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Church. The latter embraced a more radical
rejection of the Orthodox Church, questioning not
only the priesthood but also all sacraments except
baptism and confession. Large Old Believer com-
munities developed in the northern reaches of
the
VOLGA RIVER
and in the relatively remote
regions of the Altai Mountains and Lake Baikal
in Siberia. An important Old Believer commu-
nity also took shape in Moscow, where several
Old Believer families established business
dynasties in the course of the 19th century that
played a central role in the development of a
Russian entrepreneurial class and in the politics
of pre-revolutionary Russia. Prominent industri-
alists such as Pavel
RIABUSHINSKY
and Aleksandr
GUCHKOV
hailed from Old Believer families and
emerged as spokesmen for this business elite in
the first decade of the 20th century.
stantinople, that cannot be confirmed else-
where. Nevertheless, four years later, in 911,
Oleg signed an advantageous commercial treaty
with the Byzantine state, the first between the
established empire and the upstart Kievan state.
Upon Oleg's death, Prince Igor, alleged to be
Rurik's son, succeeded Oleg as grand prince of
Kiev, ruling from 913 to 945.
Olga
(ca. 890-969)
ruler
The first Russian saint and first female ruler of
Kiev, Olga was the wife of Grand Duke Igor of
Kiev, who ruled from 913 until 945. Following
Igor's death in battle with the Derevlians, who
threatened Kiev, Olga was called to serve as
regent for her young son, Sviatoslav. As with the
early rulers of Kiev, most of the information
about her reign is drawn from the 12th-century
Primary Chronicle,
which praised her as “the wis-
est of women.” Accounts of her background
agree that she came from the northern town of
PSKOV
, but they dispute whether she was of
Slavic or Scandinavian forebears, part of a larger
debate about the origins of the early rulers of
Kiev. The main events of her reign were the con-
tinuing battles with eastern steppe tribes and her
own conversion to Christianity. She avenged
Igor's death by defeating the Derevlians and
imposing heavy tribute duties on them. Olga is
also credited for regulating the collection of trib-
ute by establishing depots throughout the coun-
try. The
Primary Chronicle
tells of her conversion
in 954 or 955 and a subsequent trip to Con-
stantinople, where she was well received by the
Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogeni-
tus. There are various accounts, not always reli-
able, about her trip to Constantinople. Some
claim that she artfully dodged a marriage pro-
posal from the emperor. Her conversion to
Christianity remained a relatively isolated epi-
sode, until the reign of her grandson
VLADIMIR I
(sometimes known as Vladimir the Great), who
was baptized and adopted Christianity as the
official religion of the Kievan state in 988.
Oleg
(unknown-913)
ruler
Considered to be the founder and first historical
ruler of
KIEVAN RUS
, much of our knowledge
about Oleg is shrouded in mystery and is drawn
from the 12th-century
Primary Chronicle.
Accord-
ing to the chronicle, Oleg became the ruler of the
city of
NOVGOROD
in 879, succeeding his kins-
man, the legendary Rurik. In 882 he led an expe-
dition against the city of
KIEV
, captured it, and
made it his capital and the center of a state and
civilization that would flourish for the next three
centuries until the Mongol conquest. Most of
Oleg's reign as grand prince of Kiev was spent on
military campaigns against neighboring peoples
along the waterways of the Volkhov and Dniepr
Rivers. The Derevlians, in particular, seem to
have resisted Kievan expansion. On the whole,
Oleg followed the traditional pattern of main-
taining a conquered people's allegiance through
system of tribute.
In 907, Oleg led a campaign against Con-
stantinople. Although Byzantine sources say lit-
tle about this campaign, Russian chronicles retell
it extensively, adding colorful details, such as
how Oleg nailed his shield on the gates of Con-
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