Ingegerd Olofsdotter

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Ingegerd Olofsdotter, born 1001 in Sigtuna, Sweden, was the daughter of Swedish King Olof Skötkonung and Estrid of the Obotrites. She was engaged to be married to Norwegian King Olaf II, but when Sweden and Norway got into a feud, Swedish King Olof Skötkonung wouldn't allow for the marriage to happen.

Instead, her father quickly arranged with a marriage to the powerful Yaroslav I the Wise of Novgorod. Once in Russia, her name was changed to the Greek Irene. According to several sagas, she was given as a marriage gift Ladoga and adjacent lands, which later received the name Ingria (arguably a corruption of Ingigerd's name). She set her friend jarl Ragnvald Ulfsson to rule in her stead.

She initiated the building of the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev that was supervised by her husband, who styled himself czar. They had six sons and four daughters, which became Queens of France, Hungary, Norway, and (arguably) England. The whole family is depicted in one of the frescoes of the Saint Sophia. Upon her death on 10 Feb. 1049, she was buried in the same cathedral.

Ingigerd-Irene is sometimes confused with Yaroslav's first wife, whose name was Anna. She was declared a local saint in Novgorod because of her initiative of building the Cathedral of St Sophia in Novgorod, where she is buried.