Short biography
The messengers sent to Sweden brought disappointing news: in the summer, ambassadors from the Novgorod “King Yaritsleiva” arrived to Olaf Shetkonung, the Swedish king married his daughter to the future Kyiv prince and ruler of Russia Yaroslav (the Wise), the son of Vladimir Svyatoslavich, who then reigned in Novgorod. Olaf II married Ingigerda’s half-sister Astrid.
Scandinavian chronicles explain what happened like this:
“Olaf jumped off his horse, turned to his daughter and said: “You know, Ingigerd, no matter how much you love this fat man, you can’t be his wife, but he can’t be your husband. I will marry you to a ruler worthy of my friendship. But I will never be the friend of a man who seized my possessions and caused me much damage by robbery and murder.”
Princess Ingigerda set her conditions:
“If I marry King Yaritsleif, then I want Aldeigyuborg and the land that belongs to him as a wedding gift to myself.”
According to the “Sagas of Saint Olaf”, under a marriage contract, Princess Ingigerda received as a dowry the city of Aldeigaborg (now the village of Staraya Ladoga) with the surrounding lands, which have since received the name Ingermanland – “the lands of Ingigerd’s people”.
There is a version that Ingigerda was the second wife of Yaroslav, since the first wife of the Russian prince in 1018 was captured by the Polish king Boleslav I and, together with Yaroslav’s sisters, was forever taken to Poland.
Role in government affairs
According to the surviving sagas, Igigerda was directly involved in public affairs. The Eymund Saga calls Yaroslav not very generous, and sometimes openly greedy. He repeatedly delayed the payment of Eymund’s salary, and this happened after the end of the internecine war. This prompted Eymund to terminate the agreement with Yaroslav and go over to the side of Yaroslav’s nephew (called brother in the Saga) Bryachislav of Polotsk (King Vartislave).
Soon, a war broke out between Bryachislav and Yaroslav. Yaroslav demanded to give up him some cities of the Polotsk principality. During this war, Ingigerda, together with Jarl Rognvald, took part in an attempt to kill yarl Eimund. Before the assassination attempt, Eymund spoke of her like this:
« …— I do not trust her, because she is smarter than King Yarisleif, but I do not want to avoid talking to her.»
The Grand Duchess founded the first convent in Kyiv in the name of her patroness, the Holy Great Martyr Irina, and, according to the custom of that time, not only took care of the monastery, but also managed it.
In 1045, Yaroslav and Ingigerda went to Novgorod from Kyiv to lay the foundation stone for the St. Sophia Cathedral.
Role in international relations
After the conquest of England by the Danes in 1016, the sons of the English king Edmund Ironside and the nephews of King Edward the Confessor, the English princes Edward and Edmund fled first to Ladoga, then to Novgorod, then to Kyiv to Yaroslav and Ingigerda, and then to Hungary.
In Veliky Novgorod, the deceased King Olaf was revered as a martyr. According to legend, Olaf had the gift of healing the sick. Once, a woman came to Princess Irina asking for help for her young son, who was choking from a sore throat. Ingigerda sent a messenger to Olaf, who agreed to help when he found out who had transmitted the request for help. Olaf stroked the boy’s throat and gave him a piece of bread to swallow, and the child was healed.
(art. Pius Welonski, 1893)
Children of Ingigerda and Yaroslav the Wise
Izyaslav Yaroslavich
Death and burial
According to one version, she died in Novgorod on February 10, 1050 (or 1049-1051), and according to another, having been widowed in 1054, she took the veil as a nun under the name Anna and died in Novgorod on February 10, 1056, having taken monastic vows before her death. The tonsure of Irina-Ingigerda was the first in the grand duke’s house; it began the tradition of tonsure of Russian princes and princesses after they fulfilled their duty as rulers of the people.
Collecting information about Ingigerd, N. M. Karamzin visited Novgorod, where he discovered ancient icons with her image in the bishop’s house. On them she was listed as Saint Anna. He found the same name of the princess in the text of the Sophia Charter, indicating that her memory should be celebrated on September 5 and October 4. Since the researcher knew that the Christian name Ingigerd was Irina, he decided that before her death she took the tonsure under the name Anna.
The historian discovered inside the temple in the most prominent place the burial place of Vladimir and Anna. Above her coffin on the wall was the following inscription:
“The Holy Blessed Princess Anna, Mother of the Holy Blessed Prince Vladimir Yaroslavich, Princess of Sweden, Olav the First, King of Sweden, daughter. In her land she was called Ingegerda, who was formerly the bride of Olaf, King of Norway, then the wife of Yaroslav Vladimirovich of Novgorod and Kyiv. Passed away in the summer from s. M. 6559, dated R. X. 1051. Her relics were laid in the Novgorod St. Sophia Cathedral.
Swedish sources also report that after the death of Ingigerda, Rognvald did not want to return Ladoga to the Novgorodians, and they had to recapture the city by force. Centuries will pass, but the struggle between Sweden and Russia for Ingermanland will not be over and will result in a protracted conflict – the Northern War of 1700-1721.
Loading...
