Who were the Varangian Guards of the Byzantine Emperor?

Who were the Varangian Guards of the Byzantine Emperor?
#varangian #byzantine_empire #byzantinechurch #medievalhistory #middleages #crusades #normans #robertguiscard #dyrrachium

[MH-rolg]

There were Varangian guards protecting Byzantine emperors hundreds of years before 1066, and they were mostly Svear and Dane vikings.

[ZakkWyldeman]

Varangians were swedish vikings originaly. After the battle of hastings anglo-saxon warriors joind their ranks.

[maximmoroz]

Varangians were scandinavian initially - only much later joined by actual saxons and slavs.

[andersjohnsen]

Who where the Varangians depends on what time period one look at. For the first 100 years they were mostly Rus (descendants of Norsemen) and Norsemen predominately from present day Sweden, but also Norway and Denmark.

One of the most famous Varangian guard is the Norwegian King Harald Hardråde. The same king who was killed at Stamford Bridge when he invaded England right before the Normans. So a King and former Varangian guard was killed at Stamford Bridge.

After the conquest of England by the Normans many Anglo Saxons joined as Varangian guards.

[JigglyPuff]

The varangians were not Anglo saxons! 😂😂😂

[historywith_jay]

This is such a wild story to think that all these anglos ended up in Constantinople in the Varangian guards

[RealCrusadesHistory]

How many Anglo-Saxon Varangians at the Battle of Dyrrhachium in 1081 might've actually been present for the ferocious Battle of Hastings almost two decades earlier? Was this their chance for revenge?

[abhi]

wonder if there was any tension between anglo saxon varangians and scandinavian varangians. they werent on the best of terms at home

[gabrielalejandrodoldan]

Una ensalada de diferentes cascos germánicos de diferentes eras y regiones, queda épico a la vista, pero después te das cuenta de los anacronismos y te la baja bastante

[Grenadier]

I read about a battle fought between Normans and Saxons that took place in the Balkans after 1066. The Saxons, enraged, charged the Normans uphill and were cut to pieces.

William wouldn't have won had Harold rested his troops and reinforced his army on the way to Hastings. He could have gathered as many as 30000 men, but he wanted to strike quickly to disallow the Normans an opportunity to fortify, and William was burning the land.

Imagine an insular England in the Sandanavian sphere that didn't constantly meddle in the continent.

[crapphone]

There were a lot of Anglo-Saxons in the rain in guard but there were a lot of other foreigners including actual Varangians in it. They were without a doubt a fearsome crowd. There were Russ, vikings, and all kinds of drifters who ended up in Byzantium who ended up in this group.

[HypnoChode]

Well the original make up for the Varangians was Scandinavian and Slavic Vikings from Russia, quite literally the Rus. It wasn’t until later on when they became more worthy as a unit is when other ethnic groups started to join their ranks due to the money and statues it brought.

[gregoryhawkins]

The Varangian were formally employed from the Kievan Rus after Vladimir I became Christian in 988 AD. He also sent 6000 of his warriors to put down a revolt in the Roman Empire. The Varangian might have been serving in smaller numbers as far back 874. This was the early days of the Tágma tōn Varángōn.

[Aiodeus]

Finally some more or less period faithful armor

[ChapterGrim]

Varangians weren't originally Anglo-Saxons, they were predominantly Norse and Slavic, and where a Byzantine unit when not travelling the Dnieper, Dniester, and Volga rivers...

[Clicky_The_Blicky]

Do the varangis have a rule book of accusation too?

[serkangunduz]

They came from scandinavia. Some famous Varangian guards King of Norway etc.... As i Turk we fought with them endurable fierce wariors.

[Adam-mzql]

Marched in armour all way up north, hundreds miles, to take vikings by surprise and evict them from the territory. Then they learn of the Norman army, led by William the conqueror of Normandy with his legit claim to the English throne. The Norman's had been busy terrorising the countryside. The Saxons led by king Harold (there's a statue to the man at the bottom of my hometowns high street) marched from Stanford bridge in the north all way back down to just outside Hastings in the south and even arrived in time to claim the high ground and set up their impenetrable shield wall. The Saxons were looking to win were it not for a critical difference in the command structure of each army. The Saxons king would improve the mens morale by fighting on foot alongside his men but this has the negative effect of making it difficult to command men at the opposite flank.
The Norman's however favoured a different method of command which didn't have the same effect on morale as the Saxon system but, by riding on horseback, William was better able to view the army under his command. The Saxon archers also had the upper hand of being on high ground and therefore had greater range compared with the Norman archers down below. The Normans had sone of the toughest cavalry in Europe at the time during the early middle ages and this was put to great effect by charging and retreating repeatedly at the Saxon flank farthest from the king's own regiment. After a time, with a lack of command on the Saxon end, the shield wall was broken and those men charged down the hill and we're cut down

[Bdjdjsjsdbxnsiwnf]

They weren’t Anglo Saxon, they were Norse

[radomirratkovic]

Varangians are Anglo Saxon warriors exiled from England after 1066? What a joke ...