Olga of Kiev: The Saint Who Buried Her Enemies Alive
They killed her husband, then sent ambassadors to ask her to marry their prince. She welcomed them warmly — and erased their entire people in four escalating acts of horror.
The Wrong
In 945, the Drevlian tribe grew tired of Prince Igor of Kiev returning again and again to squeeze them for tribute. When he came back a second time in one season, demanding more, they decided to settle it permanently. They bent two birch trees to the ground, tied Igor's legs to each, and let the trees snap upright. He was torn in half. Then — and this was their fatal mistake — they reasoned that since they had killed the prince, they may as well take his widow too, and sent twenty of their finest men to propose marriage between Olga and their Prince Mal.
The Reckoning
Olga received the envoys with perfect courtesy and told them she would honour them in the morning by having them carried to her court in their boat. Flattered, they agreed. Overnight she had a deep trench dug. The Drevlians were carried in, still sitting proudly in their boat — and tipped into the pit, where Olga watched them be buried alive. She then sent word to the Drevlians asking for their most distinguished men as escorts. When they arrived, she offered them a bathhouse to wash after their journey. She bolted the doors and burned it down with them inside.
The Aftermath
Still feigning acceptance of the marriage, Olga travelled to the Drevlian capital for a funeral feast in Igor's honour. She let the Drevlians drink themselves senseless, then signalled her soldiers, who slaughtered some five thousand of them over the graves. For the survivors holed up in the city of Iskorosten, she asked only a token tribute: three pigeons and three sparrows from each household. Relieved, they paid. She had sulphur tied to each bird and released them. They flew home to their nests under the eaves — and the entire city burned at once.
More reckonings
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