Olga’s visit to Constantinople and her baptism
Olga, “archontissa of Rus’”, was received with great ceremony at the court of Constantine VII; according to the Primary Chronicle she was baptised in Constantinople as Helena, with the emperor as her godfather — the first ruler of Rus’ to become a Christian.
- Date
- 9 September – 18 October 957exact date, uncertain · duration: 39 daysDate in the Julian calendar
- Place
- Constantinopletoday: Istanbul, Turkey · Balkans and Anatolia
- Route
- Kyiv → Constantinople
- Participants
- Olga of Kiev, Kievan Rus’, Byzantine Empire
- Threads
- Eastern Europe and Rus’ before the Baptism (1st–10th c.)
- Also known as
- Baptism of Olga; Helena; Крещение Ольги; Адальберт Магдебургский; Adalbert's mission to Rus'
Constantine VII described two receptions in the Great Palace in De Ceremoniis — on Wednesday 9 September and Sunday 18 October — without giving the year. This combination of weekdays fits only 946 and 957; the mention of Romanos II’s children points to 957, now the generally accepted date, while Gennady Litavrin argued for 946. The Primary Chronicle dates the baptism to 955 and tells a legend in which Olga outwits the emperor, who wants to marry her. Hence the dates here are marked as uncertain.
Constantine does not mention a baptism, and a priest named Gregory in Olga’s retinue led some historians to suppose that she had already been baptised in Kyiv; the 11th-century historian John Skylitzes, however, places her baptism in Constantinople. The visit brought her less than she had hoped: in 959 her envoys asked Otto I for a bishop, but the German mission of Adalbert (961–962) failed, and her son Sviatoslav remained a pagan.
Connections
Related events
- Olga’s revenge on the Drevlians945–946 · Eastern Europefrom pagan revenge to Christian baptism
- Imperial coronation of Otto I2 February 962 · Western and Central Europeat Olga’s request Otto I sent Bishop Adalbert to Rus’ in 961; the mission failed in 962, the year of Otto’s imperial coronation
- Baptism of Rus’988 · Eastern EuropeOlga’s example is cited by the boyars when Vladimir chooses a faith
Same participants
- Constantine VII describes the Rus’ route to Constantinoplebetween 948 and 952 · Eastern Europevia Kievan Rus’
- Sviatoslav’s campaign against the Khazars964 – between 968 and 969 · Eastern Europevia Kievan Rus’
- Pecheneg siege of Kyiv968 · Eastern Europevia Olga of Kiev
- Sviatoslav’s invasion of Bulgariabetween 967 and 968 – July 971 · Balkans and Anatoliavia Byzantine Empire
Same place
- Founding of Constantinople11 May 330 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Council of Chalcedon8 October – 1 November 451 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Corpus Juris Civilis7 April 529 – 16 November 534 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Construction of Hagia Sophia23 February 532 – 27 December 537 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Plague of Justinian541–549 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Jordanes and Procopius describe the Sclaveni and the Antesbetween 550 and 554 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Avar–Persian siege of Constantinople29 June – 7 August 626 · Balkans and Anatolia
- First Arab siege of Constantinople674–678 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Second Arab siege of Constantinoplebetween 15 July and 15 August 717 – 15 August 718 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Byzantine Iconoclasmbetween 726 and 730 – 11 March 843 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’ attack on Constantinople18 June – 4 August 860 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Oleg’s campaign against Constantinople907 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’–Byzantine Treaty of 9112 September 911 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Igor’s campaigns against Byzantium11 June 941 – 944 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’–Byzantine Treaty of 944between 944 and 945 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Sack of Constantinople12–13 April 1204 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Reconquest of Constantinople25 July 1261 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Fall of Constantinople29 May 1453 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Accession of Suleiman the Magnificent30 September 1520 · Balkans and Anatolia
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within 25 years of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Battle of Lechfeld10–12 August 955
- Imperial coronation of Otto I2 February 962
- Baptism of Poland14 April 966
Eastern Europe
- Constantine VII describes the Rus’ route to Constantinoplebetween 948 and 952
- Sviatoslav’s campaign against the Khazars964 – between 968 and 969
- Pecheneg siege of Kyiv968
- Olga’s revenge on the Drevlians945–946
- Drevlian uprising and death of Igor945
+ 4 events
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Olga of Kiev
- Wikipedia (English): De Ceremoniis
- Wikipedia (English): Adalbert of Magdeburg
- Wikipedia (Russian): Ольга (княгиня киевская)
- Wikipedia (Russian): О церемониях
- Constantine Porphyrogennetos. The Book of Ceremonies / Transl. A. Moffatt, M. Tall. — Canberra: Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, 2012. — II.15.
- Литаврин Г. Г. Византия, Болгария, Древняя Русь (IX — начало XII в.). — СПб.: Алетейя, 2000.
- Назаренко А. В. Древняя Русь на международных путях. — М.: Языки русской культуры, 2001.