The Varangian Guard

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TheVarangians(/vəˈrændʒiənz/;Old Norse:Væringjar;Greek: Βάραγγοι,Várangoi, Βαριάγοι,Variágoi) was the name given byGreeks,Rus' people,Rutheniansand others toVikings,[1][2][3][4]who between the 9th and 11th centuries, ruled themedievalstate ofKievan Rus', settled among many territories of modernBelarus,RussiaandUkraine, and formed theByzantineVarangian Guard.[5][6]According to the 12th centuryKievanPrimary Chronicle, a group of Varangians known as theRus'[7]settled inNovgorodin 862 under the leadership ofRurik. Before Rurik, the Rus' might have ruled an earlierhypothetical polity. Rurik's relativeOlegconquered Kiev in 882 and established the state of Kievan Rus', which was later ruled byRurik's descendants.[8][9]

Engaging in trade, piracy, andmercenaryactivities, Varangians roamed the river systems and portages ofGardariki, as the areas north of theBlack Seawere known in theNorse sagas. They controlled theVolga trade route(between the Varangians and theArabs), connecting theBalticto theCaspian Sea, and theDnieper and Dniester trade route(between Varangians and the Greeks) leading to the Black Sea andConstantinople.[10]Those were the critically important trade links at that time, connectingMedieval Europewith wealthy and developedArab Caliphatesand theByzantine Empire;[11]Most of the silver coinage in the West came from the East via those routes.

Attracted by the riches of Constantinople, the Varangian Rus' initiated a number ofRus'-Byzantine Wars, some of which resulted in advantageous trade treaties. At least from the early 10th century many Varangians served as mercenaries in theByzantine Army, constituting the elite Varangian Guard (the personalbodyguardsofByzantine Emperors). Eventually most of them, both in Byzantium and in Eastern Europe, were converted frompaganismtoOrthodox Christianity, culminating in theChristianization of Kievan Rus'in 988. Coinciding with the general decline of theViking Age, the influx ofScandinaviansto Rus' stopped, and Varangians were gradually assimilated by East Slavs by the late 11th century.




The earliestByzantinerecord of the Rus' may have been written prior to 842. It is preserved in the GreekLife of St. George of Amastris, which speaks of a raid that had extended intoPaphlagonia. Contemporary Byzantine presence of the Rus' is mentioned in theFrankishAnnals of St. Bertin. These relate that a delegation from the court of theByzantine emperorvisited FrankishEmperorLouis the Piousat his court inIngelheimin 839. In this delegation were two men who called themselvesRhos(Rhos vocari dicebant). Louis enquired about their origins and learnt that they were Swedes. Fearing that they were spies for their brothers, theDanes, he incarcerated them.

In 860, the Rus' underAskold and Dirlaunched theirfirst attack on Constantinoplefrom Kiev. The result of this attack is disputed, but the Varangians continued their efforts as they regularly sailed on theirmonoxyladown the Dnieper into theBlack Sea. The Rus'raids into the Caspian Seawere recorded by Arab authors in the 870s and in 910, 912, 913, 943, and later. Although the Rus' had predominantly peaceful trading relations with the Byzantines, the rulers of Kiev launched the relatively successfulnaval expedition of 907and theabortive campaign of 941against Constantinople, as well as the large-scale invasion of theBalkansbySviatoslav Iin 968–971. These raids were successful in forcing the Byzantines to re-arrange their trading arrangements; militarily, the Varangians were usually defeated by the superior Byzantine forces, especially in the sea due to Byzantine use ofGreek fire.



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The Varangian Guard (Greek: Τάγμα των Βαράγγων,Tágma tōn Varángōn) were a part ofByzantine Armyand personal bodyguards of theByzantine emperorsfrom the 10th to the 14th centuries. Initially the guard was composed of Varangians who came from Kievan Rus'.

The guard was first formed under EmperorBasil IIafter 988, following the Christianization of Kievan Rus' and union withVladimir I of Kiev, who sent 6,000 men to Basil as part of a military assistance agreement. Basil's distrust of the native Byzantine guardsmen, whose loyalties often shifted with fatal consequences, as well as the proven loyalty of the Varangians, many of whom served in Byzantium even before, led the emperor to employ them as his personal guard. Over the years, new recruits from Sweden, Denmark, and Norway kept a predominantly Scandinavian cast to the organization until the late 11th century. So many Scandinavians left to enlist in the guard that a medieval Swedish law fromVästergötlandstated that no one could inherit while staying in "Greece" — the then Scandinavian term for the Byzantine Empire.[32]In the eleventh century, there were also two other European courts that recruited Scandinavians:[33]Kievan Rus', c. 980–1060, and London, 1018–1066 (theÞingalið).[33]

Composed primarily of Scandinavians for the first hundred years, the guard increasingly includedAnglo-Saxonsafter the successfulNorman Conquestof England. By the time of EmperorAlexios Komnenosin the late 11th century, the Varangian Guard was largely recruited from Anglo-Saxons and "others who had suffered at the hands of the Vikings and their cousins the Normans". The Anglo-Saxons and other Germanic peoples shared with the Vikings a tradition of faithful, oath-bound service (to death if necessary), and after the Norman Conquest of England there were many fighting men, who had lost their lands and former masters, looking for a living elsewhere.

The Varangian Guard not only provided security for Byzantine emperors but participated in many wars involving Byzantium and often played a crucial role, since it was usually employed at critical moments of battle. By the late 13th century, Varangians were mostly ethnically assimilated by Byzantines, though the guard operated until at least the mid-14th century, and in 1400 there were still some people identifying themselves as "Varangians" in Constantinople.

Etymology

Medieval GreekΒάραγγοςVárangosandOld East SlavicВарягъVarjagŭ(Old Church SlavonicВарѧгъVaręgŭ) are derived fromOld Norseværingi, originally a compound ofvár'pledge' or 'faith', andgengi'companion', thus meaning 'sworn companion', 'confederate', extended to mean 'a foreigner who has taken service with a new lord by a treaty of fealty to him', or 'protégé'.[1][12]Some scholars seem to assume a derivation fromvárwith the common suffix-ing.[13]Yet, this suffix is inflected differently in Old Norse, and furthermore, the word is attested with-gangiaand cognates in other Germanic languages in the Early Middle Ages, as inOld Englishwærgenga,Old FrankishwargengusandLangobardicwaregang.[14]The reduction of the second part of the word could be parallel to that seen in Old Norseforingi'leader', correspondent to Old EnglishforegengaandGothic𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌾𐌰fauragaggja'st eward'.[15][16]




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Most badass painting I had ever seen

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