Search Manuscript - Find Wisdom

Travels of famous Marco Polo come to our mind whenever we think of first Europeans who visited Mongol rulers of the East. But, in fact, there were other Western travelers who visited Great Khan long before Marco Polo.

According to historical accounts that we know of, the first European who went with the mission to the East was Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, one of the companions and disciples of his countryman Saint Francis. Marco Polo was not even born when Pope of Rome sent Giovanni or, as he was called Friar Joannes, with the first formal Catholic mission to the Mongols in 1245.

Friar Joannes was probably an extremely brave and courageous man - he was not a young man at the time, reaching the age of sixty five. He was provided with a letter from the Pope to the Great Khan, and a couple of monks who accompanied him.

At the time Mongols were at the height of their power. Friar completed the first part of his journey, passing city of Kiev, rivers Don and Volga and at last arrived to the Ordu which was the camp of Batu, the famous conqueror of Eastern Europe. Batu permitted Friar Joannes to proceed onward to the court of the supreme Khan in Mongolia.

During the second part of the journey Friar and his companions experienced great hardships. excessive fatigue and even hunger. They were constantly ill and had to tightly bandage their bodies to survive the enormous ride. Monks passed Ural and Syr Darya rivers and reached the imperial camp in Karakorum on the Mongol river Orhon after covering some three thousand miles in hundred days!

Naturally, the Great Khan did not convert to Christianity but demanded for all Christian kings and the Pope to swear allegiance to him. He sent them back with a letter to the Pope written in Mongol, Arabic and Latin with the same context.

Miraculously, Friar Joannes and his companions survived the journey back and reached Kiev in 1247. Those who knew them thought that they were risen from the dead. Soon after, stoic monks got to Pope and delivered him the Great Khan’s letter. Friar Joannes was made an archbishop and sent as papal legate to French king Louis IX. At those barbaric times, after all hardships of his journey, Joannes managed to live five years more and died in the age of seventy two.

He left Europeans a great book describing Mongols and Tartars, their rulers, countries, climate, manners and traditions, religion, policy and even military tactics. His works proved invaluable to many other travelers who followed his steps. The contemporary sources state that Friar Joannes was a fat and heavy man, but one won’t find a single word of complaint in his works or in any related manuscripts.

Over the years the popularity of Varangian Guard in Byzantium grew so much, that these mercenaries and former pirates received a very prestigious title in the empire that can be translated from Greek as Great Companions. The Varangian guard was stationed primarily around Constantinople. Most of the guardsmen relied on their long axes as their main weapon, although they were also skilled swordsmen and archers as well. They were also famous for their penchant for drinking.

In 989 general Bardas Phocas rebelled against emperor Basil II. According to the true historic facts, Basil with his fierce Varangian guard landed at Chrysopolis to meet the  rebels face to face. Sources say, that as soon as the rebellious general saw what he would have to deal with, he turned blue in the face and died of a stroke in full view of his opponent. Seeing that Bardas was lying dead on the field, his troops turned and fled,  while being pursued by Vikings who were cheerfully hacking adversaries to pieces.

After the successful invasion of England by the Normans the guard began to see increased inclusion of Anglo-Saxons and Danes.  Thousands of them started arriving to the Byzantine empire and enrolling into service.

Overall, Varangian guard was quite a peculiar and and unusual bunch of people, whose loyalties  lay with the position of Emperor, not the man that sat on the throne. In 969 an  Emperor Nicephorus II was assassinated in his palace. A servant had managed to call for the Varangian guard while the Emperor was being attacked, but when Vikings arrived he was already dead. Without any hesitation they instantly knelt before the emperor’s murderer John Tzimisces and hailed him as Emperor.  Their logic was the following: they would defend the late emperor if he was alive, but now that he was dead there was no point avenging him. Besides, they had a new master in the house.

Varangian Guard ended its existence in 1204. It happened  during Fourth Crusade, when the army of knights attacked Constantinople. In fact, Vikings turned out to be the only part of the Byzantium army that successfully defended part of the city. Contemporary sources say that the fighting was very violent and there was hand to hand fight with axes and swords.  After the capture the Varangian Guard was disbanded.

Since the times of the Roman Empire, praetorian guard very often played an infamous role of replacing one ruler with the other. Especially, if the new guy promised to pay the praetorians more. This practice survived even after Roman Empire split in two and new Byzantine Empire was created.

In 976 Bazil II became the ruler of the empire. He had the utmost distrust for his native guardsmen, whose loyalties shifted all the time, so he was seeking the solution to protect himself and avoid fatal consequences. And he found it: he hired Vikings, mostly of Swedish origin, to become his personal bodyguards. This new force became known as the Varangian Guard. As the years went by, new recruits from Sweden, Denmark, and Norway kept a predominantly Scandinavian cast to Varangian Guard up until the late 11th century. That kind of “employment” became so popular in Scandinavia, that special medieval law was created there stating that no one could inherit the estate of a recruit who was staying in Byzantium.

Over the years, Varangian Guard proved itself to be an irreplaceable special force of Byzantine emperors. And they had one of the greatest and unique perks for their service. When the Byzantine Emperor died, the Varangians had the unique right of running to the imperial treasury and taking as much gold and as many gems as they could carry. This privilege known in Old Norse as “palace pillaging” enabled many Varangians to return home as wealthy men. And, in return, it encouraged even more Vikings to enlist in the Varangian Guard.