The Varangian Guard: The Brutal Special Forces Of Dark Age Byzantium | Ancient Black Ops | Chronicle
The Varangian Guard were brutal Viking mercenaries serving the Byzantine Empire. Renowned for their brutality and loyalty, they became the elite fighting unit of the Emperor Basil II, tasked with suppressing revolts and protecting the Emperor. They are the prime example of military brutality in the dark ages.
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Byzantium did not have a Dark Age. As the late Merle E. Severy, Editor, National Geographic, wrote: "The Dark Ages are only dark if you look at Western Europe, for long centuries a back-water: decaying towns, isolated manors, scattered monasteries, squabbling robber barons. In the East blazed the light of Byzantium, studded with cities such as Thessalonica, Antioch, and Alexandria, more cosmopolitan than any Western society before the modern age."
Byzantine Dark Ages is a historiographical term for the period in the history of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, during the 7th and 8th centuries, which marks the transition between the late antique early Byzantine period and the "medieval" middle Byzantine era.
That’s right and true !!
True Only Bulgarian Empire Capital Great Preslav is Seccond Constantinople
@@stanbatakarata6081 were and how you come up with that statement ? Really ??
Western Europe suffered the consequences of the Roman Empire and, later, the Catholic Church.
"Basil! Basil! Basil, what, do you thing you are doing rubbing shoulders with Vikings and Templar Knights?"......."Just a spot of, um, of...'hunting' Sybil dear".
“For nine centuries the great City (Byzantium/Constantinople) had been the capital of Christian civilization. It was filled with works of art that had survived from Ancient Greece and with the masterpieces of its own exquisite craftsmen.” - Sir Steven Runciman, pre-eminent British historian and author
I would like to mention that Amon Amarth even has a song about them. "Varyags of Miklagaard." "Miklagaard has been our home for 20 years or more We've lent our axes, spears, and swords In service of the emperor We are loyal warriors That's the oath we gave To protect the emperor even to a violent grave"
I'm pretty sure Andrew Gough just pre-records a bunch of vauge commentary in a room somewhere and then the editors compile it to match whatever the topic is.
haha thank you - I'm 15 minutes in and it's just a bunch of random clips of violence and 100 different ways of saying, "The Varangians liked fighting". Wow. Thanks. I've learned so much.
Yeah agreed. He's terribly off-putting.
I came to the comment section first about 3 seconds in the video. Ill pay attention to this and return with my own remarks lol..
Today I learned that Olaf One Eye was a real person. Thanks Todd.
I like the way you name the Byzantium Empire the dark ages... The East never experienced dark ages like the west... It was only after the fall of Constantinople and the invasion of the "utman Turk" did the East experience dark ages Most of the elite and educated East had escaped to the west and Italy after the fall of Byzantium which began the revival or the renaissance of Europe
Byzantine Dark Ages is a historiographical term for the period in the history of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, during the 7th and 8th centuries, which marks the transition between the late antique early Byzantine period and the "medieval" middle Byzantine era.
I like when Harald Hardraad had enough of the empress and took the Varangian gurd to the port, having to fight through several legions to do it, then took the ships necessary and sailed to norway. He then built an army large enough to invade england.
I’m pretty sure Halfdan would’ve graffitied several different places, but none of the other buildings are still standing to this day.
Andrew Gough- The man of a thousand titles.
12:55 There actually weren't that many Byzantine Emperors who were assassinated, The main purpose of an emperors "bodyguard' was not to prevent him from being assassinated, it was his private military force paid directly by himself, the emperor. If one of the emperor's vassals rebelled then that vassals soldiers would almost certainly remain loyal to him rather than the emperor. So the Varangian Guard did whatever the emperor required them to do, they did act as a literal bodyguard, even being trusted with the keys to the city while the emperor was away, but they also acted as law enforcement as well, but the main purpose was to act as loyal retainers ready to defend the emperor in case of rebellion which was incredibly common in the Eastern Roman Empire. They were his insurance against the scheming nobility, so they were very well paid and had their own special privileges. So while assassination was a threat, more emperors were deposed through military coups than assassination. That's the purpose of having a private army rather than lets say Game of Thrones Kings Guard.
Westerners and their "Academia" are trying to represent Orthodox leaders as they are Vatican leaders. Not a word about them destroying, or directly helping destruction of all 3 Orthodox Tzars.
There are suspicions that Basil II's father was assassinated, having died at age 26. His father ruled for only 4 years. His father, Basil II's grandfather is suspected of having been assassinated. Basil was made co-emperor with his brother, both children. As such, their regent Nicephorus Phocas became emperor. He was assassinated. He was followed by John Tzimiskes, who was suspected of having been assassinated. Not to mention the civil war led by Phocas's relatives. After Basil II and his brother died, the next emperor was Romanos III..... who was assassinated after ruling for 6 years. So if assassinations of Byzantine Emperors was rare... it certainly wasn't in the time-period!
@@Valchrist1313 in that time frame how many disloyal vassals tried to rebel? Read what i said more carefully. i didn't say that emperors weren't assassinated, I said that the point of the varangians was not primarily as a literal bodyguard, but his personal private army. So whats your point? An emperor didnt employ as many Varangians as he possibly could to stand outside his chambers. What about the Varangians of the sea? were they standing guard at night? Calling them "bodyguards" is not a great description. It may have been more prestigious than referring to them as retainers, but that's what they were. The elite standing/professional troops of the Byzantine Army, paid directly by the emperor, and recruited from outside the empire in order to ensure loyalty to the emperor rather than a noble family.
@@adamwee382 You said 'there weren't that many' implying it was uncommon. Yet, the two predecessors and two successors were likely assassinated. The video actually does go over the other stuff too!
@@Valchrist1313 No, you're making the assumption and you're imposing it onto me. Read carefully the context of what i've said. I implied that rebellious factions leading armies were statistically more dangerous than assassinations. That does not mean that I said or even implied that assassinations didn't occur, or were even rare. I was merely stating that calling the Varangians "bodyguards" is misleading, even if that's how they were referred to at the time. No eastern Roman Emperor retained hundreds of Varangians to act as his literal bodyguard. Nothing you've said contradicts my original argument, which was "The main purpose of an emperors "bodyguard' was not to prevent him from being assassinated, it was his private military force paid directly by himself, the Emperor" So again, and for the last time, i really don't understand your point.
I`ve heard of flaming arrows but not flaming sparrows -brilliant-, my neighbours better be nice I got seagulls🤣.
Just a bunch of good ole boys out looking for fun . Ya gotta luv the Vikings. 👍
And theyr woman's 😊
Yeah they were Vikings but they were Russian
Except when they pillage
The Varangian Guard was not only the sole unit under the Emperor’s command that he could trust. They also could teach the rest of the Roman (read: ‘Byzantine’) army and establishment a thing or two about professionalism and integrity
Clearly, Harald Hardrada was an out-of-the-box thinker and charismatic leader. He believed in the power of the Skald, the Norse record-keeper/storytellers very much. Probably the main reason we have these tales. It is ironic though that after roaming the eastern Med, that his eventual undoing likely involved inclemently warm weather, former Roman roads (and the English longbow) at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. His force at Stamford Bridge in 1066 had left much of their armor at the boats due to the heat, and had underestimated the speed in which Harald Godwinson's army would arrive from the south via Roman-built roads. Even though Harald H. caught an arrow to the neck and perished with his army, they damaged Harald G.'s army bad enough that they lost their next crucial battle for control of England at Hastings. Even in death, Harald Hardrada's impacts on the western world are felt yet today via the Normans, another Norse-derived culture. The arrival of Haley's Comet in early 1066 was to portent a very eventful year-and did not disappoint.
He was quite a boy wasn't he, fighting for his half brother at 15& escaping afterwards,shows how rich Constantinople must have been that he used his loot to become king of Norway, love his escape from there too, just read a book about him but you get the feeling that there was so much more to tell
Whoops, I really should watch until I comment
Not only did Harald Hardrada believe in the power of the Skald, but was reportedly a poet himself, and according to saga was making up poetry while fighting at Stamford Bridge. Tom Shippey in his book "Laughing shall I die" writes about that.
Great documentary. Harold was a very interesting person.
In 1081 at Dyrrhachium, the Varangian Guard faced the same person whose feint and charge broke the English shield wall in the Battle of Hastings: Brian of Brittany. The result was very much the same. Although Brian was instrumental in that defeat of Alexios Comnenos, the Emperor's daughter Anna Comnene described Brian as "the most courageous and most honourable of all the Gauls".
Wasnt that her impression of Bohemond?
Where did you find out about that?-I always thought that the main information about Hastings was from the tapestry.
@@ilijas3041 No, her impression of Bohemond was that he was handsome, not that he was a decent human being.
@@howwwwwyyyyy The BT is a primary source, and its principal narrator was Brian's brother Alan Rufus, captain of Duke/King William's household knights. The longest scene on the BT shows the Breton second-in-command (presumably Brian) assailing the English frontlines (led by Earls Leofwine and Gyrth) from the left (West) while Alan led an assault from the right (East) over water traps.
"Far from being a moribund society..., it (Byzantium) was the greatest, most active and most enduring political organism that the world has yet seen..." - F.M. Powicke, English historian
“Lush tropical climate” - WTF, it get’s below freezing in Istanbul in winter.
IT gets in the -40 to -50 In Alberta Canada
-5°© to -15°© Am still in t-shirt outside.
For us Norseman is summertime!. 😂
Sweden and other counties around can get -40c and lower so yeah it’s tropical for them
we need them on the coasts now
to do, what?
Vikings/norseman+Roman training and equipment = Varangian Guard.
A fun fact is that the ones that finally defeated the Varangian Guard in open battle was the Normans, themselves of the militaristic, Norse origin.
Constantinople was called Miklagard by the Varangians and Vikings.
Great 👍
Lots of Anglo Saxons fled to Constantinople and joined the Varangian Guard after William The Conqueror won the Battle of Hastings. It's worth a Google.
Thanks for this! Will check it out
These are the kind of documentaries i grew up with on the history channel. Such a shame what happened to it, thank you for making these. Question though, are these done for a tv channel or are these old documentaries that were shown on tv?
Yes,the history channel is a bad joke now.
This is not a documentary. It's the imaginings of somebody who wants you to click on it and never do any reading for yourself. Lest you realize how crappy this really is.
This is a terrible documentary. Hate to break it to you.
@@keenannorris3309 point me towards a good one then please
@@jeffmorin5867 point me towards a good one then please
The ploy of faking death was not an homage to the Greek Trojan horse. It is far more likely that he remembered one of many famed tales of Ragnar Lothbrok and his sons, as Ragnar did the exact same ploy many years prior to this. Even Netflix managed to put this ploy into the show before leaving the source material very early on and goes full Hollywood. To bad we never got to see any of the very clever ploys of Ivar the boneless in the show. Interesting how he used the ploy of setting birds on fire several hundred years before Ghengis Khan got the same idea, which might indicate that it probably happened more often than its written down.
Funny enough I've been watching Vikings Valhalla, I think Harald is well portrayed
The real Harald journey was much more insane. He began his lifelong journey to avenge his brother and reclaim the throne of Norway since he was only 15 years old. His journey was filled with war and battle in many foreign lands. His life was literally one of those protagonist story you would only think existed in movies. He began as a young inexperienced second son return to where his journey began as one of the most battle hardened warriors with cunning political skills.
The last kingdom as well lol
the birds were like modern day missiles
Good Video ❤❤❤❤❤
40:00 Only a Scandinavian Viking would come up with that brave plan 😄
16:29 😂😂😂😂 hold on what🤯🤯 no you lost me after that. I know for a fact they didn’t have electricity let alone neon signs and tv🤔🤨🤨
We were known to be big and fearsome. And loyal, bec we are and were.
The vikings called Konstantinopel "Mikklegard" (the Big City)
It's Miklagard = Great City
There's a song by a band called Amon Amarth, titled "Varyags of Miklagaard" thats about them haha
Fascinating subject,thank you.
Seems we are at that point where making a history documentary can be what ever you want as long as you can present it skilfully. What a sad time we live in
What's skillful about this crap? The soundtrack is disruptive. The commentary is bullshit.
"The Brutal Special Forces of Early Medieval Eastern Rome" Fixed.
Well Done!
Bob was here. Thousands of years and bad boys are still children.
Fun fact after the Norman invasion of Anglo Saxons England 300 ships fled from the country and headed to join byzantines vrangian guard. It is said that after this soon the majority of their men were Anglo Saxons. Unfortunately thjs is undermined and not acknowledged to the same extent as the viking culture despite contributing just as much.
I am a second generation Swedish American. My Mom's parents came from Sweden. I grew up listening to my grandfather tell stories about our ancestors and their travels. I was lucky enough to go to Sweden with my grandfather. Met my relatives in the village thats been home for generations. Got to be tough to survive a place where bears roam around trying to fstten up for winter.
You should leave Merica & visit Sweden permanently. We'd appreciate it.
@@benparrish672 Why would you tell me to leave the country I am a citizen of?. I love my heritage. My ancestors traveled through the Russians to the Middle East. Fought in the Crusades. My ancestors raised an army to restore Gustav Vasa as King of Sweden. I've traveled all over Europe several times. I love being an American.
Were there also joyfull moments in History? Or was there only slaughter end disease?
A child once laughed in what is now the Czech Republic but was then beaten.
😅 that's a question I've often thought about, seems like all doom and gloom .
@@timw6928 Well it WAS the Dark Ages after all
Monty Python says it was all bad.
@@letsdothis9063 Bring out yer dead 💀
I think if I was a Veringian , id use my earnings to build a city and make myself nobility
Or king like Hardrada did
So The ruling class of the Kievan Rus were actually Vikings? 😮
yes
Yes Rurick was a Viking noble called by the Slavic nobility to rule over them hence the formation of the Kievan Rus the ancestors of modern Say Russians and Ukrainians.
@@Marcelocostache Belorussians as well....lol
Did everyone miss the part where he says The Grand Prince of Kiev in WHERE????? Ukraine?????? Hey England PHD and so on.....Stop it with these cheap shots they are quiet sad.......for someone of your status.
This means that the Ucranians should rule russia, right?
As an Norwegian I detest these alliegations! ;)
The Vikings in the 13th Warrior were Varangians I think.
They weren't Varangians, they were Geats and Danes.
There was no "Dark Age Byzantium". Read what the famous Medieval French crusader wrote about Byzantium: "One could not believe there was so rich a city in all the world. All those who had never seen Constantinople before gazed with astonishment at the city. They had never imagined that anywhere in the world there could be a city like this. They gazed with wonder at its rich palaces and mighty churches, for it was difficult for them to believe that there were indeed so many of them. As they gazed at the length and breadth of that superb city there was not a man, however brave and daring, who did not feel a shudder down his spine." - Geoffrey de Villehardouin
Byzantine Dark Ages is a historiographical term for the period in the history of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, during the 7th and 8th centuries, which marks the transition between the late antique early Byzantine period and the "medieval" middle Byzantine era.
Yep in Bulgaria have Seecor Constantinopol.Bulgarian Empire capitals Great Preslav.Seecond Europe Capital in 9-10 century
16:28 lmao, wtf. The Varangian guard were touring around the Red Light district, were they? Apparently they were big fans of the 10th/11th century neon lights!
The guy playing Harald looks corny as hell lol.
Literally me
Special forces, no, skilled pirate goons, yes.
the white flashes, the modern footage makes this less as good as it could have been
Dark age existed only in western medieval Era. The Greco-roman kingdom falsely called Byzantium had been THE beacon of high culture for 11 centuries!
It’s crazy to me how people have the nerve to cast judgement upon people in history.. like applying modern standards and ideals back then is ridiculous
Hardraade = strongheaded. Brits has never ever understood or known much about their northern neighbours. They have their own silly version of history. The illustrations here is wery naive, wery few are capable of recreating the vikings skill level. But if you want to get a glimse, take a closer look at Gannicus in "Spartacus" (2010). Notice how this skilled fighter prefer to move light carrying one sword in each hand, fighting bare wearing no armour or "serk". This fearless fighting-style was later known as "going berserk". Even the "story" about the battle at stamford bridge in 1066 is not correct. the norwegians met an army of normanners first and won the battle. Then when they were on their way back to they`re ships, tired and unprepeared the english king saw his chanse and attacked them when they were tired and not wearing their armour.
My ancestors were all vikings!!! It's awesome to have viking blood going thru my veins!
Im proud of my scandinavian heritage as well.
Your ancestors were probably farmers. And that's just cholesterol in your veins.
Sailing around causing mischief in little boats 😊
@@mk.4x785or prescription drugs and alcohol 😂
NICKWELL :)
6:00 i farted.
Pretty sure Halfdan was the first memelord.
The history is written by the winners, Im not sure I believe my anchestors were that barbaric😂 like more than other people living in Europe at the time. These kind of documentaries always exaggerate stuff. Greatings from Norway
We will protect the Emperor of the south :D.
⚔🏴☠☠👍👍
the varyags of miklagaard!!!
🖤
Their cousins the Normans ran them out.
I think it would have been better to fight and take as many of the enemy with you as you can. Never surrender. It'll just get you killed.
Without any antibiotics how did they survive any wound
They typically burned the wound with a red hot piece of iron. Stop the bleeding & disinfect the wound
Not TRUE I have experiment myself the last part..
dark age byzantium - macedonian reneissance 😐
Best Roman recovery in over 500 years The Macedonian Dinasty manage to double the size of the Eastern Roman Empire, at that time the Empire was at its peak an army of over 125000 strong powerful economy and stretching from Italy to Syria!.
Swedes went east rivers.
I always wondered If their was evil a medieval Black ops type
😂 So who were the inventers of the shieldwall? English or Scandinavians?
Greeks? Romans? Hopelites?
@@spacewater7 Round shields?
Angle and Saxon origins are Scandinavian
@@christopherwiles543 the Angols, Saxons, Jutes, and Geats(Goths) were Germanic peoples. Scandinavians are also Germanic. They originated from Germania, not Scandinavia.
@@jacquelinevanderkooij4301it depends on the form of shield wall you're referring to. The Greco-Roman Phalanx was created by the Myceneans, was perfected by the Spartan hoplites, and subsequently spread to the rest of the Helenic world, where it was adopted by the Romans. The shield wall you're likely referring to was created by the Jutes and Geats, and perfected by the Norse and Danes. It spread to the British Isles by way of Norse invasion, and was adopted by English armies to combat the invading Norse vikingr. The Norse eventually assimilated into English society, becoming knights and soldiers, meaning their tactics and strategies were folded into the English way of doing battle. It was very much the same everywhere that the Norse landed.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ It took a 🇳🇴 Norwegian 🇳🇴 King! This documentary gets five stars for getting ALMOST everything right. But it's a load of nonsense that, at least Norwegian and Danish Vikings didn't know how to fight disciplined! They had to have an extreme degree of discipline, because they almost always fought vastly outnumbered abroad. You don't win such battles by running around like headless, leaderless chickens. You needed Brawns AND Brains! Take it from a descendant of Harald Fairhair!
De prøver å si vi var blodtørstige idioter som springer rundt som hodeløse kyllinger. De vet ingenting om vår historie. Hadde vi hadd samhold og ikke kriget med hverandre hadde vi tatt over Europa.
Less than 7 minutes in, and you're already historically fictional. Not wasting my time.
They got this wrong they didn't gust kill to kill they killed wishing to be killed in battle. Glory to Valhalla.
👍🏻
What a good documentary
hmm, not keen on the idea of incorporating modern terms like 'black ops' into medieval history videos.
Nobody asked. Make your own documentary then.
its an old show that did same with samurai etc describing the similarities, u've always had mass troops and then individual highly specialized roles
Putting a thumb down is not enough, remember to click "don't recommend channel"
Where do you think the concept of black ops units comes from?😂 Modern militaries didn't just magically get inspired to create small groups of highly-skilled, highly trained, covert operatives. Ancient armies had recon scouts, demolitions specialists called sappers, assassins, spies, espionage experts, and even small units.of shovk troops that were the ancient version of SEAL teams. Using modern common parlance to convey a thought or concept isn't new, nor is it inappropriate. It is, however, pretentious as hell, to think you have the authority to judge everyday common vernacular. Hop on out of the saddle, and give the high horse a break.
@@RickR69 How can you tell you are about to watch a stupid useless video about some elite military unit? They use the term "special forces" in the first 2 minutes. Because as we all know "special forces" operate in the palace and charge in the hundreds, riding horses.
All the b roll footage of reenactors is just foolish and makes it nearly unwatchable.
Putting a thumb down is not enough, remember to click "don't recommend channel"
The American sharing his opinions seems very out of place in this otherwise interesting video. This gentleman seems to get his knowledge of Vikings from comic books or hundred year old outdated debunked research. He probably still thinks Vikings wore horned helmets.
Now were talking i can't wait to watch this one
"He sells his sister", and that's supposed to be a historical documentary?
They have to find a way to take something potentially fascinating and make it unacceptably dull 😡😡😡
Meager evidence for their existence. They were kept as oddities and a Greek Woman defeated one of them in hand to hand combat.
Where did you read about that? genuinely interested
@@howwwwwyyyyy I read about the fact that they were never used in actual warfare. the same as Arabs kept Sub Saharan guards. Also, one of the Varangians tried to rape a Greek Woman and the Hellen woman handed his Varangian Buttocks back to him. do a basic Google search and informed yourself.
The soundtrack immediately put me off.. The crappy bedroom metal and lame cut away re-enactments. Boo
Well setting birds a light to burn houses done clever but cruel and a ready cooked bird to eat after the battle yum a win win if your a viking not the bird lol
Look up Bat Bomb from WW2.
"Dark Age" is a misnomer...
"Dark Age"... sigh. Lazy. Incorrect. I can walk past "Byzantine" with gritted teeth, but "Dark Age" tells me you're not being serious.
The real special forces were the Scottish Gallowglass Warriors a mixture of Pictish, Scottish, and Viking DNA ❤
Ok, lot's of clickbait?
Similar to story of Excalibur they’re pray to sword 😉
Vikings for hire in Ukraine. salve Maria
Why don’t my comments show up
If anyone's interested in serially hardcore Medieval Scandinavian warfare including the Varangian Guard I strongly recommend Schwerpunkt's relative playlist
u spam this on every vid with ur fake accounts
@@bine35 I know.. I tried watching a couple of his vids and quickly realized he doesn’t actually say anything. Yet makes 2hr long vids on everything
@@MethodMobile Yeah. I'm starting to get the same impression about his content. He makes long winded videos and doesn't really explain anything.
@@Ariapeithes_ You guys are saving me lol. I just looked through and was skimming but yeah. It's a hamster wheel spinner. Not sure now if the guy spamming this is a fan or bot😹😹😹 I mean I'm always up for good history channels, like, proper good ones but man, like everything else on yt, stuff gets into algo games for profit and spun on wheels☠️😹
Report these bots for spam every chance you have
They called themselves Romans. They're the Eastern ROMAN Empire. The term Byzantine didn't come about until the Empire had already fell.
Basilea Romaion aka Empire of the Romans, Vasileios Romaion aka Emperor of the Romans, funny thing that the west refused the fact that there was a Roman Empire and a Roman Emperor on the Bosphorus for 1000 years!.
Yes The Byzantine Empire was strong enough to rely on the 6000 Russian soldiers only, it was strong only in the times of Justinian’s reign, after it became a weak and soft entity loosing all the major battles
💯 👍 but Heavy Bulgarian cavalery is most powerful cavalery in Europe 3 century.7-10.Byzantine no finght vs Aborigen but for modern Great Warriors .
HalfDan WUZ HERRE lolol
Pyramids and Egypt are a cool place for graffiti
I won’t have some metropolitan effeminate historian tell me how to judge Vladimir the Great for his day.
The rock music was very out of place, really took me out of the listening experience
Very, ... _Discovery Channel,_ by which I mean complete shite.
Putting a thumb down is not enough, remember to click "don't recommend channel"