Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden, also known as Irene, Anna and Saint Anna, was a Swedish princess and a Grand Princess of Kiev. She was the daughter of Swedish King Olof Skötkonung and Estrid of the Obotrites and the consort of Yaroslav I the Wise of Kiev. Ingegerd or Saint Anna is often confused with the mother ofSaint Vladimir “the Enlightener” of the Rus. This is mainly because Ingegerd and Yaroslav also had a son named Vladimir. However, Saint Vladimir was the father of Ingegerd’s husband Yaroslav I “the Wise”, thus making her Saint Vladimir’s daughter-in-law. Saint Vladimir was the son of Sviatoslav and Malusha.
Life
Ingegerd was born a princess in the court of King Olof Skötkonung. In 1015, after Olaf II of Norway assumed the throne as King of Norway, he proposed a royal marriage alliance. In 1016, noblemen of both countries tried to arrange a marriage between King Olaf and Princess Ingegerd. Olof Skötkonung agreed at first but later he reneged. Rather he agreed to the marriage of his daughter, Astrid Olavsdatter to King Olaf. Olof Skötkonung subsequently arranged for the marriage of Princess Ingegerd to the powerful Grand Prince Yaroslav I the Wise of Novgorod with whom Sweden had a flourishing trade relationship. The marriage took place in 1019. Once in Kiev, Ingegerd had her name changed to the Greek Irene. According to several sagas, she received as a marriage gift Ladoga and adjacent lands, which later became known as Ingria, arguably a corruption of Ingegerd's name. She arranged for her father's cousin, jarlRagnvald Ulfsson, to rule in her stead. Together Ingegerd and Yaroslav had six sons and four daughters; three of the latter becoming Queens of France, Hungary, and Norway. The whole family is depicted in one of the frescoes of the Saint Sophia.
Death and burial
Ingegerd died on 10 February 1050. Upon her death, according to different sources, Ingegerd was buried in either Saint Sophia's Cathedral in Kiev or Cathedral of St. Sophia in Novgorod.
Sainthood
Ingegerd initiated the building of the Saint Sophia's Cathedral in Kiev. She also initiated the construction of Cathedral of St. Sophia in Novgorod. Ingegerd was later declared a saint under the name of St. Anna in Novgorod and Kiev. The reason for her sainthood was that she initiated the building of both cathedrals in Kiev and in Novgorod together with many other good deeds. The following was stated by the church in reference to her sainthood:
St. Anna, Grand Duchess of Novgorod, She was the daughter of Swedish King Olaf Sketktung, the "All-Christian King," who did much to spread Orthodoxy in Scandinavia, and the pious Queen Astrida. In Sweden she was known as Princess Indegard; she married Yaroslav I “the Wise“, Grand Prince of Kiev, who was the founder of the Saint Sophia Cathedral in 1016, taking the name Irene. She gave shelter to the outcast sons of British King Edmund, Edwin and Edward, as well as the Norwegian prince Magnus, who later returned to Norway. She is perhaps best known as the mother of Vsevolod of, himself the father of Vladimir Monomakh and progenitor of the Princes of Moscow. Her daughters were Anna, Queen of France, Queen Anastasia of Hungary, and Queen Elizabeth of Norway. The whole family was profoundly devout and pious. She reposed in 1050 in the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom in Kiev, having been tonsured a monastic with the name of Anna.
As saint, her hymn goes: And 4 stichera, in Tone I: Spec. Mel.: Joy of the ranks of heaven
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. Named Ingegerd in the baptismal waters, O venerable one, thou wast called Irene by thy Russian subjects, who perceived in thee the divine and ineffable peace; but when thou didst submit to monastic obedience, thou didst take the new name, Anna, after the honoured ancestor of Christ, the King of kings. Wed in honourable matrimony, O holy Anna, thou didst live in concord with thy royal spouse, the right-believing and most wise Prince Yaroslav; and having born him holy offspring, after his repose thou didst betroth thyself unto the Lord as thy heavenly Bridegroom. Disdaining all the allurements of vanity and donning the coarse robes of a monastic, O wondrous and sacred Anna, thou gavest thyself over to fasting and prayer, ever entreating Christ thy Master, that He deliver thy people from the all want and misfortune.
