Igor Rurikovich's wife, Olga, is considered the greatest princess in Kievan Rus.
Who is Princess Olga?
According to ancient chronicles, the girl had a peasant origin. Thanks to her positive qualities, as well as extraordinary wisdom, as a young teenager, she was noticed by the Grand Duke Igor and chosen by him as his wife. It so happened that for quite a long period the princely couple had no children. This fact contributed to the fact that Olga began to pray to the Christian god, and after a short time the spouses had an heir. Thus, among the pagan people, Olga was the first to accept Christianity and began to help spread it in Russia. In a sense, the very fact of Olga's decision to accept the Christian faith testified to her rationality and subtle intellect. Despite this, Olga's husband and son remained faithful to their pagan gods, who helped them in battles. Nevertheless, Olga's actions had an important impact on her grandson, Prince Vladimir, who baptized Russia. He also chose the Christianreligion as state.
Ascension to the Throne
Princess Olga became a widow early: while collecting tribute, Igor was brutally killed by angry Drevlyans. Since the heir was still small, the princess herself took the throne.
The first thing she did was deal with the Drevlyans who executed her husband, sharply suppressing their uprising. After that, a period began during which the reforms of Princess Olga were implemented. During this time there were structural changes in the system of government. Olga's main task was to prevent future incidents like the one that led to the death of her husband.
Innovations and transformations
What reforms did Princess Olga carry out? First of all, she de alt with the issue of collecting tribute, establishing an orderly system of taxation. Princess Olga carried out a reform, the purpose of which was to weaken tribal power by strengthening her influence. This event is described in The Tale of Bygone Years by Nestor: “And Olga went with her son and with her retinue through the Drevlyane land, setting tributes and taxes.” Princess Olga's reforms began in 946.
Tax reform
An important step was the establishment of the so-called "lessons". Princess Olga fixed clearly defined amounts of tribute, which had to be paid within certain time limits. Unlike "polyudya", this became a more civilized form of taxation, since tribute was collected only once a year in kind: products, furs, and various kinds of products.
Meaning of churchyards
The reforms of Princess Olga did not end there. An important innovation was the establishment of churchyards. They were small centers of princely power. From now on, each administrative district acquired its own churchyard and camp, where tribute was collected. Graveyards were also used for trade. Thus, the administrative reforms of Princess Olga contributed to the creation of territorial divisions that were under the authority of the vicegerent prince and capable of repelling anyone dissatisfied with the policy and decrees of the princess. Later, by the 12th century, the churchyards became the administrative centers of the district.
Before Olga's reign, the collection of tribute was carried out in the form of polyudya - an annual winter detour of the possessions of the authorities, during which tax could be collected twice from one yard. Of course, this fact caused discontent and indignation of payers. However, with the introduction of graveyards, people who brought tribute received a special princely seal, which saved them from re-collecting the tax. Olga carefully put this reform into action, gradually honing its mechanism. In the process of implementing the new system, most of the local princes lost their power, and the independence of the autonomous tribes was sharply curtailed. The work carried out by Olga did not receive publicity and rave reviews, but was of great importance in the development of statehood.
Chieun Approval
The next step was the appointment of tyuns-tribute collectors on the churchyards. Until the entry into the Old Russian state, the Eastern Slavs calledtiuns "cattlemen" First of all, this reform testified that there was a development of commodity-money relations. Instead of cattle, the Russians approved a special form of equivalent, reminiscent of metal money.
If we list the reforms of Princess Olga briefly, we can highlight certain aspects. This is the approval of lessons, the creation of churchyards and the appointment of collectors of tribute-tiuns. Princess Olga during her reign carried out the first financial reform in Russia. She established a fixed amount of tribute and the procedure for its collection. The meaning of the activities of Princess Olga was the rationing of duties, the centralization of Kyiv power, the weakening of local (tribal) power.
In other words, the reforms of Princess Olga contributed to the fact that the tribute that was collected from the autonomous tribes was replaced by the same fixed tax, which was paid by the entire population. At the same time, the possibility of repeated collection from one payer was avoided.
Thus, the reforms of Princess Olga finally approved the central government of Kyiv, streamlined the taxation system, created an administrative division of the state. Later, Olga's domestic policy was sung by the people in legends and songs. Thanks to the introduction of the Christian religion, Olga was elevated to the rank of saints and became an Equal-to-the-Apostles preacher. Changes in the social, political and economic, spiritual sphere made it possible to strengthen Russia. Of course, this was the most important stage in the history of the creation of the Russian statehood.
