nces,
left her fiscal agents behind her, and established courts of justice.
Before her death Olga visited Constantinople and returned home a
Christian.

To the deep respect for Olga's wisdom a Russian annalist ascribes a
preponderating influence in the introduction of Christianity into Russia
from the Byzantine Empire rather than from Rome. The Christian clergy
immediately began a struggle against polygamy, deeply rooted in the
early Russian society, and endeavored to prevent the excess of parental
authority in the arrangement of marriages against their children's
wishes. Valuable civil rights were secured for women, such as the right
to inherit property and to bequeath it to their children at pleasure.
But together with the praiseworthy efforts of the clergy in regard to
women, there came, too, an undesirable influence. The Greek priests,
full of holy zeal, considered it their sacred duty to combat idolatry in
all its forms, and proscribed all ancient religious and semi-religious
observances as unholy and coming from the evil one, who deluded the
simple-minded and the uncautious into sinful practices and thus led them
to eternal damnation. The clergy put an end to many games and pastimes,
which formerly brought together persons of both sexes, and little by
little the church removed woman from male society. To eastern as well as
to western monks of ascetic aspirations woman was a source of evil, and
therefore had to be kept out of man's way.

[Illustration 5:
_PRINCESS SOPHIA AND THE OLD AND NEW SCHOOL RELIGIONISTS
After the painting by V. G. Peroff._
_The disorderly and unruly standing army of the Russian tsars, the
Strelets, sided with Sophia. Having secured the regency of Russia during
the minority of her brothers, Ivan and Peter, she soon acquired almost
absolute power. Slighting custom and tradition, she lost no opportunity
to appear in public. In the matter of religion, her advanced ideas led
her to support the orthodox or reform party. The conservatives or "old
believers," having challenged to a discussion the orthodox prelates,
Sophia convened a meeting, to be held in the Palace of Facets, on which
occasion she presided. The discussion was of such a stormy character
that violence was used, and the leader of the "old believers," Nikita
was afterward executed by order of the empress._]

During the epoch of troubles and confusion which followed the years
marked by the introduction of Christianity, the woman of