Holidays of the Slavs - Memorial Day of Prince Svyatoslav

Every year on July 3, the Slavs remember Prince Svyatoslav from the Rurik family Svyatoslav Igorevich is the son of Prince Igor, the same one who was discussed in the famous “Tale of Igor’s Campaign” The date of birth of Svyatoslav is still controversial Scientists believe that the Kiev prince was born between 920 and 942 It is noteworthy that Svyatoslav is the first Russian prince to have a Slavic name Before him, all rulers were called by names of Scandinavian origin Svyatoslav's father Igor was killed by the Drevlyans in 945 His widow Olga forced them to pay a high price for this She buried some Drevlyans alive, burned others, and then completely attacked the Drevlyan cities and imposed tribute on them The first battle with the Drevlyans was opened by the little prince Svyatoslav, throwing a spear at the enemy army Svyatoslav became a prince at a young age: then his mother ruled for him Having matured, the young man spent all his time on military campaigns, so in fact Olga continued to rule Russia The chronicle testifies that Svyatoslav was very unpretentious: he did not carry much food with him, and slept not in tents, but in an open field Before attacking the enemy, he sent a warning: “I’m coming at you!” The prince's mother was baptized in the middle of the 10th century, after which she tried to instill in her son a love of Christianity However, Svyatoslav remained a pagan until the end of his life, not accepting the faith of his mother The campaign against the Khazar Kaganate brought glory to the Kyiv prince; as a result, this state was almost completely defeated The Khazars for a long time carried out raids on the border Slavic lands, imposing heavy tribute or taking their inhabitants captive Having destroyed the Kaganate, the Kiev prince opened trade routes to the East for Rus' This great victory was followed by campaigns in Bulgaria and a war with Byzantium In 972, Prince Svyatoslav was killed by the Pechenegs Some scholars believe that this murder was coordinated with Byzantium because the valiant pagan prince posed a threat to the Christian world Some historians call Svyatoslav the Russian Alexander the Great, the Russian Achilles This is due to the fact that the prince spent most of his life on military campaigns Many deny the national importance of these campaigns, attributing only predatory interest to Svyatoslav The image of Svyatoslav is considered in the Slavic world an example of military valor and patriotism The Slavs have always honored the memory of the fearless prince On July 3, they organized fights and games, and initiated warriors The elder told the young people about the prince’s virtues and his rejection of Christianity Then they brought demands to Perun at the temples, and the priests prayed for the protection of the Slavic people