Your Hit of Randomness

Ingegerd Olafsdotter of Sweden

You’ve probably never heard of Ingegerd Olafsdotter of Sweden, and until yesterday, neither had I. How I got into genealogy is a long story, but the short version is: I thought it would make my kids more interested in history. It made them slightly more interested in history, but it became something of an obsession for me. I hear a tiny bit about a “new” ancestor, and I start clicking all over the Internet.

Every so often, when ancestry.com thinks you haven’t been spending enough time on their website, they will email you what they hope is an enticing hint about one of your ancestors, to lure you back. Thus they sent me this clue yesterday, a picture of an old ancestor:

Ingrid, Ingegerd, Ingagard: They played pretty loose with their spelling and titles, but a “grand princess” who died in 1050 was definitely intriguing.

For those who don’t do genealogy and wonder how likely it is that you have a legit family tree so far back in time: Depending on where your ancestors lived, you can often find really good American records going back to the 1600s, and there is a set of early American settlers known as “gateway ancestors” who have documented genealogy back to European royalty, and pretty much all the European royalty is heavily intermarried and documented.

If you happen to have one of these “gateway ancestors,” you’ll find that the family trees have been written for you going back many hundreds of years—no additional research required. In one sense, it’s a little boring because the research is done. But in another sense it’s interesting, because although literally everyone with European ancestry is probably related to all these people, it’s still fun to be able to list all the generations from you to her and say, “Yup that Grand Princess was my 30th great-grandmother, in exactly this way.” But she’s probably your 30th great-grandmother too.

In any case: ancestry.com’s algorithm had succeeded in working its magic and for the next several hours, I clicked on everything I could find about this woman and her family—and it just reinforced to me how little I know about anything that’s happened in the world. Pretty much nothing. I know nothing.

Ingegerd’s father was Olaf Skötkonung of the “Old Dynasty” (which originated kind of hazily in Viking semi-legendary rulers and ended in the earliest historical Swedish kings). Olaf bridged the gap between the Viking Age and the Swedish Middle Ages; he was the first Christian Swedish king. Ingegerd’s mother was Estrid of the Obotrites:

 “Legend says that Estrid was taken back to Sweden from a war in the West Slavic area of Mecklenburg as a war-prize. She was most likely given by her father, a tribal chief of the Polabian Obotrites, as a peace offering in a marriage to seal the peace, and she is thought to have brought with her a great dowry.”

The Starting on the Royal Path website notes that “Ingegerd received an exceptional education for a woman of her time: she studied the Holy Scriptures, literature, and history.  She was a true daughter of Scandinavia of the era of the Vikings and so from her earliest days, she enjoyed great freedom, took part in the public life of her homeland, traveled, received guests, and was a master of using arms. Historical sources especially make mention of her keen mind, her bravery, and her great influence on those around her.”

Although Ingegerd is mentioned in passing in Adam of Bremen’s History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen (p. 88), there’s a lot more about her in Snorri Sturlason’s Heimskringla, an Icelandic saga written in about 1230.

I’d only heard the name “Snorri Sturlason” before and vaguely knew him as a historian and poet (and I assumed the sagas were mostly legends, which just highlights my own ignorance). But apparently the sagas are a mix of legend and history, and he was an incredibly careful historian. He seems to have had an interesting and dramatic life.

Anyway, back to Ingegerd: as often happened among Viking rulers, Ingegerd’s father, King Olaf of Sweden, was battling for territory with King Olaf of Norway. (Two Viking King Olafs—yup.) Swedish Olaf’s cousin, Ragnvald, saw an opportunity to make peace between the two kings by having Ingegerd marry Norwegian Olaf. Ingegerd was not opposed to the idea, and she even sent Norwegian Olaf a gift of a golden-threaded cloak. It was a hard sell, but eventually Swedish Olaf was convinced by Ragnvald it was a good idea and agreed to the marriage. Except … he still didn’t like the other King Olaf, and soon began to have second thoughts. Calling the whole thing off would have made relations with Norwegian Olaf worse.

Meanwhile, according to the Heimskringla, Yaroslav the Wise, the Grand Prince of Kievan Rus’, wanted to marry Ingegerd himself:

“Ragnvald…heard by letters, sent by Ingegerd the king's daughter, that ambassadors from King Jarisleif [Yaroslav] were come from Russia to King Olaf of Svithjod to ask his daughter Ingegerd in marriage, and that King Olaf had given them hopes that he would agree to it.”

Yaroslav had been having power struggles with his own father and brothers and hoped an alliance with Sweden would strengthen his position.

 “About the same time, [Swedish] King Olaf's daughter Astrid came to Earl Ragnvald's court, and a great feast was made for her.” Astrid was Swedish Olaf’s daughter by a concubine. Ragnvald saw an opportunity to repair the relationship with Norwegian Olaf. He reasoned that since Astrid was “just” the daughter of a concubine, she could be married off to Norwegian Olaf, who would be pleased to get a daughter of Swedish Olaf; and no one would even need to ask permission of Swedish Olaf. Apparently you could dispose of concubines’ daughters in any way.

“Earl Ragnvald asked Sigvat [Norwegian Olaf’s friend] if the king of Norway would not marry the king's daughter Astrid. ‘If he would do that,’ said he, ‘I think we need not ask the Swedish king for his consent.’ Astrid, the king’s daughter, said exactly the same.”

Then Sigvat went home and told all this to Norwegian Olaf.

“…at first the [Norwegian] king was much cast down when he heard of King Jarisleif's suit, and he said he expected nothing but evil from [Swedish] King Olaf; but wished he might be able to return it in such a way as [Swedish] Olaf should remember. A while afterwards …Sigvat spoke a great deal about Astrid, the king’s daughter; how beautiful she was, how agreeable in her conversation; and that all declared she was in no respect behind her sister Ingegerd. The king listened with pleasure to this. Then Sigvat told him the conversation he and Astrid had had between themselves, and the king was delighted at the idea. ‘The Swedish king,’ said he, ‘will scarcely think that I will dare to marry a daughter of his without his consent.’ But this speech of his was not known generally.”

So Astrid married Norwegian Olaf behind her father’s back, and Swedish Olaf was really angry at Ragnvald—in fact, he wanted to kill him. The historian Snorri tells us that Yaroslav’s ambassadors came to town to seal the deal to bring Ingegerd back to Kiev.

“The spring (A.D. 1019) thereafter came ambassadors from King Jarisleif in Novgorod to Svithjod, to treat more particularly about the promise given by King Olaf the preceding summer to marry his daughter Ingegerd to King Jarisleif. King Olaf tallied about the business with Ingegerd and told her it was his pleasure that she should marry King Jarisleif.

“She replied. ‘If I marry King Jarisleif, I must have as my bride-gift the town and earldom of Ladoga.’ The Russian ambassadors agreed to this, on the part of their sovereign. Then said Ingegerd, ‘If I go east to Russia, I must choose the man in Svithjod whom I think most suitable to accompany me; and I must stipulate that he shall not have any less title, or in any respect less dignity, privilege, and consideration there, than he has, here.’ This the king and the ambassadors agreed to, and gave their hands upon it in confirmation of the condition.

‘And who,’ asked the king, ‘is the man thou wilt take with thee as thy attendant?’

‘That man,’ she replied, ‘is my relation Earl Ragnvald.’ [Tricky!]

“The king replies, ‘I have resolved to reward Earl Ragnvald in a different manner for his treason against his master in going to Norway with my daughter, and giving her as a concubine to that fellow, who he knew was my greatest enemy. I shall hang him up this summer.’

“Then Ingegerd begged her father to be true to the promise he had made her, and had confirmed by giving his hand upon it. By her entreaties it was at last agreed that the king should promise to let Earl Ragnvald go in peace from Svithjod, but that he should never again appear in the king's presence, or come back to Svithjod while Olaf reigned.

“Ingegerd then sent messengers to the earl to bring him these tidings, and to appoint a place of meeting. The earl immediately prepared for his journey; rode up to East Gautland; procured there a vessel, and, with his retinue, joined Ingegerd, and they proceeded together eastward to Russia.

“There Ingegerd was married to King Jarisleif; and their children were Valdemar, Vissivald, and Holte the Bold. Queen Ingegerd gave Earl Ragnvald the town of Ladoga, and earldom belonging to it. Earl Ragnvald was there a long time, and was a celebrated man.”

While there remained bad blood between the two King Olafs, Ingegerd remained on good terms with her brother-in-law and former fiancé. Years later, when there was a revolt against Norwegian Olaf, he sought refuge in Russia with Yaroslav and Ingegerd:

“[Olaf went] to Russia to King Jarisleif and his queen Ingegerd; but his own queen Astrid, and their daughter Ulfhild, remained behind in Svithjod, and the king took his son Magnus eastward with him. King Jarisleif received King Olaf in the kindest manner, and made him the offer to remain with him, and to have so much land as was necessary for defraying the expense of the entertainment of his followers. King Olaf accepted this offer thankfully, and remained there.”

Eventually when he left again, Norwegian Olaf entrusted his son Magnus to Ingegerd’s care, presumably because it would be safer for him.  Magnus stayed until 1034 when, Snorri says, Norway was without a king, so some Norwegians went back to collect Magnus:

“They sent men up to Novgorod to King Jarisleif, with the errand that they offered Magnus, the son of King Olaf…, to take him with them, follow him to Norway, and give him assistance to attain his father's heritage and be made king over the country. When this message came to King Jarisleif he held a consultation with the queen and some chiefs, and they all resolved unanimously to send a message to the Northmen, and ask them to come to King Jarisleif and Magnus; for which journey safe conduct was given them. When they came to Novgorod it was settled among them that the Northmen who had come there should become Magnus's men, and be his subjects; and to this Kalf and the other men who had been against King Olaf at Stiklestad were solemnly bound by oath. On the other hand, King Magnus promised them, under oath, secure peace and full reconciliation; and that he would be true and faithful to them all when he got the dominions and kingdom of Norway.”

Magnus was not the only child of a monarch whom Ingegerd kept out of harm’s way. She also took in Edward and Edmund, sons of the (deceased) King of England, Edmund Ironside. Cnut, a Danish prince, had taken over England in 1016 when King Edmund Ironside died and the princes were about 1 year old. Cnut, wanting the babies out of the way, sent them to his stepbrother Swedish King Olaf, to be murdered. (It was considered unseemly to kill the English princes in England.)

Olaf wasn’t particularly keen to murder two English prince-babies, having recently converted to Christianity, so he secretly handed them off to the Hungarian court, where they stayed until they were about 12, at which point Cnut realized they were alive and sent assassins to Hungary to dispatch them. They escaped Hungary and were sent to Yaroslav and Ingegerd’s court, where they stayed until they were young adults. (Both met an early demise. Edward died a few days after returning to England to reclaim the throne after Edward the Confessor invited him to be his heir; and Edmund died a few days after marrying a Hungarian noblewoman—but at least Cnut didn’t get them.)

But perhaps Ingegerd—who changed her name to Irene after she moved to Rus’—was most famous for being pious. She and Yaroslav built two Orthodox cathedrals: St. Sophia in Kiev and St. Sophia in Novgorod—both of which are still standing a thousand years later. (I’ve now added both of these to my long list of “things to see someday.”) These cathedrals were both built in honor of the “original” Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, where Yaroslav’s grandmother, St. Olga, had been baptized by the Emperor Constantine in 957.

According to OrthodoxWiki, “In 957, [Olga] visited Emperor Constantine VII in Constantinople. He admired her looks and intelligence, noting to her that 'You are fit to reign in this city with us.' She agreed to be baptized and thus became a Christian, with name Helen, after the Patriarch Polyeuctus had instructed her in the faith. Before her baptism, Constantine asked her hand in marriage, but Olga deferred, claiming that she wanted to be baptised an Orthodox Christian first. Again, after the baptism, Constantine requested her hand in marriage, but the quick-thinking Olga tricked him (since he was her godfather in baptism), noting that he called her his daughter in baptism and so such a union is forbidden under Christian law. While Constantine commented to Olga about her trickery, he lavished gifts on her when she returned to Kiev.”

Here's a photo of St. Sophia in Kiev, and an interior as well:

And here’s a picture of St. Sophia in Novgorod, and its interior:

The church in Novgorod is famous for its detailed gates. These gates remind me a bit of the Baptistry doors in Florence (praised by Vasari as being the “greatest masterpiece ever created”) although of course they’re quite different. Here is a semi-closeup of the gates and one little closeup:

How long did it take to make those? How much work was it?

Starting on the Royal Path tells us, “It is known that the Great Princess founded a monastery in Kiev in honor of her patron saint, the Great-martyr Irene.  According to the custom of the time, as founder, she not only had to care for the monastery, but also run it herself.  In 1045, she set out for Novgorod, to her son Vladimir, to lay the foundation of a cathedral named after the Wisdom of God [Sophia].  In Novgorod the Great Princess took the monastic tonsure with the name Anna.  This was the first monastic tonsure within the royal house.  Afterwards, it became a tradition for Great Princes and Princesses to take the monastic tonsure after they had fulfilled their duty of governing the people.  There in Novgorod, the holy princess Anna reposed on February 10th, 1051 and was buried in the Cathedral of St. Sophia.”

She died 971 years ago today — and her posthumous popularity has run the gamut:

Ivan the Terrible proclaimed in 1556 “that services and public masses would be held over Ingegärd [at the cathedral in Novgorod] …’as long as the world lasts.’ ”

Even the Soviets took an interest: In 1939 some researchers dug her up (I was not able to determine why). They proclaimed that Anna's skull was of the "Nordic type, massive and heavy with an elliptical shape" and that she was about 5’4”—which was pretty tall a thousand years ago.

And, she was made a saint in the Orthodox church: St. Anna of Novgorod. Her feast day is today, February 10.

Wikipedia tells me there’s a hymn to her that starts like this—and one of the many things I DDG’d last night was a YouTube video on how to do Byzantine chanting in “4 stichera, in Tone 1,” so I could take a stab at singing it, but… I haven’t quite got the hang of it:

“O joy of the Swedish people, thou didst gladden the Russian realm, filling it with grace and purity, adorning its throne with majesty, lustrous in piety like a priceless gem set in a splendid royal crown.”

So, cheers to you, 30th Great-Grandmother Ingegerd / Irene / St. Anna of Novgorod. I’m remembering you tonight and drinking a toast to you, and marveling at the fact that I live in a magical time when anyone can spend an evening Internet-searching a woman who lived a thousand years ago and learn a bunch of stuff about her.