*Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading The Byzantine Empire was the heir to two great cultures that cradled and nurtured European civilization: Greece and Rome. Constantinople, now called Istanbul, became a center of power, culture, trade, and technology poised on the edges of Europe and Asia, and its influence was felt not only throughout Europe but the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, and the Far East. Coins dating from the reign of Emperor Justinian I (r.527-565) have been found in southern India, and Chinese records show that the "Fulin," as the Chinese named the Byzantines, were received at court as early as 643 CE. For a thousand years, the Byzantine Empire protected Europe from the Islamic Arab Empire, allowing it to pursue its own destiny. Finally, Byzantium was a polyglot society in which a multitude of ethnic groups lived under the emperor prizing peace above war, an inspiration surely for the modern age when divisive nationalism threatens to dominate society once more. Despite all this, the Byzantine Empire is often treated as a medieval oddity, an absolute state stunted by a myopic religion, a corrupt, labyrinthine bureaucracy, and an inability to adapt to change. In truth, none of these judgments bear any serious scrutiny - Byzantium was a strong, organized, highly effective and adaptable civilization for most of its long history. It owed its success in no small part to its military, which, in contrast to the feudal armies of Western Europe and the tribally based forces of the Middle East, operated with a high level of discipline, strategic prowess, efficiency, and organization. At the same time, the Byzantines relied heavily on mercenaries, and the Hetairoi or foreign soldiers formed an important and often vital component of the army. The ability to call upon warriors from many nations demonstrated the power and wealth of the emperor, so they were recruited as much for prestige as for military utility. The most famous of the foreign units was without question the Varangian Guard. The Varangians came from the land in Eastern Europe known in the Middle Ages as Rus, which is now part of modern Russia and Ukraine. They were descendants of Viking warriors from Sweden who came to rule the waterways and population of Russia. Varangian mercenaries were fighting for the Byzantines by the 10th century, and in 988 they formed a permanent elite guard for the emperor. They took an oath of allegiance to him and served directly under the Acolyte or Akolouthos, who was usually of Byzantine origin. They also assumed responsibilities for the security of Constantinople. They served in battles outside the capital, but usually only when necessity called for it. The Varangian Guard's primary duty was always to protect the emperor, and inevitably, the Varangians became a political force, taking part in the numerous palace coups. They displayed a fierce devotion not necessarily to the emperor but to the throne itself - for example, when Emperor Nicephorus II was murdered by John I Tzimiskes in 969, the Varangian Guard immediately pledged its allegiance to the usurper. The Varangian Guard consisted of heavily armored infantry bearing shields, heavy swords, and Norse battle axes, either single-bladed or double-bladed. They were amongst the fiercest and most feared military units in Christendom, which made the unit an attractive station for many soldiers of fortune came to Constantinople hoping to pursue lucrative military careers in the service of the Byzantine emperors. Those from the West were called at various times Frankoi, (Franks), Latinoi (Latins, i.e. Latin Rite Christians), or Normans. Frankish knights were often hired to combat the Turks in the 11th century.

The Varangian Guard

The Varangian Guards were Viking mercenaries who operated far beyond their native shores as an elite force within the Byzantine Armies. Descendants from a legendary line of warriors, the Varangian Guard was formed after a group of Viking mercenaries made a major contribution to the Byzantine Emperor Basil II's victory over rebel forces in 988 AD. These 5,000 men were then retained as Basil's personal guard and would provide loyal service to many successive occupants of the imperial throne. Commonly referred to as 'foreigners' (Etaireia), they were nonetheless absorbed into a new Palatine regiment under command of an officer termed the Akolouthos, who was either a Norsemen or a Rus (Norsemen colonizers of Russia). The Varangians wore mixtures of their native clothing and armor together with a splendid formal Byzantine uniform. But most famously, they always wielded their own traditional battle-axes; this became a sign that the emperor was on the battlefield in person. This is an insightful look of one of the legendary guard units of the medieval world, complete with a dazzling array of artwork plates showing the Varangian Guard in an array of settings from court ceremonies to the battlefield.

The Varangian Guard 988–1453

The Byzantines had a remarkably sophisticated approach to politics and military strategy. Unlike most of their contemporaries, they learnt very early in their history that winning a battle did not necessarily win a war, and they frequently bought off their enemies with treaties and bribes rather than squander men and matériel in potentially fruitless campaigns. The Byzantine army of the 10th and early 11th centuries, at the height of its power and efficiency, was the best-organised, best-trained, best-equipped and highest-paid in the known world. This splendid book by Ian Heath examines the Byzantine Armies from 886-1118, including the lusty, hard-fighting, hard-drinking 'barbarian' Varangian guard.

Byzantine Armies 886–1118

The hundred-year period ending in 1025, from the reign of the Emperor Constantine VII to that of Basil II 'the Bulgar-Slayer', encompassed the last great era of Byzantine aggression and dominance in the Near East and Balkans. During that time, a succession of soldier-emperors hallenged and defeated an array of opponents on land and at sea and reconquered vast swathes of territory. At the heart of the Emperors' forces were the professional, highly mobile Tagmata or Imperial Guard regiments, originally formed to guard the Emperor1s person in the capital but invariably deployed as elite combat troops. Joining these heavy cavalry units, were a variety of exotic mercenary units recruited from foreigners, notably the legendary Varangians. Featuring specially commissioned full-colour artwork, this lively study sheds new light on the colourful regiments of the Byzantine Imperial Guard, the formidable warriors who provided the Byzantine emperors with an insurance policy in the capital, and the elite of their field armies when on campaign.

Byzantine Imperial Guardsmen 925–1025

Trans-Human Augmentation through DARPA's Super-Soldier program begins the process of taking humanity to a scientifically driven caste system. Liberty fades but Men of the Varangian Guard Legion step into the fight. Yet, this is war beyond Land, Air, Sea, and Space. It extends into Cyber and Quantum - The Unknowable Spaces.

Varangian Guard

This book examines how the Norsemen came to be drawn into the Imperial service.

The Varangians of Byzantium

This book is the history of the Eastern Vikings, the Rus and the Varangians, from their earliest mentions in the narrative sources to the late medieval period, when the Eastern Vikings had become stock figures in Old Norse Romances. A comparison is made between sources emanating from different cultures, such as the Roman Empire, the Abbasid Caliphate and its successor states, the early kingdoms of the Rus and the high medieval Scandinavian kingdoms. A key element in the history of the Rus and the Varangians is the fashioning of identities and how different cultures define themselves in comparison and contrast with the other. This book offers a fresh and engaging view of these medieval sources, and a thorough reassessment of established historiographical grand narratives on Scandinavian peoples in the East.

The Varangians

The Middle Ages were a turbulent and violent time, when the fate of nations was most often decided on the battlefield, and strength of arms was key to acquiring and maintaining power. Feudal oaths and local militias were more often than not incapable of providing the skilled and disciplined warriors necessary to keep the enemy at bay. It was the mercenary who stepped in to fill the ranks. A mercenary was a professional soldier who took employment with no concern for the morals or cause of the paymaster. But within these confines we discover a surprising array of men, from the lowest-born foot soldier to the wealthiest aristocrat the occasional clergyman, even. What united them all was a willingness, and often the desire, to fight for their supper.In this benchmark work, William Urban explores the vital importance of the mercenary to the medieval power-broker, from the Byzantine Varangian Guard to fifteenth-century soldiers of fortune in the Baltic. Through contemporary chronicles and the most up-to-date scholarship, he presents an in-depth portrait of the mercenary across the Middle Ages.

Medieval Mercenaries

In this first general book on the Byzantine army, the author traces the army's impact on the Byzantine state and society from the army's reorganization under Diocletian until its disintegration in the aftermath of the battle of Manzikert.

Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081

The late Byzantine period was a time characterized by both civil strife and foreign invasion, framed by two cataclysmic events: the fall of Constantinople to the western Europeans in 1204 and again to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. Mark C. Bartusis here opens an extraordinary window on the Byzantine Empire during its last centuries by providing the first comprehensive treatment of the dying empire's military. Although the Byzantine army was highly visible, it was increasingly ineffective in preventing the incursion of western European crusaders into the Aegean, the advance of the Ottoman Turks into Europe, and the slow decline and eventual fall of the thousand-year Byzantine Empire. Using all the available Greek, western European, Slavic, and Turkish sources, Bartusis describes the evolution of the army both as an institution and as an instrument of imperial policy. He considers the army's size, organization, administration, and the varieties of soldiers, and he examines Byzantine feudalism and the army's impact on society and the economy. In its extensive use of soldier companies composed of foreign mercenaries, the Byzantine army had many parallels with those of western Europe; in the final analysis, Bartusis contends, the death of Byzantium was attributable more to a shrinking fiscal base than to any lack of creative military thinking on the part of its leaders.

The Late Byzantine Army

An in-depth, illustrated look at the campaigns, tactics, and weapons of some of history’s fiercest and most legendary warriors. Viking warriors were feared by their contemporaries and their ferocious reputation has survived to the present day. This book covers the military history of the Vikings from their early raiding to the final failure of their expansionist ambitions directed against England. In that period, Viking warbands and increasingly large armies had left their Scandinavian homelands to range across vast regions, including the whole of Northern Europe and beyond, even reaching North America. The British Isles were terrorized for two centuries and at times largely conquered. In Normandy, Russia, and elsewhere they also settled and founded states. As far afield as Constantinople, the Byzantine emperors employed them as their elite Varangian Guard. Tough, skilled and resourceful, with a culture that embraced the pursuit of immortal fame and a heroic death in battle, their renown as warriors was second to none. In this book, Gabriele Esposito outlines the history of their campaigns and battles and examines in detail their strategy, tactics, weapons, armor, and clothing. In addition, dozens of color photographs of replica equipment in use bring this fascinating subject to life.

Armies of the Vikings, AD 793–1066

Why were mercenaries such a commonplace of war in the medieval and early modern periods and why have they traditionally been so poorly regarded? Who were mercenaries, and how were they distinguished from other soldiers? The contributors to this volume attempt to cast light on these questions.

Mercenaries and Paid Men

In medieval and Renaissance Europe, mercenaries--professional soldiers who fought for money or other rewards--played violent, colorful, international roles in warfare, but they have received relatively little scholarly attention. In this book a large number of vignettes portray their activities in Western Europe over a period of nearly 900 years, from the Merovingian mercenaries of 752 through the Thirty Years' War, which ended in 1648. Intended as an introduction to the subject and drawing heavily on contemporary first-person accounts, the book creates a vivid but balanced mosaic of the many thousands of mercenaries who were hired to fight for various employers.

Mercenaries in Medieval and Renaissance Europe

Until the early 1000s, waves of strange and ferocious warriors from the barren northlands swept into Britain and Western Europe. Plundering and pillaging, they left devastation in their wake. Trembling victims never knew when they would strike next. The Vikings fought for personal glory, material wealth and a longing for adventure and freedom. This book tackles the myth of the Vikings, their unconventional methods of warfare, cunning strategies and boldly innovative ship building techniques. The author casts a scholarly eye and a fresh light onto these fiercely independent people.

Norse Warfare

Viking History, the Viking Age, and Viking Sagas are the most enthralling and captivating historical stories ever.They hail from a culture unlike any other this part of the world has seen. They are bred on warfare, pillaging, and plundering. Physically they are monstrous specimens of men. They wield heavy and deadly weapons and they are some of the most efficient and violent fighters the world has ever seen. They are ruthless warriors that strike fear into the enemy. They are Vikings for hire. They are the elite Special Forces in service to a foreign ruler. They conquer unruly territories across the great Byzantine Empire. This is the true story of the Varangian Guard and the legendary rise of Harald Hardrada. Hardrada will develop tactics that will transform warfare across the Mediterranean. Hardrada's string of improbable yet ingenious victories will show the Varangian Guard to be one of the most elite and talented warrior classes that history has ever known.

Viking Sagas - Varangian Guard Viking History

The Varangian Guard was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army from the 10th to the 14th centuries, primarily composed of Norse and later Anglo-Saxon warriors. These guards were personal bodyguards to the Byzantine Emperors and were renowned for their loyalty, formidable combat skills, and imposing presence. Originally recruited by Emperor Basil II in 988 after he received 6,000 warriors as part of a political agreement with Prince Vladimir I of Kiev, the Varangian Guard quickly gained a reputation as a prestigious force within the Byzantine Empire. They played a crucial role in numerous military campaigns, palace coups, and served as a counterbalance to the often unreliable local troops. Distinguished by their axes and distinct northern European attire, the Varangians not only served in military and ceremonial roles but also influenced Byzantine culture, with some members rising to significant political and military positions within the empire. The Guard's effectiveness and loyalty are emblematic of the Byzantine Empire's ability to integrate foreign elements into its military and society, enhancing its historical legacy as a melting pot of cultures.