What was Prophetic Oleg like? Prophetic Oleg - biography, information, personal life Prince Oleg 1
Oleg, aka Prophetic Oleg (Old Russian: Olg, Ѡлгъ). Died approx. 912 Prince of Novgorod since 879 and Grand Duke Kyiv since 882.
The chronicles set out two versions of Oleg’s biography: the traditional one in the “Tale of Bygone Years” (PVL), and according to the Novgorod First Chronicle. The Novgorod Chronicle has preserved fragments of an earlier chronicle (on which the PVL is based), but contains inaccuracies in the chronology of the events of the 10th century.
According to PVL, Oleg was a relative (tribesman) of Rurik. V.N. Tatishchev, with reference to the Joachim Chronicle, considers him a brother-in-law - the brother of Rurik’s wife, whom he calls Efanda. The exact origin of Oleg is not indicated in the PVL. There is a hypothesis that Oleg is Odd Orvar (Arrow), the hero of several Norwegian-Icelandic sagas.
After the death of the founder of the princely dynasty Rurik in 879, Oleg began to reign in Novgorod as the guardian of Rurik’s young son Igor.
According to the PVL, in 882 Oleg, taking with him many warriors: Varangians, Chud, Slovenians, Meryu, all, Krivichi, took the cities of Smolensk and Lyubech and planted his husbands there. Further along the Dnieper he went down to Kyiv, where Rurik’s fellow tribesmen, the Varangians Askold and Dir, reigned. Oleg sent an ambassador to them with the words: “We are merchants, we are going to the Greeks from Oleg and from Prince Igor, so come to your family and to us.”.
When Askold and Dir left the city, Oleg announced to them: “You are not a prince or a prince of the family, but I am a prince of the family” and presented Rurik’s heir, young Igor, after which Askold and Dir were killed.
The Nikon Chronicle, a compilation of various 16th-century sources, gives more detailed story about this capture. Oleg landed part of his squad ashore, discussing a secret plan of action. Having declared himself ill, he remained in the boat and sent a notice to Askold and Dir that he was carrying a lot of beads and jewelry, and also had an important conversation with the princes. When they boarded the boat, Oleg told them: “I am Olg the prince and I am Igor the prince Rurikov”- and immediately killed Askold and Dir.
The location of Kyiv seemed very convenient to Oleg, and he moved there with his squad, declaring: “Let this be the mother of Russian cities”. Thus, he united the northern and southern centers Eastern Slavs. For this reason, it is Oleg, and not Rurik, who is sometimes considered the founder Old Russian state.
Having reigned in Kyiv, Oleg established a tribute to the Varangians for Novgorod at 300 hryvnia: “and yestavy varѧ́gom tribute to daꙗ́ti · Ѿ Novagorod t҃ hryvnia for the summer · peace єє even until death ꙖRoslavlѧ Ѿ Ѿ ҃ ҃ ҃ varѧgom.”
For the next 25 years, Oleg was busy expanding the territory under his control. He subjugated the Drevlyans (883), the Northerners (884), and the Radimichi (885) to Kyiv. The last two tribal unions were tributaries of the Khazars. The Tale of Bygone Years left the text of Oleg’s appeal to the northerners: “I am an enemy of the Khazars, therefore you have no need to pay them tribute.” To the Radimichi: “Who do you give tribute to?” They answered: “Khazars.” And Oleg says: “Don’t give it to the Khazars, but give it to me.” “And Oleg ruled over the Derevlyans, glades, Radimichi, and with the streets and Tivertsy they commanded the army.”
898 The Tale of Bygone Years dates the appearance of the Hungarians near Kiev during their migration to the west, which actually occurred several years earlier.
In 907, having equipped 2000 rooks with 40 warriors each (PVL), Oleg set out on a campaign against Constantinople. The Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Philosopher ordered the gates of the city to be closed and the harbor blocked with chains, thus giving the Varangians the opportunity to rob and plunder the suburbs of Constantinople. However, Oleg launched an unusual assault: “And Oleg commanded his soldiers to make wheels and put ships on wheels. And when a fair wind blew, they raised sails in the field and went to the city.".
The frightened Greeks offered Oleg peace and tribute. According to the agreement, Oleg received 12 hryvnia for each rowlock, and Byzantium promised to pay tribute to Russian cities. As a sign of victory, Oleg nailed his shield to the gates of Constantinople. The main result of the campaign was trade agreement about duty-free trade between Rus' and Byzantium.
Many historians consider this campaign a legend. There is no mention of it in Byzantine authors, who described similar campaigns in sufficient detail in 860 and 941. There are also doubts about the treaty of 907, the text of which is an almost verbatim compilation of the treaties of 911 and 944. Perhaps there was still a campaign, but without the siege of Constantinople. PVL, in his description of Igor Rurikovich’s campaign in 944, conveys “the words of the Byzantine king” to Prince Igor: “Do not go, but take the tribute that Oleg took, and I will add more to that tribute.”
In 911, Oleg sent an embassy to Constantinople, which confirmed the “many years” of peace and concluded a new treaty. Compared to the 907 treaty, the mention of duty-free trade disappears from it. Oleg is referred to in the treaty as the “Grand Duke of Russia.” There is no doubt about the authenticity of the 911 agreement: it is supported by both linguistic analysis and mentions in Byzantine sources.
In the fall of 912, as the Tale of Bygone Years reports, Prince Oleg died from a snake bite.
The circumstances of the death of Prophetic Oleg are contradictory. The Tale of Bygone Years reports that Oleg’s death was preceded by a heavenly sign - the appearance of a “great star in the west like a spear.” According to the Kyiv version, reflected in the Tale of Bygone Years, his grave is located in Kyiv on Mount Shchekovitsa. The Novgorod First Chronicle places his grave in Ladoga, but at the same time says that he went “overseas.”
In both versions there is a legend about death from a snake bite. According to legend, the Magi predicted to the prince that he would die from his beloved horse. Oleg ordered the horse to be taken away and remembered the prediction only four years later, when the horse had long since died. Oleg laughed at the Magi and wanted to look at the bones of the horse, stood with his foot on the skull and said: “Should I be afraid of him?” However, a poisonous snake lived in the horse’s skull, which fatally stung the prince.
This legend finds parallels in the Icelandic saga of the Viking Orvar Odd, who was also fatally stung at the grave of his beloved horse. It is unknown whether the saga became the reason for the creation of the ancient Russian legend about Oleg or, on the contrary, the circumstances of Oleg’s death served as material for the saga.
However, if Oleg is a historical figure, then Orvar Odd is the hero of an adventure saga, created on the basis of oral traditions no earlier than the 13th century. The sorceress predicted 12-year-old Odd's death from his horse. To prevent the prediction from coming true, Odd and his friend killed the horse, threw it into a pit, and covered the corpse with stones. This is how Orvar Odd died years later: And when they were walking quickly, Odd hit his foot and bent over. “What was it that I hit my foot on?” He touched the tip of the spear, and everyone saw that it was the skull of a horse, and immediately a snake rose from it, rushed at Odd and stung him in the leg above the ankle. The poison took effect immediately, and the entire leg and thigh became swollen. Odd became so weak from this bite that they had to help him go to the shore, and when he got there, he said: “You should now go and cut out a stone coffin for me, and let someone stay here sitting next to me and write down that story.” which I will lay down about my deeds and life." After that, he began to compose a story, and they began to write it down on a tablet, and as Odd’s path went, so did the story [follows hanging]. And after that Odd dies.
For some time it was customary to identify Oleg with the epic hero Volga Svyatoslavich.
G. Lovmyansky argued that what was established in scientific literature the opinion about Oleg's initial rule in Novgorod is doubtful. According to G. Lovmyansky, Oleg was a Smolensk prince, and his connection with Rurik is a late chronicle combination. A. Lebedev suggested that a representative of local nobles could be a relative of Rurik. The fact that Oleg imposed tribute on Novgorod to Kyiv and the Varangians may testify against the version of Oleg’s reign in Novgorod.
The date of Oleg’s death, like all chronicle dates of Russian history until the end of the 10th century, is conditional. Historian A. A. Shakhmatov noted that 912 is also the year of death of the Byzantine emperor Leo VI - the antagonist of Oleg. Perhaps the chronicler, who knew that Oleg and Lev were contemporaries, timed the end of their reigns to the same date. There is a similar suspicious coincidence - 945 - between the dates of Igor’s death and the overthrow of his contemporary, the Byzantine Emperor Roman I. Considering, moreover, that Novgorod tradition places Oleg’s death in 922, the date 912 becomes even more doubtful. The duration of the reigns of Oleg and Igor is 33 years each, which raises suspicions about the epic source of this information.
The Polish historian of the 18th century H. F. Friese put forward the version that the Prophetic Oleg had a son, Oleg Moravsky, who, after the death of his father, was forced to leave Rus' as a result of the fight with Prince Igor. A relative of the Rurikovichs, Oleg of Moravia, became the last prince of Moravia in 940, according to the writings of Polish and Czech writers of the 16th-17th centuries, but his family connection with Oleg the Prophet is only Frieze’s assumption.
Russian pronunciation The name Oleg probably arose from the Scandinavian name Helge, which originally meant (in Proto-Swedish - Hailaga) “saint”, “possessing the gift of healing.” Several bearers of the name Helgi are known from the sagas, whose lifetimes date back to the 6th-9th centuries. In the sagas there are also similar-sounding names Ole, Oleif, Ofeig. Saxon Grammar gives the names Ole, Oleif, Ofeig, but their ethnicity remains unclear.
Among historians who do not support the Norman theory, attempts have been made to dispute the Scandinavian etymology of the name Oleg and connect it with native Slavic, Turkic or Iranian forms. Some researchers also note that, given the fact that the “Tale of Bygone Years” was written by Christian monks in the 11th century, the nickname “Prophetic” cannot be considered authentic. Modern historians see in it Christian motives or even Christian propaganda. So, in particular, Russian historian and archaeologist V. Ya. Petrukhin believes that the nickname “Prophetic” and the legend of the death of Prince Oleg were entered into the chronicle by the monks in order to show the impossibility of pagan foresight of the future.
Prophetic Oleg ( documentary)
The image of Prophetic Oleg in art
In dramaturgy:
Lvova A.D. dramatic panorama in 5 acts and 14 scenes “Prince Oleg the Prophet” (premiere September 16, 1904 on the stage of the People’s House of Nicholas II), music by N. I. Privalov with the participation of the guslar choir of O. U. Smolensky.
In literature, the chronicle story of Oleg’s death is used as the basis for literary works:
Pushkin A. S. “Song about the prophetic Oleg”;
Vysotsky V. S. “Song about the prophetic Oleg”;
Ryleev K.F. Dumas. Chapter I. Oleg the Prophet. 1825;
Vasiliev B. L. “Prophetic Oleg”;
Panus O. Yu. “Shields on the gates.”
To the cinema:
The Legend of Princess Olga (1983; USSR) directed by Yuri Ilyenko, in the role of Oleg Nikolai Olyalin;
Conquest / Honfoglalás (1996; Hungary), directed by Gabor Koltai, in the role of Oleg Laszlo Hellei;
A Viking Saga (2008; Denmark, USA) directed by Mikael Moyal, as Oleg Simon Braeger (as a child), Ken Vedsegaard (in his youth);
Prophetic Oleg. Reality Found (2015; Russia) - a documentary film by Mikhail Zadornov about Oleg the Prophet.
Prophetic Oleg. Found reality
Prince Oleg (879-912), according to legend, was a very enterprising and warlike ruler. As soon as power fell into his hands, he conceived a big deal - to take control of the entire course of the Dnieper, to take into his hands the entire waterway to rich Greece, and for this he had to conquer all the Slavs who lived along the Dnieper. Here one princely squad was not enough. Prince Oleg recruited a large army from the Ilmen Slavs, from the Krivichs subordinate to him, and from the Finnish tribes and moved with them and their squad to the south.
Prince Oleg first of all took possession of Smolensk, the city of those Krivichi, which were not yet subject to anyone, then took Lyubech, the city northerners, left detachments of his squad in these cities under the command of reliable, experienced commanders, and he himself moved on. Finally Kyiv appeared. Oleg knew that it would not be easy to take this city by force: Askold and Dir, experienced leaders, reigned there, and their squad was brave and experienced. I had to resort to a trick: the army was left behind, and Oleg with several boats sailed to Kyiv, stopped not far from the city and sent to tell Askold and Dir that their fellow countrymen, Varangian merchants, were going to Greece, wanted to see them and asked them to come to boats.
Prince Oleg's fleet goes to Constantinople along the Dnieper River. Engraving by F. A. Bruni. Before 1839
The bird is red in plumage, but the man is in skill.
Russian folk proverb
In 882, Prince Oleg the Prophet captured Kyiv, killing its princes Askold and Dir by cunning. Immediately after entering Kyiv, he uttered his famous words that from now on Kyiv was destined to be the mother of Russian cities. Prince Oleg did not say these words by chance. He was very pleased with how well the place was chosen for the construction of the city. The gentle banks of the Dnieper were practically impregnable, which allowed us to hope that the city would be reliable protection for its inhabitants.
The presence of a barrier from the water border of the city was very relevant, since it was along this part of the Dnieper that the famous trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks passed. This path also represented a journey through large Russian rivers. It originated in the Gulf of Finland of the Baikal Sea, which at that time was called Varyazhsky. Then the path went across the Neva River to Lake Ladoga. The path from the Varangians to the Greeks continued at the mouth of the Volkhov River to Lake Ilni. From there he traveled through small rivers to the sources of the Dnieper, and from there he passed all the way to the Black Sea. In this way, starting in the Varangian Sea and ending in the Black Sea, the trade route known to this day passed.
Foreign policy of the prophetic Oleg
Prince Oleg the Prophet, after the capture of Kyiv, decided to continue expanding the territory of the state by including new territories that were inhabited by peoples who had paid tribute to the Khazars since ancient times. As a result, the composition Kievan Rus included tribes:
- Radimichi
- clearing
- Slovenia
- northerners
- Krivichi
- Drevlyans.
In addition, Prince Oleg the Prophet imposed his influence on other neighboring tribes: the Dregovichi, Ulichs and Tiverts. At the same time, Ugric tribes, displaced from the territory of the Urals by the Polovtsians, approached Kyiv. The chronicles do not contain information about whether these tribes passed through Kievan Rus in peace or were knocked out of it. But what can be said for certain is that Rus' put up with their presence near Kyiv for a long time. This place near Kyiv is still called Ugorsky. These tribes later crossed the Dnieper River, captured nearby lands (Moldova and Bessarabia) and went deep into Europe, where they founded the Hungarian state.
New campaign against Byzantium
The year 907 will be marked by a new turn in Russian foreign policy. Anticipating great booty, the Russians go to war against Byzantium. Thus, Prince Oleg the prophetic becomes the second Russian prince to declare war on Byzantium, after Askold and Dir. Oleg's army included almost 2000 ships with 40 soldiers on each. They were accompanied by cavalry along the shore. The Byzantine emperor allowed the Russian army to freely plunder the nearby environs of Constantinople. The entrance to the city’s bay, called Golden Horn Bay, was blocked with chains. Chronicles Nestor describes the unprecedented cruelty of the Russian army, with which they ravaged the environs of the Byzantine capital. But even with this they could not threaten Constantinople. Oleg’s cunning came to the rescue, and he ordered equip all ships with wheels. Further along the land, with a fair wind, set sail in full sail to the capital of Byzantium. And so they did. The threat of defeat loomed over Byzantium, and the Greeks, realizing the grief of the danger hanging over them, decided to make peace with the enemy. Prince of Kyiv demanded that the losers pay 12 (twelve) hryvnias for each warrior, to which the Greeks agreed. As a result, on September 2, 911 (according to the chronicles of Nestor), a written peace treaty was drawn up between Kievan Rus and the Byzantine Empire. Prince Oleg achieved the payment of tribute to the Russian cities of Kyiv and Chernigov, as well as the right to duty-free trade for Russian merchants.
Oleg (died, according to the Laurentian Chronicle, in 912, according to the First Novgorod Chronicle - in 922) - Old Russian prince. Norman (Varangian) by origin. Information from sources about him is incomplete and full of legendary material. According to the chronicles, dying, Rurik in 879 handed over to Oleg the reign of Novgorod and care of his young son Igor. In 882, Oleg, having gathered an army from the Novgorod Slovenes, Varangians, Chud, Meri, Vesi and Krivichi, went by water to the South. Having occupied Smolensk and Lyubech, Oleg went down to Kyiv. Using cunning, he killed Askold and Dir, who ruled in Kyiv, and took possession of the city. Oleg established a permanent tribute to the Slovenes, Krivichi, Mary and Novgorod. In 883-885 he subjugated the Drevlyans, Northerners and Radimichi. Oleg repeatedly successfully fought with the Khazars. Over the next 20 years, he fought for the conquest of the Slavic tribes of the Dulebs, Croats, Tiverts and Ulichs who lived in the Dniester and Danube basins. In 911 (according to the Tale of Bygone Years, erroneously in 907), with an army from the Polans, Northerners, Slovenes, Krivichi, Drevlyans, Radimichi and other tribes, Oleg made a campaign to Byzantium, reaching Constantinople (Constantinople). The Byzantine emperor, who asked for peace, agreed to a large ransom (48 thousand hryvnias of gold) and concluded an agreement with Oleg that was beneficial for Rus' (see Treaties of Rus' with Byzantium).
G. S. Gorshkov. Moscow.
Soviet historical encyclopedia. In 16 volumes. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1973-1982. Volume 10. NAHIMSON - PERGAMUS. 1967.
Children: ?
Life highlights
Prince of Novgorod (879-882);
Prince of Kyiv (882-912);
Three years after the death of Rurik, Oleg remained in Novgorod and, having strengthened his position here, headed at the head of a team of Varangians and northern tribes to the south, along the Volkhov-Dnieper river line. He conquers the cities he meets along the way and, having captured Kyiv by cunning, is founded here and transfers the center of the united state to Kyiv. This event, dated by the chronicle to 882, is traditionally considered the date of the formation of the Old Russian state.
Oleg conquered the Drevlyans, northerners and Radimichi, while eliminating dependence on Khazars , whose tributaries they were. Having strengthened his influence by imposing tribute and installing posadniks and protecting the borders from attacks by his nomadic neighbors by building outlying cities, Oleg headed further south - to Byzantium.
In 907, Oleg organized a large campaign against Byzantium and achieved success, and in 911 sent his ambassadors to Constantinople to approve the agreement between the Greeks and Russia, the essential points of which are as follows: 1) legal proceedings in civil and criminal cases; 2) crimes against life and bodily integrity; 3) property crimes: red-handed theft and robbery; 4) assistance in case of accident at sea, ransom of prisoners, hiring of soldiers; 5) finding slaves, protecting inheritance, returning escaped criminals.
Soon after the signing of the treaty, Oleg died, according to one chronicle version - in Kyiv (and the legend is told that served Pushkin as the plot for the poem "Song of the Prophetic Oleg"), according to another - in the north (and was buried in Ladoga), according to the third - overseas, from a snake bite.
Addendum 1:
The image of Oleg, the first unifier of Rus', is adorned in the chronicles with legendary features that bring him closer to the heroes folk epic;
The chronological dates are confused, and it is almost impossible to identify the actual Oleg. Many assumptions have been made about the origin and activities of Oleg. The first question is now resolved in favor of his Norman origin; the second finds the answer in the recognition of Oleg as an independent prince, Igor’s predecessor. The researcher of early Rus' Parkhomenko, based on documents on Khazar-Russian-Byzantine relations, constructed an original hypothesis about Oleg’s activities. Scandinavian Viking , through Novgorod, well known to the Normans, makes his way to the south, finds the foreign Hungarian prince Dir in Kyiv, takes the side of the Slav Igor, restores him to the reign of Kiev and, having secured his marriage with Olga, a relative of Oleg, a friendly alliance with the support of the Kievites, sets off on a Byzantine campaign . After a victorious campaign, Oleg captures Tmutarakan, wages a stubborn fight against the Khazars here and, in alliance with the latter, makes a second campaign to Byzantium, this time unsuccessful (a campaign attributed to Igor in the chronicle). Unable to stay in Tmutarakan with the remnants of his squad, Oleg embarks on a campaign to Persia, where he dies.
Addendum 2:
The legend about Oleg's death is widely known. Allegedly, he asked the magicians why he should die? And one magician said to him: “You will die, prince, from your beloved horse, on which you always ride.” Oleg thought and said: “So I will never sit on this horse and see him.” He ordered to feed him selected grain, but not to bring him near him. He did not touch the horse for several years, until the Greek campaign. Returning to Kyiv, Oleg remembered the horse, called the groom and asked: “Where is the horse that I set to feed and take care of?” The groom replied: “He’s dead.”
Then Oleg began to laugh at the magician and scold him: “These magicians always lie, the horse died, but I’m alive, I’ll go and see his bones.”
When the prince arrived at the place where the bare horse bones and skull lay, he got off his horse and stepped on the skull with his foot, saying with a laugh: “So I’ll have to die from this skull!” But then a snake crawled out of the skull and bit Oleg in the leg.
He got sick and died...
Every Magi strives to punish, -
If not, listen, right?
Oleg would listen - one more shield
I would nail it to the gates of Constantinople.
V.Vysotsky Material from the site FROM ANCIENT Rus' TO THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE OLEG VESCHY (sc. 912 or 922), Grand Russian Duke. Majority chronicles calls him a relative Rurik, The Resurrection and some other chronicles - by Rurik’s nephew, Joakimovskaya - by Rurik’s brother-in-law, “prince of Urmansk”, wise and brave, the Novgorod first chronicle of the younger edition - simply
Under 907, “The Tale of Bygone Years” tells about Oleg’s campaign against Byzantium, in which all the peoples under his control took part. Russian cavalry and a fleet numbering 2 thousand ships approached Constantinople. The Russians burned many houses and churches and killed many people on the outskirts of Constantinople. The ships, placed on wheels, went under sail to storm the Byzantine capital. The Greeks got scared and asked for peace. They tried to kill Oleg by bringing him poisoned food and wine from the city. But the Russian prince did not accept their “gifts”. The Byzantines had to pay Oleg a huge indemnity. Rus' concluded a very profitable peace treaty with Byzantium, which provided great benefits to Russian merchants. At the conclusion of peace, Oleg and his husbands swore “according to Russian law” - with their weapons, as well as with the names of the Slavic (and not Scandinavian!) gods Perun And Hair.
Leaving Constantinople, Oleg hung his shield on the city gates as a sign of victory. From his campaign he brought gold, silks, “fruits of the earth,” wine and “all sorts of ornaments” to Kyiv. Then he received the nickname Prophetic.
In 911 (according to the chronicle - in 912) Oleg concluded a second agreement with Byzantium, also very beneficial for the Kyiv state.
Russian chronicles date Oleg’s death from a snake bite in different ways: “The Tale of Bygone Years” - 912, and the Novgorod First Chronicle of the younger edition - 922. Oleg was buried, according to some sources, in Kyiv on Mount Shchekovitsa, according to others - in Ladoga, according to the third - somewhere overseas. These differences among the chroniclers gave grounds for scientists to assert that in Rus' in the 9th century - AD. X centuries there were two (and perhaps more) major commanders and statesman, who bore the name Oleg.
The legend about the death of the prince. Oleg used A. S. Pushkin in poem “Song of the Prophetic Oleg”.
O.M. Rapov
OLEG (d. 912) - the first historically reliable prince of Kievan Rus. According to chronicle legend, a relative or governor of Rurik. After the death of the latter, he became the prince of Novgorod in 879 and had to take care of the young prince Igor. In 882, he captured Kiev by cunning, killing Askold and Dir, who ruled there, making the city the capital (“matter a Russian city”).
He subjugated many Slavic princes, establishing a constant tribute to them; successfully fought with the Khazars. In 907 he made a successful campaign against the capital of Byzantium, Constantinople. The Byzantine emperor paid O. a huge ransom and concluded an agreement beneficial for Rus'.
Mavrodin V., Ancient Rus', (M.), 1946; Rybakov B. A.
, Ancient Rus'. Tales. Epics. Chronicles, (M.), 1963.
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According to scientists, for the period from IX to beginning of XXI century, our country took part in more than 70 major wars and armed conflicts. There are estimates of a different order: for example, the famous Russian general Kuropatkin, in a memorandum presented to the Tsar in 1900, indicated that in the 18th–19th centuries Russia spent 128 years in a state of war. If we take into account the duration of each war, then in general it turns out that Russia fought two thirds of its more than thousand-year history.
These were mainly wars in which our people had to defend their freedom and right to independent development. And often, as was the case in Time of Troubles and in 1812, during the First World War and the Great Patriotic War, it was not just about preserving Russian sovereignty, but about the very existence of the state and the peoples inhabiting it.
In everything historical eras our country was famous for its outstanding commanders. Their personal exploits, devotion to the Fatherland and military leadership talents allowed the Russian, and in the 20th century - Soviet army, relying on the patriotism of the entire people, to win outstanding victories over the best armies of their time and preserve for posterity the most important thing - the Motherland.
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Doctor of Historical Sciences, Chairman of the Russian Historical Society,
minister of culture Russian Federation
Prince Oleg (Prophetic Oleg)
A line from the encyclopedia...
Prince Oleg, also nicknamed Oleg the Prophet, is the legendary ruler of Rus' at the end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th centuries. Of course, the prototype of the chronicle Oleg was historical figure, about which, unfortunately, little is reliably known. Therefore, historians usually use the chronicle legend about Oleg and his time, taken from the “Tale of Bygone Years” (PVL), in scientific, popular science and educational texts. This is a composition from the end of XI - beginning of XII centuries is recognized by all as the main historical source for the reconstruction of the past of the Old Russian state.
According to the PVL version, Oleg seems to be a skillful commander and prudent politician (it is no coincidence that he was nicknamed “Prophetic”, that is, one who predicts the future). In 879–882 after the death of Rurik, Oleg ruled in the East Slavic North among the Krivichi, Ilmen Slovenes and surrounding Finno-Ugric peoples (Meri, Vesi, Chud tribes). Having made a trip to the south along the trade route “From the Varangians to the Greeks,” Oleg captured Kiev in 882. Thus, the two main centers of statehood among the East Slavic tribes, “Novgorod” (“Slavia” - in foreign sources) and the Kiev region (“Cuiaba”), were united under the rule of one ruler. Many modern historians take the date of 882 as the conditional date of birth of the Old Russian state. Oleg reigned there from 882 to 912. According to Nestor, after Oleg’s death from a snake bite, Rurik’s son Igor (912–945) became the Prince of Kyiv.
Scientists associate significant events with Oleg’s reign in Kyiv ancient Russian history. First of all, the territorial core of the Old Russian state was laid. Oleg was recognized as the supreme ruler by the tribes of the Polyans, Severians, Drevlyans, Ilmen Slovenes, Krivichi, Vyatichi, Radimichi, Ulichs and Tivertsi. Through the governors of Prince Oleg and local princes, his vassals began to build public administration a young power. Annual surveys of the population (Polyudye) laid the foundation for the tax and judicial systems.
Led by Oleg and active foreign policy. The prince fought with the Khazars and made them completely forget that for two centuries the Khazar Khaganate had collected tribute from a number of East Slavic lands. In 898, Hungarians appeared at the borders of Oleg’s power, moving from Asia to Europe. Oleg managed to establish peaceful relations with these warlike people. Oleg's campaign in 907 against the capital of the Byzantine Empire - Constantinople (aka Constantinople) - brought Rus' in 911 an exceptionally successful trade agreement: Russian merchants received the right to duty-free trade in Constantinople, could live for six months in the capital suburb in the monastery of St. Mammoth, receive food and repair their boats at the expense of the Byzantine side. Even earlier, in 909, Rus' and Byzantine Empire concluded a military treaty of alliance.
Battles and victories
Prince of Novgorod (from 879) and Kiev (from 882), unifier Ancient Rus'. He expanded its borders, dealt the first blow to the Khazar Kaganate, and concluded treaties with the Greeks that were beneficial for Rus'. The legendary commander about whom Pushkin wrote: “Your name is glorified by victory: Your shield is on the gates of Constantinople.”
A few comments on the traditional interpretation of the image of Prophetic Oleg
To the above brief information about Oleg, which has become a generally accepted tradition - especially in popular and educational literature, we need to add a few scientific comments.
Firstly, according to archaeological data, in the 9th century. Novgorod as such did not yet exist. On the site of Novgorod there were three separate villages. They were united into a single city by Detinets, a fortress built at the end of the 10th century. It was the fortress that was called the “city” in those days. So both Rurik and Oleg were not in Novgorod, but in a certain “Stargorod”. It could be either Ladoga or the Rurik settlement near Novgorod. Ladoga, a fortified city on the Volkhov, located near the confluence of the Volkhov and Ladoga lake, was in the 7th - first half of the 9th centuries. the largest shopping center in the north-eastern Baltic. According to archaeological data, the city was founded by people from Scandinavia, but later there was a mixed population - the Normans lived side by side with the Slavs and Finno-Ugric peoples. By the middle of the 9th century. refers to the terrible pogrom and fire that destroyed Ladoga. This may well be consistent with the chronicle news of big war 862, when the Ilmen Slovenes, Krivichi, the entire Merya and Chud “drove the Varangians over the sea,” who had collected tribute from them in 859–862, and then began to fight among themselves (“and generation after generation rose up...”). After the destruction of the mid-9th century. Ladoga was rebuilt, but never regained its former significance.
Under Nestor, there was no longer any memory of the former greatness of Ladoga or the significance of the Rurik settlement; he wrote two centuries after the time of the calling of the Varangians. But the glory of Novgorod as a major political center reached its peak, which made the chronicler believe in its antiquity and it was in Novgorod that the first rulers of Rus' were placed.
Our second reservation will concern chronology. The fact is that the chronology in the PVL, as in another ancient Russian chronicle - the Novgorod one, before the reign of Vladimir (980 - 1015) is conditional. Nestor had at hand separate records of facts from the 10th–11th centuries, even, perhaps, the entire initial chronicle, which historians highlight in the PVL, but exact dates there were no early events there. Only oral legends were spoken about them, passed down from generation to generation among the inhabitants of Rus'. The lack of dates was a big problem for Nestor, but he, being a talented chronicler, made the first historical science reconstruction of chronology. Legends and fragmentary records named the names of Byzantine kings (Caesars), contemporaries of the first Russian princes. Based on the years of reign indicated in the Byzantine chronicles translated into Slavic in Kyiv, the author of PVL compiled his own conventional system of time coordinates for the initial period of ancient Russian history. A. A. Shakhmatov noted that the date of Oleg’s death in PVL 912 coincides with the date of the death of his counterpart Emperor Leo VI, and Igor dies, like his contemporary Emperor Roman I, in 945. Both Igor and Oleg reign on 33 year, such a coincidence is suspicious and reeks of an epic sacred-legendary approach to chronology. The last remark is also appropriate in relation to the story of Oleg’s death. Both the PVL and the Novgorod Chronicle claim that Oleg died after being bitten by a snake that crawled out of the horse’s skull. It was Oleg’s own horse, but the prince set him aside, because the sorcerer once predicted his death from his own horse. According to the PVL version, this fatal meeting between Oleg and his dead horse took place near Kiev in 912.