Anastasios I › Varangian Guard » Ancient origins
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- Anastasios I › Who Was
- Varangian Guard › Antique Origins
Ancient civilizations › Historical and archaeological sites
Anastasios I › Who Was
Definition and Origins
Anastasios I ruled the Byzantine empire from 491 to 518 CE. Although his tax and monetary reforms were both popular and successful, the emperor could not repair the damaging split in the Christian Church created by his predecessors. He faced a major rebellion inside the empire and outside its borders, his military campaigns were as ineffective as his famous Long Wallin Thrace. Nevertheless, Anastasios did at least lay the foundations upon which the great Justinian I would build so spectacularly in the middle five decades of the 6th century CE.
SUCCESSION
Flavius Anastasios was plucked from the relative obscurity of his role as a court attendant and backed by Empress Ariadne to succeed her late husband Emperor Zeno (r. 474-491 CE). Zeno's heir Leo II had died prematurely in 474 CE and his elder brother Longinus was something of an unprincipled scoundrel so that legitimate candidates for the Byzantine throne were thin on the ground. Ariadne, herself the daughter of Emperor Leo I (r. 457-474 CE), ignored her late husband's advice and chose to marry Anastasios, already in his sixties. Longinus organised a rebellion of sorts, but it came to nothing, and he was exiled along with his Isaurian followers in 492 CE (Zeno having been the chief of this tribe from central Asia Minor ). All of Zeno's family were banished, too, in a sweeping clean-up typical of the new emperor's thorough approach to all areas of his rule.
MILITARY CAMPAIGNS
Anastasios had some limited success on the military front, managing to take back the fortress of Amida on the Byzantine frontier with Persia c. 504 CE after its conquest by the shah Kavad. The fortifications along the empire's eastern border with the Persians were further strengthened with the building of a new fortress at Anastasiopolis (Dara) between 505 and 507 CE.In 506 CE a peace was signed with the Persians.
ANASTASIOS' LONG WALL REMINDED EVERYONE THAT THE NORTHERN BORDER OF THE EMPIRE WAS NOW PRACTICALLY THE BACK DOOR OF CONSTANTINOPLE.
Elsewhere was a different story. Theodoric, the King of Italy, was a powerful enemy of Byzantine interests in the western Mediterranean, even if Anastasios officially recognised him as king in 497 CE. Pannonia, a province in central Europe along the Danube, was a particular bone of contention between the two states with the Ostrogoths capturing Sirmium.Archaeological evidence suggests that several Byzantine fortresses were built along the Danube during Anastasios' reign and not, as traditionally held, by Justinian I (r. 527-575 CE). Anastasios also countered the threat from Theodoric by making Childeric, the king of the Franks in Gaul, an honorary consul and sending him a fleet to aid his war with the Ostrogoths in 507 CE.
The northern frontiers of the empire were attacked by the Bulgars from 493 CE, which led to Anastasios building his famous Long Wall to better protect Thrace. The wall extended from Selymbria on the north shore of the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea and stretched some 45 kilometres. 65 kilometres from Constantinople, it was designed to protect the capital but, unfortunately, in the long term, it proved ineffective as earthquakes damaged portions of it and the garrison which was given the task of defending it proved to have less than top-notch troops. The lasting effect of the wall was more of a psychological one, and that on the Byzantines themselves, for it reminded everyone that the northern border of the empire was now practically the back door of Constantinople.
INTERNAL AFFAIRS
Anastasios might have lacked any royal pedigree, but he was not lacking in political and fiscal competence. The new emperor reformed the much ailing Byzantine coinage by introducing new and improved coins, notably the large copper follis, 288 of which were worth one gold nomisma, the standard coin against which all others were valued. Tax collection was reformed and the job given to state officials instead of local collectors. In a popular move in 498 CE, Anastasios abolished the chrysargyron, a tax on business transactions made by anyone from merchants to prostitutes - even beggars were liable. The tax had to be paid in gold or silver every four years, and its abolition resulted in a popularity boost for the emperor across his empire. The shortfall in the state coffers was made up by revenues from imperial estates and possibly a new tax, the chrysoteleia, which remains of uncertain purpose or application. All of these reforms certainly had the desired effect, and the state treasury could boast a surplus of 320,000 pounds of gold by the end of Anastasios' reign.
Copper Follis of Anastasios I
In religious affairs, Anastasios' interventions were markedly less successful and less popular than his financial reforms. The emperor's interest in theology went back to his time as a courtier when he delivered seminars in the Church of Hagia Sophia, so it was perhaps no surprise that he would use his new power to try and influence Church doctrine. In 482 CE Zeno had issued the Henotikon edict which had hoped to settle the dispute in the Christian Church of whether Christ had two natures (divine and human) or just one. The edict, never living up to its name 'The Edict of Unity', satisfied neither camp, and Pope Felix III felt strongly enough about it to condemn it and excommunicate the bishop of Constantinople, Akakios. The split became known as the Akakian Schism, and Anastasios could do nothing to repair it.
Indeed, the emperor's open support of Monophysitism (the one nature camp) and attempts to appoint like-minded bishops in major cities only inflamed matters and caused several public protests in Constantinople. One particular point of contention was the emperor's insistence that the Trisagion chant of the liturgy in eastern church services be amended so that the standard "holy God, holy strong, holy immortal, have mercy on us" received a final extension of "who was crucified for us" which suggested the divine nature of God was subject to suffering, an impossible position for Orthodox Christians. In 512 CE Anastasios won back the favour of his people by appearing in the Hippodrome of Constantinople, taking off his diadem before the 20,000 crowd and offering to retire if they would only name a successor. The clever soap-box politics worked, and nobody could think of any real reason to depose their emperor.
THE ECCLESIASTICAL DIVISION BETWEEN ROME & CONSTANTINOPLE WOULD HAVE TO WAIT FOR ANASTASIOS' SUCCESSOR TO BRIDGE.
Rumblings of discontent continued, all the same, and the most serious consequence of the Monophysitism debate was the Vitalian revolt, named after the military commander who led the rebellion in Thrace between 513 and 515 CE. It was yet another example of how interlinked popular movements and Church dogma were in Byzantine life. Vitalian rode on a popular wave of orthodox feeling after Anastasios had tried to install a Monophysite bishop in Constantinople. The usurper's threat to the throne, although never realised, would not be removed until a conciliation with Justin I (r. 518-527 CE) and his assassination in 520 CE, probably under the orders of his rival, the future Justinian I. The ecclesiastical division between Rome and Constantinople would also have to wait for Anastasios' successor, when it was bridged, albeit temporarily, in 519 CE.
For the ordinary people, then, life under Anastasios had certain advantages, stability was always welcome, and there were not too many wars or invasions with their all-too-frequent horrors of pillage and premature deaths. Still, there was something lacklustre about the period and, as the historian JJ Norwich here explains, life for the Byzantines under Anastasios lacked a little of the fun enjoyed under less religiously zealous emperors:
His chief defect was parsimoniousness - a failing which, combined with a strong puritanical streak, made Constantinople a duller place to live than ever before. Contests with wild beast were forbidden; citizens were no longer permitted to hold nocturnal feasts, on the grounds that they led to unbridled licentiousness - which indeed they very often did. (57-8)
DEATH & SUCCESSOR
Anastasios, then in his nineties, died of natural causes in 518 CE and, not having any children, he was succeeded by Justin I. The aged and uneducated commander of the palace guard was, according to legend, selected by Anastasios merely because he was the first person to enter the emperor's chambers one morning. Justin would reign until 527 CE which then saw his nephew Justinian I take the throne who ushered in a new Golden Age for the Byzantine Empire, one that Anastasios I had laid the foundations for with his frugal and innovative fiscal policies.
Varangian Guard › Antique Origins
Definition and Origins
The mercenary Varangian Guard was an elite Byzantine army corps and the personal bodyguard of emperors beginning with Basil II in c. 988 CE. The Viking unit was famous for the stature of its members and their blood-thirsty conduct in battle, where they used their fearsome double-bladed battle-axes to devastating effect. Celebrated recruits include Harold Hardrada, who went on to become the king of Norway, and the Icelandic hero Bolli Bollason. Later, after the 1066 CE Battle of Hastings in England, especially, they became a largely Anglo- Saxon unit. By the beginning of the 14th century CE they had outlasted their usefulness but, for a few centuries at least, the Varangians were probably as shocking a sight to Byzantine enemies as tanks would have been to WWI infantry.
BASIL II
Basil II reigned as emperor from 976 to 1025 CE, and despite a hugely successful military career which saw the Byzantine empire almost double its territories, he got off to the worst possible start when his army was wiped out in an ambush by Samuel of Bulgaria at a mountain pass known as Trajan ’s Gate. The defeat encouraged a rebellion back home when two long-time trouble-makers each sought to take the throne from Basil. One of them, Bardas Phokas, even declared himself emperor in 987 CE. Basil, fortunately, could call on the help of Vladimir I of Kiev (r. 980-1015 CE), who obligingly sent a force of 6,000 Rus Vikings to help the young emperor. They would make all the difference in Basil's ambitious plans to forge an even greater Byzantine empire than ever seen before.
IN RETURN FOR HIS 6,000 NORSEMEN & INDICATIVE OF THEIR VALUE, BASIL II OFFERED VLADIMIR I HIS SISTER'S HAND IN MARRIAGE.
The Viking force arrived in Constantinople by sea, and they were a fearsome sight with their long heavy swords and wicked double-headed battle-axes. Basil, after waiting patiently for a year and blockading the rebels, finally made his move and attacked the usurpers' camp. The historian JJ Norwich continues the story,
In late December 988 the Black Sea lookouts espied the first of a great fleet of Viking ships on the northern horizon; early in 989 CE the whole of the fleet was safely anchored in the Golden Horn and 6,000 burly giants disembarked. A few weeks later, the Norsemen, led by Basil himself, crossed the straits under cover of darkness and took up their positions a few hundred yards from the rebel camp. At first light they attacked, while a squadron of imperial flame-throwers sprayed the shore with Greek fire. Phocas' men, roused from sleep, were powerless: their assailants swung their swords and battle-axes without mercy until they stood ankle-deep in blood. Few of the victims escaped with their lives. (209)
Byzantine Empire, 1025 CE
Basil restored order by 989 CE and was so impressed by the exploits of his new Viking army that he made them, first the elite shock troops of his army, and then, his personal bodyguard. The Viking corps became known as the Varangian Guard (“men of the pledge”) and, besides being a tremendously useful unit on the battlefield, they protected many subsequent emperors to the death, much like the elite unit which protected the Roman emperors, the Praetorian Guard. The Varangians were stationed as a distinctive and permanent fixture of the Great Palace of Constantinople. Their arms are described by the 11th-century CE historian Michael Psellos, thus:
These men are, without exception, armed with shields and the rhomphaia, a one-edged sword of heavy iron which they carry suspended from the right shoulder. (359)
The Varangians were certainly effective and dutiful in their responsibility to protect the Byzantine throne, whoever its occupant might be, but the service did not come cheap. One peculiar tradition for services rendered is described by the historian L. Brownworth:
On the night of their sovereign's death, they had the curious right to run to the imperial treasury and take as much gold as they could comfortably carry. This custom enabled most Varangians to retire as wealthy men and ensured a steady stream of Norse and Anglo-Saxon recruits. (212)
FAMOUS VARANGIANS
One of the most famous warriors and leaders of the Varangians was Harold Hardrada who spent a decade in the service of his emperor. Besides many other adventures, he and his fellow Varangians fought alongside the great Byzantine general George Maniakes in Sicily in 1038 CE, capturing both Messina and Syracuse. Exiled under suspicion of plotting an uprising in 1042 CE, Harold fled to Kiev and then returned to Norway where he reigned as King Harold III between 1046 and 1066 CE. Harold, championing his own claim to the English throne, fought and died at the battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 CE against his namesake, the English king Harold Godwinson.
Harold Hardrada, Battle of Fulford
Another illustrious one-time member of the Varangian Guard was the 11th-century CE figure of Bolli Bollason. According to the Laxdaela Saga, Bolli, like his fellow Varangians, was paid handsomely for his troubles and came home to Iceland dressed in such fine gold-embroidered purple robes he earned the nickname of “Bolli the Elegant”.
Following the defeat of the Anglo- Saxons at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 CE, many soldiers travelled to Constantinople to seek a better fortune. More northern mercenaries came from Iceland, Norway and other parts of Scandinavia, attracted by the exploits of men like Harold and Bolli. Byzantine emperors were only too happy to incorporate these travellers into the Varangian Guard although, by the 13th century CE, the majority of its members were English and the Guard used their own language when they acclaimed their adopted ruler.
DECLINE
The Varangians might have enjoyed a fearsome reputation, but they were not infallible. In 1081 CE, for example, when Alexios I Komnenos was defending Dyrrachion in Dalmatia, he positioned his Varangian troops at the front of his lines, but they were nearly annihilated by an enemy cavalry charge. They did not prove much use in 1204 CE either when knights of the Fourth Crusade attacked Constantinople, although their reason for fleeing the scene might well have been due to their lack of payment. These defeats as warfare and technology moved on may explain why the Varangians became mere palace guards and prison guards from the mid-13th century CE.
A reference to English axe-bearing guards at the Byzantine palace springs up in the work of chronicler Adam of Usk in 1404 CE, but thereafter the Varangians disappear from the historical record. A lasting effect of their presence in Byzantine affairs was the influence of that culture on the guard's homelands, for when they returned after their years of service laden with riches they also carried with them ideas of art and architecture. Finally, there are many rune stones still standing today across Scandinavia which were set up and carved to commemorate the great martial deeds of illustrious members of the Varangian Guard.
LICENSE:
Article based on information obtained from these sources:with permission from the Website Ancient History Encyclopedia
Content is available under License Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported. CC-BY-NC-SA License
Articles and Definitions › Contents
- Anastasios I › Who Was
- Varangian Guard › Antique Origins
Ancient civilizations › Historical and archaeological sites
Anastasios I › Who Was
Definition and Origins
Anastasios I ruled the Byzantine empire from 491 to 518 CE. Although his tax and monetary reforms were both popular and successful, the emperor could not repair the damaging split in the Christian Church created by his predecessors. He faced a major rebellion inside the empire and outside its borders, his military campaigns were as ineffective as his famous Long Wallin Thrace. Nevertheless, Anastasios did at least lay the foundations upon which the great Justinian I would build so spectacularly in the middle five decades of the 6th century CE.
SUCCESSION
Flavius Anastasios was plucked from the relative obscurity of his role as a court attendant and backed by Empress Ariadne to succeed her late husband Emperor Zeno (r. 474-491 CE). Zeno's heir Leo II had died prematurely in 474 CE and his elder brother Longinus was something of an unprincipled scoundrel so that legitimate candidates for the Byzantine throne were thin on the ground. Ariadne, herself the daughter of Emperor Leo I (r. 457-474 CE), ignored her late husband's advice and chose to marry Anastasios, already in his sixties. Longinus organised a rebellion of sorts, but it came to nothing, and he was exiled along with his Isaurian followers in 492 CE (Zeno having been the chief of this tribe from central Asia Minor ). All of Zeno's family were banished, too, in a sweeping clean-up typical of the new emperor's thorough approach to all areas of his rule.
MILITARY CAMPAIGNS
Anastasios had some limited success on the military front, managing to take back the fortress of Amida on the Byzantine frontier with Persia c. 504 CE after its conquest by the shah Kavad. The fortifications along the empire's eastern border with the Persians were further strengthened with the building of a new fortress at Anastasiopolis (Dara) between 505 and 507 CE.In 506 CE a peace was signed with the Persians.
ANASTASIOS' LONG WALL REMINDED EVERYONE THAT THE NORTHERN BORDER OF THE EMPIRE WAS NOW PRACTICALLY THE BACK DOOR OF CONSTANTINOPLE.
Elsewhere was a different story. Theodoric, the King of Italy, was a powerful enemy of Byzantine interests in the western Mediterranean, even if Anastasios officially recognised him as king in 497 CE. Pannonia, a province in central Europe along the Danube, was a particular bone of contention between the two states with the Ostrogoths capturing Sirmium.Archaeological evidence suggests that several Byzantine fortresses were built along the Danube during Anastasios' reign and not, as traditionally held, by Justinian I (r. 527-575 CE). Anastasios also countered the threat from Theodoric by making Childeric, the king of the Franks in Gaul, an honorary consul and sending him a fleet to aid his war with the Ostrogoths in 507 CE.
The northern frontiers of the empire were attacked by the Bulgars from 493 CE, which led to Anastasios building his famous Long Wall to better protect Thrace. The wall extended from Selymbria on the north shore of the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea and stretched some 45 kilometres. 65 kilometres from Constantinople, it was designed to protect the capital but, unfortunately, in the long term, it proved ineffective as earthquakes damaged portions of it and the garrison which was given the task of defending it proved to have less than top-notch troops. The lasting effect of the wall was more of a psychological one, and that on the Byzantines themselves, for it reminded everyone that the northern border of the empire was now practically the back door of Constantinople.
INTERNAL AFFAIRS
Anastasios might have lacked any royal pedigree, but he was not lacking in political and fiscal competence. The new emperor reformed the much ailing Byzantine coinage by introducing new and improved coins, notably the large copper follis, 288 of which were worth one gold nomisma, the standard coin against which all others were valued. Tax collection was reformed and the job given to state officials instead of local collectors. In a popular move in 498 CE, Anastasios abolished the chrysargyron, a tax on business transactions made by anyone from merchants to prostitutes - even beggars were liable. The tax had to be paid in gold or silver every four years, and its abolition resulted in a popularity boost for the emperor across his empire. The shortfall in the state coffers was made up by revenues from imperial estates and possibly a new tax, the chrysoteleia, which remains of uncertain purpose or application. All of these reforms certainly had the desired effect, and the state treasury could boast a surplus of 320,000 pounds of gold by the end of Anastasios' reign.
Copper Follis of Anastasios I
In religious affairs, Anastasios' interventions were markedly less successful and less popular than his financial reforms. The emperor's interest in theology went back to his time as a courtier when he delivered seminars in the Church of Hagia Sophia, so it was perhaps no surprise that he would use his new power to try and influence Church doctrine. In 482 CE Zeno had issued the Henotikon edict which had hoped to settle the dispute in the Christian Church of whether Christ had two natures (divine and human) or just one. The edict, never living up to its name 'The Edict of Unity', satisfied neither camp, and Pope Felix III felt strongly enough about it to condemn it and excommunicate the bishop of Constantinople, Akakios. The split became known as the Akakian Schism, and Anastasios could do nothing to repair it.
Indeed, the emperor's open support of Monophysitism (the one nature camp) and attempts to appoint like-minded bishops in major cities only inflamed matters and caused several public protests in Constantinople. One particular point of contention was the emperor's insistence that the Trisagion chant of the liturgy in eastern church services be amended so that the standard "holy God, holy strong, holy immortal, have mercy on us" received a final extension of "who was crucified for us" which suggested the divine nature of God was subject to suffering, an impossible position for Orthodox Christians. In 512 CE Anastasios won back the favour of his people by appearing in the Hippodrome of Constantinople, taking off his diadem before the 20,000 crowd and offering to retire if they would only name a successor. The clever soap-box politics worked, and nobody could think of any real reason to depose their emperor.
THE ECCLESIASTICAL DIVISION BETWEEN ROME & CONSTANTINOPLE WOULD HAVE TO WAIT FOR ANASTASIOS' SUCCESSOR TO BRIDGE.
Rumblings of discontent continued, all the same, and the most serious consequence of the Monophysitism debate was the Vitalian revolt, named after the military commander who led the rebellion in Thrace between 513 and 515 CE. It was yet another example of how interlinked popular movements and Church dogma were in Byzantine life. Vitalian rode on a popular wave of orthodox feeling after Anastasios had tried to install a Monophysite bishop in Constantinople. The usurper's threat to the throne, although never realised, would not be removed until a conciliation with Justin I (r. 518-527 CE) and his assassination in 520 CE, probably under the orders of his rival, the future Justinian I. The ecclesiastical division between Rome and Constantinople would also have to wait for Anastasios' successor, when it was bridged, albeit temporarily, in 519 CE.
For the ordinary people, then, life under Anastasios had certain advantages, stability was always welcome, and there were not too many wars or invasions with their all-too-frequent horrors of pillage and premature deaths. Still, there was something lacklustre about the period and, as the historian JJ Norwich here explains, life for the Byzantines under Anastasios lacked a little of the fun enjoyed under less religiously zealous emperors:
His chief defect was parsimoniousness - a failing which, combined with a strong puritanical streak, made Constantinople a duller place to live than ever before. Contests with wild beast were forbidden; citizens were no longer permitted to hold nocturnal feasts, on the grounds that they led to unbridled licentiousness - which indeed they very often did. (57-8)
DEATH & SUCCESSOR
Anastasios, then in his nineties, died of natural causes in 518 CE and, not having any children, he was succeeded by Justin I. The aged and uneducated commander of the palace guard was, according to legend, selected by Anastasios merely because he was the first person to enter the emperor's chambers one morning. Justin would reign until 527 CE which then saw his nephew Justinian I take the throne who ushered in a new Golden Age for the Byzantine Empire, one that Anastasios I had laid the foundations for with his frugal and innovative fiscal policies.
Varangian Guard › Antique Origins
Definition and Origins
The mercenary Varangian Guard was an elite Byzantine army corps and the personal bodyguard of emperors beginning with Basil II in c. 988 CE. The Viking unit was famous for the stature of its members and their blood-thirsty conduct in battle, where they used their fearsome double-bladed battle-axes to devastating effect. Celebrated recruits include Harold Hardrada, who went on to become the king of Norway, and the Icelandic hero Bolli Bollason. Later, after the 1066 CE Battle of Hastings in England, especially, they became a largely Anglo- Saxon unit. By the beginning of the 14th century CE they had outlasted their usefulness but, for a few centuries at least, the Varangians were probably as shocking a sight to Byzantine enemies as tanks would have been to WWI infantry.
BASIL II
Basil II reigned as emperor from 976 to 1025 CE, and despite a hugely successful military career which saw the Byzantine empire almost double its territories, he got off to the worst possible start when his army was wiped out in an ambush by Samuel of Bulgaria at a mountain pass known as Trajan ’s Gate. The defeat encouraged a rebellion back home when two long-time trouble-makers each sought to take the throne from Basil. One of them, Bardas Phokas, even declared himself emperor in 987 CE. Basil, fortunately, could call on the help of Vladimir I of Kiev (r. 980-1015 CE), who obligingly sent a force of 6,000 Rus Vikings to help the young emperor. They would make all the difference in Basil's ambitious plans to forge an even greater Byzantine empire than ever seen before.
IN RETURN FOR HIS 6,000 NORSEMEN & INDICATIVE OF THEIR VALUE, BASIL II OFFERED VLADIMIR I HIS SISTER'S HAND IN MARRIAGE.
The Viking force arrived in Constantinople by sea, and they were a fearsome sight with their long heavy swords and wicked double-headed battle-axes. Basil, after waiting patiently for a year and blockading the rebels, finally made his move and attacked the usurpers' camp. The historian JJ Norwich continues the story,
In late December 988 the Black Sea lookouts espied the first of a great fleet of Viking ships on the northern horizon; early in 989 CE the whole of the fleet was safely anchored in the Golden Horn and 6,000 burly giants disembarked. A few weeks later, the Norsemen, led by Basil himself, crossed the straits under cover of darkness and took up their positions a few hundred yards from the rebel camp. At first light they attacked, while a squadron of imperial flame-throwers sprayed the shore with Greek fire. Phocas' men, roused from sleep, were powerless: their assailants swung their swords and battle-axes without mercy until they stood ankle-deep in blood. Few of the victims escaped with their lives. (209)
Byzantine Empire, 1025 CE
Basil restored order by 989 CE and was so impressed by the exploits of his new Viking army that he made them, first the elite shock troops of his army, and then, his personal bodyguard. The Viking corps became known as the Varangian Guard (“men of the pledge”) and, besides being a tremendously useful unit on the battlefield, they protected many subsequent emperors to the death, much like the elite unit which protected the Roman emperors, the Praetorian Guard. The Varangians were stationed as a distinctive and permanent fixture of the Great Palace of Constantinople. Their arms are described by the 11th-century CE historian Michael Psellos, thus:
These men are, without exception, armed with shields and the rhomphaia, a one-edged sword of heavy iron which they carry suspended from the right shoulder. (359)
The Varangians were certainly effective and dutiful in their responsibility to protect the Byzantine throne, whoever its occupant might be, but the service did not come cheap. One peculiar tradition for services rendered is described by the historian L. Brownworth:
On the night of their sovereign's death, they had the curious right to run to the imperial treasury and take as much gold as they could comfortably carry. This custom enabled most Varangians to retire as wealthy men and ensured a steady stream of Norse and Anglo-Saxon recruits. (212)
FAMOUS VARANGIANS
One of the most famous warriors and leaders of the Varangians was Harold Hardrada who spent a decade in the service of his emperor. Besides many other adventures, he and his fellow Varangians fought alongside the great Byzantine general George Maniakes in Sicily in 1038 CE, capturing both Messina and Syracuse. Exiled under suspicion of plotting an uprising in 1042 CE, Harold fled to Kiev and then returned to Norway where he reigned as King Harold III between 1046 and 1066 CE. Harold, championing his own claim to the English throne, fought and died at the battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 CE against his namesake, the English king Harold Godwinson.
Harold Hardrada, Battle of Fulford
Another illustrious one-time member of the Varangian Guard was the 11th-century CE figure of Bolli Bollason. According to the Laxdaela Saga, Bolli, like his fellow Varangians, was paid handsomely for his troubles and came home to Iceland dressed in such fine gold-embroidered purple robes he earned the nickname of “Bolli the Elegant”.
Following the defeat of the Anglo- Saxons at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 CE, many soldiers travelled to Constantinople to seek a better fortune. More northern mercenaries came from Iceland, Norway and other parts of Scandinavia, attracted by the exploits of men like Harold and Bolli. Byzantine emperors were only too happy to incorporate these travellers into the Varangian Guard although, by the 13th century CE, the majority of its members were English and the Guard used their own language when they acclaimed their adopted ruler.
DECLINE
The Varangians might have enjoyed a fearsome reputation, but they were not infallible. In 1081 CE, for example, when Alexios I Komnenos was defending Dyrrachion in Dalmatia, he positioned his Varangian troops at the front of his lines, but they were nearly annihilated by an enemy cavalry charge. They did not prove much use in 1204 CE either when knights of the Fourth Crusade attacked Constantinople, although their reason for fleeing the scene might well have been due to their lack of payment. These defeats as warfare and technology moved on may explain why the Varangians became mere palace guards and prison guards from the mid-13th century CE.
A reference to English axe-bearing guards at the Byzantine palace springs up in the work of chronicler Adam of Usk in 1404 CE, but thereafter the Varangians disappear from the historical record. A lasting effect of their presence in Byzantine affairs was the influence of that culture on the guard's homelands, for when they returned after their years of service laden with riches they also carried with them ideas of art and architecture. Finally, there are many rune stones still standing today across Scandinavia which were set up and carved to commemorate the great martial deeds of illustrious members of the Varangian Guard.
LICENSE:
Article based on information obtained from these sources:with permission from the Website Ancient History Encyclopedia
Content is available under License Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported. CC-BY-NC-SA License