, Christians can name their children after her.

The patriarch admonished Olga with the words: “Blessed are you in the wives of the Russians, for you left the darkness and loved the Light. The Russian people will bless you in all future generations, from grandchildren and great-grandchildren to your remotest descendants.

As you know, Princess Olga was famous for her intelligence and beauty. At the time of her baptism, she was a widow. According to the chronicle legend, the Byzantine emperor Constantine liked the Russian princess so much that he wanted to marry her. But Olga did not like it, she rejected the emperor's claims, citing the fact that she was a pagan, and he was a Christian, and such a marriage was not to be performed. When Olga was christened (Emperor Constantine became her godfather), he asked her: "Well, now you are a Christian, now will you marry me?" To which she replied: "No, now I am your goddaughter, and we cannot enter into marriage." Konstantin praised her for her rationality, gave her rich gifts and let her go home.

The life of a princess

The future saint and grand duchess was born in about 890. Her name - Olga - was the Russian version of the Scandinavian name Helga, which translates as "bright", "sacred". She was a simple, not famous girl, although she came from a forgotten family of Izborsk princes.

Princess Olga's husband was Prince Igor of Kiev, whom she met by chance on the banks of the river in the Pskov land. Princess Olga entered the Kiev throne after Prince Igor was killed by the Drevlyans. She ruled for seventeen years - from 945 to 962. Olga had a son - Grand Duke Svyatoslav Igorevich.

Material on the topic

Did Olga seek baptism in Constantinople? Hardly. In any case, this could not be the main reason for her visit. She could become a Christian without leaving the "capital city" - a priest would be found.

At the beginning of her reign, Olga became famous as a tough, even cruel ruler. Her first act was revenge on the Drevlyans who killed her husband. Olga's troops mercilessly burned, chopped down the Drevlyans, and even buried them alive.

After that, no one dared to raise a hand to Olga, and due to the early childhood of her son Svyatoslav, she became the sole ruler of Novgorod, Pskov and Kiev lands. However, even when Svyatoslav grew up, power practically remained in her hands, since the son's passion was war, and his mother ruled the state.

Olga carried out a powerful administrative reform, worked out a taxation scheme, began active stone construction, which was previously unheard of in Russia. And yet, in the national memory, the princess remained not a tough ruler, but a Christian - the first among the Rurikovichs.

After baptism, Olga lived a little over ten years. She died in 969 and was buried in a Christian manner. The grandson of the Grand Duchess, Saint Vladimir Equal to the Apostles, the Baptist of Russia, transferred her relics to the famous Tithe Church of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos, the first stone church of the Old Russian state.

At the same time, during the reign of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, Olga began to be revered as a saint. The Day of Remembrance of St. Olga (in the baptism of Helen) was celebrated on July 11 (July 24 in the new style). In 1547, the Grand Duchess was ranked among the Equal-to-the-Apostles saints.

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According to The Tale of Bygone Years, the wedding of Prince Igor and Olga took place in 903, when Olga was already 12 years old. However, this date has been repeatedly disputed by historians due to the fact that she gave birth to her son Svyatoslav only in 942, that is, at 51, which obviously looks extremely strange. According to the researchers, it is most likely that the date - 903 - arose later, when they tried to bring the original ancient Russian annals into a relatively harmonious chronological order.

The first time, when the ambassadors of the Drevlyans came to Olga, to ask for mercy for the murder of her husband, she ordered to dig a deep hole and bury them alive there, and together with the ship. When other Drevlyan ambassadors arrived, she ordered them to flood the bathhouse, where they were burned alive.

Then the princess came to the land of the Drevlyans to celebrate a funeral feast at her husband's grave, during which the Drevlyans were drunk and, according to some chronicles, killed five thousand people. After that, the Drevlyans sent Olga in the form of a tribute to the birds, and she ordered them to tie burning rags to their paws and let them go home. The birds returned to their homes and, thus, burned the city of the Drevlyans.

There are two points to be understood in this story. First, while doing these things, Olga was still a pagan, not a Christian. That is, it has not changed internally yet. Secondly, the behavior of the princess, by pagan standards, was quite natural.

In 1007, after the construction of the Tithe Church in Kiev, the body of Princess Olga was transferred to this temple. According to legend, a small window was made in the stone crypt, and it was clear that the remains of this great woman are incorruptible.

Significance in Russian history

The Grand Duchess Olga went down in history as one of the founders of Russian statehood. She traveled around the Russian lands, suppressed the revolts of small local princes, centralized state administration with the help of the "graveyard" system.

Pogosty - financial, administrative and judicial centers - became a strong support of the princely power in the lands remote from Kiev.

Thanks to the Grand Duchess, the defensive power of Russia increased significantly. Under her, strong walls grew around the cities. Historians attribute the establishment of the first state borders of Russia to the time of her reign - in the west, with Poland.

Kiev during the time of the Grand Duchess was a center of attraction for foreign merchants; grew at the expense of stone buildings, sometimes very skillful, such as Olga's city palace. Archaeologists found its foundation and the remains of the walls in the 70s of the XX century.

Having adopted Christianity, Olga by all means supported the few Christians of Kiev: she destroyed pagan idols, built temples, encouraged the preaching of the Gospel.

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The iconography of the holy princess Olga is traditional for all saints equal to the apostles. Equal to the Apostles are those saints who served the Lord, enlightening people with the light of Christ. Saint Olga is traditionally depicted standing on icons. In her right hand is a cross, a symbol of Christ's sermon, which was conducted by all the Equal-to-the-Apostles saints. In his left hand is a symbolic image of the temple. Another traditional image of the princess is together with the Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir.

There are several monuments to the holy princess Olga. One of the most famous is in Kiev, on the old Mikhailovskaya Square. This is a whole sculptural composition. In the center is Princess Olga, on the right side of her is the Apostle Andrew the First-Called, on the left is Saints Cyril and Methodius. The monument was opened more than a hundred years ago - in 1911. The sculptural composition was an element of a large project "Historical Path" - monuments were erected throughout Ukraine in honor of the first Russian princes. As conceived by the authors, the monuments were to form a kind of alley from Sofiyskaya to Mikhailovskaya Square. Nicholas II gave the go-ahead for the creation of this alley and allocated 10,000 rubles for the construction.

In the Soviet years, the monument to St. Olga suffered a sad fate. In 1919, the statue was thrown from the pedestal and broken into two parts. The side sculptures were boarded up with boards. Instead of Princess Olga, a bust of the writer Taras Shevchenko was installed. In the 1920s, the sculptural composition was completely dismantled, and a square was laid out in its place.

In 1996, excavations were carried out in the park - archaeologists found some parts of the broken figure of the Grand Duchess Olga. Pieces of the old monument were fastened and placed in the Ivan Kavaleridze sculpture park on Andreevsky Spusk. And the composition on Mikhailovskaya Square was carefully recreated. The students of the first author of the monument, Ivan Kavaleridze, worked on the reconstruction.

In the Russian Church there is a women's order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga. In 1988, it was founded by Patriarch Pimen and the Holy Synod in honor of the 1000th anniversary of the baptism of Rus. By the time of its establishment, this order is the third in the Russian Church. The Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga is awarded to abbesses of monasteries and secular women who, in one way or another, serve the Church and the cause of Christian enlightenment.

On the screen saver: N. A. Bruni. Holy Grand Duchess Olga. 1901 Fragment of the painting. State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

First appointment with the emperor

The notes of the ritualist Konstantinov "On ceremonies" about two receptions of "Elga Roseny" are sustained in the dry and restrained style of official protocol.

The first audience with the Russian princess was scheduled for September 9, 957. There was no end to the ceremonies that day. At first Olga was received by Constantine himself in a large triclin (hall) of the ancient Magnavr palace, the construction of which was attributed to Constantine I the Great. The Emperor sat on the "throne of Solomon", equipped with spectacular mechanisms. Olga entered the triclin, accompanied by her "archontiss relatives" and her maids; the rest of the embassy remained in the vestibule, separated from the triclin by a curtain. When Olga stood in the place indicated to her in front of the throne, the organs began to play, and the throne, together with the emperor sitting on it, suddenly soared up and then smoothly sank down. After this small presentation, the logofet of the droma (head of the post office and external relations) on behalf of Konstantin asked the "archontissa of Russia" several questions prescribed by etiquette - about the health of the empress herself, her nobles and the welfare of her country. While the official was delivering his speech, the mechanical lions at the foot of the throne, raised themselves on their paws, growled and beat with their tails, and birds chirped with artificial voices on the branches of a nearby golden tree. Almost immediately, the palace servants brought into the hall Olga's gifts intended for the Vasilevs of the Romans. Olga's reply was followed by several moments of solemn silence; then the organs sounded again, and the princess bowed and left.

These details of Olga's presentation to the emperor are not mentioned in Constantine's account; but in general, the procedure for receiving foreign ambassadors in the palace of Magnavra was exactly that (see: Litavrin G.G. Journey of the Russian princess Olga to Constantinople. The problem of sources // Byzantine time-book. T. 42.M., 1981).

After giving the guest a little rest, the court officials led her through several halls and vestibules to the triclin of Justinian, where Constantine's wife, Empress Elena Lakapina, and her daughter-in-law Theophano were awaiting the "Archontissa of Russia". The solemn ceremony was repeated, only without demonstrating mechanical miracles. Upon its completion, Olga was again taken to the recreation room.

The business part of the meeting took place in the inner chambers of the Empress, in the presence of Constantine, Elena and their children. Vasilevs invited Olga to sit down, after which "she talked with him as much as she wished."

In the afternoon, the Russian delegation was invited to a dinner party. State tables were set in the Justinian triclinus (for women) and at Chrysotriklin (for men). Entering the hall, Olga went to the Empress's chair and "bowed her head a little," while the "archontiss relatives" from her retinue sprawled on the floor. For the time of the meal, Olga was seated next to Elena at a special table, at which, according to the palace charter, the wives of the highest dignitaries of the empire, who bore the title of Zost-patriciss, were assigned. The ears of the feasting were delighted by the chanters of the Cathedral of Hagia Sophia and the churches of the Holy Apostles, singing basilicias - magnificent hymns in honor of the living basileus and his family members; the actors performed several theatrical scenes before the eyes of the august persons.

Constantine dined with "the ambassadors of the archons of Russia, the people and relatives of the archontissa [Olga] and the merchants." After lunch, gifts were handed over: “we received: her anepsy - 30 miliary, 8 of her people - 20 miliary, 20 ambassadors - 12 miliary, 43 merchants - 12 miliary, priest Gregory - 8 miliary, 2 translators - 12 miliary, the people of Svyatoslav - 5 miliary, 6 people of the ambassador - 3 each, the translator of the archontissa - 15 miliary ”.

Miliarisium is a small silver coin, one thousandth of a gold pound. 12 miarises made one nomism (solid).

Having given out monetary gifts, the emperor left Chrysotriklin and proceeded to another room - the aristirium (breakfast room), where the women had moved in the meantime. Here, on a small golden table, a dessert awaited them, served in "bowls adorned with pearls and precious stones." After the meal, Olga was presented with a "golden, jeweled" bowl with 500 miliary; women from her retinue were also honored with monetary gifts: "6 of her women - 20 miliary and 18 of her servants - 8 miliary."

From all this it is clear that on September 9 Olga was given an honorable meeting, however, not much different from the general treatment of other foreign ambassadors who visited the court of Constantine, for example, from the audience given to "Saracen friends" from the border city of Tarsus (in Syria ), a description of the techniques of which is in the same 15th chapter II of the book "On Ceremonies", where the story about the techniques of "Elga Rosena" is also placed.

Second reception

But the second protocol entry, dated October 18, is in stark contrast to the first. There are no pompous ceremonies, no confidential conversations face to face, no careful observation of the movements of the characters and the places they occupy. A farewell dinner for the Russian embassy is sparingly reported. As in the first time, “the basileus was sitting with the dews [in Chrysotriklin]. And another clitorium [dinner] took place in the Pentacuvuclia of St. Peter [the ceremonial hall at the palace church], where the despina [empress] sat with her crimson children, with her daughter-in-law and archontissa [Olga]. And it was issued: the archontissa - 200 miliary, her anepsy - 20 miliary, to the priest Gregory - 8 miliary, 16 to her women - 12 miliary, 18 to her slaves - 6 miliary each, 22 ambassadors - 12 miliary each, 44 merchants - 6 miliary each , for two translators - 12 miliary each ”. In general, we ate, gave up, and parted.

Comparison of both methods shows that on October 18 the composition of the invited persons underwent some reduction (the "people" of Olga, Svyatoslav, the ambassador and the princess's personal translator did not come), and the amount of monetary gifts was greatly reduced. Historians rightly refuse to see this as simply a neutral nuance of the protocol, since both of these circumstances cannot be attributed to the daily diplomatic practice of the Byzantine court. Let's say that the aforementioned Saracen ambassadors after the first and second receptions received the same amount - 500 miliary each; The total amount of distributions intended for their people remained unchanged - 3000 miliary. Thus, the decrease in the amount of gifts to the members of the Russian delegation can be considered a clear sign of Constantine's dissatisfaction with the course of the negotiations. Obviously, he did not like everything that he heard from Olga's lips during a conversation with her in the empress's inner chambers. Moreover, it is interesting that the emperor's dissatisfaction was expressed very selectively - it concerned only Olga herself, her closest circle and merchants, while the ambassadors of the “archons of Russia”, “public” translators and Father Gregory both times received the same amount. This means that Constantine's irritation was caused by certain claims of the "archontissa of Russia" and the urban communities of Kiev, Chernigov and Pereyaslavl.

What did Olga and Konstantin talk about during their only personal conversation with each other?

Of course, first of all, about the main purpose of Olga's visit - baptism. Usually the baptism of the "catechumens" took place on the days of major church holidays. And most likely, Olga's desire to be baptized was satisfied just a few days after the first audience - on September 14, the day of the Exaltation of the Holy and Life-giving Cross of the Lord. It is the only major holiday on the church calendar between September 9 and October 18. It was erected in memory of a great event in the life of the Church, which happened, according to church tradition, in 313, when Empress Helena, mother of Constantine I, found the true cross of Christ in Jerusalem and erected it for universal celebration and worship. On the part of Konstantin Porphyrogenitus and his wife Elena, who bore the names of their great ancestors, it was quite natural to time the baptism of the "Archontissa of Russia" to this momentous day. The Middle Ages generally loved such symbolic references to the past. Olga's baptism on the feast of the Exaltation of the Lord's Cross is confirmed by the choice of her baptismal name - Elena, which "The Tale of Bygone Years" directly connects with the Holy Queen Elena: "Bebo was named to her in holy baptism, Elena, like the ancient queen, mother of the great Constantine."

Metropolitan Hilarion in his "Word on Law and Grace", when mentioning Olga, also plays on the theme of finding the Holy Cross - in the material and spiritual planes. The great Constantine, he writes, referring to Prince Vladimir, "brought the cross from Jerusalem with his mother Helen ... You and your grandmother Olga brought the cross from the new Jerusalem - the city of Constantine - you set up and established the faith throughout your land." However, later church tradition claimed that the patriarch really gave Olga the cross, which she brought to Kiev. In the Prologue of the 13th century. it is said that this shrine "now stands in Kiev in St. Sophia in the altar on the right side." The Lithuanians, having conquered Kiev, took the "Holguin's Cross" to Lublin. Nothing more is known about him.

For a long time, a precious dish kept in the sacristy of Hagia Sophia, where, most likely, the baptismal ceremony took place, remained a visible monument of the church sacrament performed over Olga. This "dish is great gold for service" (that is, used during divine services) as early as 1200 was seen by the Novgorod pilgrim Dobrynya Yadreykovich (the future archbishop of Novgorod Anthony). In his description, this landmark looked like this: “In Olzhin's dish there is a precious stone, Christ is written on the same stone, and from that Christ people emit seals for all good; in the same dish everything was done with pearls on the upper part ”. Holguin's gift disappeared from the cathedral after the sack of Constantinople by crusader thugs in 1204.

From the formal point of view, Olga could be satisfied: she “perceived the light in its very source”. But it is very likely that it was during the discussion of some of the ceremonial issues associated with the rite of her baptism that the first seeds of a future disagreement were sown. The case concerned the choice of Olga's godparent. In the case when the emperor himself acted as the recipient of the foreign pagan sovereign, the baptism ceremony was accompanied by the ceremony of naming the new convert "Caesar's son" of the Basileus of the Romans, which title was higher than the title of "Augusta", the wife of the emperor. At the same time, the patriarch, pronouncing a special prayer "for the princes who want to take great power from the tsar," gave the basileus an epitrachil, which he personally placed on the "barbarian" who was receiving royal dignity. A similar honor was once awarded to the Bulgarian Khan Boris, baptized by Emperor Michael III; The "son" of the basileus was Olga's contemporary, the Bulgarian Tsar Peter. In the book "On the management of the empire" Konstantin Porphyrogenitus writes that the leaders of the "northern and Scythian" peoples, including the Rus, repeatedly asked ("and this happens quite often") to send them "something from the royal robes or crowns, or from robes for the sake of any of their services and services ... ". That is, the desire to equate the grand ducal title with the royal title was inherent in Igor. It seems that Olga also claimed the title of imperial "daughter", associated with the royal dignity. Apparently, the chronicle story about Olga's baptism in Tsargrad is a distorting mirror of the difficult negotiations between the Russian princess and Konstantin on this matter. As you might guess, the original meaning of the "baptismal story" was to glorify the next "wisdom" (cunning) of Olga, who evaded the title of the imperial wife Augusta offered to her and acquired the more weighty title of "daughter-queen".

In fact, the royal crown was not placed on the head of the "Archontissa of Russia". Constantine Porphyrogenitus considered such demands from the "northern and Scythian peoples" to be "inappropriate harassment and impudent claims" that should be "suppressed with plausible and reasonable speeches, wise excuses ..." ("On the management of the empire"). He was also not too lazy to give a sample of possible arguments: “These robes and crowns ... are not made by people, not by human art, invented and worked, but, as we find sealed with the words of the commandments in ancient history, when God made Constantine the Great, the first reigning Christian, sent him through an angel these robes and crowns ... and commanded him to put them in the great holy church of God, which is called the name of God's truest wisdom Saint Sophia, and don’t put on them every day, but when the great national holiday of the Lord happens. Because of this divine command, he [Constantine the Great] removed them ... When the feast of our Lord Jesus Christ comes, the patriarch takes from these garments and crowns what is necessary and suitable for the occasion and sends them to the basileus, who puts them on like a slave and servant God, but only for the duration of the procession, and again after use returns to the church. Moreover, there is also the spell of the saint and great basileus Constantine, inscribed on the holy throne of the church of God, as God commanded him through an angel, that if the basileus wants for any need or circumstance, or an absurd whim, take something from them in order to use to himself or to give to others, then he will be anathematized and excommunicated from the church as an adversary and enemy of God's commands. " Constantine assures that from his own experience he was convinced of the effectiveness of these "wise excuses." Perhaps Olga heard something similar.

However, the Basileus had a simpler excuse for refusing to become her godfather. In the Orthodox Church, it is customary for an adult woman to choose her godmother, and not her father, during the rite of baptism, and Constantine could easily refer to this tradition. In any case, there is no doubt that the emperor, under some plausible pretext, avoided personal acceptance during the baptism of the Russian "archontissa", entrusting this role to his wife. Not a single source confirms the version of The Tale of Bygone Years that Olga was baptized by the patriarch, and the basileus himself was her successor from the font. These details are not found in Jacob Mnich and in the early editions of the Life of Olga. Byzantine historian of the XI century. John Skylitsa writes only that, "being baptized and showing her devotion to the true faith, she [Olga] was honored according to the merit of this devotion and returned home." Greek writers of the 12th century describe Olga's baptism in almost the same terms. George Kedrin and John Zonara.

The "great honor" shown to the Russian princess, in all likelihood, consisted in the fact that Olga was accepted into the ideal "family" of a basileus with the title of patrician. This seems to be indicated by the place of honor assigned to her at the table of Augusta Elena during dinner parties on September 9 and October 18. By the way, it should be remembered that two Hungarian "archons", Bulchu and Gyula, were baptized and were officially called "patricians". And since in the eyes of Constantine, as can be seen from his writings, the "archons" of Hungary and Russia had equal dignity (the imperial letters to both were equally sealed with seals weighing two gold solidi), Olga could hardly count on more.

Another question that inevitably had to arise at the Russian-Byzantine negotiations in connection with Olga's baptism was the question of the status of the Russian Church. And here, apparently, too, it was not without mutual misunderstanding and irritation. The Byzantine Church in its historical development developed a strict system of administrative centralization on the model of the civil administration of the Roman Empire, since the secular and church boundaries then approximately coincided. Five imperial dioceses (military-administrative districts) corresponded to five diocesan archbishoprics or patriarchates. The Greeks very soon began to regard this home structure of the Church, suitable exclusively for the national-state existence of the Byzantine state, as having universal significance and, moreover, as the only possible one. The Patriarch of Antioch Peter (first half of the 11th century) wrote with conviction: "We know the five patriarchates throughout the world, just as our body is governed by five senses - five thrones." Naturally, all other "barbarian" peoples who wished to join the bosom of the Greek Church were simply offered to submit to one of the five patriarchies with the rights of metropolis or episcopate. Their attempts to acquire church independence (autocephaly) were perceived very painfully in Byzantium. Church life outside the five patriarchates was equated by the Byzantine hierarchs with existence outside the world Church.

The issues of church organization acquired particular urgency in the light of the theocratic doctrine of the Byzantine Empire. The latter was thought to be the protector and keeper of world Christianity, the outer fence of Orthodox piety. The ecclesiastical protective functions imposed on the state turned the basileus into the secular head of the Church, the guardian of the faith, dogmas and the world order established by God and consecrated by the Church in general; it even flew from the pen of Constantine Porphyrogenitus that the emperor was "Christ among the apostles." And as soon as the "barbarian" peoples accepted the ecclesiastical protectorate of the Greek Church, they automatically fell into the category of subjects of Basileus, the universal "king of Orthodoxy."

On what specific conditions Olga and Konstantin tried to come to terms on the structure of the Russian Church - historians have some assumptions about this. Perhaps the basileus did not offer so little. A.V. Nazarenko drew attention to the fact that, judging by the biography of his grandfather, Basil I the Macedonian, compiled by Constantine, “in the emperor's view, Russia was worthy of an archbishop,” for it was the archbishop who was sent to Russia in the 60s. IX century. unnamed bishop ( A.V. Nazarenko Ancient Russia on international routes. S. 300).

One way or another, it is only certain that from the Byzantine side it was a question of restoring, in one form or another, the protectorate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople over the “Russian Metropolis”. Meanwhile, this was certainly not part of Olga's plans. While still in Bulgaria, she could form the first notion that the theory, and even more the practice of Byzantine theocracy, contradicted the national independence of the brothers in Christ neighboring the empire. In fact, the achieved church independence of the Christian community of Kiev suited her perfectly. The problem, however, was that the roots of this independence did not go explicitly and directly to the primary source of grace - the apostolic Church. After the break with the Greek hierarchy, the Kiev Christians lost their continuity with the sacred and universally recognized church tradition, and therefore the “catholicity” of the foundations of its original existence could be challenged and shaken at any moment. Perhaps the Kiev clergy experienced some difficulties in the practical sphere of church life. After all, the Byzantines, for example, seriously assured the "barbarians" that the sacred oil is produced only in their empire and from there it is distributed throughout the world (the Bulgarian Khan Boris was even forced in this regard to turn to Pope Nicholas II for clarification, who violently denied this hegemonic fabrication).

Olga faced an extremely difficult task: to reunite the Russian Church with the Byzantine priesthood and at the same time to prevent the transformation of her country into a political satellite and cultural province of the Byzantine Empire. Perhaps she read the same Father Gregory to become a Russian bishop; Perhaps she did not object to the arrival of the Greek clergy to Kiev, but at the same time demanded for the Russian land wide church autonomy and the preservation of the liturgy in the Slavic language. Both were equally unacceptable for Constantine, and he did not want to recreate the "Russian Metropolitanate" on similar conditions, as is evident from its absence in the list of metropolitan sees in the book "On Ceremonies".

Several indirect signs seem to indicate that, among other things, Olga was hatching, possibly, plans for a Russian-Byzantine dynastic alliance. In 957 Svyatoslav, who was 15-16 years old, just entered the age of marriage. In Constantinople, he was represented not only by his own ambassador, but also by his “people”, which may indicate the delegation of some extraordinary assignments and powers that were not within the competence of the ambassador. During receptions Olga herself enjoyed the privileges of a "belted patrician", as if she were the mother-in-law of one of the Byzantine princesses ( Arignon J.-P. International relations of Kievan Rus in the middle of the 10th century. and the baptism of Princess Olga // Byzantine periodical. T. 41.M., 1980.S. 120). In those days, the best and even almost the only way to get out of the black body of “barbarians” once and for all and become dynastic aristocrats was to marry a Byzantine princess, because in the world of the early Middle Ages - the world of dukes and kings who came from nowhere with dubious genealogies - only Byzantine the basileus could be considered the true heirs of Roman grandeur and aristocratic nobility. It is no coincidence that in 968, during negotiations with the ambassador of Otto I, bishop of Cremona Liutprand, a Lombard by birth, the basileus Nikifor Foka threw contemptuous words in his face: "You are not Romans, but Lombards!"

In an effort to acquire the royal crown and achieve recognition of its sovereign rights from Byzantium, Olga could well and, moreover, she had to come to the conclusion about the desirability of a dynastic marriage of her son with one of Constantine's three daughters (for example, the princess Theodora is almost the same age as Svyatoslav).

But if such plans fueled Olgin's ambition, then they were doomed to failure in advance, since it was precisely these "unreasonable and ridiculous harassment" of foreigners that caused Constantine to be especially irritated. He advises his son Roman II in the future “to reject this request of theirs, saying the following words:“ About this matter, too, a terrible spell and an indestructible order of the great and holy Constantine are inscribed on the sacred throne of the universal church of Christians of Saint Sophia: never let the basileus of the Romans become related through marriage with a people adherent to special and alien customs, in comparison with the Roman dispensation, especially with the heterodox and unbaptized, perhaps with some Franks. For for them alone, this great man, Saint Constantine, made an exception, since he himself led a clan from those regions *, so that there were frequent marriages and great confusion between the Franks and the Romans. Why, then, only with them alone, he ordered the Vasilevs of the Romans to conclude marriage deals? Yes, for the ancient glory of those lands and the nobility of their families. This cannot be done with any other people; and the one who dared to do this should be regarded as a violator of paternal covenants and royal commands, as alien to the Christian host - and is anathematized. " And then he denounces two of his predecessors - Leo IV, who married the daughter of the Khazar Kagan, and his father-in-law Roman I Lakapin, who gave his granddaughter to the Bulgarian Tsar Peter: the first, in his words, “because of these illegal wicked deeds ... in the Church of God he is constantly excommunicated and anathematized, as a criminal and subverter of the commands of both God and the great holy basileus Constantine ”; the second, “even during his lifetime ... was extremely hated, condemned and reviled by the council of the Synclite, and by the whole people, and by the church itself, so that hatred towards him at the end became obvious and after death he was similarly subjected to contempt, accusation and condemnation, who introduced as an innovation, this is an unworthy and unbecoming business for the noble state of the Romans. " Perhaps, having brought all these arguments to Olga's attention, Konstantin nevertheless tried to soften his refusal by giving her the honors to which the Russian "archontissa" would have been entitled if Svyatoslav married the imperial daughter.

* In fact, Constantine the Great was born in Naissa (present-day Nis, Yugoslavia). The real reason for the exclusion made for the Franks was the military might of the Carolingian Empire, which Byzantium had to reckon with, willy-nilly. The sister of Constantine Porphyrogenitus himself was married to Louis the Blind.

So, based on the totality of circumstantial evidence, there is almost no doubt that during a conversation with Olga on September 9, Konstantin Porphyrogenitus saw in front of him a major politician who proposed for discussion a comprehensively thought-out program for a radical revision of Russian-Byzantine relations. Through her personal baptism, Olga tried to force Byzantium to recognize the key role of the Russian land in the Northern Black Sea region and turn the Kiev prince into the main ally of the empire in this region - an ally not only political, but also, so to speak, civilizational. But Constantine, it seems, was not ready for this. In the book "On the Administration of the Empire" one can feel his deep distrust of the "dew". Konstantin speaks of them very hostilely and cautiously and clearly prefers strengthening the alliance with the Pechenegs to the rapprochement with "external Russia". All his political advice to his son boils down to how to neutralize the “dews”, and not how to rely on them. It is very likely that such moods of the emperor were the result of Igor's campaigns against Byzantium. Apparently, in relations with Russia, Constantine did not want to go beyond the political framework of the treaty of 944.

The Russian-Byzantine negotiations in 957 also had an economic aspect, which, however, is almost completely hidden from us. Olga must have been trying to articulate some new trade advantages for Russian merchants. Perhaps she sought to lift the restriction on the export of silk fabrics from Byzantium. The prohibitive trading system of the Byzantine government was incomprehensible to the barbarian who lived in a rudimentary economic organization. Moreover, in his eyes, this system looked like a direct insult, discrimination. Liutprand, from whom the customs officers took away the five purple cloaks he had acquired during his departure from Constantinople, burst out at the Byzantines with the following angry tirade: “These flabby, pampered people, with wide sleeves, with tiaras and turbans on their heads, liars, eunuchs, idlers, walking in purple, but the heroes, people full of energy, who have known war, imbued with faith and mercy, obedient to God, filled with virtue - no! " The trading "people of the Russian land" could hardly have looked at things differently. However, no concessions were made to them.

The outcome of the negotiations

After her baptism on September 14, Olga stayed in Constantinople for 34 more days. It is unlikely that the princess all this time was simply “hanging out with her caravan on the waters of the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn,” patiently waiting for an answer to her proposals, as the Church historian A. V. Kartashev writes. Presumably, there were active consultations between her and the Byzantine court in order to reach a final agreement. The message "The Tale of Bygone Years" gives reason to think that the unusual length of the negotiations was provoked not only by Constantine's uncompromising position, but also by Olga's intransigence, who also had her own trump cards - "howls for help", which Byzantium badly needed for military operations against the Arabs. In 956 the warlike emir of Aleppo Saif-ad-Daula, the sworn enemy of the Greeks, utterly defeated the Byzantine army under the command of John Tzimiskes. The Greeks managed to partially rectify the situation by capturing the fortress of Arandas, where they captured the cousin of the Aleppo Emir Abu al-Ashair Ibn Hamdan. In 957, the belligerents entered into negotiations for an armistice and an exchange of prisoners. However, the Byzantines behaved insidiously, instigating an attempt on the life of Saifa ad-Daul. This attempt to end the dangerous enemy ended in failure and hostilities resumed.

In addition, it was too costly for the imperial treasury to torment the "Archontissa of Russia" in vain with expectation, since all these five weeks the Russian embassy was fully supported by the government.

In the end, the negotiations apparently reached a dead end, and the Vasileus' patience snapped. On October 18, Olga was simply given a farewell dinner. Konstantin did not want to speak with the obstinate "archontissa" again. He expressed his irritation with "inappropriate harassment and insolent claims" by a sharp decrease in the amount of monetary gifts: Olga - by 2.5 times, her people - by 30–40%, merchants - by half. The list of invited persons from Olga's retinue was reduced, the people of the unfortunate groom Svyatoslav were also not invited to the feast. Olga probably left the very next day. There was no need to hesitate to leave: the journey from Constantinople to Kiev took about six weeks, and freeze-up on the Lower Dnieper, as a rule, occurs at the end of December.

Konstantin did not manage to "pereklyukat".

The treaty of 944, however, remained in force, and in the next year, 958, after repeated clashes with the detachments of Saif al-Daul, Constantine, according to Arab sources, “began peace negotiations with neighboring peoples ... He made peace with the rulers Bulgarians, Rus, Turks [Hungarians], Franks and asked them for help. " But his ambassadors, according to The Tale of Bygone Years, were received in Kiev more than cool. In response to their request to send the promised "servants, wax and speed and howl to help" as soon as possible, Olga allegedly arrogantly objected that the Vasilevs would certainly receive all this if he deigns to stand with her in Pochayna, as she stood with him "in Court" ... The princess's true words probably sounded more diplomatic, but the fact remains: Constantine's ambassadors returned back with nothing. Olga did not want to forget the insult. In addition, the idea of \u200b\u200ba new church-political alliance has matured in her head. In the person of Olga, ancient Russian political thought grasped the important truth that, in the end, the world did not converge on Constantinople.

He ruled Rus from 945 to 960. At birth, the girl was given the name Helga, her husband called her by his own name, but the female version, and when baptized, Elena began to be called. Olga is known for being the first ruler of the Old Russian state to voluntarily adopt Christianity.

Dozens of films and TV series have been shot about Princess Olga. Her portraits are in Russian art galleries, according to ancient chronicles and relics found, scientists have tried to recreate a photograph of a woman. In his native Pskov there is a bridge, an embankment and a chapel named after Olga and two of her monuments.

Childhood and youth

The exact date of Olga's birth has not been preserved, but the Book of the Degree of the 17th century says that the princess died at eighty years old, which means that she was born at the end of the 9th century. If you believe the "Arkhangelsk Chronicler", the girl got married when she was ten years old. Historians are still arguing about the year of birth of the princess - from 893 to 928. The official version is the 920th, but this is an approximate year of birth.

The oldest chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years", describing the biography of Princess Olga, indicates that she was born in the village of Vybuty, Pskov. The names of the parents are not known as they were peasants, not individuals of noble blood.

The tale of the late 15th century says that Olga was the daughter who ruled Russia until Igor, the son of Rurik, grew up. He, according to legends, married Igor and Olga. But this version of the origin of the princess has not been confirmed.

Governing body

At the moment when the Drevlyans killed Olga's husband, Igor, their son Svyatoslav was only three years old. The woman was forced to take power into her own hands until her son grew up. The first thing the princess did was to take revenge on the Drevlyans.

They immediately after the murder of Igor sent matchmakers to Olga, who persuaded her to marry their prince - Mal. So the Drevlyans wanted to unite the lands and become the largest and most powerful state of that time.

Olga buried the first matchmakers alive along with the boat, making sure that they understand that their death is worse than Igor's death. The princess sent Malu a message that she was worthy of the best matchmakers from the strongest men in the country. The prince agreed, and the woman locked these matchmakers in the bathhouse and burned them alive while they washed to meet her.

Later, the princess came with a small retinue to the Drevlyans, in order, according to tradition, to celebrate a funeral at the grave of her husband. During the funeral, Olga drank the Drevlyans and ordered the soldiers to chop them down. The annals indicate that the Drevlyans then lost five thousand soldiers.

In 946, Princess Olga went into open battle on the land of the Drevlyans. She captured their capital and after a long siege, using cunning (with the help of birds, to whose paws incendiary mixtures were tied), burned the entire city. Some of the Drevlyans died in the battle, the rest obeyed and agreed to pay tribute to Russia.

Since the grown-up son of Olga spent most of his time in military campaigns, power over the country was in the hands of the princess. She carried out many reforms, including the creation of trade and exchange centers, which made it easier to collect lodges.

Thanks to the princess, stone construction was born in Russia. After looking at how easily the wooden fortresses of the Drevlyans burned, she decided to build her houses of stone. The first stone buildings in the country were the city palace and the ruler's country house.

Olga established the exact amount of taxes from each principality, the date of their payment and the frequency. Then they were called "polyudya". All lands subject to Kiev were obliged to pay it, and in each administrative unit of the state a princely administrator was appointed - tiun.

In 955, the princess decided to convert to Christianity and was baptized. According to some sources, she was baptized in Constantinople, where she was personally baptized by Emperor Constantine VII. During her baptism, the woman took the name Elena, but in history she is still better known as Princess Olga.

She returned to Kiev with icons and church books. First of all, the mother wanted to baptize her only son Svyatoslav, but he only scoffed at those who accepted Christianity, but did not forbid anyone.

During her reign, Olga built dozens of churches, including a monastery in her native Pskov. The princess personally went to the north of the country to baptize everyone. There she destroyed all pagan symbols and put Christian ones.

The guards reacted with apprehension and hostility to the new religion. They emphasized their pagan faith in every possible way, tried to convince Prince Svyatoslav that Christianity would weaken the state and must be banned, but he did not want to contradict his mother.

Olga was never able to make Christianity the main religion. The guards won, and the princess had to stop her campaigns, closing in Kiev. She raised the sons of Svyatoslav in the Christian faith, but did not dare to baptize, fearing the anger of her son and the possible murder of her grandchildren. She secretly kept a priest with her, so as not to give rise to new persecutions of people of the Christian faith.

There is no exact date in history when the princess handed over the reins of government to her son Svyatoslav. He was often in military campaigns, therefore, despite the official title, Olga ruled the country. Later, the princess gave her son power in the north of the country. And, presumably, by 960 he became the ruling prince of all Russia.

Olga's influence will be felt during the reign of her grandchildren and. Both of them were raised by their grandmother, from infancy they got used to the Christian faith and continued the formation of Russia on the path of Christianity.

Personal life

According to The Tale of Bygone Years, Prophetic Oleg married Olga and Igor when they were still children. The story also says that the wedding was in 903, but, according to other sources, Olga was not even born then, so there is no exact date for the wedding.

There is a legend that the couple met at the ferry near Pskov, when the girl was a carrier on a boat (she changed into men's clothes - this was a job only for men). Igor noticed the young beauty and immediately began to pester, to which he was rebuffed. When the time came to get married, he remembered that wayward girl and ordered to find her.

If you believe the chronicles describing the events of those times, then Prince Igor died in 945 at the hands of the Drevlyans. Olga came to power while her son was growing up. She did not marry again; she did not mention any connections with other men in the annals.

Death

Olga died of disease and old age, and was not killed, like many rulers of that time. The annals indicate that the princess died in 969. In 968, the Pechenegs first raided the Russian lands, and Svyatoslav went to war. Princess Olga and her grandchildren locked themselves in Kiev. When his son returned from the war, he lifted the siege and wanted to immediately leave the city.

His mother stopped him, warning him that she was very ill and felt the approach of her own death. She turned out to be right, 3 days after these words, Princess Olga died. She was buried according to Christian traditions, in the ground.

In 1007, the princess's grandson, Vladimir I Svyatoslavich, transferred the relics of all saints, including the remains of Olga, to the Church of the Holy Mother of God in Kiev, which he founded. The official canonization of the princess took place in the middle of the 13th century, although miracles were attributed to her relics long before that, they were revered as a saint and called Equal to the Apostles.

Memory

• Olginskaya street in Kiev
• St. Olginsky Cathedral in Kiev

Movie

• 1981 - ballet "Olga"
• 1983 - the film "The Legend of Princess Olga"
• 1994 - cartoon “Pages of Russian history. The land of the ancestors "
• 2005 - the film “Saga of the Ancient Bulgars. The Legend of Olga Saint "
• 2005 - the film “Saga of the Ancient Bulgars. Ladder of Vladimir Krasnoe Solnyshko "
• 2006 - "Prince Vladimir"

Literature

• 2000 - "I know God!" Alekseev S. T.
• 2002 - Olga, Queen of the Rus.
• 2009 - "Princess Olga". Alexey Karpov
• 2015 - Olga, the forest princess.
• 2016 - "United Power." Oleg Panus

In the middle of the 10th century, the Russian people did not yet exist. The Eastern Slavs were divided into tribes of Polyans, Drevlyans, Rodimichs and others. The central power in Kiev was still held only by military force, and the princes did not collect taxes from their subjects, but made campaigns and raids on them. Then, a thousand years later, during the Civil War in Russia, the Bolsheviks will treat towns and villages in the same way, calling their actions a surplus appropriation. Special detachments and units of special purpose will fly into villages, rake out grain from barns and underground floors, and steal cattle. And try to be indignant - you won't live long.

The Russian prince Igor behaved in the same way in the middle of the 10th century.
He made a campaign against the Drevlyans subject to him and collected tribute from them. But after a while he needed money again. Igor decided that not everything had been collected from the Drevlyans, and, convinced that he was right, again rushed to the Drevlyans like a beast.
And the Drevlyans, which you probably went through in history lessons, caught the greedy Igor, tied him to the tops of two trees, let them go - and the prince was torn into two halves. Perhaps Princess Olga, the young wife of Prince Igor, understood that greed had ruined her husband. But most likely, she did not understand anything except that it was necessary to take revenge on the Drevlyans. And cruel. Because if you do not show your strength, then other tribes will refuse to pay tribute.

Olga was seriously preparing for a campaign against the Drevlyans and for a while held her anger, because it is known that at the end of 945, after the murder of the prince, the Drevlyans sent ambassadors to Kiev, hoping to make peace.
Princess Olga had been preparing her army all winter, and by the summer of the following year, when the ground on the forest roads dried out, she went to the capital of the Drevlyans - the town of Iskorosten, surrounded by a log of logs.
Having besieged the capital, Olga sent detachments in all directions to occupy the towns and villages of the Drevlyans. They recognized the power of the princess, only the main city held out. And all summer the princess could not overcome its walls. It is even known that she sent letters to the Drevlyans in which she persuaded them to surrender, because “all your other cities have already surrendered to me, and the farmers are working in the fields, only you have been sitting in the city all summer. What do you want to sit up to? "

Little Svyatoslav was with Olga. He was raised from the cradle as a warrior. At the age of five, as the chronicler says, he threw his children's spear into the Drevlyansky town.
In the end, the Drevlyans, who ran out of food in the besieged city, left the city and rushed to fight Olga's troops.
She needed this, because her army was much larger and stronger.
The Drevlyans were defeated. Iskorosten fell. The walls of the Drevlyansky capital were torn down, the city itself was burned, and it was ordered that no one else settle there. Some of the inhabitants were taken into slavery, and a heavy tribute was imposed on the rest. Many were executed ...

Olga, to her credit, has already understood that it is unwise to raid her own subjects.
She established tax rates for everyone, planted collectors and her governors in the cities, streamlined "statutes and lessons." The polyudye that killed Igor was canceled.
For two more years Olga tirelessly went on campaigns in her own lands, reached Novgorod, and everywhere established order and the princely administration.
Olga's next step was the decision to go to Constantinople.

Russia lay halfway between the Baltic Sea, the Viking world and Byzantium. And relations with both worlds in Russia were difficult. Over the years, with the growth of the strength of the Russian principalities, these relations all became more complicated. Moreover, from the south and east, Russia was increasingly threatened by the threat both from the Khazars, whose kingdom occupied the lower reaches of the Volga and Don, and from the steppe nomads - the Pechenegs.
The enemies of Russia were the traditional enemies of Byzantium. The northern limits of this empire lay on the northern shores of the Black Sea. But the Vikings and Russian princes also aspired to the Black Sea, and in this they became rivals of Byzantium.
In addition, the ancient mighty Christian Byzantium has always been considered a superior force in Russia, and not only militarily, but also spiritually.

When Olga was building her state, she reached out to Byzantium so that Russia would become like the center of the Christian world of the East.
Trade interests also played a role here. Russia dominated the path “from the Varangians to the Greeks,” along which goods from Northern Europe and Northern Russia went to the Mediterranean. And Byzantium was a natural supplier of oriental goods to the Russian market and to the same Northern Europe.
So the embassy of Olga, who, after long preliminary negotiations in 957, went to Constantinople, was a significant event for Russia. Kiev had very high hopes on this embassy. And Olga could not go on a long and responsible journey until the internal affairs in her state were established. Fortunately, there are many documents about this embassy. First, it is described in the book "On Ceremonies", written by Emperor Constantine VII for his son in those years. In addition, it is described in the "Tale of Bygone Years" - the main Russian chronicle, which includes the text of the treaty between Russia and Byzantium.
Since, according to the rules of the Byzantine court, all members of the embassy received support during their stay in Constantinople, we know exactly how many people Olga took with her, as well as their names and positions.

Olga's retinue numbered more than a hundred people, including thirty noble boyars and vigilantes, mostly Vikings, who were the closest circle of the princess. In addition, forty-four merchants of different nationalities, the retinue of the heir to the throne Svyatoslav, translators, maids, maids, hairdressers, cooks, doctors - whoever was there, arrived in Constantinople! In the port Olga was awaited by her ships with crews. More than a thousand people in total.

The embassy lists contain a mysterious person without a name.
This person, wherever the composition of the embassy is indicated, stands second. That is, at the head of the embassy is the Empress of Russia Olga, then a person called in Greek "anepy". It is said about him only that he is a native of the princess.
The embassy arrived and was greeted. And then something stalled.
Contrary to all the rules and customs, the emperor did not want to accept the Russian princess.
Historians believe that all this time the diplomatic trade associated with the reception ceremony continued. Olga, and in her face Russia, demanded if not equality with Caesar, then at least worthy of respect.
Only two months later, the emperor received the embassy.
This action took place in the throne room. After the first meeting, the emperor gave a dinner in honor of the distinguished guest. Moreover, at the dinner there were important violations of etiquette in favor of the princess, which today seem to be trifles, but at that time were very important signs of her position.

The next day Olga was received by the empress, and after dinner Olga was finally able to sit down with the emperor in a separate room and discuss all important issues with him. Moreover, the monarchs talked while sitting, while, according to Byzantine rules, a prince who came from abroad had to stand.
During the week there were dinners, meetings, negotiations. Why did the Russian embassy receive such attention? Byzantium needed Russia as an ally in the wars with the Khazars and Bulgarians. She needed detachments of Russian (or Varangian) warriors for the wars with the Arabs, she needed peace with Russia and security from raids - that is, calm on the northern borders.

Olga agreed to be baptized.
There was still no talk of baptizing all of Russia - the pagan country was not ready for the conversion to Orthodoxy. But Olga herself, for political reasons, decided to be baptized.

But what did the princess wish to receive in exchange for her promises?
The chronicle says that she told the emperor everything she wanted. And the emperor was so dissatisfied with her desire that he did not hide it. Although he did not explain what was the matter.
Today scientists are inclined to think that Olga "wanted" to marry her son Svyatoslav to a princess of the Byzantine court. This was important for Russia both politically and for the prestige of the young state.
In those years, becoming related with Byzantium was the ultimate dream of its neighbors. Shortly before that, the Khazars had managed to give their princess in marriage to Prince Constantine, and the Bulgarian prince Peter married Princess Mary.
But Constantine VII, who then ruled in Byzantium, had a very negative attitude to such marriages. That is, he would not mind a dynastic marriage with Germany or the Frankish empire, but not getting related with Russia!
Therefore, all the two-month waiting for a meeting, baptism, concessions and promises to send military aid ended in the refusal of the main thing - in a dynastic marriage.
And then a new question arises: who was the mysterious relative of the princess, the second person in the embassy, \u200b\u200bwho was not named?

The well-known Russian historian A. Sakharov, like some other specialists, comes to the conclusion that Prince Svyatoslav, the "groom" himself, was hiding under this pseudonym. Moreover, his retinue was mentioned in the lists of the embassy. Why would she come without a prince?
The Afront of Russia was sensitive, and it is reflected in at least two sources. Hot on the heels of a meeting with Olga, Constantine wrote, without naming names: "You should not go to meet the barbarians with their requests for marriage with members of the imperial house, do not, as often happens, to meet their demands ..."

On the other hand, Olga left Constantinople dissatisfied, and when a counter-embassy arrived from Byzantium with a request to send the promised military assistance, he was not received immediately and was made to wait at the Pochainovskaya pier on the Dnieper for two months, exactly the same as the waiting Constantinople. And Olga told the ambassador of Byzantium: "Tell the ambassador that he will stay with me in Pochayna as long as I had to stay with you." Scientists believe that it was the humiliating refusal of the Byzantine emperor that largely determined Svyatoslav's hostility to Byzantium. He threw himself at Byzantium like a wolf, again and again tried to destroy Byzantine plans. And if Byzantium had a desperate and indomitable enemy, it was Svyatoslav, who spent his whole life in campaigns. Moreover, his death was the result of the intrigues of the Byzantines, who, despite a peace treaty with the Russian prince, bribed the Pechenegs on the Dnieper rapids to ambush and kill Svyatoslav.

A talented military leader, an indomitable warrior, a rabid enemy - Byzantium knew how to get rid of such enemies.
And the Byzantine queen appeared in Russia only in the 15th century, when, after the fall of the Byzantine Empire, for reasons of continuity, that is, wanting to show the whole world that Russia was the heir to Byzantium, Ivan III married Sophia Paleologus. But then there was no one to object. The Seljuk Turks dominated Constantinople.

What problems interested Olga in Byzantium, in addition to baptism and the associated rise in the political prestige of Russia, the desire to bring Russia out of that low rank, which, according to the Byzantine canons, she occupied next to the Pechenegs and Ugrians?

Researchers have suggested that the story of the Russian chronicle about the "matchmaking" of the emperor to Olga reflected some negotiations of the princess in Constantinople regarding the consolidation of Russian-Byzantine relations by a dynastic marriage. Not having any arguments in favor of the fact that the text about “matchmaking” and the emperor's compliments (“like you reign in the city with us”) reflects some kind of negotiations about a dynastic marriage, let us pay attention to something else. Olga's baptism, her receiving the title of "daughter" of the emperor - this is just one of the signs that the princess's intentions during this trip were closely connected with the hopes that Russia would receive a higher political title and reflected the general foreign policy of Russia aimed at improving contractual relations with the empire. Another such sign is the resentment that the princess expressed to the Byzantine embassy in Kiev: "... just stay with me in Pochayna, like I am in the Court ..."

So, the author of The Tale of Bygone Years received information that Olga, in her opinion, stood for too long “in the Court”. We must agree with this chronicle version, because, according to Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, it was first received at the palace only on September 9, while Russian caravans left for the empire, as a rule, in the summer. VT Pashuto, not without reason, suggested that the Russians had been waiting for an appointment with the emperor for more than two months. This, in his opinion, can be evidenced by the information of Constantine VII about two payments to the embassy of "slave", the first of which took place on September 9 and significantly exceeded the second, issued on October 18, that is, a little over a month later. "

What was the reason for such a long delay of the Russian embassy “at the Court”? Historians mainly saw it in the suspicion of the Greeks, in their formalism, in the desire to give the Russian princess a sense of the distance between the emperor and her. This approach to resolving the issue seems untenable. As you know, the status of Russian embassies and merchant caravans was determined in the previous decades by the corresponding articles of the treaty of 907, and later in 944. It was clearly stated that upon arrival at Constantinople, the Russians were rewritten, finding out the composition of their embassy, \u200b\u200bthey were assigned a special official who determines their residence in the Russian courtyard near the monastery of St. Mamanta, then they enter the city in the appropriate order, etc. But in the case of the arrival of the Grand Duchess in Constantinople, a diplomatic incident definitely arose, information about which was deposited in the annals.

The answer to the question of interest to us can be obtained by analyzing in parallel the composition of the Russian embassy and the information of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus.

If the structure of Igor's embassy to Byzantium, which in terms of the number and splendor of the representation had no equal in Russia, included 51 people, then the number of persons accompanying Olga exceeded a hundred, not counting the guards, shipbuilders, and numerous servants. The retinue included a relative of Olga (anepsy), 8 of her confidants (possibly noble Kiev boyars or relatives), 22 apocrisiaries, 44 merchants, people of Svyatoslav, priest Gregory, 6 people from the retinue of the apocrisaries, 2 translators, and also the close women of the princess 2 ... The composition of the embassy, \u200b\u200bas we see, resembles the Russian mission of 944. The apocrisiaries, as noted in historiography 3, were representatives of prominent Russian princes and boyars. However, as in the case of the 944 embassy, \u200b\u200bthere was, in our opinion, no real political representation behind them. Their connection with prominent political figures of the ancient Russian state was only nominal, titular, which was correctly understood by the Byzantine court: the Apocrisiaries received an ambassadorial salary of 12 miliary each, that is, the same as the merchants, and even less than the translators (15 miliary every). It is another matter that in the composition of Olga's embassy, \u200b\u200bin comparison with Igor's embassy, \u200b\u200ba new category of persons appeared - either relatives or confidants, who received 20 miliary at the first reception, which indicates their high place in the Russian embassy hierarchy: only Olga herself received more of them. and her relative. In any case, Russia has never sent such a representative, such magnificent embassy to Byzantium. Olga came to Constantinople in all its splendor, with a significant fleet, on which more than a hundred people arrived, some members of the embassy, \u200b\u200bnot counting the servants. Such a mission had to pursue some exceptional goals.

In this regard, the question is natural: what was the level of reception of Olga's embassy in the palace? As you know, in historiography on this issue, two points of view are opposed to each other: one speaks of Olga's poor reception in Constantinople, her scanty gifts, which corresponded to the level of reception of the seedy rulers of the East; another notes the high level of reception of the Russian embassy. Consider the actual state of affairs.

The first reception of Olga by the emperor on September 9 took place in the same way as the receptions of foreign rulers or ambassadors of large states were usually held. The Emperor exchanged ceremonial greetings with her through the logoeta in the sumptuous hall - Magnavre; the reception was attended by the entire composition of the court, the atmosphere was extremely solemn and pompous. In type, it resembled the reception described by Liutpran-dom, the bishop of Cremona, who in 949 was the ambassador of the Italian king Berengar at the court of Constantinople. On the same day, another celebration, traditional for receptions of high ambassadors, was also held, also described by Liutprand, - a dinner during which those present were delighted with the singing art of the best church choirs of Constantinople and various stage performances.

However, Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus described such details of the reception of the Russian princess, which had no analogies during meetings with other foreign representatives and did not in any way correspond to the Byzantine "political religion". Although the emperor demonstrated all his greatness to Olga, he made for her a number of deviations from the traditions provided for in the throne room ceremony. After the courtiers took their places, and the emperor sat on the “throne of Solomon,” the curtain separating the Russian princess from the hall was pulled back, and Olga, in front of her retinue, moved towards the emperor. Usually a foreign representative was brought to the throne by two eunuchs, who supported him by the arms, and then he performed proskinesis - he fell prostrate at the imperial feet. This is what Liut Prand told about in his chronicle: “I leaned on the shoulders of two eunuchs and was thus brought directly before his imperial majesty ... After, according to custom, I bowed before the emperor for the third time, greeting him, I raised head and saw the emperor in completely different clothes ”4. Nothing of the kind happened to Olga. She went to the throne unaccompanied and did not prostrate before the emperor, as her retinue did, although later she talked to him while standing. In addition, Olga was received separately by the empress, whom she also greeted with only a slight bow of her head. In her honor a solemn entrance was arranged for the ladies of the court; the conversation between the Russian princess and the empress passed through a preposite.

After a short break, which Olga spent in one of the halls of the palace, the princess met with the imperial family, which, as G. Ostrogorsky noted, had no analogies during the receptions of ordinary ambassadors. "When the emperor sat down with Augustus and his scarlet children," says the Book of Ceremonies, "the princess was invited from the triclin of Centuria and, having sat down at the invitation of the emperor, expressed to him what she wished." Here, in a narrow circle, the conversation took place, for the sake of which Olga came to Constantinople. This practice was also not provided for in the palace ceremony - usually the ambassadors talked with the emperor standing. The right to sit in his presence was considered an extraordinary privilege and was granted only to crowned heads, but even so, low seats were placed 5.

On the same day, a ceremonial dinner took place, before which Olga again entered the hall where the empress was seated on the throne, and again greeted her with a slight bow. At dinner, Olga sat at a "truncated table" with the Zostas - ladies of the highest rank who enjoyed the right to sit at the same table with members of the imperial family, that is, this right was also given to the Russian princess. According to G. Ostrogorsky, the “truncated table” is the table at which the imperial family sat. Men from the Russian retinue dined with the emperor. At dessert, Olga again found herself at the same table with Emperor Constantine, his son Roman and other members of the imperial family. And during the ceremonial dinner on October 18, Olga sat at the same table with the Empress and her children 6. Not a single ordinary embassy, \u200b\u200bnot a single ordinary ambassador enjoyed such privileges in Constantinople.

And one more characteristic detail distinguishes the reception of the Russian embassy on September 9 and October 18 - no other foreign embassy was present at these meetings. Meanwhile, in the practice of the Byzantine court, there was a custom to give a ceremonial reception simultaneously to several foreign missions. Thus, Liutprand reports that during his first visit to the imperial palace, he was accompanied by the ambassadors of the Spanish Caliph, as well as Liutfred, a Mainz merchant sent to the emperor by the German king. 19 years later, being once again the ambassador to Byzantium and representing Otto I there, Liutprand sat at a ceremonial dinner with the Bulgarian ambassadors, who, by the way, were put in more honorable places, which hurt the prestige of the ambassador of the German emperor. A “personal” invitation to the Russian embassy in both cases should be regarded as a special privilege.

All of this indicates that the Russians have gone to great lengths to make their embassy an extraordinary case in Byzantine diplomatic practice. Therefore, it is no coincidence that Olga did without eunuchs when approaching the emperor, did not commit proskinesis, received a reception with the empress, ate at a "truncated table", etc. the ceremonial is a very special place. Medieval practice of receptions and "vacations" of foreign ambassadors, in particular in the Russian state of the XV-XVII centuries. and Russian ambassadors abroad, suggests that negotiations on ceremonial issues were sometimes dragged out for many weeks. Considerable importance was attached to whether a foreign sovereign stood up when asked about the health of the Russian monarch, or asked him sitting down, took off his hat or not; the sequence of toasts to the health of the monarchs, their wives and heirs during lunch was especially stipulated. Russian medieval diplomats at foreign courts insisted that they should not be given official meetings and receptions before being presented to the head of state and that during their receptions, “vacations,” as well as dinners, there would be no other embassies in the hall. It happened, it came to curiosities: Russian ambassadors threatened to leave if foreign rulers violated the diplomatic etiquette adopted between states. Foreign diplomats at the Russian court behaved the same way. The diplomatic experience of a later time, the stubborn struggle for the prestige of their state of Russian diplomacy of the 15th-17th centuries. suggest the key to solving the riddle of the long stay of the Russian embassy near Constantinople: there were probably tense negotiations about the ceremony of receiving the Russian princess, during which all the above-mentioned deviations from the traditional rules of meeting ambassadors in the capital of the empire were born.

Judging by the large number and splendor of the Russian embassy, \u200b\u200bby the fact that the Grand Duchess herself - perhaps at the invitation of Constantine VII - set off on such a long and difficult journey, the Russians had to insist on the exclusivity of the reception, on giving Olga special honors, on minimizing that the distance that separated the Russian princes from the Byzantine emperors. And Olga managed to achieve well-known results. The parties came to a compromise solution on ceremonial issues: Olga's reception reflected both the stereotypical rules for meeting high foreign ambassadors and deviations from them, made especially for the distinguished Russian guest. The Byzantine emperor managed to maintain the distance separating him from the ruler of the "barbarians", although he was forced to make serious concessions. Of course, the long negotiations “in the Court” were supposed to produce the most unfavorable impression on the princess, who had come to Constantinople to seek the highest honors for the Russian grand-ducal house. It is in this that one should look for the reason for her discontent and irritation, expressed later to the Byzantine ambassadors in Kiev.

The question of the gifts presented to Olga does not contradict this concept. Historians have argued over whether these gifts were scanty or, on the contrary, quite decent. It seems to us that this dispute is pointless, since D.V. Ainalov convincingly proved that during both the first and second receptions Olga was presented not with gifts, but with ambassadorial content.

DV Ainalov noted that the Saracen ambassador had received exactly the same amount - 500 miliary - before her, and he, like Olga, was presented with it on a golden platter. He saw an analogy in the case of the payment of ambassadorial support to members of the Italian embassy, \u200b\u200bwhen a special list was drawn up, according to which, at an audience, each member was given the amount due. D.V. Ainalov expressed the idea that the 500 miliary handed over to Olga is nothing more than the "slave" agreements of 907 and 944. The dish in this case was simply used to offer money. D. V. Ainalov also drew attention to the fact that the second payment (October 18) was less than the first, which also indicates a daily payment. As for the gifts, they were given to Olga separately; the chronicle says about them: “And give her gifts of many, gold and silver, doughs and different judgments, and let her go. VT Pashuto also understands this question 8.

Let us add to this that Liutprand, speaking about his embassy in 949, remarked that after the reception and a solemn dinner, gifts were presented to him by the emperor. As for the cash payment for the maintenance of the embassy, \u200b\u200bhe mentioned it separately: the money was handed to him by the imperial official at a special distribution 9. Apparently, it should be recalled that gifts to a foreign embassy were usually presented only during a farewell reception, and in this sense, the Russian chronicler noted quite accurately that the emperor handed Olga the gifts when “let Yu go,” that is, at the farewell audience ... Yes, and in the last chronicle record concerning the trip, it is said that the emperor “many gifts” Olga, and she promised in return to send him traditional Russian gifts: servants, wax, furs.

All these facts indicate that Olga was received in Byzantium not as an ordinary ambassador, but as a high sovereign person. It is not excluded that the conversation in Constantinople could also touch upon the question of establishing dynastic ties with the imperial court. This practice was well known to the then world. The dynastic ties of Byzantium with "barbarian" states either strengthened allied relations, or contributed to the rise of the prestige of this or that country. So, in the 20s of the 7th century, experiencing strong pressure from the Persians and Avars, Emperor Heraclius sent an embassy to the Khazar kagan with a request for help and offered him his daughter Evdokia as his wife, and also sent rich gifts. In the 8th century, trying to preserve the alliance with Khazaria, Emperor Leo IV married his son Constantine to the Khazar princess, the future Constantine to V, for which he was later sharply condemned by Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, who believed that Leo IV thereby damaged the prestige of the imperial power ... In the 20s of the X century. the Bulgarian Tsar Peter sealed peaceful relations with Byzantium by marriage with the granddaughter of Roman I, Maria. The empire recognized the title of Caesar for Peter. By the way, this step was also condemned by Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. In turn, seeking to enlist the support of the powerful power of the Franks, and later the German kingdom in the fight against the Arabs, the Byzantine emperors persistently sought to strengthen the dynastic ties with the house of Charlemagne. In 802, a letter was sent to him with a proposal to conclude a treaty of peace and love and to strengthen it with a dynastic marriage. In 842, the emperor Theophilus sent an embassy to Trier to Lothar I to negotiate mutual actions against the Arabs and offered his daughter's hand to Lothair's son Louis. With the same goal in 869, the emperor Basil I the Macedonian sought to formalize the marriage of his son Constantine and the daughter of the German king Louis II. However, there were cases when the Constantinople court, for political reasons, refused dynastic marriages even to very powerful rulers. In 591, the Persian shah Khosrov II asked for the hand of the daughter of the emperor of Mauritius, but was refused, motivated by the fact that he was not a Christian 10. The Byzantine emperors diligently avoided dynastic ties with the Persian court, fearing the claims of the Persians to the imperial throne.

In light of these efforts of the countries adjacent to Russia (the Khazar Kaganate, Bulgaria), as well as the struggle for state prestige during the development of diplomatic documents, the status of Olga's embassy, \u200b\u200bher subsequent baptism and receiving the title of “daughter” of the emperor, it is likely that the princess could negotiate about the dynastic marriage of young Svyatoslav with one of the princesses of the imperial house. In this regard, Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus warned his son Roman not to allow marriages with “barbarians” and not to provide them, despite their demands (“as often happens”), with imperial robes, crowns or other decorations. Among the "barbarians" Constantine VII named the Khazars, the Ugrians and Russia. This warning in his essay is followed by an irritated passage that in the past the emperors caused great damage to the prestige of Byzantine power by allowing dynastic marriages with the Khazars and Bulgarians. One should heed the subtle remark of VT Pashuto that under the name of anepsy the young Russian prince 11 himself could be hidden, whom his mother brought to Constantinople not without political calculations.

Finally, the object of negotiations in Constantinople, as can be seen from the record of the request of the Byzantine ambassadors in Kiev and Olga's response to them, were questions related to the implementation of the union treaty of 944. The ambassadors, judging by the chronicle, conveyed to Olga the words of the emperor: “Many gifts ... You speak to me, as if I return to Russia, I will send many gifts: servants, wax and skar, and howl for help. " “Howl for help” - this is what the Russian princess promised to Constantine VII during the negotiations in September-October. The emperor, apparently on the eve of new military campaigns against the Arabs, wanted to enlist the help of the Russians, in exchange for which Olga put forward her demands in the field of titularity, and perhaps even sought a dynastic marriage, which was characteristic of the "barbarians" and about which the emperor wrote with irritation in his essay. It was on this issue that the parties parted, dissatisfied with each other. Olga traces the origins of this discontent to long words "in the Court", and Constantine VII - to the demands of the Russians for family ties with the imperial house and symbols of royal power.

The implementation of the union treaty of 944 was the plot on which the political demands of the Russian side were strung. Therefore, there is no serious reason to believe that the purpose of Olga's negotiations with the emperor was to conclude a new treaty or to reach some kind of agreement "in the field of trade relations (V. A. Parkhomenko, M. D. Priselkov, M. V. Levchenko). agree with the opinion of V. T. Pashuto that, “apart from Christianization, the circle of problems of concern to both countries is the same” 12, that is, the same as in 944. He was the same only in terms of constant striving Russia in the 9th-10th centuries to raise its international authority, to get new political concessions from Byzantium, but at each stage Russia set specific tasks, and in this sense Olga's embassy did not repeat in anything the negotiations of the times of the Russian-Byzantine agreements. the fact that the talks in 957 were about the implementation of the treaty of 944, it is fair, but with only one proviso: the empire insisted on this implementation, and the Russian side skillfully used the interests of Byzantium to achieve political benefits in spheres already mentioned. And Olga's refusal to provide the empire with military assistance was most likely due to her unsuccessful negotiations on a dynastic marriage, obtaining a higher dignity than she achieved, and long negotiations “in the Court” on ceremonial issues. However, the treaty of 944 continued to operate, and the sending of a Russian detachment to help Byzantium in its struggle for Crete clearly confirms this.

As for the growing conflict between Russia and Byzantium since the mid-60s of the 10th century, Olga's embassy had nothing to do with it. The Treaty of Peace and Alliance in 944 continued to operate in the 60s, relations between the two countries in the mid 60s were built on its basis. The origins of the conflict were rooted in the historical situation prevailing by that time in Eastern Europe.