Catherine of Chernigov
Catherine, Kateryna or Ekaterina of Chernigov was princess consort of Chernigov as the wife of Sviatoslav Olgovich, and princess regnant of Chernigov for a few days after his death.
Biography
In early chronicles, she is not named. Not until in later sources, she is named Ekaterina or Catherine, and identified as the daughter of Petryl or Petrilo, the posadnik of Novgorod. In 1136, she married Svyatoslav Olgovich. Their son Igor Sviatoslavich would later gain fame as the main character of The Tale of Igor's Campaign.The Kievan Chronicle mentions sub anno 6667 that there was a "princess' city for Sviatoslav's defence" named "Oblov" on the boundary between the lands of Smolensk and Chernigov, that was captured or razed by Iziaslav Davidovich. According to Dimnik, this meant that Sviatoslav's princess consort Catherine of Chernigov owned this town, which she probably received as a wedding gift.
Upon Sviatoslav's death in 1164, the widowed Catherine briefly ruled as princess regnant of Chernigov. Her reign lasted for a few days, during which she kept her husband's death a secret while she summoned her son Oleg to come to Chernigov quickly, and told the city's leading men not inform her brother-in-law Sviatoslav Vsevolodich, who was the rightful heir to the Chernigovian throne. Nevertheless, the bishop of Chernigov betrayed the trust of princess Catherine immediately, and sent Sviatoslav Vsevolodich a letter, writing that "the kniaginia rules in cahoots with the children and she has many goods." Sviatoslav Vsevolodich soon arrived and made a deal with Oleg, by which the former became prince of Chernigov and the latter prince of Novgorod-Seversk. Princess Catherine is not heard of again until two years later, when she reportedly died on 12 April 1166.
Primary sources
Kievan Chronicle- *
- *
Literature
- Dimnik, Martin. The Dynasty of Chernigov, 1146-1246, 2000