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The Varangian Guard was a regiment of northern Europeans in service of the Byzantine Empire, who fulfilled duties as soldiers and guardsmen.

Sources
The Varangians: In God's Holy Fire - Sverrir Jakobsson
The Varangian Guard 988-1453 - Raffaele D'Amato
Byzantine Armies 886-1118 - Ian Heath
Romano-Byzantine Armies: 4th-9th Centuries - David Nicolle PhD
The Historiography of Normanist and Anti-Normanist theories on the origin of Rus’- Roman Zakharii
Roman Auxiliary Cavalryman AD 14-193 - Nic Fields
Laxdæla saga - Unknown
Väringar, Nordbor hos kejsaren i Miklagård - Mats G. Larsson
Supplementary information - Population genomics of the viking world - Margaryan et. al

0:00 Introduction
4:06 Meaning of "Varangian"
5:59 Foundation and organization
10:58 Arms and equipment
15:53 Military assignments
19:45 Palace duty
21:13 Leisure time
23:40 Varangians back home
27:20 Conclusion
28:08 Timeline

#varangianguard #vikings #history #byzantium #byzantine