They Made Her a Saint for This

The Church declared her equal to the apostles — isapostolos — a saint. She earned that title with one of the most calculated campaigns of revenge in medieval history. So why would the Church make THIS woman holy? Princess Olga of Kyiv took power over Kievan Rus in the 10th century after the killing of her husband, Prince Igor, by the Drevlians. What she did to answer his death — and why the Church later honored her as "equal to the apostles" — is one of the strangest contradictions in the Christian calendar. This is the full story: the widow, the reckoning, the burning of Iskorosten, and the saint who came after. The hands that answered Igor's death are the same hands the Church would call equal to the apostles. How does a woman get from one to the other? ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00 The Widow — Igor returns for more 01:19 The Boat in the Pit 02:49 The Bathhouse 03:26 The Funeral Feast 05:15 The Siege of Iskorosten 05:53 The Birds 07:42 The Administrator — raids into receipts 08:38 Constantinople & the Saint 📚 SOURCES & FURTHER READING • The Russian Primary Chronicle (Povest vremennykh let) — source for the revenge narrative • Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, De Ceremoniis — records Olga's reception at Constantinople, c. 957 • S. Franklin & J. Shepard, The Emergence of Rus 750–1200 • V. L. Yanin — on the administrative reforms (pogosty / fixed tribute) of Olga's reign A note on the history: As the Primary Chronicle records, the episode of the birds and the figure of 5,000 dead come from a chronicle written long after the events. They are reported there, not established as historical fact, and this video treats them as the chronicle's account. The date Olga was formally honored as a saint is itself contested, with different dates proposed centuries apart. ▶️ MORE IN THIS SERIES — Dark Architects of Murder:    • Dark Architects of Murder   #Olga #SaintOlga #OlgaOfKyiv #KievanRus #MedievalHistory #History #Drevlians #PrinceIgor #isapostolos #RussianPrimaryChronicle #ByzantineHistory #Constantinople #SlavicHistory #DarkArchitectsOfMurder #HistoryDocumentary