1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Welcome 2 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 1: to the show Ridiculous Historians, friends and neighbors. Thank you 3 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 1: as always for joining us. We always like to say 4 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 1: nice things about our super producer, Casey Pegram, and we 5 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:46,280 Speaker 1: do mean these sincerely. But we have a special announcement today, 6 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:51,120 Speaker 1: one that blew my mind. Actually, another another thing to 7 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:56,720 Speaker 1: add to the long legend of Casey Shadow here. This 8 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:02,480 Speaker 1: guy came in to record today's episode on his actual birthday. 9 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:04,959 Speaker 1: It's true, I'm here and it is my birthday. What 10 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:06,880 Speaker 1: a guy. My name is No, are you still been 11 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: your Ben? Right? I am several times over Ben Bulan, Yes, 12 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 1: And this is the first time that we have that 13 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:17,800 Speaker 1: the three of us have been in the studio together 14 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 1: in a little while. Shouts out also to Christopher Haciotis 15 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:24,800 Speaker 1: for pinch hitting there. I checked out that episode. That 16 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:27,520 Speaker 1: was pretty cool man, Thanks man, I enjoyed it. Christopher 17 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:30,119 Speaker 1: is a real mention for pinch hitting while you are 18 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:32,959 Speaker 1: off on adventures. And I alluded a little bit to 19 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:34,840 Speaker 1: your adventures, but I didn't want to spill the tea 20 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:37,160 Speaker 1: as it were, as the kids would say, and what 21 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:39,800 Speaker 1: what what what were you doing? Ben? I was doing 22 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:45,040 Speaker 1: all sorts of non sketchy things. I traveled to I 23 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 1: traveled to Japan, to a couple of different towns in Japan. 24 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 1: One was Nagoya, one was Tokyo, and I was able 25 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: to make it back. I have a couple of cool 26 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: stories about it, but they maybe maybe store as for 27 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:03,520 Speaker 1: another day, or if we want to knock off early 28 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: this afternoon, maybe we can grab a beer and regale 29 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 1: each other. Because I gotta tell you, man, I'm coming 30 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: in hot. My body doesn't know what time it is. 31 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 1: My body has a vague spider sense about what day 32 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:20,240 Speaker 1: it is. So luckily this is our favorite history show, 33 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:22,680 Speaker 1: so we don't have to talk about today. And I 34 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:25,680 Speaker 1: don't think we have to talk about specific times on 35 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: the clock. But we do have to talk about badasses. 36 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:33,480 Speaker 1: We absolutely do. Ben, How do you like your saints? 37 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 1: I like my murderous I like my saints the way 38 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:42,600 Speaker 1: I like my superheroes. So saints often, at least in Catholicism, 39 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: are patrons of one thing or another. So I like 40 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:51,120 Speaker 1: very specific patronages for saints. And I also, like I'm 41 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 1: gonna tell you, I like some Song of Ice and Fires, 42 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: some Game of Thrones, e historical gore when it comes 43 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: to saints. Well, I'm gonna drop a couple of perlatives here, 44 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: and I want you folks out in podcast land to 45 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:05,920 Speaker 1: use your imagination picture what kind of individual might be 46 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:09,920 Speaker 1: attached to these. The Missionary to Ukraine. Okay, that doesn't 47 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:12,480 Speaker 1: sound so exciting. How about the Vikings Saint Queen of 48 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:17,080 Speaker 1: Russia or my personal favorite, the Scourge of the Drevelans, 49 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:21,960 Speaker 1: also known as equal to the Apostles. These are all 50 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:27,639 Speaker 1: titles held by Princess Olga of Kiev, now Sat Olga 51 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:30,400 Speaker 1: of Kiev, and I love that. I love that string 52 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:35,120 Speaker 1: of honorifics too. It's very denerous, Targarian. It's very uh 53 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: for the nerds in the crowd, it's very Vigo of Carpathia. 54 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 1: It's very Zena princess warrior or your princess uh Zeno 55 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 1: warrior princess. And just to be clear, that's Vigo v 56 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: Carpathian Vego wife. Do you exactly? Oh, you know what? 57 00:03:56,560 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: It bears up on a rewatch. So, st Olga, unlike Vigo, 58 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 1: is a real person, and she was born in a 59 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:10,800 Speaker 1: city in what is today northwestern Russia close to the 60 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: Estonian border. The city's name is gonna be a great 61 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: fodder for all of us on ridiculous historians. It is 62 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:22,560 Speaker 1: spelled p s k o V. So what do you 63 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:26,719 Speaker 1: think piscoscov discove? Yeah, I don't know. We're probably gonna 64 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: have a lot of fun with a lot of these 65 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:30,719 Speaker 1: pronunciations in today this episode. There any uh people with 66 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:33,640 Speaker 1: Estonian heritage out there, please feel free to write in 67 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:35,839 Speaker 1: and and shred us new ones for our pronunciation. We 68 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:37,839 Speaker 1: will do our level best. What do you think should 69 00:04:37,839 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: we go with scove silent p like the it's for 70 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:45,680 Speaker 1: that for only for the reason that it's it's more 71 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: fun in my mouth. You know what Visco girls are been? 72 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 1: What are Visco girls? Diisco girls? It's a sort of 73 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:53,120 Speaker 1: a meme thing. My ten year old told me about it. 74 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:56,520 Speaker 1: They are sort of basic, you know, quote unquote. So 75 00:04:56,720 --> 00:04:59,719 Speaker 1: they have a particular garb and it's scrunches around their wrists, 76 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:04,599 Speaker 1: short shorts, clean white van slip ons um, some sort 77 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:07,159 Speaker 1: of long baggy T shirt and they always have a 78 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: water bottle with bright colored stickers on it that is 79 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:14,920 Speaker 1: the brand hydro flask. And they laugh like this. I 80 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:17,479 Speaker 1: think you told me about this at some point. So 81 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:19,440 Speaker 1: Piscoff kind of sounds like the way this goo girls 82 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:21,320 Speaker 1: laugh is what I'm getting at. There we go, There 83 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 1: we go. And their name is probably based on the 84 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:28,919 Speaker 1: storied history of this of this area. It's gonna be 85 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 1: based on that plug in, right, it's an app. It's 86 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:33,760 Speaker 1: a photo editing app for Instagram. Casey on the case. 87 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: Let's let's go back to those names. Viking sat queen, 88 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:42,839 Speaker 1: missionary to Ukraine, equal to the Apostles of Dragons, mother 89 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: of Dragon's breakroup change, scourge of the Drevelans. The thing 90 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:52,360 Speaker 1: about Princess Olga is that she earned all of these titles, 91 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 1: and today's story is about how she got there, about 92 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:59,560 Speaker 1: how she went from being a princess, and being a 93 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 1: princess is a problematic, beautiful thing. You know, a lot 94 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:07,119 Speaker 1: of people love the stories of royalty, but unfortunately many, 95 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:12,800 Speaker 1: many princes and princesses end up being historical footnotes. Why 96 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: is Olga difference right, Because you think of a princess, 97 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:18,839 Speaker 1: you think of a fair maiden, helpless and defenseless, being 98 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:22,159 Speaker 1: kept somewhere in a tower, you know, relegated to her 99 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 1: room behind lock and key. Uh, this was not the 100 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 1: case for Olga. In nine twelve she married a man 101 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:31,640 Speaker 1: by the name of Igor. Igor they say, you know 102 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:34,280 Speaker 1: that for a fact, because you've got Russian pals. And 103 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:38,160 Speaker 1: Igor was the heir to the throne of Kiev. And 104 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 1: he tell us a little bit about the geography of Kiev. 105 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:46,640 Speaker 1: Luckily I can uh Kiev now a city in Ukraine. 106 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:50,440 Speaker 1: It's part of something we call the Kievan rules are 107 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 1: us apostrophe. Uh Kievan Russ was a federation of Finnish 108 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 1: and East Slavic people in Europe from let's say, around 109 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:06,960 Speaker 1: the ninth century to somewhere in the century. But this 110 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:10,720 Speaker 1: this name was a retronym. It was not called Kevin 111 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 1: Russ at the time. This is a name that we 112 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:17,120 Speaker 1: we sort of made up later as a species. And 113 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: when we say a loose federation, um, we have to 114 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:27,840 Speaker 1: be very mindful to realize that this this is a 115 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: somewhat common thing historically in a lot of places. Just 116 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 1: the problem of communication makes it difficult for a large, uniform, 117 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 1: uh lockdown empire to exist. And wouldn't this have been 118 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:42,680 Speaker 1: sort of almost something bordering on tribal kind of like 119 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:47,040 Speaker 1: you had chieftains rather than elected officials. Sure, yeah, yeah, 120 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:52,720 Speaker 1: So we see the traces of Russ in the modern 121 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:57,720 Speaker 1: day because nations like Ukraine, Russia and Belarus all sort 122 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: of claim Kievan as their their cultural d n A. 123 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:07,280 Speaker 1: You know, obviously bellar ARUs, Russia have the name Russ 124 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:12,000 Speaker 1: in their own country's name. Uh. The name Kievan Ruce 125 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:15,000 Speaker 1: comes to us around somewhere in like the eighteen hundred's, 126 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:18,080 Speaker 1: nineteenth century or so, but as the same meaning as 127 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:20,520 Speaker 1: the land of the Russ, which is how it was 128 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 1: called in the Middle Ages and during Olga's time. The 129 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:29,840 Speaker 1: first stories about the russ from the time that people 130 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:35,439 Speaker 1: historically arrived in this region is told in the Primary Chronicle, 131 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:38,480 Speaker 1: which is also known as the Tale of Bygone Years, 132 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:41,160 Speaker 1: the Russian Primary Chronicle, and this is where we get 133 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:44,760 Speaker 1: a lot of the information about Princess Olga and her hubs. 134 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:49,280 Speaker 1: Igor himself, It's right, Igor was a Viking descendant. His father, 135 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 1: a man by the name of Ruric, was a chieftain. 136 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:54,960 Speaker 1: Like we said, this was a very kind of tribal society. 137 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:58,760 Speaker 1: Um and his people were called the Varangians. I don't 138 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:01,440 Speaker 1: know about that pronunciation. What do you think it reminds 139 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:03,880 Speaker 1: me of the Farangis from star Trek a little bit 140 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:08,400 Speaker 1: um but or the variags. They were also called v 141 00:09:08,559 --> 00:09:12,840 Speaker 1: a r y a g s varyags, varyags. There we go. 142 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:16,440 Speaker 1: And so he actually made the seat of his empire 143 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:21,880 Speaker 1: or his you know, power stronghold uh at somewhere called Novgorod, 144 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:24,840 Speaker 1: which was on the Volkov River. So in eight seventy 145 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:27,320 Speaker 1: nine were it passed away and he gave all of 146 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:31,560 Speaker 1: this land he held to his pal Oleg because Igor 147 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:33,720 Speaker 1: was just a little too young to rule, and so 148 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:36,439 Speaker 1: he was basically, uh you could call this like sort 149 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: of like an early form of a trust. He was 150 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:42,600 Speaker 1: holding onto this land and this title until Igor became 151 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:47,000 Speaker 1: of age. Right, so Ruric essentially said, I love my 152 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:50,480 Speaker 1: kid Igor. He stand up a f but he is 153 00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:54,319 Speaker 1: just too much of a whipper snapper right now. So 154 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:58,439 Speaker 1: old again Igor moved the capital of l Rus to Kiev, 155 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:03,000 Speaker 1: and they found the Kingdom of the Kievan Russ. This 156 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 1: would you know, you know, this is the origin point 157 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:09,480 Speaker 1: of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and so on. And at its largest, 158 00:10:09,679 --> 00:10:13,400 Speaker 1: it's imagine it's stretching from the Baltic Sea to the 159 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:18,319 Speaker 1: Black Sea. So from c to Shining Sea. Igor grows up. 160 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:22,480 Speaker 1: He manages not to die and in en he takes 161 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 1: the throne. Again. This comes to us from the primary chronicle, 162 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:29,760 Speaker 1: as you had said earlier. No, this is a very 163 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:35,680 Speaker 1: tribal socio political time, right. So there you're always playing 164 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:37,720 Speaker 1: king of the hill and you're always trying to fight 165 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:40,200 Speaker 1: the next guy or group coming up. So as soon 166 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:44,120 Speaker 1: as Igor gets the throne in he has to put 167 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:48,599 Speaker 1: down a rebellion because one of their client states or 168 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:53,160 Speaker 1: one of their client communities. The Drevelans decided, you know what, 169 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:57,280 Speaker 1: when Ruric was in play, we understood the game. But Igor, 170 00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:00,400 Speaker 1: you're you're new, you're brand new to this. We don't 171 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:02,080 Speaker 1: have to respect you. We don't have to pay you 172 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:05,800 Speaker 1: a tax or a tribute. Igor, you know, forced to 173 00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:09,200 Speaker 1: the point says okay, I'll call your bluff, and he 174 00:11:09,360 --> 00:11:12,280 Speaker 1: fights them and subdues them. This leads to a reign 175 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:17,520 Speaker 1: of peace until nine five, at which point the same 176 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:21,959 Speaker 1: tribe rebels again. That's right, So Igor had to take 177 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:26,800 Speaker 1: care of this second Drevelyan rebellion, and in order to 178 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:29,840 Speaker 1: do that, he actually had to leave Kiev and go 179 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:35,080 Speaker 1: to where the fighting was. Um. He succeeded in squashing 180 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:39,920 Speaker 1: this rebellion once again. Um and he said, look, you know, 181 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:43,320 Speaker 1: you guys are really testing me. So I'm gonna have 182 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:45,040 Speaker 1: to have some real consequences aside from like, you know, 183 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 1: massacring their people, which would be higher tributes. You can 184 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:51,520 Speaker 1: you could equate it to making them pay more taxes. 185 00:11:51,559 --> 00:11:55,800 Speaker 1: I guess right, And he said he pulled a dj 186 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:58,679 Speaker 1: khalin because he was on his way home, but he 187 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:03,280 Speaker 1: stopped and he said another one. He sent his the 188 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:07,600 Speaker 1: majority of his forces back to home base with the tribute, 189 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:11,200 Speaker 1: and then he came back to the drive lands with 190 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:16,040 Speaker 1: a smaller force. And this really weirded out the rebellious tribe. 191 00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:19,200 Speaker 1: It's a little weird. Yeah, So they said, okay, let's 192 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:22,640 Speaker 1: not let them physically get all the way to our town. 193 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:26,160 Speaker 1: Let's send out some emissaries and say, dude, what is 194 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:29,280 Speaker 1: going on with you? And then Igor says, you know, 195 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:33,520 Speaker 1: I refused to comment. So they panic and they they 196 00:12:33,559 --> 00:12:35,719 Speaker 1: send out a force. They send out an army. They 197 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:39,120 Speaker 1: subdue Egor's forces and they capture them. They take him 198 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:42,080 Speaker 1: to a place just outside their city, and they tied 199 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:46,520 Speaker 1: to birch trees to his legs bent they they're like 200 00:12:46,559 --> 00:12:48,840 Speaker 1: bent down to the ground because those are very flexible 201 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:52,000 Speaker 1: trees um and they I'm not sure exactly how they 202 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:53,640 Speaker 1: would do it, maybe tying a rope to the top 203 00:12:53,679 --> 00:12:56,520 Speaker 1: and pulling it down to the tippy top of the ground, 204 00:12:56,559 --> 00:12:58,880 Speaker 1: and then probably tying it to the trunk to make 205 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:01,000 Speaker 1: like a U shape and sat down your shape. And 206 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:04,079 Speaker 1: then they let them loose, each one of them. And 207 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 1: you can probably figure out what might have happened there, 208 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:09,160 Speaker 1: a very unpleasant form of the splits that you know, 209 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 1: split all the way down, you know, from stem to stern. 210 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:18,120 Speaker 1: Uh Dude was essentially torn in Twain Byzantine chronicler named 211 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:22,160 Speaker 1: Leo the Deacon, upon whom a lot of the Russian 212 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 1: Primary Chronicle is based. This Byzantine writer said that they 213 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:31,120 Speaker 1: literally tore the guy's body apart when these birch trees straightened. 214 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:39,160 Speaker 1: And now we're in a situation where history may not repeat, 215 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:43,079 Speaker 1: but it does rhyme. The king is dead. The king's 216 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:46,680 Speaker 1: heir in this case, a three year old named Siatoslav, 217 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:50,760 Speaker 1: is too young to take the throne, just the way 218 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:53,160 Speaker 1: that Igor was too young to take the throne and 219 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:57,360 Speaker 1: his father Ruric died. However, this situation is different here 220 00:13:57,640 --> 00:14:03,480 Speaker 1: because you'll recall that Igor married the subject of today's episode, 221 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:07,120 Speaker 1: Princess Olga of Kiev, and no, what does she do? 222 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:10,040 Speaker 1: Lots of stuff. I have a quick question, though, quick diversion. 223 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:11,600 Speaker 1: Just want to ask you, why do you think he 224 00:14:11,679 --> 00:14:14,920 Speaker 1: doubled back? Why do you think Igor doubled back and 225 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:17,719 Speaker 1: sent his men home? He didn't say, he didn't say. 226 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:21,120 Speaker 1: We'll never know. Bizarre, what a what a weird move. 227 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:24,600 Speaker 1: Maybe he forgot his keys, he already won. Maybe he 228 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:28,640 Speaker 1: was hungry, Maybe he needed to use the restroom. You know, 229 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:33,760 Speaker 1: I I don't know much about Kiva and Ruler's choice 230 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 1: of washroom facilities, so I I assumed at this point 231 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:40,880 Speaker 1: in history people just went off a decent distance into 232 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:43,440 Speaker 1: the woods. But you would think, yeah, yeah, I I 233 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:45,520 Speaker 1: don't know. I find that interesting. And I was find 234 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:48,480 Speaker 1: an issue that he mocked them essentially and said, I'm 235 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: not going to tell you why I came back. It's 236 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:53,160 Speaker 1: a very odd turn of events that ultimately led to 237 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:55,560 Speaker 1: this guy dying in a very brutal and horrific way. 238 00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:59,360 Speaker 1: There's definitely more to this story, and you know, history 239 00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:02,920 Speaker 1: is written by the winners, so it is possible maybe 240 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:06,440 Speaker 1: that they asked him to come back, or he felt 241 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:08,960 Speaker 1: he had to for some reason, I mean obviously felt 242 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:13,800 Speaker 1: like you had to. But when Olga learns this information, 243 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:17,400 Speaker 1: she's hit with a lot of stuff at once. Right, 244 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:20,440 Speaker 1: she sure was, Ben, I mean she here's the thing. Uh, 245 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:24,440 Speaker 1: these uh dre Vans Drevians. Yeah, we've seen it spelled 246 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:27,800 Speaker 1: a couple of different ways. Drev Leon's d r e 247 00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:32,440 Speaker 1: v l y A n s or. That's right. They 248 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:35,880 Speaker 1: thought that they had the upper hand here, right, because 249 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:39,000 Speaker 1: they figured, oh, she's just a like I like, I said, 250 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:42,880 Speaker 1: that misperception or scary stereotypical perception of what a princess is. 251 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:46,520 Speaker 1: She's some kind of demure aristocrat who they can just 252 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:49,320 Speaker 1: boss around. Now there's a woman in charge quote unquote 253 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:51,920 Speaker 1: that they can use to kind of do whatever they 254 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:54,920 Speaker 1: want with. They're basically thinking this is a strategic victory 255 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:57,400 Speaker 1: for them um as a people, that maybe they can 256 00:15:57,560 --> 00:16:01,320 Speaker 1: get the upper hand and force her to mary one 257 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:05,080 Speaker 1: of their prince mal prince mao. That's right, that that 258 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:07,720 Speaker 1: would uh make it so they didn't have to pay 259 00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:11,560 Speaker 1: these taxes anymore, are these tributes, and also potentially make 260 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:15,040 Speaker 1: it where they were by default ruling the region, ruling 261 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:18,280 Speaker 1: the roost, right the Kievan rusts right. We do have 262 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:24,480 Speaker 1: to remember that the idea of marrying for love and 263 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:30,480 Speaker 1: for for personal individual romantic feelings is you know, it's 264 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:33,440 Speaker 1: it's not as common back back in the day, right, 265 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:35,640 Speaker 1: so it makes more sense. It's kind of a standard 266 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:41,560 Speaker 1: operating procedure for communities to attempt to align one another 267 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:46,600 Speaker 1: through strategic marriage, thus also upping their own street cred. 268 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:50,480 Speaker 1: Right in this region, they send twenty of their top 269 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:55,160 Speaker 1: notch guys, probably Prince Mel's favorite personal reps to persuade 270 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:59,000 Speaker 1: Princess Olga to marry the guy who was in charge 271 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:04,639 Speaker 1: of her former husband's murderers. Again, this sounds crazy, but 272 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:08,960 Speaker 1: it is not super unusual in these times. Princess Olga 273 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:14,240 Speaker 1: plays into this sort of shrinking violet assumptions that these 274 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:17,520 Speaker 1: people have about her. She welcomes them into her house, 275 00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:21,000 Speaker 1: treats them like official, you know, guests of the state. 276 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:24,240 Speaker 1: She does the version of rolling out the red carpet, 277 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:27,719 Speaker 1: wherein she orders her forces to carry the men in 278 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:31,000 Speaker 1: their boats so they don't have to even walk themselves, 279 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:32,800 Speaker 1: as if they were some sort of like Palin Quinn 280 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:35,000 Speaker 1: or like a litter or something like that. Right, really 281 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:37,800 Speaker 1: giving them the royal treatment. But she had she had 282 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:40,720 Speaker 1: something else in mind, didn't she, Right, So they take 283 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:43,359 Speaker 1: these boats, her people take these boats to the courtyard 284 00:17:43,359 --> 00:17:46,440 Speaker 1: of the castle. There is a giant trench that has 285 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:51,000 Speaker 1: been pre dug, and they put the boats with the 286 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:55,040 Speaker 1: men in them into the trench. Maybe this is just 287 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:57,480 Speaker 1: you know, maybe it's just a weird party, they might 288 00:17:57,520 --> 00:17:59,439 Speaker 1: be thinking. But what happens next? Yeah, I kind of 289 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:01,160 Speaker 1: feel like they probably would have some of them would 290 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:03,520 Speaker 1: have been mortally injured already in that situation. If you're 291 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:05,800 Speaker 1: in a wooden boat and you just get chucked into 292 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:08,240 Speaker 1: a pit, you know, maybe you land upside down on 293 00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:10,480 Speaker 1: your neck or something like that, and and and get 294 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:13,320 Speaker 1: a mortal, mortal injury. But that wasn't gonna be enough. 295 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:15,880 Speaker 1: These people were already obviously very uncomfortable, whatever the case 296 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:18,119 Speaker 1: might be, whether they died or not. Um and she 297 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:20,359 Speaker 1: had them all buried alive. And it had to have 298 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:22,560 Speaker 1: been a serious pit, right, I mean, yeah, I mean 299 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:24,120 Speaker 1: it would have taken a long time to fill in. 300 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:25,720 Speaker 1: There would have had to have been no way for 301 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:28,480 Speaker 1: them to claw their way out, or it would have 302 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:31,000 Speaker 1: been very difficult. I'm trying to picture the scene, and uh, 303 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:34,720 Speaker 1: it reminds me of something you might have seen like Caligula. Sure. Yeah. 304 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:37,640 Speaker 1: And here's the thing though. The flaw in this plan, 305 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:40,919 Speaker 1: as I'm sure many of the more Mackavellion of us 306 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:45,720 Speaker 1: listening can can immediately identify, is that there's no one 307 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:50,320 Speaker 1: alive to send word back to Prince Mal and co. 308 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:55,400 Speaker 1: So she has anticipated this, Olga. Olga has not only 309 00:18:55,440 --> 00:19:00,800 Speaker 1: anticipated this, but she is taking it to a further extreme. 310 00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:05,080 Speaker 1: She picks one of her emissaries to send word back 311 00:19:05,119 --> 00:19:08,760 Speaker 1: to Prince Mal and says, you know what, water under 312 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:12,920 Speaker 1: the bridge, brohim, I accept your proposal for this marriage 313 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:18,720 Speaker 1: stuff caveat Asterix. I'll only accept if the Drevians send 314 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:21,960 Speaker 1: part of their company, like a big piece of their army, 315 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:25,240 Speaker 1: to be my escort back to your neck of the woods. 316 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:27,760 Speaker 1: Seems legit. Maybe would have been a little suspicious that 317 00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:30,800 Speaker 1: their twenty men had not returned yet. Yeah, maybe they 318 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:33,840 Speaker 1: were just being feted and uh and fed and entertained. 319 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:37,320 Speaker 1: And she she has some logic here for the prince. 320 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:41,359 Speaker 1: She says, after all, you know, we we want everybody 321 00:19:41,359 --> 00:19:44,640 Speaker 1: in the land to see what a big deal this is, right, 322 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:49,320 Speaker 1: so send me send me to you in style don't 323 00:19:49,359 --> 00:19:52,600 Speaker 1: I deserve it? And what does Prince Mal do? He 324 00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:56,600 Speaker 1: seems pretty into it, Sure did. He complied instantly and 325 00:19:56,680 --> 00:20:01,440 Speaker 1: sent some of his top chieftains to escort her. Yeah, 326 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:03,960 Speaker 1: and they show up right, and they were met with 327 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:06,480 Speaker 1: another rolling out of the red carpet, as it were, 328 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:11,280 Speaker 1: and she says, hey, guys, you're clearly very dusty from 329 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:13,919 Speaker 1: your journey. Why don't you come into one of our 330 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:17,040 Speaker 1: our famed bath houses and uh and have yourself as 331 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:18,879 Speaker 1: sh fitz. Have you ever heard that a sch fitz? 332 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: I've heard it. I don't know if that's what she said, 333 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:23,119 Speaker 1: but I totally get the gist. Yeah, they say it 334 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:24,600 Speaker 1: on the Sopranos a lot. So when you go in 335 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:26,600 Speaker 1: and have like a have a steam bath, that's a Schwitz, 336 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:28,720 Speaker 1: I like. But yeah, so they're they're and they're thinking 337 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:31,919 Speaker 1: they're gonna have a nice a little soak, possibly a 338 00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:35,600 Speaker 1: steam bath whatever whatever they got um, and she locks 339 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:39,640 Speaker 1: the doors behind them, and she burns everyone in that 340 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:45,800 Speaker 1: bath house alive. The building collapses like she she kills 341 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:49,600 Speaker 1: another group of people. And so now you think, okay, 342 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:54,680 Speaker 1: let's let's just sort of assume Prince Mal's perspective here 343 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:58,440 Speaker 1: He's got to know something's up at this point. After all, 344 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:03,600 Speaker 1: a good poorsche of his army, his martial forces, has 345 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:08,679 Speaker 1: been buried alive. The chieftains, the ruling class, his personal picks, 346 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:12,200 Speaker 1: his selects have also been burned alive. Don't really he 347 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:14,400 Speaker 1: doesn't know any of this though, right right, He doesn't 348 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:16,480 Speaker 1: know that they have not returned, right, So you have 349 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:19,160 Speaker 1: to at least be thinking about the first group. Kind 350 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:21,720 Speaker 1: of weird that none of those guys got back. So 351 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:26,280 Speaker 1: Olga is not done yet. She says. It's not enough 352 00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:29,640 Speaker 1: to kill his top notch army folks, is not enough 353 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:33,520 Speaker 1: to kill the essentially the ruling class of this tribe. 354 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:37,400 Speaker 1: I want to get rid of all of them. So 355 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:41,080 Speaker 1: she says something along the lines of, like my dear fiance, 356 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:44,600 Speaker 1: I will soon be arriving at the Drivean capital of 357 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:48,760 Speaker 1: escort Aston and asking them to arrange a funeral feast 358 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:52,040 Speaker 1: where we can more nova the death of my husband 359 00:21:52,119 --> 00:21:54,639 Speaker 1: eagle in the city. Yeah, and that perspective comes from 360 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:58,040 Speaker 1: an article on history Answers dot co dot uk. In 361 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:01,040 Speaker 1: the article olgav Kiev one st do not want to 362 00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:04,520 Speaker 1: mess with That is completely accurate. So dude is still 363 00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:07,240 Speaker 1: mall still very very much in the dark about what's 364 00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:09,800 Speaker 1: happened to his men. He gets this message which goes 365 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:13,560 Speaker 1: on that she wishes for him and his men to 366 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,800 Speaker 1: prepare vast quantities of mead, which is like a fermented 367 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:20,880 Speaker 1: honey beer kind of situation. You may well remember from 368 00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:24,400 Speaker 1: Bayo Wolf. You ever had mead before, ben, Yeah, multiple times. 369 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:28,840 Speaker 1: Tastes like it's cool. You can definitely taste the honey notes. 370 00:22:29,119 --> 00:22:34,520 Speaker 1: And usually I've needs not a not a regular weekli 371 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:36,840 Speaker 1: or monthly thing for me, but usually run into it 372 00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:39,960 Speaker 1: at some really cool cultural events. They're a bunch in Atlanta. 373 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:41,720 Speaker 1: I would love to take you guys at some point. 374 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:44,439 Speaker 1: Do they have it at medieval times? They probably have 375 00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:47,720 Speaker 1: something they call mead. It might be bud light or 376 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:50,600 Speaker 1: Miller light, the beer that's so good you can drink 377 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:52,199 Speaker 1: it with your mouth. Do they make mead light? Do 378 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:55,520 Speaker 1: you think? Uh, maybe they call it like mead zero. 379 00:22:56,240 --> 00:22:59,480 Speaker 1: I like it anyhow, So she says, um, please, you 380 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:02,600 Speaker 1: must prepare are these vast quantities of mead quote that 381 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:05,399 Speaker 1: I may weep over the grave of my husband and 382 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:09,280 Speaker 1: hold a funeral feast for him. And Mel's like word, 383 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:12,280 Speaker 1: I get it, you know, she's keeping it real. You've 384 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:15,359 Speaker 1: got to have these sort of closures in life, and 385 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:18,560 Speaker 1: she's being, you know, very reasonable about all this. You know, 386 00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:22,399 Speaker 1: in these our crazy times, what what can we be 387 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:27,440 Speaker 1: except for human? So he says totally and gives Olga 388 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:32,080 Speaker 1: and her crew her entourage safe passage into the territory, 389 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:38,159 Speaker 1: into the town, and once she arrives, she holds this huge, opulent, 390 00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:42,800 Speaker 1: opulent being a comparative term opulent funeral for Igor who 391 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:45,920 Speaker 1: has passed. A lot of people show up, a lot 392 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:48,600 Speaker 1: of the townsfolk, a lot of the important individuals of 393 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:51,480 Speaker 1: the time. This is a c and be seeing sort 394 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:54,920 Speaker 1: of thing, kind of the way that the Infinity Mirrors 395 00:23:54,960 --> 00:24:00,320 Speaker 1: exhibit at the High Museum was. However, maybe they trust 396 00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:03,920 Speaker 1: Olga a little bit too much. Maybe they should have 397 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:09,040 Speaker 1: thought a little more carefully about the context, because they 398 00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:14,879 Speaker 1: totally chill acts, they rage, they get wasted, they're super drunk. 399 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:19,119 Speaker 1: But Olga, it turns out, and the forces that she 400 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:21,600 Speaker 1: brought with her are not drunk. Yeah, I don't know 401 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:23,560 Speaker 1: if they were play acting and you know, doing that 402 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:25,719 Speaker 1: thing where someone buys you a shot and you had 403 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:27,679 Speaker 1: enough and you don't want to be rudes. Maybe you 404 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:29,760 Speaker 1: just kind of do a pretense sip and then you know, 405 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:32,399 Speaker 1: hide it. Maybe there was some of that going on. 406 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:35,000 Speaker 1: I don't know, maybe no one else but me does that. Um, 407 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:38,080 Speaker 1: but they definitely got away without being noticed that they 408 00:24:38,119 --> 00:24:40,720 Speaker 1: weren't drinking, cause that would be very suspicious, right yep. 409 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:44,119 Speaker 1: Then they got away with it. They waited until the 410 00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:49,840 Speaker 1: Drevans were uh drink, drank drunk, and then Olga said, okay, 411 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:54,639 Speaker 1: kill him. According to the Russian Primary Chronicle, around five 412 00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:58,679 Speaker 1: thousand Drevlins died that day or Drevians would have been 413 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:03,040 Speaker 1: an absolute slaughter, some real red wedding stuff. So wait, 414 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:06,400 Speaker 1: as Billy was wont to say, there's more, Yeah, there's more. 415 00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:10,480 Speaker 1: It's what you might consider her coup de graw, her finale, 416 00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:15,960 Speaker 1: her big finish Act four of this Revenge Chronicle, because 417 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:18,480 Speaker 1: this wasn't enough for her. She wanted more. She really 418 00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:21,439 Speaker 1: wanted to wipe out all of those that had anything 419 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:25,640 Speaker 1: to do with the death of her beloved husband. So, uh, 420 00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:28,600 Speaker 1: you know, there obviously were some survivors. Five thousands seems 421 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:30,720 Speaker 1: like a lot because this wouldn't have been a population 422 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:34,400 Speaker 1: of millions. I mean again, these were kind of smaller clans, right, 423 00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:38,520 Speaker 1: that's correct. Yeah, this was not a huge metropolis the 424 00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:48,320 Speaker 1: way we would understand one today. So the surviving Dravans, 425 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:51,800 Speaker 1: they were super freaked out, essentially, and they begged and 426 00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:54,920 Speaker 1: begged and begged, please don't kill us. We will we 427 00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:58,199 Speaker 1: will pay with whatever we have. We can't give you 428 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:01,960 Speaker 1: an army to serve you yet, give us a few generations. 429 00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:05,359 Speaker 1: But here's what we have. We have, honey, we have furs. 430 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:09,320 Speaker 1: Please take these, leave us with our lives. At this point, 431 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:14,720 Speaker 1: Olga says, you know what, maybe this time I'll be cool. 432 00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:19,000 Speaker 1: Give me three pigeons and three sparrows from each of 433 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:21,840 Speaker 1: your houses. And she says, I don't want to impose 434 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:25,520 Speaker 1: a heavy tribute like my husband Igor, because I know 435 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:29,040 Speaker 1: this siege and all these terrible things that I've done 436 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:30,920 Speaker 1: to you have left you in a really bad spot. 437 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:34,320 Speaker 1: So yeah, just give me, uh, three pigeons three sparrows 438 00:26:34,359 --> 00:26:36,640 Speaker 1: from each of your house. Not sketchy at all, um, 439 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:38,800 Speaker 1: And I gotta say, this sounds like the stuff of legend. 440 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:40,600 Speaker 1: I have a hard time believing this happened in this 441 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:42,840 Speaker 1: exact way, but this is what the chronicle tells us. 442 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:46,600 Speaker 1: So I'm I'm willing to suspend disbelief for the time being. 443 00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:50,720 Speaker 1: But this is genius. So she takes these birds, these 444 00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:53,880 Speaker 1: pigeons and sparrows, and she has each one of her 445 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:59,160 Speaker 1: um militiaman. Her soldiers take one and attach a string 446 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:03,159 Speaker 1: to their little bird feet um and in that string 447 00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:06,639 Speaker 1: there would be a piece of sulfur which is tied 448 00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:09,439 Speaker 1: up in a small piece of cloth. And then as 449 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:13,840 Speaker 1: the sun goes down, Olga tells her men to release 450 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:17,080 Speaker 1: these creepy birds all at once. And we should mention 451 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:20,040 Speaker 1: you didn't think it was a little weird maybe listeners 452 00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:23,240 Speaker 1: that uh, everyone just happened to have these birds. Well, 453 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:26,040 Speaker 1: it was a thing. They were like pets are kind 454 00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:28,439 Speaker 1: of familiars, like it was very much. They would, you know, 455 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:32,880 Speaker 1: occupy people's houses. Well, they also would make eggs, so 456 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:36,000 Speaker 1: there's a source of food there. Yeah, and they lived 457 00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:40,560 Speaker 1: in different parts of houses. Right. So the birds fly 458 00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:44,920 Speaker 1: to their various nest. The pigeons fly to the coats, 459 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:49,640 Speaker 1: and coats are a shelter for mammals or birds, especially pigeons. 460 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:54,239 Speaker 1: Like Mike Tyson, notorious pigeon Lover, amongst other things, he 461 00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:58,719 Speaker 1: has pigeon coats. And then the sparrows fly under the 462 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:01,160 Speaker 1: eaves where they tend to build their nests so they 463 00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:04,760 Speaker 1: can stay away from the rain. Then you had porches, um, 464 00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:06,600 Speaker 1: I guess, which just just you know, the front of 465 00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:09,200 Speaker 1: a person's house. And then you had hay mows, which 466 00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:12,960 Speaker 1: were uh just stacks of hay and barn situations. And 467 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:17,880 Speaker 1: that's when the dove coats, the coops, the porches, the eaves, 468 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:24,040 Speaker 1: the piles of hay all catch ablaze. According to the Chronicle, 469 00:28:24,119 --> 00:28:28,640 Speaker 1: there is not a house that escapes this conflagration. And 470 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:32,639 Speaker 1: because the houses all caught fire uh at roughly the 471 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:36,000 Speaker 1: same amount of time, it was difficult to extinguish everything. 472 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:39,280 Speaker 1: People fled from the city and then Olga, who had 473 00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:42,000 Speaker 1: her eye on it, said, oh no, no, no, no, no, no, 474 00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:44,960 Speaker 1: catch those folks running for the woods. Dude. This is 475 00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:48,760 Speaker 1: like the tiny bat bombs. Remember the bat bombs in 476 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:53,640 Speaker 1: uh in Japan. The idea was that they would roost 477 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:56,760 Speaker 1: in the eaves and the and all these houses all 478 00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:58,880 Speaker 1: the same time and then the bombs would go off. 479 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:01,280 Speaker 1: That didn't work so well. This seems to have worked 480 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:02,960 Speaker 1: better than the bat bombs. If you guys want to 481 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:05,360 Speaker 1: check that episode out. Might be a fun companion piece. 482 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:07,800 Speaker 1: Um and like you said, Yeah, those little bits of 483 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:12,720 Speaker 1: sulfur ignited all of these very very flammable nesting spots, 484 00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:16,000 Speaker 1: and boom, the whole town went up like uh, like 485 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:20,280 Speaker 1: flash paper, and the few who escaped were running into 486 00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:24,480 Speaker 1: the woods. What happened next? So here's the heavy metal 487 00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:29,040 Speaker 1: part of this. This this is where things build the 488 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:32,000 Speaker 1: same way that one of my favorite songs in the 489 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:35,080 Speaker 1: Hall of Mountain King builds. It just gets more and 490 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:39,480 Speaker 1: more nuts because while this city is burning down, Princess 491 00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:43,720 Speaker 1: olgav Kiev orders her forces to take it, and they 492 00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:47,960 Speaker 1: capture the surviving elders of the city. She kills some 493 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:51,400 Speaker 1: of them and then others she gives to her crew 494 00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:54,800 Speaker 1: to serve as slaves for the rest of her their lives, 495 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:59,680 Speaker 1: and then the ones left she says, remember me and 496 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:06,160 Speaker 1: pay tribute. This is insane. We also know that she 497 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:09,600 Speaker 1: did more than this, so this is like one amazing 498 00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:12,680 Speaker 1: revenge story, right. But it's not really the end of 499 00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:16,600 Speaker 1: her story because she was still regent for a long 500 00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:21,360 Speaker 1: time before her son ascended to the throne. And at 501 00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:24,120 Speaker 1: this point, this is where a lot of us are 502 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:29,400 Speaker 1: probably asking ourselves, Hey, the title equal to the Apostles 503 00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:34,160 Speaker 1: sounds kind of weird for someone who is best known, 504 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:37,000 Speaker 1: at least according to you Ben and you know, as 505 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:42,360 Speaker 1: as as a a bloody revenge artist. The thing is 506 00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:47,840 Speaker 1: that she turned a religious leaf about what about a 507 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:52,640 Speaker 1: decade after her revenge against Prince mal and her husband's murderers. 508 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:55,560 Speaker 1: Because these folks would have practiced paganism, I guess to 509 00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:57,960 Speaker 1: for to use kind of a blanket term, right, Well, 510 00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:02,040 Speaker 1: they were definitely yeah, Christians would definitely call them pagans, 511 00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:07,440 Speaker 1: and Christianity was not seen as a beneficial force to 512 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:13,240 Speaker 1: the Kievan Russ. But Olga visited Constantinople and she met 513 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:18,320 Speaker 1: Christians there and whatever the substance of their conversation may 514 00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:22,280 Speaker 1: have been, it impressed her and soon after she converted. 515 00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:29,120 Speaker 1: This was weird because her own country, Kievan Rus hated Christianity, 516 00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:33,280 Speaker 1: hated the culture of it, hated the spirituality of it. 517 00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:36,000 Speaker 1: They just, from top to bottom they thought it sucks. 518 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:38,680 Speaker 1: Christianity was a conquering force. I mean, there was a 519 00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:45,120 Speaker 1: real drive to snuff out any pagan societies and convert 520 00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:48,920 Speaker 1: them to Christianity. So for her, this warrior queen, to 521 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:54,600 Speaker 1: convert voluntarily is more than a little suspicious. If you 522 00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:57,800 Speaker 1: ask me, but who knows. Well, yeah, the chronicle claims 523 00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:00,920 Speaker 1: to know, because in the chronicle the authors say that 524 00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:05,880 Speaker 1: Olga's conversion, or her epiphany that turns her into a 525 00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:10,200 Speaker 1: Christian was part of a ruse kievan ruse right, a 526 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:13,640 Speaker 1: kievan ruse uh in this case, our usc to avoid 527 00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:18,000 Speaker 1: marriage to the emperor at the time, Constantine the Seven, 528 00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:21,200 Speaker 1: because when she visited his court in Constantinople, she said 529 00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:24,800 Speaker 1: they could not possibly marry because he was a Christian 530 00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:29,480 Speaker 1: and she was a Pagan, but she would undergo baptism 531 00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:32,800 Speaker 1: if it pleased him. So she was baptized by the 532 00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:37,080 Speaker 1: patriarch of Constantinople, and she managed to evade marriage the 533 00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:42,480 Speaker 1: Constantine because he stood by as her godfather during the baptism. 534 00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:46,959 Speaker 1: It's a pretty serious godfather right there. So why is 535 00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:52,400 Speaker 1: she known as a saint? Well, she knew when violence worked, 536 00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:56,760 Speaker 1: and she apparently also knew when the strategy of the 537 00:32:56,800 --> 00:33:02,160 Speaker 1: open hand worked. She began and missionary efforts in modern 538 00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:06,440 Speaker 1: day Ukraine. She set up hospitals, and she used public 539 00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:10,080 Speaker 1: announcements to teach people about the Christian faith. Everything that 540 00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:15,280 Speaker 1: we know about missionary work tends to indicate that people 541 00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:17,719 Speaker 1: are more likely to believe in the religion, you are 542 00:33:17,760 --> 00:33:20,560 Speaker 1: pitching to them if they associate it with good things 543 00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:23,640 Speaker 1: happening to them. Right, So, if if someone sets up 544 00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:26,160 Speaker 1: a hospital for you or feeds the poor in the 545 00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:28,360 Speaker 1: hungry and then says, by the way, I'm doing this 546 00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:31,600 Speaker 1: because of this religion, you are more likely to agree 547 00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:34,560 Speaker 1: with them than you would if they said, oh, by 548 00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:38,280 Speaker 1: the way, we killed everyone important in your community because 549 00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:40,840 Speaker 1: our religion is so great, catching more flies with honey 550 00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:43,520 Speaker 1: and all that. So indeed, it took a little while, 551 00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:48,480 Speaker 1: but the kingdom of kievan Ruth did eventually become a 552 00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:51,960 Speaker 1: Christian one. It took about ten years after Olga's death. 553 00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:55,640 Speaker 1: She also, of course given a Christian burial that her 554 00:33:55,760 --> 00:34:00,560 Speaker 1: son Vladimir took the throne of Kiev what is now Kiev, 555 00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:05,040 Speaker 1: and made Christianity the official religion. And again remember this 556 00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:09,080 Speaker 1: is uh. You know, Constantinople would have been sending out 557 00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:13,160 Speaker 1: um emissaries and folks that were gonna try to convert 558 00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:18,200 Speaker 1: the unwashed pagan masses of Kiev and Ruse to Christianity. 559 00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:22,400 Speaker 1: But she succeeded where those folks failed, and that is 560 00:34:22,640 --> 00:34:27,680 Speaker 1: what got her that sainthood. And thus we finally arrive 561 00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:31,560 Speaker 1: at the reason Princess Olga of Kiev is now known 562 00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:35,840 Speaker 1: as Saint Olga of Kiev, equal to the Apostles, Viking, 563 00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:39,960 Speaker 1: Saint Queen of Russia, Missionary to Ukraine, Scourge of the 564 00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:45,840 Speaker 1: drev Unds. What a ride ride, you know, sometimes it 565 00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:48,680 Speaker 1: occurs to me. I'm like, people are out here changing 566 00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:51,799 Speaker 1: the world, and I fell asleep when I got back 567 00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:54,359 Speaker 1: from the airport trying to put on a pair of pants. Well, 568 00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:56,920 Speaker 1: you were very jetlagged, and I'm sure you had adventures 569 00:34:56,920 --> 00:34:59,040 Speaker 1: that kept you up. Um, so we'll give you a 570 00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:00,839 Speaker 1: pass on that, Ben, that is a real image, though, 571 00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:03,200 Speaker 1: I'll tell you was there on one leg in or 572 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:07,279 Speaker 1: uh you know, I when I when I woke up, 573 00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:11,400 Speaker 1: I would I would give myself a hard one point 574 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:14,520 Speaker 1: five and putting on the pants in terms of leg applied, 575 00:35:15,239 --> 00:35:17,640 Speaker 1: I think my left my left leg made it about 576 00:35:17,719 --> 00:35:19,520 Speaker 1: to where that the knee would be and then it 577 00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:21,520 Speaker 1: was game over. You know, you can't win them all. 578 00:35:21,680 --> 00:35:23,880 Speaker 1: I got I got pants on today at least, so 579 00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:26,839 Speaker 1: one step closer to st hoodie. I can attest that. 580 00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:29,040 Speaker 1: And it is also game over for this episode, but 581 00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:31,319 Speaker 1: not the show, as you would say, Ben, this has 582 00:35:31,360 --> 00:35:32,960 Speaker 1: been a really interesting one. I would love to see 583 00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:37,120 Speaker 1: this made into a rollicking film like It's got all 584 00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:39,680 Speaker 1: the all the stuff. I would watch it too as 585 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:44,640 Speaker 1: maybe one of those extended music videos. I'm really into that. Uh, 586 00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:47,040 Speaker 1: it would it would be a great It would be 587 00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:50,160 Speaker 1: a great anime too, although my thinking is probably a 588 00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:55,560 Speaker 1: little color. Thank you so much for checking out the 589 00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:59,080 Speaker 1: show as always. Happy New Year once again to super 590 00:35:59,120 --> 00:36:02,920 Speaker 1: producer okay E c Pegram. Thanks to Christopher Hasiotis. Thanks 591 00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:07,720 Speaker 1: to our almost said revenge associates, our research associates Gabe 592 00:36:07,719 --> 00:36:11,680 Speaker 1: Losier and Ryan Barrish. Thanks to Alex Williams who composed 593 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:15,360 Speaker 1: our theme. Thanks to Jonathan Strickland, the notorious Quister, for 594 00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:18,319 Speaker 1: not showing up today. That's always a good day in 595 00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:21,360 Speaker 1: the studio. Um, and thanks to you Ben for for 596 00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:23,280 Speaker 1: being a friend and for making it back and forgetting 597 00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:27,760 Speaker 1: your pants on and looking ship shape despite your sleeplessness 598 00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:30,879 Speaker 1: and jet laggery. Thanks to you as well, doll Peak 599 00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:33,600 Speaker 1: behind the Curtain. We have one more episode to record, 600 00:36:33,640 --> 00:36:36,080 Speaker 1: so I am gonna go shotguns and coffee. It sounds 601 00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:46,239 Speaker 1: like a plan. See you next time, folks. For more 602 00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:48,799 Speaker 1: podcasts for My Heart Radio, visit the I heart radio app, 603 00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:51,920 Speaker 1: Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.