Igor of Kiev

Igor I
Prince of Rus'
Igor of Kiev. Illumination from the Radziwiłł Chronicle
Reign	914–945
Coronation	914
Predecessor	Oleg
Successor	Sviatoslav the Brave
Died	945 Iskorosten
Burial	?
Wife	Saint Olga
Issue	Sviatoslav the Brave
Full name Igor Riurikovich
Dynasty	Rurik Dynasty
Father	Rurik
Religion	Pagan

Igor I (Old East Slavic/Russian: Игорь; Ukrainian: Ігор; Old Norse: Ingvar) was a Varangian ruler of Kievan Rus' from 912 to 945.

Biography

Information about Igor' comes mostly from the Primary Chronicle. This document has Igor as the son of Rurik, the first ruler of Kievan Rus':

6378–6387 (870–879). On his deathbed, Rurik bequeathed his realm to Oleg, who belonged to his kin, and entrusted to Oleg's hands his son Igor', for he was very young.

6388–6390 (880–882). Oleg set forth, taking with him many warriors from among the Varangians, the Chuds, the Slavs, the Merians and all the Krivichians. He thus arrived with his Krivichians before Smolensk, captured the city, and set up a garrison there. Thence he went on and captured Lyubech, where he also set up a garrison. He then came to the hills of Kiev, and saw how Askold and Dir reigned there. He hid his warriors in the boats, left some others behind, and went forward himself bearing the child Igor'. He thus came to the foot of the Hungarian hill, and after concealing his troops, he sent messengers to Askold and Dir, representing himself as a stranger on his way to Greece on an errand for Oleg and for Igor', the prince's son, and requesting that they should come forth to greet them as members of their race. Askold and Dir straightway came forth. Then all the soldiery jumped out of the boats, and Oleg said to Askold and Dir, "You are not princes nor even of princely stock, but I am of princely birth." Igor' was then brought forward, and Oleg announced that he was the son of Rurik. They killed Askold and Dir, and after carrying them to the hill, they buried them there, on the hill now known as Hungarian, where the castle of Ol'ma now stands.^[1]

Igor' twice besieged Constantinople, in 941 and 944, and although Greek fire destroyed part of his fleet, he concluded with the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII a favourable treaty (945), the text of which the chronicle has preserved. In 913 and 944 the Rus' plundered the Arabs in the Caspian Sea during the Caspian expeditions of the Rus', but it remains unclear whether Igor' had anything to do with these campaigns.

Prince Igor Exacting Tribute from the Drevlyans, by Klavdiy Lebedev (1852-1916).

Igor' was killed while collecting tribute from the Drevlians in 945. The Byzantine historian and chronicler, Leo the Deacon (born ca 950), describes how Igor met his death: "They had bent down two birch trees to the prince's feet and tied them to his legs; then they let the trees straighten again, thus tearing the prince's body apart."^[2] Igor's wife, Olga of Kiev, avenged his death by punishing the Drevlians. The Primary Chronicle blames his death on his own excessive greed, indicating that he tried to collect tribute for a second time in a month. As a result, Olga changed the system of tribute gathering (poliudie) in what may be regarded as the first legal reform recorded in Eastern Europe.

Controversy

Drastically revising the chronology of the Primary Chronicle, Constantin Zuckerman argues that Igor actually reigned for three years, between summer 941 and his death in early 945. He explains the epic 33-year span of his reign in the chronicle to be the result of its author's faulty interpretation of Byzantine sources.^[3] Indeed, none of Igor's activities are recorded in the chronicle prior to 941.

See also

• List of Ukrainian rulers
• List of Russian rulers

References

1. Translated and edited by Cross, S. H. and Sherbowitz-Wetzor, O. P. (1953). "The Russian Primary Chronicle: Laurentian Text" (PDF). Crimson Printing Company, Cambridge, Massachusetts. pp. 60–61. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
2. Tarasenko, Leonid (27 February 2008). "Korosten (Iskorosten): A small town with a great history". geocities.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2009. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
3. Zuckerman, Constantin (1995). "On the Date of the Khazars' Conversion to Judaism and the Chronology of the Kings of the Rus Oleg and Igor: A Study of the Anonymous Khazar Letter from the Genizah of Cairo" (PDF). Volume 53. Revue des études byzantines (1): 237–270. doi:10.3406/rebyz.1995.1906. ISSN 0766-5598. Retrieved 5 July 2016.