Friday, July 15, 2011

Where's the Varangian Guard when you need them?

There are few military forces in history as weird as the Varangian Guard.  Viking mercenaries from Scandinavia who worked their way through Russia to Constantinople into the army of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, where they became a sort of medieval Praetorian Guard of the Roman Emperors.  Their mere presence signified that the Emperor was personally involved.  They were famous for their fierceness, bravery, effectiveness in combat, colorful clothes and very large axes.  And drinking.

They had a hand in defending the Eastern Roman Empire from Arab Muslim incursions, be it in Sicily or in the Eastern Mediterranean.  They were chopped to pieces at the Battle of Manzikert but were reconstituted enough to make a futile effort to defend Constantinople from the Venetian-sponsored invaders of the Fourth Crusade.  After the fall of Constantinople to and subsequent sack by the Fourth Crusade -- the true cause of the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire to the Turks later on -- the Varangian Guard seemed to disappear.  They may have been disbanded or the reconstituted Eastern Roman government may not have been able to afford them.

Whatever the reason, it seems the Varangian Guard may be needed back in Norway:
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