IGOR(?–945) - Prince of Kiev (from 912), the actual founder of the Rurik dynasty (according to the oldest Russian chronicle - Tales of Bygone Years - son of Rurik), the first of the Russian princes mentioned by foreign historians - Simon Logofet, Lev Grammatik, etc.

The main focus of his activities was protecting the country from Pecheneg raids and preserving the unity of the state. He reigned in Kyiv after the death of his predecessor Oleg from 912, conquering the rebellious tribes of the Drevlyans and Uglichs, forcing them to pay “polyudye” (tribute). According to the Russian chronicle, in 913 he married Olga, a Pskovite from a noble family, possibly Varangian (according to one legend, Oleg chose her for him in 903, according to another, he himself met her on a river transport in Pskov). In the same year, under his leadership, a campaign was made to the coast of the Caspian Sea. Moving along the coast of the Caspian Sea, the approaches to which were under the control of the Khazars, Igor’s army approached Baku. As payment for the “pass,” the Khazars were promised half of the spoils. The booty was indeed enormous and the Russians, as promised, gave half of it to the Khazars. Because of the second half, which the Khazars also began to lay claim to, a terrible battle broke out, as a result of which almost the entire army of Prince Igor was destroyed.

Returning to Kyiv, Igor was forced to assemble a new squad for a new campaign: the territory of the Russians was attacked by the Pechenegs for the first time. Like the Ugrians, Bulgars, Avars, they came from the east; they led a nomadic lifestyle. Having encountered Igor’s strong army, the Pechenegs were forced to retire to Bessarabia, where they also terrified their neighbors. Having made peace with Igor in 915, they did not disturb the Russians for five years, but from 920, as the compiler writes, Tales of Bygone Years, began to invade the expanses of Rus' again.

In 941, Prince Igor undertook a campaign against Constantinople “on ten thousand ships” (an exaggeration of the Byzantine chronicler, frightened by the devastation of the city, the reduction of temples, villages, and monasteries to ashes). However, the campaign ended sadly for the Russian army: the Byzantines responded to Igor with the so-called “Greek fire” (sulfur, resin and lime in barrels and pots). Most of the Russian army was destroyed.

Igor retreated and went against the Greeks again in 943. Warned by the Bulgarians and Khazars “about Rus[s] without number,” the Byzantines offered peace on terms favorable to Prince Igor. After consulting with wise warriors, the Russian ruler accepted the offer of the Byzantine emperor. The following year, Kyiv and Constantinople exchanged embassies and concluded a new peace treaty, the third (after treaties 907 and 911) in Russian history. Treaty 944 established “eternal peace as long as the sun shines and the whole world stands”, stipulated more favorable conditions for trade between the Russians and Byzantium than before, and secured an agreement to help each other with military forces. The drafters of the agreement on the Byzantine side noted that “if [some ruler of an enemy land] wants to start our kingdom from us [take it away], let us write to your Grand Duke, and he will come to us, as long as we want...”

This was the first international document to mention a country under the name Russian land. It is not surprising that the Russian chronicler included the text of this treaty in 944. The Tale of Bygone Years- its significance is so great. Treaty 944 named the Russian princes who accompanied Igor (“archons”) by name, which makes it possible to see the early feudal monarchy in the system of government that existed during Igor’s time. To govern a vast territory, the prince had to divide Rus' between relatives and allied “archons” or kings. It is important to note that not only “men” took part in the “division”, but also the wives of princes and senior kings, the “archontess” of Predslav and Sfandra, who owned huge cities (“jars”). These noble women also sent their ambassadors to Constantinople, including Igor’s wife Olga, who owned the city of Vyshgorod as a “jarldom,” was in charge of state affairs and administered justice in the absence of her husband. The separation of the “Igor’s family” from the rest of the “great princes” (kings) and their conquest of the exclusive right to the Kiev throne was a long-term process. Its decisive factors were the formation of a new management system and the formation of the support of the dynasty - the boyars.

After the campaign of 944, Prince Igor no longer fought and even sent the squad of his boyar Sveneld to collect tribute, which began to affect the level of well-being of Igor’s squad. Igor’s squad soon began to grumble: “The youths (combatants) of Sveneld became rich in weapons and clothes, and we are naked. Come, prince, with us for tribute, and you will get it, and so will we!” After much persuasion, Prince Igor went in 945 with his retinue to the Drevlyan land for tribute. Considering the collected polyudye insufficient, the prince and his warriors returned to collect tribute again. Outraged by such arbitrariness, the Drevlyans from Iskoresten decided: “The wolf got into the habit of going to the sheep and dragging the whole flock around. It's better for us to kill him! Igor’s small detachment was defeated by the Drevlyan prince Mal, Igor himself - according to the Byzantine historian Leo the Deacon - was killed, tied to the bowed tops of two neighboring trees. According to the chronicle, for the death of her husband, Olga brutally dealt with the Drevlyans and, in order to avoid such conflicts in the future, “introduced regulations and lessons” (determined the places, frequency and amount of tribute collected).

By the end of Igor's reign, the power of the Russians spread on both sides of the upper and middle Dnieper, to the southeast - to the Caucasus and the Tauride Mountains, in the north - to the banks of the Volkhov. Shortly before Igor's death, an heir appeared in his family - Svyatoslav, to whom (according to the Byzantine historian Constantine Porphyrogenitus) he immediately gave possession of the city of Novgorod. According to the Russian chronicle, the child was very small in the year of his father’s death and could barely stand on a horse. Doubts were expressed that Igor was the father of Svyatoslav (L.N. Gumilev).

The idea of ​​rapprochement, unity and unification of the Slavic peoples, “read” in the history of ancient Russian campaigns and battles of the early 10th century. in Russian chronicles by the modern sculptor N. Mozhaev, artist V. Gorbulin and architect M. Pozdnyakov, it is the basis of a composition dedicated to Prince Igor and erected in 2003 over the Northern Donets River in the Lugansk region (Ukraine).

Lev Pushkarev

The reign of Prince Igor (briefly)

The reign of Prince Igor (briefly)

Prince Igor Rurikovich began his reign on the Kiev throne in 912, immediately after the death of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Oleg the Prophet. The attempt of the Drevlyan tribe to become independent from the power of Kyiv was harshly suppressed by the new prince and became the reason for an increase in the size of the tribute. After some time, the tribute collected from the Drevlyan tribe becomes a reward to Sveneld (princely governor) for the fact that he managed to conquer the Ulich tribe. The entire internal policy of Prince Igor was based on the suppression of various grievances of the Slavic tribes, which were subject to Kyiv.

A year after the start of his reign, Igor goes on a military campaign to the Caspian land. As a result of this event, the princely squad took large booty, but the path to the Caspian Sea ran through the Khazar possessions. The Kagan agreed to let the Kyiv prince through for half the booty, but on the way back he attacked the army and killed most of the army, taking possession of all the booty.

In addition, it is Igor who becomes the first Russian prince who has to face the problem of nomadic raids. The Pechenegs began to regularly attack the border territories of Kievan Rus at the end of the ninth century, and already in 915 the Kiev prince managed to make peace with them for a five-year period. Usually the Pechenegs took the side of the Greeks, but in 944 they opposed them under the flags of Prince Igor.

In foreign policy, Prince Igor sought to create the most favorable conditions for merchant trade in other countries. In 941, the prince decided to launch a military campaign against the powerful Byzantium. However, unlike Oleg’s campaign, it brought only failure to Rus'. The princely army was met by the Greeks with equipped ships and deadly “Greek fire.” Three years later, in 944, the prince tried his luck again in the battle with Byzantium. Having secured the support of the Pechenegs, he went to Greek territories. At the same time, the emperor chose to present gifts to Igor and avoid military conflict. A year later, Igor was able to make peace with Byzantium.

In his old age, Igor entrusts polyudye to the governor Sveneld, which causes a violent dissatisfied reaction from the princely squad. This fact is the main reason that the prince had to go against the Drevlyans without the main military forces. Returning to the Drevlyans for a second tribute, the prince was killed, after which Kievan Rus was actually ruled by his wife, Princess Olga.

The reign of Prince Igor Rurikovich on the Kiev throne began in 912, after the death of Grand Duke Oleg. The attempt of the Drevlyans to leave the power of the Grand Duke was brutally suppressed by Igor and led to an increase in the amount of taxes. Later, the Drevlyan tribute became a reward to the governor Sveneld for the conquest of the Ulich tribe. Prince Igor's internal policy was based on the harsh suppression of discontent among the tribes subject to Kyiv.

The year 913 was marked by a campaign in the Caspian lands. Igor and his squad took a lot of booty. But the path to the Caspian lay through the possessions of the Khazars. The Kagan let the army through for promising half of all the spoils that the Russians would take. But on the way back, the Khazars took possession of all the booty, destroying most of Igor’s army.

Igor became the first of the Russian princes who had to face hordes of nomads. The Pechenegs began to disturb the border lands of Kievan Rus at the end of the 9th century. In 915, Igor concluded a peace treaty with the nomads, which was observed for 5 years. As a rule, the nomadic Pechenegs sided with the Greeks. But in 944 they acted as allies of the Kyiv prince Igor against them.

Igor's foreign policy was dictated by the desire to create the most favorable trading conditions for Russian merchants. In 941, Igor, like Oleg before him, made a campaign against Byzantium. But this campaign turned out to be extremely unsuccessful. The Danube Bulgarians warned the Byzantine emperor. He met Igor’s army with many equipped ships and “Greek fire.” The defeat was crushing. A few years later, in 944, Igor tried to erase the shame of defeat. He hired the Pechenegs and moved to the Greek lands. The Emperor chose to avoid the conflict by presenting Igor with rich gifts. A year later, a peace treaty was concluded with Byzantium.

Igor, being in his years, entrusted Polyudie to his governor Sveneld. This was not to the liking of the prince’s warriors, caused a murmur and became the reason for Igor’s campaign against the Drevlyans. Having collected tribute, the prince moved to Kyiv, but after going halfway, he returned with a small retinue. I decided that the tribute was too small. This predetermined the death of Igor at the hands of the Drevlyans. The murder of Prince Igor by the Drevlyans was extremely cruel. There is information that the prince was tied to tree trunks bent to the ground and torn into pieces by them.

A short biography of Prince Igor would not be complete without mentioning Princess Olga. The decisive wife of Prince Igor, endowed with intelligence and cunning, subsequently brutally took revenge for the murder. This bloody episode made Prince Igor and Princess Olga one of the most famous rulers in Russian history. Princess Olga began to rule under her young son, and was called by her descendants “the organizer of Russian lands.”

Brief biography of Princess Olga

Scientists are still arguing about when Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna was born and what her origin was. Some trace her family back to Prince Boris, who ruled in Bulgaria, while others consider her to be the daughter of Oleg the Prophet. And the author of “The Tale of Bygone Years,” monk Nestor, claims that the Kiev princess Olga was of a simple family and speaks of a village near Pskov as the place of her birth. Reliably confirmed facts constitute only a very brief biography of Princess Olga.

According to the most famous legend, Igor Rurikovich met Olga while hunting while crossing the river. The prince mistook her for a young man and asked her to be transported to the other side. Olga was distinguished not only by her beauty and pure thoughts, but also by her intelligence. She conquered the prince so much that Igor after some time returned for her and married.

When Prince Igor left Kyiv, taking his squad on another campaign, it was Olga who dealt with all political affairs, received ambassadors, and spoke with governors. Based on this, we can say that in fact the reign of Olga, who under Igor dealt with the problems of the internal life of the country, began before such a well-known historical episode as the death of Igor.

After the murder Prince Igor in 945, the Drevlyans sent an embassy to the princess with an offer to become the wife of their prince Mal. The embassy was greeted with honor on Olga's orders, brought in boats to the princess's tower. After which they threw him into a specially dug hole and buried him alive. Then Olga herself sent ambassadors to Mala demanding that she send the best and most worthy men to come with great honor to the lands of the Drevlyans. This time they set up a hot bath for the ambassadors, where they burned them. But Olga’s revenge on the Drevlyans was not over. The princess's ambassadors reported that Olga wanted to celebrate a funeral feast at Igor's grave and asked to prepare honey. And then she will marry Mal. The Drevlyans agreed. Olga arrived in their lands with a small squad. During the funeral feast, the Drevlyans became intoxicated, having drunk on their own honey, and were killed by the princess’s warriors.

A year later, the Drevlyans were defeated, Korosten, their main city was burned. The capture of the well-fortified Korosten was not without cunning. Olga demanded tribute from each yard - three doves and three sparrows. The residents fulfilled this wish of the princess. And Olga ordered the vigilantes to tie highly flammable tinder to the birds’ legs and release them into the wild. People who managed to escape from the burning city were killed. A heavy tribute was imposed on the survivors.

The next important decision, after the pacification of the Drevlyans, was the replacement of polyudye with graveyards (regions). For each churchyard, the princess established a lesson, the size of which was fixed. Olga's tax reform helped streamline the tax collection system and strengthen the authority of Kyiv. While the son of Princess Olga and Igor, Svyatoslav, was a child, she enjoyed all the power. But Olga's reign in Rus' did not end when Svyatoslav grew up, since the prince spent most of his time on military campaigns.

The foreign policy of Princess Olga, which was carried out through diplomacy, also deserves attention. The princess was able to strengthen ties with the Byzantine Empire and Germany. In 957 she went to Constantinople. According to one version, Olga’s trip to Constantinople was aimed at Svyatoslav’s marriage. The princess, thanks to close contacts with the Greeks, was imbued with the Christian faith and received baptism from the hands of Emperor Constantine 7 and Patriarch Theophylact. At baptism she was given the name Elena. The Byzantine emperor did not remain indifferent to the beauty and intelligence of the Russian princess. But Olga was able to reject his proposal without causing offense. Svyatoslav, unlike his mother, remained a pagan, although he did not prevent others from converting to the Christian faith. Olga had a strong influence on Svyatoslav's son, Vladimir, who continued the Christianization of Rus'. Holy Princess Olga died in 969. Canonization took place many centuries after Olga’s death, in 1547.

3. Baptism of Rus'. From paganism to Christianity

Paganism dominated in Rus' until the mid-10th century. The basis of the mentality of the pagan Slavs was the ideas of eternity and the equivalence of good and evil as two independent forms of existence. Their ideas were inextricably linked with natural phenomena. The fight against the “evil” forces of nature led to the belief in the possibility of uniting the forces of “good” against the forces of “evil.”

East Slavs perceived the world on the basis of paired concepts - favorable and hostile. Space - order was opposed to chaos - disorder. The circle served as a symbol of protection from everything hostile. Magical properties were attributed to this geometric shape. The Slavs wore rings, chains, wreaths, and surrounded their homes with a circular rampart.

The pagan mentality permeated the entire cultural system of the Eastern Slavs. This was manifested in ritual dances, games, sacrifices, and the specifics of handicrafts. The imprint of the pagan vision of the Universe is also evident in the structure of cities. The best people lived in the upper part of the city, and the commoners lived in the lower part.

The Eastern Slavs created a single pantheon of pagan gods - Stribog corresponded to the father god, Dazhdbog to the son god, and Mokosh to the Mother of God. The main deities were considered Perun and the winged Semargl, who were intermediaries between heaven and earth.

In the conditions of “polytheism,” the need arose to choose a single faith. The adoption of a common religion for Rus' was required by the interests of the unity of the state, since other countries perceived pagan Rus' as a barbaric state. The Tale of Bygone Years contains a detailed description of this event, in which princes and boyars took part.

Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich had numerous conversations with preachers of many religions. Prince Vladimir rejected the faith of the Jews due to their loss of their land, and Islam because of strict restrictions on food and drink.

Vladimir preferred Eastern Christianity for the beauty of its temples and rituals according to the Byzantine canon, which made a deep impression on him. The final choice was also influenced by long-standing ties with Byzantium.

Orthodoxy, to a greater extent than other religions, corresponded to the cultural type of the Slavs. Unlike Catholicism, which is focused on rational knowledge of the world, Orthodoxy understood the meaning of life as the achievement of internal perfection and unity, the collective desire for a better future and social justice.

In 988 Vladimir(popularly Krasno Solnyshko) adopted Christianity in its Orthodox version.

The preference for Orthodoxy is also explained by the fact that the Roman Catholic Church limited services only to Latin, and the Constantinople Orthodox Church made it possible to use the Slavic language in services.

One of the reasons for choosing Orthodoxy was the political claims of the Roman Church and its rise above secular power, which the Russian princes feared. The Eastern Church built its religion on the interaction of religious and secular authorities, supporting secular authorities with its authority.

Christianity was widespread in Rus' long before its official adoption. The first Orthodox Christians were Princess Olga and Prince Yaropolk. However, the process of Christianization was long, since the population was reluctant to part with paganism. Even the son of Princess Olga refused to accept Christianity. Pagan beliefs and customs were preserved by the Eastern Slavs for a long time; they were intertwined with Christian holidays for many centuries.

The adoption of Orthodoxy determined the new historical destiny of the Russian state, put an end to pagan barbarism and allowed Russian society to enter on an equal footing into the family of Christian peoples of Europe. This event was of epochal significance for the development of culture, strengthening of the state and the development of international relations of Ancient Rus'.

In the chronicles of the 10th-11th centuries, the son of the legendary Prince Rurik, Igor, is mentioned with the addition of the word Old. This happens because it is to him that they trace the beginning of the dynasty of Russian princes Rurikovich. A similar name came into use and was widely used by historians of later times. We will not deviate from the established tradition.

Brief Introduction

Before starting the conversation, it is worth noting an extremely important detail - all the events in which Igor Stary, one way or another, took part are known today from a number of written monuments, often contradicting each other. Therefore, when talking about those long-gone times, it is customary to follow the most widespread and generally accepted version, and one should not be surprised if it does not completely correspond to data from any secondary sources.

Regent and guardian of the young prince

As the compiler of the Tale of Bygone Years, the chronicler Nestor, testifies, after the death of the legendary Prince Rurik, which followed in 879, his young son and heir Igor, who was born a year earlier, remained. Since, due to his youth, he could not yet begin to reign, until he matured, the rule was carried out by a relative of the deceased ruler - Prince Oleg - the same one who entered our history with the title Prophetic. He was also the boy’s closest caregiver.

Soon after gaining power, Oleg subjugates Smolensk, which was free until then, and then approaches Kyiv with his squad. The chronicler says that he cunningly lured the Kyiv princes Askold and Dir out of the fortified city and killed them. Having thus seized power, and wanting to give it legitimacy, Oleg points the people of Kiev to the young Igor as the legitimate heir to power, and assigns himself the role of a kind of regent. In reality, this was deceit, since he did not relinquish power until his death.

The marriage of Prince Igor

Nothing is known about how Prince Igor spent his youth, and in the next passage the chronicler reveals him to the reader already matured, but still not out of Oleg’s tutelage. It is he who brings the bride to the young prince - a very young thirteen-year-old (and according to some sources, ten-year-old) Pskov girl with the unusually poetic Old Slavic name Beautiful.

Further, Igor Stary (who was then barely 23 years old), inflamed with love, marries a young beauty, but for some reason gives his bride a new name - Olga. There can be two explanations for this action of his - either it is a consequence of a momentary whim, or a more serious reason.

Probable relative of Prophetic Oleg

The fact is that Olga is a Scandinavian name, which is a derivative form of the male name Oleg. Therefore, there is an assumption that the trustee and temporary worker simply betrothed his relative to the heir, wanting to strengthen his influence on the matured young man.

One way or another, this woman entered the history of Russia under the name of Princess Olga - the first Russian Christian to be canonized. She is also the grandmother of the baptizer of Rus', Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir. The fruit of her marriage with Prince Igor was her son Svyatoslav Igorevich, who inherited power and, unlike his mother, became a cruel persecutor of Christians. In addition to Olga, the prince had many other wives, but she always remained the most beloved.

Under the Burden of Power

In 912, after the unexpected death of his guardian, which was so poetically sung by A.S. Pushkin, Igor the Old finally gained full power. Until this time, he had been an independent ruler of Kyiv only in 907, when Oleg left him as his governor during the campaign against Byzantium, during which he captured Constantinople and nailed his famous shield on its gates.

The power that became the property of Igor, who was still inexperienced in ruling, brought with it a lot of worries. In particular, upon learning of Oleg’s death, the tribes of the Drevlyans, East Slavic peoples who inhabited the territory of what is now Ukrainian Polesie in those years, rebelled and refused to pay the previously established tribute.

As a result, Prince Igor the Old was forced, having assembled a squad, to pacify the rebels, which he did in 913, and in order to discourage freedom from taking liberties in the future, he imposed a tribute on them twice as high as before.

Asian cunning and ambitious dreams

The next military campaign in chronology was carried out by the prince against the Pechenegs, who first appeared in Rus' in 915. Heading to Byzantium to help it repel the Bulgarian attack, these steppe inhabitants did not have aggressive intentions towards the lands subject to Igor, and the prince agreed to let them through. However, full of cunning, he struck their rearguard from the rear, and as a result won a fairly easy victory, taking possession of property and provisions.

It was a success, but how could it compare with the glory with which his predecessor and guardian, the Prophetic Oleg, covered himself? Thoughts about this did not leave the mind of the ambitious and envious Igor. To immortalize his name, he needed something that could eclipse his previous victories. Dreams of his own shield on the gates of Constantinople filled his life. And in 941, Igor the Old’s campaigns against Byzantium began. There were two of them, each of which was interesting in its own way.

Sea voyage to Byzantium

The prince carried out his first campaign by sea, placing his entire large army on boats. It is not known for certain how many of these small and very primitive ships were needed to move along the sea coast from the mouth of the Dnieper to Constantinople, to transfer a very significant number of people. Nestor the Chronicler reports about 10 thousand ships, but European sources speak only about a thousand.

In any case, it was quite an impressive flotilla. On the approaches to the Byzantine capital, she managed to win a number of minor victories, but then the unexpected happened. The defenders of the city used a weapon completely unknown in Rus' against them, which went down in history under the name of Greek fire.

Lightning came down from the sky

Judging by the remaining descriptions, it was some kind of modern flamethrower. Its essence was that, with the help of special siphons, a stream of burning mixture was ejected under pressure in the direction of the enemy, which did not go out even when it entered the water. It is not known exactly what it consisted of, but a number of surviving records, as well as laboratory experiments, give reason to believe that its components were quicklime, sulfur and oil.

The effect of using this weapon was colossal. Not only did a good half of the prince’s flotilla go to the bottom with its help, but the sight of the flying fire also made an indelible impression on the survivors. It is known that they fled in panic, and upon returning to their homeland, they talked about a certain miracle - lightning that came down from the sky and destroyed their army. Thus, Igor’s first Byzantine pancake came out in a big bloody lump.

Army of Marauders

The second campaign, which Igor the Old undertook in 944, was much more successful. He brought, if not military glory, then, in any case, a fair amount of booty. A year before this, the prince had a son, Svyatoslav Igorevich, and during his father’s absence he was nominally considered the ruler, although, of course, these functions were performed for him by his mother, Princess Olga.

This time the princely army was divided into two parts, one of which moved by land, and the other, like the last time, was located on boats. To finally achieve the desired triumph, Igor gathered under his banner a huge number of warriors, which included representatives of all the tribes with which he had established contacts. The desire to rob with impunity and enrich himself at the expense of others united in his ranks the Russians, Varangians, Pechenegs, Krivichi, Polovtsians and many, many other seekers of easy money.

Tit in a cage

Moving along the Black Sea coast towards Byzantium, this horde left behind a dead scorched earth, and the news of the atrocities it committed spread far across the surrounding lands. When these rumors reached the Byzantine emperor Roman I Lokapin, he was horrified and considered it prudent to try to somehow avert the misfortune from his state, especially since foreigners had already reached the banks of the Danube by that time.

For this purpose, he sent ambassadors to meet the army with gifts so rich that, after consulting, the warriors decided not to continue the campaign. There was a reason for this - to go forward, and no one wanted to risk their heads in order to increase the already rich booty. As a result, remembering once again that a bird in a cage is better than a pie in the sky, everyone turned back. In addition, they got a tit, although not covered in the glory of victory, but very fat.

A trip to the Drevlyans for tribute

Returning from the campaign, the prince did not suspect that his life was already coming to an end, and the reason for this was not old age, although he was 67 years old by that time, but greed, which had always been an integral part of his nature. One day she killed him.

The fact is that the rule of Igor the Old rested solely on the strength of his squad, which served as his support in the fight against other contenders for power, of which, as always, there were many. Therefore, it was extremely important for him to maintain proper relations with the warriors. And then one day, discontent arose among them that in the squad of Prince Sveneld, Igor’s governor, the warriors were richer dressed and better armed than they were.

Not wanting to bear the costs himself, and at the same time, trying to calm down the dissatisfied, he decided to come with them to the Drevlyans and, through robbery committed under the guise of collecting tribute, solve the problem. The warriors willingly supported him, and a large detachment led by the prince went to the foreigners.

At first everything went exactly as planned. They collected a huge tribute, and in anticipation of the division they went home. But then a snake stirred in the prince’s heart, more terrible than the one that once bit the Prophetic Oleg. It is called greed, and countless people have been killed by its bites. So it struck Igor that if you return with a small number of people, and even rob, then the jackpot will come out fatter, and it will have to be divided among fewer mouths.

He only did not take into account what every ruler must know - even the most submissive people cannot be driven to extremes, otherwise there will be trouble. And so it happened, seeing the prince returning with small forces, and understanding his intentions, the Drevlyans rebelled. Having killed the guards, they put the prince to a cruel death - tying his legs to two spruce trees leaning towards each other, and tore him in half. This is how the Kiev prince Igor the Old ended his life ingloriously, whose biography, drawn from ancient chronicles, formed the basis of our story.

Conclusion

In conclusion, let us note one curious detail - in The Tale of Bygone Years this ruler is twice called the “Wolf Prince.” There is no doubt that such an expressive and very accurate image largely conveys his true essence. Both the foreign and domestic policies of Igor Stary always pursued the goal of his own enrichment and glorification, and was not aimed at the interests of the state. It is characteristic that the noun wolf, in addition to its direct meaning, in ancient times was used to express such concepts as robber, thief and robber, which, in essence, was Igor the Old. Death was a worthy reward for his deeds.

Igor is the son of the Novgorod prince Rurik. The Tale of Bygone Years says that in 879, when Rurik was dying, Igor was a small child, whom his father handed over to his relative Oleg. And in the Novgorod first chronicle of the younger edition, Igor, during the capture of Kyiv in 882, acts as an adult, mature ruler. According to the “Tale of Bygone Years” in 903, Igor is the “helper” of the Great Russian Prince Oleg. It also reports Igor’s marriage to Olga, and under 907 it is said that when Oleg went on a campaign against Constantinople, Igor was his governor in Kyiv. And the Novgorod chronicler states that the campaign against Byzantium was organized not by Oleg, but by Igor.

According to the Tale of Bygone Years, Igor took the throne in 913 after the death of Oleg the Prophet. In 914, he suppressed the uprising of the Drevlyans, who did not want to obey him. In 915 he made peace with the Pechenegs. In 920 he again fought with the Pechenegs. The results of this war are not known. During his reign (in 913 and 943), two Russian military campaigns were carried out against the Caspian countries. In 940, Kyiv submitted to the streets, on which tribute was imposed “according to the black kuna from the smoke.”

BEGINNING: IGOR GOES TO DREVLYAN

According to the chronicler, Oleg's successor Igor, the son of Rurik, reigned for 33 years (912 - 945) and only five legends are recorded in the chronicle about the affairs of this prince; for Oleg's reign, 33 years were also calculated (879 - 912). The chronicle says that Igor remained an infant after the death of his father; in the legend about the occupation of Kyiv by Oleg, Igor is also a baby who could not even be taken out, but was carried out in their arms; if Oleg reigned for 33 years, then Igor should have been about 35 years old upon his death. Under the year 903, the marriage of Igor is mentioned: Igor grew up, says the chronicler, walked around Oleg, obeyed him, and they brought him a wife from Pskov named Olga. During Olegov's campaign near Constantinople, Igor remained in Kyiv. The first legend about Igor, recorded in the chronicle, says that the Drevlyans, tortured by Oleg, did not want to pay tribute to the new prince and closed themselves off from him, that is, they did not allow either the prince or his husbands to come to them for tribute. Igor went against the Drevlyans, won and imposed a tribute on them greater than what they had previously paid to Oleg.

UNIFICATION OF SLAVIC TRIBES UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF IGOR

The Tale of Bygone Years connects the expansion of the possessions of the Kyiv prince with the name of Oleg. In addition to the territories of the Slovenes, Krivichi and Polyans, which he owned after the capture of Kyiv, dated by the chronicle of 882, Oleg imposes tribute on the Drevlyans, the north and the Radimichi. His successor Igor, according to the Initial Code, subjugated the streets. The chronicle information about the conquest of “Slavinia”, however, is not only chronologically inaccurate, but also clearly incomplete: for example, they say nothing about the Dregovichi and communities of Volyn territorially close to Kyiv. But for the 1st half of the 10th century. there is a unique opportunity to compare four multilingual sources containing extensive information about Rus', with mention of toponyms and anthroponyms, and at the same time created almost simultaneously, within one decade. This is the treatise of the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus “On the administration of the empire” (948-952), the work of the Arab author al-Istakhri “The Book of Paths and Countries” (the edition that has reached us is c. 950), the agreement of Igor with Byzantium, which came down in the Old Russian version (which is a translation from the Greek original) as part of the “Tale of Bygone Years” (944), etc. The "Cambridge Document" is a letter in Hebrew sent from Khazaria (c. 949).

In Chapter 9 of Constantine’s work it is said that “the monoxyls (ships with a keel part hollowed out from one log - A.G.) coming from outer Russia to Constantinople are from Nemogard, in which Svendoslav, the son of Ingor, the archon of Russia, was sitting, and others from the Miliniski fortress, from Teliutsa, Chernigoga and from Vusegrad (Smolensk, Lyubech, Chernigov and Vyshgorod. - A.G.). So, they all descend along the Dnieper River and converge in the fortress of Kioava, called Samvatas. The Slavs, their paktiots, namely the Kriviteins, Lenzanins and other Slavinians, cut down monoxyls in their mountains during the winter and, having equipped them, with the onset of spring, when the ice melts, they introduce them into the neighboring reservoirs. Since these [reservoirs] flowed into the Dnieper River, they, too, from those [places] there, enter this very river and go to Kiova. They are pulled out for [equipment] and sold to the dews. The Rosys, having bought some of these dugouts and dismantled their old monoxyls, transfer them to these oars, rowlocks and other accessories... equip them. And in the month of June, moving along the Dnieper River, they descend to Vitichev, which is a paktiot fortress of the Ros, and, having gathered there for two or three days, until all the monoxides are united, then they set off and descend along the said Dnieper River.” Then there is a story about the route of the “Rus” to Constantinople, and at the end of the chapter it says: “The winter and harsh way of life of those same Dews is as follows. When the month of November comes, their archons immediately leave Kiava with all their dews and go to polyudium, which is called the “circling”, namely in Slavinia of the Vervians, Druguvites, Krivichi, Severians (Drevlyans, Dregovichi, Krivichi and Severians. - A. G. .) and other Slavs who are paktiots of the Ros. Feeding there throughout the winter, they return to Kiaw again, starting in April, when the ice on the Dnieper River melts.”

Under the author's pen, Igor is presented as the head of Rus', and Kyiv as the main center. His son Svyatoslav reigns in Nemogard (Novgorod). “Rosy” go to polyudye - a circular detour for the purpose of collecting tribute - to the Slavic communities of the Drevlyans, Dregovichs, Krivichis, northerners and “other” Slavs; The latter should apparently include the Ulitsch and the “Lendzanin” - the Lendzan (localized, most likely, in Eastern Volyn), since in Chapter 37 both of them are called tributaries of the “Rus”, and at the beginning of Chapter 9 the Lendzanin together with the Krivichi they are called their “Paktiots” (this term indicates tributary-allied relations). The list of cities through which “monoxyls” descend to Kyiv goes from north to south, along the path “from the Varangians to the Greeks”: Novgorod, Smolensk, Lyubech, Chernigov, Vyshgorod...