08/05/2025
Amazing woman!
In 945 AD, Princess Olga of Kyiv enacted one of history's most creative and brutal acts of revenge.
After a tribe known as the Drevlians murdered her husband, Prince Igor I, she became regent for her young son. The Drevlians, thinking she was vulnerable, sent ambassadors to pressure her into marrying their prince.
According to the chronicles, Olga had her men dig a trench and the Drevlian ambassadors were buried alive.
She then invited the most powerful Drevlian nobles to a great feast. After they were drunk, she had her soldiers move in and put an end to them.
Her final act of vengeance was against their capital city, Iskorosten. After a long siege, she offered peace with a peculiar demand for tribute: three pigeons and three sparrows from every household. 🐦
The Drevlians, desperate for peace, readily agreed. Olga's soldiers then tied a piece of cloth with sulfur to each bird's leg, lit them, and released the birds.
The birds flew back to their nests in the city's houses, barns, and coops, setting the entire wooden city ablaze. 🔥
After subjugating the Drevlians, Olga established major administrative reforms, changing the way tributes were gathered to prevent future conflicts.
Years later, she became the first ruler of Kievan Rus’ to convert to Christianity, being baptized around 957 AD. For her efforts to spread the faith, she was eventually named a saint by the Orthodox Church. 🙏
Sources: Primary Chronicle, Britannica
