Igor II Olgovych (, ''Ihor II Ol'hovych'' in

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

; , ''Igor II Ol'govich'' in

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

; died September 19, 1147),

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

Chernigov Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative ...

and

Grand Prince Grand prince or great prince (feminine: grand princess or great princess) ( la, magnus princeps; Greek: ''megas archon''; russian: великий князь, velikiy knyaz) is a title of nobility ranked in honour below emperor, equal of king or ...

of Kiev (

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, 1146). Son of Oleg Svyatoslavich of Chernigov. He was the chosen successor of his brother,

Vsevolod II of Kiev Vsevolod II Olgovich (Cyrillic: Всеволод II Ольгович) (died August 1, 1146) was the Prince (Knyaz) of Chernigov (1127–1139) and Grand Prince of Kiev (Velikiy Knyaz), 1139–1146), son of Oleg Svyatoslavich, Prince of Chernigov. ...

. Though his brother had extracted promises of loyalty from his Kievan subjects, Igor and his family, the Olgovychi, were unpopular and there was resistance against his accession. The chroniclers accused Igor of being dishonest, greedy, scheming, and violent. He had reigned less than two weeks before the Kievans invited his cousin and rival, Iziaslav Mstyslavych, to be their prince. Reneging on a promise he had made not to seek power, Iziaslav attacked and defeated Igor and his brother

Sviatoslav Sviatoslav (russian: Святосла́в, Svjatosláv, ; uk, Святосла́в, Svjatosláv, ) is a Russian and Ukrainian given name of Slavic origin. Cognates include Svetoslav, Svatoslav, , Svetislav. It has a Pre-Christian pagan charact ...

. Sviatoslav escaped, but Igor got bogged down in some marshes and was unable to flee because of an infirmity in his legs. He was captured, and Iziaslav had him thrown into a pit. He languished in the pit until autumn 1146, when, desperately ill, he requested permission to become a monk. Iziaslav released him, but Igor was so weak he had to be carried from the pit and nearly died of illness. He became a monk at the monastery of St. Feodor in Kiev under the name Ihnati. In 1147, a mob attacked Igor under the mistaken impression that he intended to usurp Iziaslav's throne. Iziaslav's brother,

Volodymyr Volodymyr ( uk, Володи́мир, Volodýmyr, , orv, Володимѣръ) is a Ukrainian given name of Old East Slavic origin. The related Ancient Slavic, such as Czech, Russian, Serbian, Croatian, etc. form of the name is Володимѣръ ...

, tried to rescue Igor, but the mob tore down a balcony on which Igor had sought sanctuary, and thus killed him. His body was dragged behind a cart and exhibited in a market before it could be salvaged by Volodymyr. Miracles were alleged to have occurred around Igor's body, and he was proclaimed a saint-martyr. Eventually his remains were sent to Transfiguration Cathedral, Chernigov.

Sources

* Dimnik, Martin. ''The Dynasty of Chernigov, 1146-1246'', 2003 {{DEFAULTSORT:Igor 02 of Kiev Grand Princes of Kiev 1147 deaths Rurik dynasty Year of birth unknown Eastern Orthodox monarchs Ukrainian saints Russian saints Olgovichi family