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The Varangian Guard (Greek: Τάγμα των Βαράγγων, ''Tágma tōn Varángōn'') was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army, from the 10th to the 14th centuries, whose members served as personal bodyguards to the Byzantine Emperors. They are known for being primarily composed of Germanic peoples, specifically Scandinavians (the Guard was formed approximately 200 years into the Viking age) and Anglo-Saxons (after the Norman Conquest of England created an Anglo-Saxon emigration, part of which found employment in Byzantium).〔(Sandra Alvarez )〕 The Rus' provided the earliest members of the Varangian Guard. They were in Byzantine service from as early as 874. The Guard was first formally constituted under Emperor Basil II in 988, following the Christianization of Kievan Rus' by Vladimir I of Kiev. Vladimir, who had recently usurped power in Kiev with an army of Varangian warriors, 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 had previously served in Byzantium, led the Emperor to employ them as his personal guardsmen. Immigrants from Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland kept a predominantly Norse cast to the organization until the late 11th century. In these years, Scandinavian men left to enlist in the Byzantine Varangian Guard in such numbers that a medieval Swedish law from Västergötland declared no one could inherit while staying in Greece—the then Scandinavian term for the Byzantine Empire—to stop the emigration.〔Jansson 1980:22〕 Especially as two other European courts simultaneously also recruited Scandinavians:〔Pritsak 1981:386〕 Kievan Rus' c. 980–1060 and London 1018–1066 (the Þingalið).〔 Composed primarily of Norsemen and Rus for the first 100 years, the Guard began to see increased inclusion of Anglo-Saxons after the Norman conquest of England. By the time of the Emperor Alexios Komnenos in 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 (to death if necessary) oath-bound service, and after the Norman invasion of England there were many fighting men who had lost their lands and former masters and looked for a living elsewhere. The Varangian Guard not only provided security for the Byzantine Emperors, but also participated in many wars, often playing a decisive role, since they were usually deployed at critical moments of a battle. By the late 13th century Varangians were mostly ethnically assimilated by Byzantine Greeks, though the Guard operated until at least mid-14th century. In 1400 there were still some people identifying themselves as "Varangians" in Constantinople. ==History== The earliest members of the Varangian guard came from Kievan Rus'. A treaty between Rus' and the Byzantine empire under Michael III was agreed in 874 after a period of hostilities. A clause in the treaty obliged Rus' to provide men for Byzantine service. Renewed hostilities between 907 and 911 ended with a new treaty under which any Rus' who chose could serve Byzantium as a right.〔D'Amato, pp. 4, 6〕 As early as 911, Varangians are mentioned as fighting as mercenaries for the Byzantines. About 700 Varangians served along with Dalmatians as marines in Byzantine naval expeditions against the Emirate of Crete in 902 and a force of 629 returned to Crete under Constantine Porphyrogenitus in 949. A unit of 415 Varangians was involved in the Italian expedition of 936. It is also recorded that there were Varangian contingents among the forces that fought the Arabs in Syria in 955. During this period, the Varangian mercenaries were included in the ''Great Companions'' (Gr. Μεγάλη Εταιρεία). In 988 Basil II requested military assistance from Vladimir I of Kiev to help defend his throne. In compliance with the treaty made by his father after the Siege of Dorostolon (971), Vladimir sent 6,000 men to Basil. Vladimir took the opportunity to rid himself of his most unruly warriors which in any case he was unable to pay.〔D'Amato, pp. 6-7〕 This is the presumptive date for the formal, permanent institution of an elite guard.〔D'Amato, p.4〕 In exchange for the warriors, Vladimir was given Basil's sister, Anna, in marriage. Vladimir also agreed to convert to Christianity and to bring his people into the Christian faith. In 989 these Varangians, led by Basil II himself, landed at Chrysopolis to defeat the rebel general Bardas Phokas. On the field of battle, Phokas died of a stroke in full view of his opponent; upon the death of their leader, Phokas' troops turned and fled. The brutality of the Varangians was noted when they pursued the fleeing army and "cheerfully hacked them to pieces". These men formed the nucleus of the Varangian Guard, which saw extensive service in southern Italy in the eleventh century, as the Normans and Lombards worked to extinguish Byzantine authority there. In 1018, Basil II received a request from his catepan of Italy, Basil Boioannes, for reinforcements to put down the Lombard revolt of Melus of Bari. A detachment of the Varangian Guard was sent and in the Battle of Cannae, the Byzantines achieved a decisive victory. The Varangians also participated in the partial reconquest of Sicily from the Arabs under George Maniakes in 1038. Here, they fought alongside Normans recently arrived in Italy seeking adventure and Lombards from Byzantine-held Apulia. A prominent member of the Guard at this time was Harald Hardrada, later King of Norway as Harald III (1046 to 1066). However, when Maniakes ostracised the Lombards by publicly humiliating their leader, Arduin, the Lombards deserted and the Normans and Varangians followed them. Not long after, the catepan Michael Doukeianos had a force of Varangians stationed at Bari. On 16 March 1041 they were called up to fight the Normans near Venosa and many drowned in the subsequent retreat across the Ofanto. In September Exaugustus Boioannes was sent to Italy with only a small contingent of Varangians to replace the disgraced Doukeianos. On 3 September 1041 they were defeated in battle by the Normans. Many of the last catepans were sent from Constantinople with Varangian units. In 1047 John Raphael was sent to Bari with a contingent of Varangians, but the Bariots refused to receive his troops and he spent his term at Otranto. Twenty years later, in 1067, the last Byzantine catepan in southern Italy, Mabrica, arrived with Varangian auxiliaries and took Brindisi and Taranto. At the disastrous Battle of Manzikert in 1071, virtually all the Emperor’s Guards fell around him.〔Stephen Lowe, (Battle Honours of the Varangian Guard )〕 Composed primarily of Scandinavians for the first 100 years, the guard began to see increased inclusion of Anglo-Saxons after the successful invasion of England by the Normans. In 1088 a large number of Anglo-Saxons and Danes emigrated to the Byzantine Empire by way of the Mediterranean.〔Stephen Turnbull, ''The Walls of Constantinople, AD 324–1453'', pages 35-36, Osprey Publishing, ISBN 1-84176-759-X.〕 One source has more than 5,000 of them arriving in 235 ships. Those who did not enter imperial service settled on the Black Sea coast, building and garrisoning the town of Civetot for Alexios I.〔Buckler, p. 366.〕 Those who did became so vital to the Varangians that the Guard was commonly called the ''Englinbarrangoi'' (Anglo-Varangians) from that point. In this capacity they fought in Sicily against the Normans under Robert Guiscard, who unsuccessfully sought to invade the lower Balkans as well. Writing about the unit as it was in 1080, the chronicler and princess Anna Komnene refers to these "axe-bearing barbarians" as being "from Thule", likely a reference to the British Isles or Scandinavia.〔Anna Comnena, ''The Alexiad'' (London: Penguin, 2003), p. 95.〕 Likewise, the Byzantine civil-servant, soldier and historian John Kinnamos calls these "axe-bearers" which guarded the Emperor "the British nation, which has been in service to the Romans' Emperors from a long time back".〔John Kinnamos, "The Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenos" (Charles M. Brand, trans). New York, Columbia University Press, 1976, p. 16.〕 Kinnamos was writing in the later 12th century, indicating perhaps that the more Dane and Saxon composition of the guard continued to the point of the Fourth Crusade. The Varangians relied on a long axe as their main weapon, although they were often skilled swordsmen or archers as well. In some sources, such as Anna Komnene's ''The Alexiad'', they are described as mounted; both Vikings and elite Anglo-Saxon warriors routinely used horses for strategic mobility even though they normally fought on foot. The guard was stationed primarily around Constantinople, and may have been barracked in the Bucoleon palace complex. The guard also accompanied armies into the field, and Byzantine chroniclers (as well as several notable Western European and Arab chroniclers) often note their battlefield prowess, especially in comparison to the local barbarian peoples. They were vital to the Byzantine victory under the emperor John II Komnenos at the Battle of Beroia in 1122. The Varangians hacked their way through the enemy's circle of Pecheneg wagons, collapsing the Pecheneg position and causing a general rout in their camp.〔 The Varangians were described by 11th-century Byzantine historian Michael Psellus as thus: “The whole group carry shields and brandish on their shoulders a certain single-edged, heavy-iron weapon", which is understood to have been the daneaxe (many Byzantine writers referred to them as "axe-bearing barbarians", ''pelekyphoroi barbaroi'', rather than as Varangians).〔 A mistranslation of the Greek text however has led some to refer to the weapon as a ''rhomphaia'',〔Ian Heath and Angus McBride, ''Byzantine Armies 886–1118'', 1979, p. 38: "Psellus however claims that every Varangian without exception was armed with shield and 'Rhomphaia'...a mixture of Byzantine and Scandinavian gear was in use..."〕 which most likely occurred as a product of Atticism in Byzantine literature.〔 They were prominent in the defence of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. Of the role of the guard, it is said that "the fighting was very violent and there was hand to hand fight with axes and swords, the assailants mounted the walls and prisoners were taken on both sides".〔 The latest mention of Varangian guard is in the Greek version of the ''Chronicle of the Morea'', which state this unit escorted the Prince of Achaia away to prison after the Battle of Pelagonia in 1259; historian D. J. Geanakoplos suggests they were reconstituted by Theodore I Laskaris to strengthen his claim as the rightful Emperor.〔Deno J. Geanakoplos, ''Emperor Michael Palaeologus and the West'' (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1959), p. 43 and note〕 People identified as Varangians were to be found in Constantinople around 1400.〔Mark Bartusis, ''The Late Byzantine Army: Arms and Society 1204–1453'' (Philadelphia 1992), pp. 272–275.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Varangian Guard」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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