Weighing 6 tons, it is located at St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, Ukraine. Yaroslav the Wise married Ingegerd Olofsdotter, daughter of Olof Skötkonung, the king of Sweden in 1019. The Swedish Princess Ingegerd was to marry Norwegian king Olaf the Saint, but her father decided that Yaroslav was a much more promising husband. And Yaroslav had to give the city of Ladoga to her as a marriage gift. Yaroslav and Ingegerd had at least three of their daughters married to foreign princes who lived in exile at Kyiv court:
– Elisiv of Kyiv to Harald Hardrada (who attained her hand by his military exploits in the Byzantine Empire. Harald amassed considerable wealth during his time in the Byzantine Empire, which he shipped to his future father-in-law Yaroslav to Kyiv for safekeeping);
– Anastasia of Kyiv to the future Andrew I of Hungary;
– Anne of Kyiv married Henry I of France and was the regent of France during their son’s minority. She was the first to to use the name Philip in the history of French kings’ names – Philip I of France was her son. (Anne was Yaroslav the Wise’s most beloved daughter);
– (possibly) Agatha, wife of Edward the Exile, of the royal family of England, the mother of Edgar the Ætheling, and Saint Margaret of Scotland.
Interesting details of Yaroslav’s marriage to Ingegerd as well as the reason why Ingegerd asked for Ladoga as a wedding gift can be found in “Kyiv Rus in Heimskringla Sagas and Byzantine Texts” book. The book also has a little-known information about where Elisiv of Kyiv was at the time of Harald Hardrada’s final battle at Stamford Bridge.
