OLEG / ОЛЕГ / HELGI
The story so far.
After a period of unrest, Rurik and his brothers were called in by a group of Russian and Finnic tribes looking for someone to restore order. After two years, the two brothers died and Rurik was left in control of a swathe of northern Russia and its (still Finnic) North and Eastern borderlands. During his rule, two of his followers leave to seek their fortune in Constantinople, but on their way there, they take over a princeless city – Kiev – and attract followers to their own warband. They attack Constantinople while the Emperor is away, but by a miracle, their fleet is destroyed and the city saved. After 15 years in charge, Rurik dies and at his deathbed, he entrusts both his son Igor and his territory to his relative (according to Tatishchev quoting the Ioakim Chronicle, his brother-in-law) Oleg. 1 Systems of inheritance
Oleg is known in Russian as Вещий Олег, sometimes translated into English as Oleg the Wise, but the term implies a more supernatural ability, more like Oleg the Far-knowing, or even the Prophetic. Another prince, Yaroslav, is known as “the Wise”, but in his case, the more usual word “мудрый” is used. The name Oleg itself comes from Norse Helgi, meaning “holy” or “sacred”. This might be the source of the ”nickname”, with the chroniclers translating the name as well as trying to write down its pronunciation. However, the name itself brings to mind the sacral nature of Germanic kingship. The word “konung” in Old Norse, which became “knyaz” in Russian, means “son of the kin”, the kin in this case being the Royal kin, often claiming divine descent. Most royal families in Europe dropped these claims upon becoming Christian, although the British royal family just added a set of names to link Balder and Odin (Bældæg and Woden) back to Adam. Unfortunately, the ancestry of Rurik and Oleg’s family is not recorded, although, coming from Sweden, they might well have claimed descent from Freyr, the god who set up the temple at Uppsala inland from Roslagen and who founded the ancient Swedish royal house.
After the report of Oleg taking the throne, three years pass before the Povest’ Vremmenykh Let (PVL) mentions the new Prince again. In 6390 (882 AD), Oleg set off on campaign at the head of a multi-ethnic force: not only Vikings, but also Chud’, Slovenes, Merya, Ves’ and Krivichi. According to the PVL, he brought Igor with him, At first he went to Smolensk, a Krivichi fortress on the Dnieper and took the city under his direct rule, setting a garrison of his own men there. He moved down the river to Lyubech was a fortress of the Severtsy, but on the very borders of their territory, near the lands of the Polyane. Oleg left his men in charge and moved on.
Oleg takes Smolensk.
Finally, Oleg, little Igor and their men arrived at the Kiev hills, where Oleg “found out” that Askold and Dir were ruling here. Oleg has done a lot of preparation for this campaign, bringing together a warband from all the various tribes under his rule. I find it difficult to believe that he was not perfectly aware of who was in charge of Kiev, especially given that Askold and Dir had been Rurik’s men and the Vikings who went down to join Askold and Dir must first have traversed Rurik’s and Oleg’s land to get there.
River Dnieper near Smolensk. Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky, 1912
According to the Laurentian version of the PVL, Oleg hid some men in the boats, others he left behind and set out with the child to meet Askold and Dir. He sailed to the “Hungarian Hill” having hidden his warriors and sent for Askold and Dir informing them that they were merchants sent from Oleg and Igor to go to Constantinople and invited Askold and Dir to visit as they were relatives. Nikon’s Chronicle adds some nice details: Oleg’s messenger tells Askold and Dir that Oleg couldn’t come to them because he was ill, but he did have lots of valuable beads and jewellery with him. When Askold and Dir arrived to take a look at the wealth that might be coming their way, all the hidden warriors leapt out of the boats (or Askold and Dir were persuaded to climb into Oleg’s boat). Oleg told Askold and Dir that they were not true princes as they didn’t come from a royal family. Oleg pointed out that he was of royal birth and he lifted up Igor and said “And he is the son of Rurik”, suggesting that he felt that Askold and Dir owed him and his ward the same allegiance they had once owed Rurik. One wonders if the campaign had not been launched in response to a refusal to pay tribute to the new prince in Novgorod. After pointing out his and Igor’s right to rule, Oleg had Askold and Dir killed, their bodies taken to the hill and buried.2 Sites of their burials
And he is the son of Rurik!
Oleg settled in Kiev, ruled as Prince and declared “May this be the mother of Russian cities.” This might suggest the words were spoken in Norse, as the word for town (borg) is feminine, while gorod / город is masculine in Russian. Alternatively, given the known sources of the PVL, it might be a translation from a Greek source, where he simply designates Kiev as the metropolis (literally “mother city”), or capital city of Russia.
Having taken Kiev, the chronicle describes Oleg’s moves to organise the Russian state. He started to set up cities (i.e. walled settlements, centres for specialised craftsmen, for trading, taxation and a base for the royal garrison) and to set levels of tribute for the Slovenes, Krivichi and Merya as well as organising a payment from the traders of Novgorod of 300 silver grivnas a year for the upkeep of Oleg’s Viking warband. Later grivnas from Novgorod had a weight of about 204g of silver. In Edmund’s saga, Edmund Ringson travels to Russia in 1016 after being exiled from Norway by his brother. He cut a deal with Prince Yaroslav, under which Edmund and his men would serve him. The rank and file warriors would receive food and board as well as 1 oz of silver (26.5g) per month or 318g per year. A ship’s captain got 1 ½ oz. Depending on the size of the grivna, and assuming a similar level of pay for viking warriors, Oleg might have been able to keep a garrison of around 200 men.3 value of silver as wages
In 883, Oleg moved to expand his state and tax base still further, conquering the Drevlyane, who lived to the north-west of Kiev, and setting a tribute of one beech marten fur per household. The next year, he moved against the Severyane to the east, beat them (again. If you recall, he’d relieved them of the burden of administering Lyubech before he arrived in Kiev) and imposed a light tribute on them and forbade them from paying tribute to the Khazars, saying “I am their enemy and there is no reason for you to pay them”. The year after that, 885, he sent a message to the Radimichi and asked “To whom do you pay tribute?” They answered “To the Khazars”. Oleg made them an offer they couldn’t refuse: “Don’t pay the Khazars – pay me.” And they paid Oleg a shchelyag (the term derives from “shilling”, but here it signified an Arab dirham, 3g of silver, presumably this was a coin from each household) as they had previously paid the Khazars. At this point, the chronicler believed Oleg ruled the Polyane, the Drevlyane, the Severyane and the Radimichi, but was still in conflict with the Tivertsy and Ulichi to the south (one assumes they were less willing to open their wallets).
Paying tribute to Oleg.
Things were obviously quiet until 898, when the Hungarians (Magyars) came to visit. The Hungarians originally lived to the east of the Ural mountains, their language is most closely related to the West Siberian Khanty and Mansi nations. By the end of the 9th century, they were in the process of making their final move from the steppes south of Kiev to the Pannonian plain – modern Hungary, under pressure from the Pechenegs who were moving into their previous pasturelands. When you know what utter terror the Magyars caused to the settled nations of Europe over decades, it seems odd that they should have had to run from the Pechenegs. However run they did, past Kiev. The Hungarians went past the hill known afterwards as the Hungarian hill, came to the Dnieper and set their camp there. They moved on, beyond the Carpathian mountains and conquered lands that had been settled by Slavs and Vlachs (ancestors of the Romanians), presumably this refers to what is now Slovakia and Transylvania as well as modern Hungary.4 Hungarians
The Hungarians outside Kiev.
At this point, the PVL goes into some detail about whom the Hungarians oppressed in their new home and as some of them were Moravian Slavs, it also details the story of the creation of an alphabet for the Slavs.5 Cyrillic alphabet The relevance of this is not exactly stated in the chronicle, but pretty soon, we get to a point where the Russian side makes a written copy, in Russian, of a trade deal and treaty between Kiev and Constantinople.
First, however, we find out what has happened to Igor and are introduced to the lady who takes over the reigns of government after his unfortunate end – his wife Olga. It is written that in 903, Igor has grown up, was collecting tribute “along the way” of Oleg and obeying him. It looks like Oleg was allowing Igor to collect a share of tribute, showing him honour but as second-in-command. It has been supposed that Igor was about two when Rurik died, he would have been about five when he was shown to Askold and Dir in Kiev, and now, grown-up at the age of about twenty-six, Igor needed a wife. Oleg found him one – a girl from Pleskov, named Olga (Ольга / Helga). There is a lot of debate about Olga, when she was born, what her real name was (possibly Prekrasa, renamed in honour of Oleg), but I intend to look at that more deeply when we cover her rule as regent. Igor was keeping very busy at this time, not only entertaining his new wife, but also organising “many warriors and many ships” along with Oleg.
In 907, the reason for organising these warriors and ships becomes clear – Oleg attacks Constantinople. Before we go on with the story as the Russian chroniclers tell it, I want to point out that, unlike a number of other raids and attacks by various northern barbarians, carefully recorded for the instruction of future rulers, the Romans never mentioned this one. It’s not like they were shy of recording embarrassing defeats. At one point, Emperor Nikephoras I’s skull was turned into a drinking cup by the Bulgarian Khan Krum, all this was carefully noted down, but Oleg’s campaign wasn’t.
As he did when he took Kiev, Oleg first collected an army from the various peoples under his authority: Norsemen, Slovenes, Chud’, Krivichi, Merya, Drevlyane, Radimichi, Polyane, Severyane and a few new tribes not mentioned as being under his control back in the 880s: the Vyatichi, the White Croats (not the ones who ended up in the Balkans), the Dulebs and the Tivertsy who were famous as translators, maybe because their lands were far closer to Constantinople and must have known Greek for trading. Oleg took forces on horseback as well as fleet of two thousand ships.
Oleg sets off for Constantinople.
When the Russians arrived at Constantinople, the Romans closed off the Golden Horn6 Defences of Constantinople and the city gates. Oleg’s fleet landed and the Nikon version of the PVL says he started to fight, but then goes on to describe something rather more like pillage: “he committed many killings of Greeks in the area around the city, set up many tents and burned churches. Of those who had been taken prisoner, some were whipped, others were tortured, they shot some and others they threw into the sea. The Russians did many other evil things to the Greeks like enemies do”. To be fair, this was general practice for besieging armies – when the Romans are tucked up behind their magnificent, almost inviolable, fortifications, committing atrocities in view of the city was hoped to damage the resolve of the besieged, or encourage them to come out and fight, and hopefully get killed in open battle.
“Doing many other evil things to the Greeks as enemies do.”
The next bit of the story is very strange. It says that Oleg ordered his men to make wheels and to put their ships on wheels. When they had a following wind, they opened their sails and the ships rolled along the field to the city. At this point, the Romans got scared and set an ambassador to Oleg saying “Don’t destroy the city, we will give you as much tribute as you want.”7 Using ships to get over the walls
Oleg’s fleet on wheels.
Oleg stopped the attack and the Romans sent him (poisoned) food and wine. He refused to touch it and this scared the Romans even more. They started thinking “This is not Oleg, but St. Demetrios (of Thessaloniki), sent by God to punish us.”, so they agreed to give the Russians twelve silver grivnas per person, for a fleet of two thousand ships with a crew of forty in each ship. Like with the tribute for the Novgorod garrison, we need to guess what weight of silver is being referred to here. If they mean the 204g one, Emperors Leo and Alexander would need to find over 16 tons of silver.
Oleg sent some ambassadors to cut a deal with the Romans, again the PVL mentions the demand for tribute, again it mentions the twelve grivnas per person, as well as some extra for the Russian towns, mentioning firstly Kiev, but also Chernigov, Pereyaslavl, Polotsk, Rostov and Lyubech, because princes were ruling in those places under Oleg’s suzerainty. It also goes into some detail about the trading concessions the Russians obtained from the Romans. Officially recognised Russian traders in Constantinople were to be treated with the same honour as ambassadors, getting food and board and visits to the bath houses paid for by the Romans and even food, ropes, sails and anchors for their return journey, if necessary. For their part, the Russians were obliged to live near the monastery of St. Mamas, i.e. outside the city walls, and needed to enter and exit the city through a particular gate, in groups no larger than fifty, accompanied at all times by an imperial civil servant. If these conditions were fulfilled, the Russians could trade completely free of imperial taxes.
Oleg and his men swore to keep the agreement by the Slavic gods Perun and Veles, while Leo and Alexander swore by the Holy Cross. At this point, it is said that Oleg had his shield fixed about one of the gates of Constantinople as a sign of his victory. I wonder if it was not placed there as a sign for the Russian traders, so they knew which gate to use when approaching the city – the one with the Russian shield on it. Oleg also thought, as they had acquired a lot of silk, that it would be a cracking idea to use it as sails for their ships, the Norsemen used the thicker silk, while the Slavs had to use the thinner lower quality stuff. Unfortunately, the thinner silk ripped when the wind picked up, so they went back to using their original sails.
Oleg swears by the statue of Perun – or maybe Veles.
Upon returning to Kiev, Oleg was deemed to have been so successful that people started calling him by his nickname “вещий” or wise, far-knowing. Aside from a comet appearing in 911, not much happened until 912 (possibly also 911, Emperor Leo died in May 912 and wouldn’t have been in a position to sign the treaty when the PVL says he did), when Oleg sent men to Constantinople to arrange a treaty with Leo and Alexander. “Hadn’t he just done that?” you might be thinking. You might also remember that there is no record of the Russian attack of 907 in any Roman records. Interestingly, the group of ambassadors mentioned in the chronicle for the 912 mission includes ALL the men mentioned in 907: Karl, Thaklaf, Velmid, Rulaf and Stemid, as well as some new names: Ingeld, Gudy, Ruald, Karn, Faslath, Ruar, Aktevu, Truan, Lidul and Fost. It is possible that Oleg had made some kind of limited show of force in or around 907, that led to a payment of tribute and to a final treaty a few years later. The treaty as described in 912 is interesting in that it goes much further than the trading concessions listed as being made in 907.
The treaty starts off by mentioning that the embassy was sent from Oleg, the Russian Grand Prince (от … великого князя рускаго) and from all under his hand, bright princes and noblemen, i.e. from a political community, not just from one guy who was able to extort tribute from everyone else. The first element of the agreement, that there should be peace between Romans (described as Greeks in the chronicle) and Russians and specifically that this applied not only to Oleg but also the other princes under his rule underlines this. Oleg was taking responsibility for all his underlings, implying an expectation they would obey an agreement he had arranged on their behalf.
Particularly interestingly, the treaty goes on to describe various legal situations where the same or similar responsibilities lay upon Russians and Romans, which suggests a practical acceptance of the Russians as being a near-peer equivalent in status to the Roman Empire. As the PVL and many other works of history give a blow-by-blow account of this first treaty, you may have a look in the footnote:8 Details of treaty
Another final aspect of this diplomatic adventure is the attempt made by the Romans to convert the Russian ambassadors to Christianity. It is mentioned in the PVL that Emperor Leo not only honoured the ambassadors with valuable gifts, but also sent men to take them to see the delights of the finest churches, along with their holy relics: the Crown of Thorns, the nails from the crucifixion along with many other relics of saints. Care was taken to instruct their guests in the beliefs of the Christian faith. Although the 912 treaty was sworn by the old gods, by 944, a Russo-Roman treaty was sworn in a pagan manner by Igor, and in a cathedral of St Elijah in Kiev by the Christian Russians (however, some think this is an anachronism and the treaty meant the oath to be taken in the palace church of St Elijah in Constantinople).
Moving back to paganism for the last chapter in Oleg’s long reign, his fortune teller informed him that his favourite horse would literally be the death of him. He put aside his horse, ensuring it was well cared for, but far away from anywhere he was going to be. Five years had passed and at some point in 912 (the year after the comet appeared, comets are omens of doom) he enquired about his horse’s health and was told it had died some time before. He mocked the fortune teller, saying “Wizards don’t tell the truth, they just lie.” He asked to see the body and rode to the place where the bones lay. He got off his horse laughing and said “Am I supposed to accept death from this skull?” He placed his foot on the skull and a poisonous snake slid out and bit him on the leg, killing him. The reaction of the fortune teller was not noted. I can imagine it involved a lot of smugness when no-one else was watching.
“You can’t say I didn’t warn you.” Oleg gets bitten by a snake living in his horse’s skull.
The people of Kiev mourned their Grand Prince deeply, taking his body to the Shchekovitsa hill9 Norse name for Kiev and burying it there – or maybe not. A Novgorodian chronicle claims his body was taken to Ladoga and buried there, by the river Volkhov, in a mound next to Rurik’s. These versions might not be mutually exclusive. A successful Germanic warrior king was believed to be filled with luck – this luck can be passed down to his successors, but it is also inherent in his body, much like a saint’s holiness is manifested in his or her relics. Halfdan the Black of Norway was so lucky, in battle, as well as in bringing good harvests and plenty to his people that, after his death, the four quarters of his kingdom felt it would be unfair if one of the other three got the luck that would come with the burial of the king, so they divided the body into four, so each quarter of the land would get their share of the luck.
So we bid farewell to our second Russian monarch, Oleg the Wise, and take a look at his performance as Grand Prince.
RATINGS.
Length of Reign. Oleg was Grand Prince, first of Novgorod / Ladoga, then Kiev, for 33 years, giving him an impressive 6 out of 10.
World Fame. Oleg gets his biography translated into 56 languages on Wikipedia as of November 2023. Using my calculation (please see Rurik’s rating for details) Oleg gets 6 out of 20.
Achievements. Oleg significantly increased the size and power of the Russian state. In his first few years on the throne, he brought the southern part of the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks under his control, including territories of the Drevlyane, Radimichi and Severyane, as well as maintaining and deepening control over the areas which had previously paid allegiance to Rurik. Although his dealings with the Drevlyane and Severyane were marked with violence (maybe because they were neighbours of the Polyane, so by basing himself in Kiev, Oleg had inherited local rivalries and enmities), the PVL describes many of his dealings with enemies as avoiding excess bloodshed or deepening emnities. He took Kiev without a pitched battle, killing only his direct rivals, not his future subjects. He laid a light tribute on the Severyane and convinced the Radimichi to take his side simply by offering them the same conditions as the Khazars had demanded.
The list of tribes contributing men to his violent diplomatic mission to Constantinople in 907 suggests his fame and prestige were enough to attract warriors from those tribes which did not pay tribute or acknowledge his overlordship, such as the Vyatichi to the north east of Kiev and the White Croats, Duleby and Tivertsy to the south west. The Tivertsy had been fighting against Oleg in the 880s, so he had clearly won them over to his side since then.
While the Romans were keen to avoid losing skilled warriors in constant fighting with barbarians and were happy to pay an enemy to go away, rather than incur the greater costs of war, Oleg’s diplomatic achievements in regards to dealings with the Romans were considerable. To a certain extent, the Viking trade routes from the Baltic to the Black Sea were what brought the Rus’ to Russia in the first place. The trade deal between Oleg and the Romans gave Russian traders a huge advantage – not only would official traders be treated as honoured diplomats, but they could trade in the greatest market of the Mediterranean world without taxes. The 912 treaty that followed is evidence, not only of a legal system and state administration in Russia, but also of a certain level of respect that the Roman Empire held towards Oleg’s state. Russia was not a horde of barbarians to be bought off; it was a partner, lower in status, but still worthy of respect, with whom it was beneficial to have formalised, permanent legal relations.
Finally, the fact that Igor, a potential rival, was allowed not only to survive, but even to run the state while Oleg was off sailing ships over the land and doing deals with the Romans, is both a tribute to the esteem in which Oleg was held by Igor, a man with equal if not greater right to the throne, and to the honour which Oleg maintained with respect to the duty he took on at Rurik’s deathbed to look after Igor and prepare him for kingship.
While Oleg cannot quite rival the achievements of his predecessor in laying the foundations on which Oleg’s power was based, he proved himself a more than worthy successor in many ways. I will award Oleg 27 points out of 30.
Defence of the realm. Here is where Oleg really stands out. None of his recorded campaigns ended in failure. There is a question as to whether the 907 attack on Constantinople was quite as ferocious as the PVL makes out (the Romans never made any mention of a Russian attack), it might have been more of a bit of mild pillaging to make a point to a Roman government that was more than happy to cut a generous deal and make an ally of a nation that bordered more direct threats to the Roman Empire.
Oleg was able to almost double the size of the state he inherited from Rurik. He used force where necessary, but had the good sense to speak softly when had made everyone aware he had a very big stick and knew how to use it. It might have been his reputation for winning battles, or he was compensating the Khazars in some way for the loss of the direct tribute payments from the areas previously subject to the Khaganate, but from the records we have, they never came looking for revenge for taking control of tribes which had been their vassals previously. He also managed the migration of the Magyars past Kiev successfully – there is no suggestion of the Magyars raiding or destroying Kiev although they were a fearsome force.
This is an impressive record, the only tiny minus is that the PVL states that he had been fighting the Tivertsy and Ulichi back in the 880s and had not beaten them, at least back then. However, the Tivertsy joined him in 907, so it looks like peace had been achieved on terms favourable to Oleg. For using force successfully when necessary but using diplomacy when he could to get what he wanted, I’m giving Oleg 20 out of 20 for defence.
Bonus points.
While Oleg does not appear on the 1000 year monument in Novgorod, he has a number of monuments shared with Rurik, the pair of statues in Staraya Ladoga, the 2012 stamp, and Rurik’s ship in Norrtalje. In addition to these, Oleg has a monument in Pereslav-Khmelnitsky (the Pereyaslav mentioned in the 907 trade deal) as well as in Lyubech.
In addition, Oleg has been immortalised in a poem by Alexander Pushkin “Pesn’ o veshchem Olege” retelling the story of the prediction of his death, as well as a song by Vladimir Vysotsky re-telling Pushkin’s poem. He appears as a character in a number of films: he is the main hero in A Viking Saga: Son of Thor, a bit part in a Hungarian film Honfoglalas (Conquest) about Arpad leading the Magyars to their present homeland. He also appears in some TV serials: he is the main antagonist in series six of Vikings, and appears in the Russian docudramas Rurikovichi (2019) and Kreshchenie Rusi (Baptism of Russia) (2016). In a similar vein to this last series, Oleg appears as a character in the 1983 Soviet film Legenda o Knyagine Ol’ge (Legend of Princess Olga). Like Rurik, Oleg also features in Crusader Kings III, but as Rurik’s son, rather than his kinsman.
Oleg had two Imperial Russian warships named after him, the sunken remains of one can be seen here The Frigate Oleg, as well as a river cruise ship currently sailing in Moscow called Veshchiy Oleg.
Rurik has a bit of an edge in being the first ruler and having the dynasty named after him. However, Oleg’s impact on popular culture today is probably slightly greater than Rurik’s. To take account of this, I’ll give him 17 bonus points out of 20.
Finally, we have Reflected Glory. Like Rurik, the lack of sources means we don’t know many other people associated with him and many of the named individuals associated with his long reign might be better looked at under others. Igor and Olga get their own posts as rulers and the ambassadors who dealt with the Romans are no more than a list of names. The names are of some interest, in that they include people with both Norse and Slavic names, showing that, despite the fact that Slavs got worse cloth than Vikings to make their sails with in 907, the process by which the Vikings were assimilating into the native population had clearly started.
And of course, we have Askold and Dir. Although we looked at them under Rurik, their deaths at the hands of Oleg bring up an interesting matter – their possible conversion to Christianity as a result of their raid on Constantinople in 860/866. It was remarked in Orthodox church records that after the conversion of the Bulgars and the 860 raid, the rulers of Kiev accepted a church mission sent by Patriarch Photius. He sent a bishop, who was considered of too low status; Photius’ replacement as Patriarch, Ignatius, then sent an archbishop who was finally accepted. He set up a church in Kiev, possibly the one mentioned in Igor’s treaty with the Romans. This fact has been used to suggest that Oleg’s conquest of Kiev might have been at least partially inspired by religious enmity, and that Askold and Dir should be considered martyrs and saints. This question was considered recently by both the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church as well as the Orthodox Church of the Ukraine. The canonical church rejected the application, but the Orthodox Church of the Ukraine accepted Askold and Dir into the ranks of their saints as holy martyrs, killed by the pagan Oleg for their faith.
Oleg’s rating: 74 out of 100
In the next episode, we find out how Igor deals with the business of rule, after waiting so long to succeed his father.
Visiting (New Places):
Smolensk, http://visitsmolensk.ru/en/main/, https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g672719-Smolensk_Smolensky_District_Smolensk_Oblast_Central_Russia-Vacations.html
Chernigov, https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g298051-Chernihiv_Chernihiv_Oblast-Vacations.html
Pereyaslav, https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g2167724-Pereiaslav_Khmelnytskyi_Kiev_Oblast-Vacations.html
Pleskov / Pskov, https://visitpskov.ru/en/, https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g298503-Pskov_Pskov_Oblast_Northwestern_District-Vacations.html
- To a culture used to seeing crowns passed down from father to son, it seems odd that Rurik would have chosen a more distant relative to take over at this point. However, at a time when the ability to command armies was a large part of the ability to rule, it was very common in royal Germanic culture for an adult male relative, often a brother, to succeed in place of a child. A contemporary parallel would be King Alfred taking over the throne of Wessex in 879 during a Viking invasion rather than Athelwold, son of his elder brother Athelstan. Athelwold’s date of birth is not known, but it is believed his parents married after Athelstan’s accession in 865 and Athelwold was not their first child, so he’d probably be a maximum of twelve at the time. Dividing the kingdom between brothers, or potential heirs more generally, was also very common – Louis the Pious (the one visited by the Rhos back in the 830’s) split the Carolingian Empire up among his three children. The French section managed to retain its unity but the other two sections ended up sub-dividing to create the jigsaw of the medieval Holy Roman Empire with dozens of rulers. In Russia, both processes occurred, with younger brothers often cycling through a series of titles before eventually succeeding to become (if they were lucky) Grand Prince of Kiev, while the territories of each principality divided over time to give princelings something to do while waiting for their turn to rule. ↩︎
- Askold was buried on the Hungarian Hill, Dir behind the Church of the Holy Peace (St. Irina). Unfortunately, that church was destroyed in 1240 by the Mongols and never re-built, but a nearby street in Kiev is still named after it (Irininskaya). Askold’s burial place is still marked by a chapel to St. Nicholas. ↩︎
- Although it is difficult to relate historical prices to modern ones, www.measuringworth.com has a historical price comparison calculator in which the value of 18 shillings and 2 pence (about 318g of silver) in 1270 (the earliest year available) in England comes out as £ 32,330, which corresponds with the sort of wages a Private with many years’ experience or a Lance Corporal might get in the British Army today. ↩︎
- I couldn’t resist mentioning this story. Once they were based beyond the Carpathians, the Hungarians didn’t cause much more trouble for the Russians, but, as I mentioned, they ravaged Central and Western Europe for decades. Apparently the H in Hungarian was added to an older name beginning with U (e.g. Ungarn, the German name for Hungary) because they so resembled Attila’s Huns that they were assumed to be related. To be fair, as migratory horseback raiders coming from the East, they did have a lot in common. Europe was faced with three peoples marauding and dealing out death and destruction at that time: the Vikings, the Hungarians and the Arabs, who had conquered Spain and had set up a forward raiding post on the south coast of France.
In around 954, Conrad the Peaceful of Burgundy received threatening messages at much the same time from the Arabs and the Hungarians, both out on raiding campaigns. Both sets of raiders told him to become their vassal, get ready a generous tribute, as well as military supplies and men to aid them as they pass through his land. Conrad the Peaceful was very obliging. He agreed and sent messages accompanied with small but valuable gifts to both the Hungarians and the Arabs suggesting where and when they should meet him to collect their tribute. As the time, and the invading armies approached, he warned both sides to beware of the other, and to meet him in a valley, where he and they could meet up to go and fight off their mutual enemies. The Arabs arrived in the valley at the set time, as did the Hungarians. For some reason, Conrad was running a bit late, but he managed to get a message to both sides that he and his army would be there in a few hours. If they wanted to start off now, he would be able to come in and surprise the enemy when they were tired and together they would be feasting their victory by nightfall. Both the Hungarians and Arabs went for each other and fought all day, with huge losses on both sides. Only the hope that their ally would arrive and turn things around kept them fighting. The day was drawing to a close, the shadows grew longer and hope grew shorter. Then the trumpets sounded, Conrad’s knights burst out of the forest overlooking the valley, the exhausted warriors’ hearts were filled with hope and the Burgundians slaughtered them all. ↩︎ - Interestingly, the alphabet actually created by Cyril and his brother Methodius is called Glagolitic, while the one known as Cyrillic was created on the basis of the Glagolitic one by Cyril’s students after his death. The Glagolitic one looks almost alien, although it was based on Greek handwriting at the time, the forms of the Cyrillic letters are far closer to the more formal shapes of letters on Greek inscriptions. ↩︎
- Constantinople was relatively easy to defend, as it was sited on a peninsular between the Sea of Marmaris to the south and an inlet to the north called the Golden Horn. The city was protected to the west by a series of fortifications called the Theodosian Walls, while along the shore, the city was protected with a single wall. To prevent enemies from entering the Golden Horn and threatening the sea walls, or the shipping, the Romans placed a fortress on the northern shore with a thick chain stretching across the mouth of the Golden Horn. In times of peace, the chain would lay on the sea bed. When danger threatened, it could be winched up to prevent ships from entering. ↩︎
- Someone did eventually use ships to get over the walls: the Venetians in 1204. Having failed to get across with single ships, they strapped two ships together, using the masts as a siege tower to access the top of the sea wall and to cover the flanks of a more conventional ladder based assault. I wonder if this isn’t a confused description of the Russians using rollers to drag their ships across what is now Galata and into the Golden Horn, much as the Vikings would drag their trading ships across the portages between the river systems feeding into the Baltic and the Black or Caspian seas. ↩︎
- 1) That the Russians and Romans should live in love and peace with each other.
2) That any accusation of wrongdoing by should be backed up by proof. If there are no witnesses, then the defendant should swear to his innocence.
3)If a Russian kills a Christian, or a Christian kills a Russian, then the killer may be killed straight away at the site of the crime. If the killer gets away, his property should be confiscated and given to the kin of the victim as compensation, but the murderer’s wife should not lose her fair share of the property. If they murderer has no property, then he should be considered convicted and he may be killed at any time without punishment.
4) If someone hits someone else with a sword or other implement, they should pay 5 litres of silver (litra was the Greek word for Latin libra, so five litres might be just over 1.5 kilos of silver, but it was also a 1/5 of a drachma, so five litres might be about 4.5 grams of silver. In Aethelbert of Kent’s laws, the compensation for piercing an arm, a likely consequence of a sword cut, is 6 shillings, i.e. about 105g of silver – so somewhere in the middle). If the perpetrator does not have that much, they should give all their clothes, swear that their friends and kin can or will not help them pay the compensation and they will be free from further claims.
5) If a Russian steals from a Christian or a Christian steals from a Russian and the thief tries to resist when caught, then the owner of the stolen item may kill him without incurring punishment, but if the thief does not resist, then he may only be tied up. If a Russian or Christian breaks into someone’s house on the pretence of looking for stolen goods and takes something that is not his, he should pay back three times the value of the object taken.
6) If a “Greek” ship is blown ashore in a foreign land where there happens to be some Russians, the Russians will guard the ship and its cargo and bring it from danger into safety. If it is impossible to return the ship to its homeland, then they will help the crew to bring the ship to a Russian port. The goods and everything in the ship will be sold and the next time ambassadors or traders go to Constantinople, they will take the ship along and hand over the money raised from the sale of the contents. If any of the Russians kill a crew member or is caught stealing from the cargo, he should face the above mentioned punishment i.e. death.
7) If Russian slaves should be found in the Roman Empire, or Roman slaves in Russia, then they should be redeemed from the owners for the full price. Prisoners of war should be returned to their homeland for a redemption fee of 20 gold coins. Russian warriors serving the Roman Emperor voluntarily may choose whether to return or stay in the Roman Empire.
8) If a Russian slave runs away, is stolen or taken away with only the appearance of sale, his master may search for him and take him back, but if anyone tries to prevent this, that person is considered guilty.
9)If a Russian serving the Roman Emperor dies without having made a will and without any kin nearby, his property should be sent to Russia to his relatives. If he has made a will, his property should be distributed accordingly.
10) If any guilty Russian should travel to the Roman Empire as a merchant or just a traveller without having completed their punishment, the Christian Emperor should send the criminal back to Russia to face justice there. ↩︎ - The name of this hill might be an explanation of the Norse name for Kiev: Koenugardr. The Koenu bit is related to English “chin”, but means “cheek” as does the “shchek-“ bit of the name of the hill (names for parts of the body can get mixed about – leg in Dutch, for example is “been”, related to English “bone”, presumably because the leg bones are the largest and symbolic of bones in general – a skull and cross bones flag has leg bones, not ribs or finger bones. Cheek refers to the shape of the hill with a steep side and the word can be used to refer to a steep river bank as well. Other suggestions for the meaning are a dialect word for boats – i.e. that Kiev is a port town. To be honest, all the Russian cities at the time were port towns. I prefer the hill shape explanation. ↩︎
Rate My Tsar 
