The Varangian Guard was the personal bodyguard of the Byzantine emperors, formed in 988 when Emperor Basil II received 6,000 Rus warriors from Vladimir I of Kiev in exchange for a dynastic marriage alliance. Prized because they were outsiders with no stake in Byzantine court politics, the axe-wielding Varangians served as the emperor's last line of defense and elite shock troops in the field, drawing later recruits including Harald Hardrada, who served in the Guard before becoming king of Norway, and, after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, growing numbers of Anglo-Saxon exiles. The Guard is last clearly attested defending Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade's sack of the city in 1204. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Force TypeElite foreign mercenary bodyguard of the Byzantine emperor, recruited chiefly from Scandinavian Norsemen and, from the late 11th century, Anglo-Saxon exiles, renowned for the two-handed Dane axe 1 Founded Year Force Type
Force Type (category) Force Type (category) Connections
Fought In
Source Wikipedia: Varangian Guard
Operates
Source Wikipedia: Dane axe
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Varangian Guard
WikipediaLead section
The Varangian Guard (Greek: Τάγμα τῶν Βαράγγων, romanized: Tágma tōn Varángōn) was an elite unit of the Byzantine army from the 10th to the 14th century who served as personal bodyguards to the Byzantine emperors.
- Fought In: Fourth Crusade
View the Source Wikidata: Varangian Guard
Wikidata Q1464130, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
Wikipedia: Dane axe
Operates: Dane axe, Article textQuote, Operates: Dane axe, Article text
The Dane axe is also known to have been used by the Varangian Guard, also known as pelekyphoros phroura (πελεκυφόρος φρουρά), the "axe-bearing guard", who were mercenary soldiers from northern and eastern Europe employed by the Byzantine emperors.
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