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57-529: The site covers an area of five hectares and has no fortifications. It seems to have been operated by the Varangians from their principal base at Sarskoe Gorodishche , near Rostov . Like Sarskoe, it is situated at a distance from a major waterway — the Volga River . Nevertheless, substantial amounts of Arabic coins indicate its position as the most important Scandinavian trade outpost in the proximity of

114-524: A compound of vár 'pledge' or 'faith', and gengi 'companion', thus meaning 'sworn companion', 'confederate', extended to mean 'a foreigner who has taken service with a new lord by a treaty of fealty to him', or 'protégé'. Some scholars seem to assume a derivation from vár with the common suffix -ing . However, this suffix is inflected differently in Old Norse. Furthermore, the word is attested with -gangia and cognates in other Germanic languages in

171-454: A humble, primarily Merian settlement. More recently, twenty six burial mounds were found at Petrovskoe to the south of the city; these are still largely unexcavated. All these sites date to the mid-tenth century. Although "objects of Scandinavian origin constitute a miserly per cent of the total of all finds, and nothing firmly indicating a complete Norman complex has yet been found", scholars suggest that within fundamentally Slavic settlement of

228-724: A red ruby set in the left ear and ornamented dragons sewn on their chainmail shirts. In these years, Swedish men left to enlist in the Byzantine Varangian Guard in such numbers that a medieval Swedish law, Västgötalagen , from Västergötland declared no one could inherit while staying in "Greece"—the then Scandinavian term for the Byzantine Empire —to stop the emigration, especially as two other European courts simultaneously also recruited Scandinavians: Kievan Rus' c. 980–1060 and London 1018–1066 (the Þingalið ). Composed primarily of Scandinavians for

285-629: A surprising number of crosses, indicating that a large portion of the Norse population was Christianised. Among other finds were amber artifacts from the Baltic, a unique roaster, a spatha labelled by a certain Ulfberht from the Rhine , and a chess piece with an enigmatic Runic inscription ( illustrated, to the right ). The site was definitively abandoned in the early eleventh century, simultaneously with

342-500: A tradition of faithful, oath-bound service (to death if necessary), and after the Norman Conquest of England there were many fighting men, who had lost their lands and former masters, looking for a living elsewhere. The Varangian Guard not only provided security for Byzantine emperors but participated in many wars involving Byzantium and often played a crucial role, since it was usually employed at critical moments of battle. By

399-550: Is no exact date on record when the principality was formed; it was likely an evolutionary process. In 862 Polotsk was first mentioned in the Primary Chronicle as a town within the realm of Novgorod Rus' , alongside Murom and Beloozero . Initially, the Principality of Polotsk was governed by a local dynasty, and not by an appointed governor from Kiev. Local statehood was a result of local political evolution in

456-532: The Battle on the river Nemiga and temporary imprisonment, Vseslav died, and the principality was divided between his surviving sons. Polotsk was splintered between various smaller fiefs – the Principality of Minsk , Principality of Vitebsk , Principality of Druck , Principality of Jersika , and Principality of Koknese . Local princes waged wars against each other trying to assert control over Polotsk. At last

513-523: The Christianization of Kievan Rus' in 988. Coinciding with the general decline of the Viking Age , the influx of Scandinavians to Rus' stopped and Varangians were gradually assimilated by East Slavs by the late 11th century. Medieval Greek Βάραγγος Várangos and Old East Slavic варягъ varjagŭ ( Old Church Slavonic варѧгъ varęgŭ ) are derived from Old Norse væringi , originally

570-526: The Curonians of Grobin faced an invasion by the Swedes at about the same date. It has been argued that the word Varangian , in its many forms, does not appear in primary sources until the eleventh century (though it does appear frequently in later sources describing earlier periods). This suggests that the term Rus ' was used broadly to denote Scandinavians until it became too firmly associated with

627-760: The Danes , he incarcerated them. In 860, the Rus' under Askold and Dir launched their first attack on Constantinople from Kiev. The result of this attack is disputed, but the Varangians continued their efforts as they regularly sailed on their monoxyla down the Dnieper into the Black Sea . The Rus' raids into the Caspian Sea were recorded by Muslim authors in the 870s and in 910, 912, 913, 943, and later. Although

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684-569: The Duchy of Polotsk or Polotskian Rus' , was a medieval principality. The origin and date of the establishment of the state are uncertain. Chronicles of Kievan Rus' mention Polotsk being conquered by Vladimir the Great , and thereafter it became associated with Kievan Rus' and its ruling Rurik dynasty . The principality was supposedly established around the town of Polotsk (now in Belarus ) by

741-491: The Early East Slavs ' tribal union of Krivichs . The second time Polotsk was mentioned was a full century later, in 980 when its ruler was a Varangian warlord, Ragnvald or Rogvolod. The chronicle reports that he arrived at Polotsk "from overseas", a routine phrase to designate Varangians. Rogvolod was an active player in the power struggle in Rus'. In 972, after the prince of Kiev , Sviatoslav I , died, there

798-479: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania . At the time of its greatest extent, the principality stretched over large parts of present-day northern and central Belarus and a smaller part of today's southeastern Latvia , including (besides Polotsk itself) the following towns: Vitebsk , Drutsk , Minsk , Izjaslaw (now Zaslawye ), Lahoysk , Barysaw , Brachyslaw (now Braslaw ), Kukenois (now Koknese ) and others. There

855-743: The Greece Runestones . These were raised by former members of the Varangian Guard, or in their memory. A smaller group consists of the four Italy Runestones which commemorate members of the Varangian Guard who died in southern Italy. The oldest of the Greece runestones are six stones in the RAK style , which dates to the period before 1015 AD. The group consists of Skepptuna runestone U 358 , Västra Ledinge runestone U 518 , Nälberga runestone Sö 170 and Eriksstad runestone Sm 46 . One of

912-655: The Viking Age , and there are many associated with the Varangian Guards. These Varangian runestones commemorate various fallen warriors through carved runes , and mention voyages to the East ( Austr ) or the Eastern route ( Austrvegr ), or to more specific eastern locations such as Garðaríki (what is today Russia and Ukraine). The losses that the Varangian Guard suffered are reflected by the largest group of runestones that talk of foreign voyages, such as those known as

969-788: The Volga trade route (between the Varangians and the Muslims), connecting the Baltic to the Caspian Sea and the Dnieper and Dniester trade route (between Varangians and the Greeks) leading to the Black Sea and Constantinople . Those were the main important trade links at that time, connecting Medieval Europe with Abbasid Caliphates and the Byzantine Empire . Most of the silver coinage in

1026-493: The Volga trade route . The site was first settled by a mixture of Norse merchants and local population in the ninth century. This dating is based on three major hoards of dirhams that were detected at Timeryovo since the 1960s. The first hoard, numbering about 2,100 coins, was dispersed before scholars learnt about its existence. Only seventeen coins are known from this deposit, the earliest datable to 867. Another hoard also numbering more than 2,000 dirhams (entire and in pieces),

1083-774: The 750s, Norse colonists played an important role in the early ethnogenesis of the Rus' people and in the formation of the Rus' Khaganate . The Varangians ( Varyags , in Old East Slavic ) are first mentioned by the Primary Chronicle as having exacted tribute from the Slavic and Finnic tribes in 859. It was the time of rapid expansion of the Vikings in Northern Europe; England began to pay Danegeld in 859, and

1140-720: The 9th century, traveling as merchants along the Volga trade route, selling furs, honey, and slaves, as well as luxury goods such as amber, Frankish swords, and walrus ivory. These goods were mostly exchanged for Arabic silver coins, called dirhams. Hoards of 9th-century Baghdad -minted silver coins have been found in Sweden, particularly in Gotland. Variations in the size of the coin hoards show that there were phases of increased importation of coins and sometime decades during which very few coins were imported. The economic relationship between

1197-519: The Byzantines to re-arrange their trading arrangements; militarily, the Varangians were usually defeated by the superior Byzantine forces, especially in the sea due to Byzantine use of Greek fire . The Varangian Guard ( Greek : Τάγμα των Βαράγγων, Tágma tōn Varángōn ) were a part of Byzantine Army and personal bodyguards of the Byzantine emperors from the 10th to the 14th centuries. Initially

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1254-591: The Early Middle Ages; examples include Old English wærgenga , Old Frankish wargengus and Langobardic waregang . The reduction of the second part of the word could be parallel to that seen in Old Norse foringi 'leader', correspondent to Old English foregenga and Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌾𐌰 fauragaggja 'steward'. There are raised stone memorials called runestones throughout Scandinavia of which almost all are found in Sweden . Many date to

1311-740: The East Slavic house law, since Izyaslav predeceased his father and never reigned in Kiev, his descendants from the House of Polotsk forfeited their dynastic rights to the Kievan throne. In 1020 Bryachislav sacked Novgorod but then lost it to his uncle, Yaroslav the Wise , and had to give up some of his other possessions. For two following centuries, the Principality of Polotsk was controlled by descendants of Izyaslav. All other lands of Kievan Rus' were under

1368-642: The Islamic world in the 9th and 10th centuries and the Rus merchants who went there to trade their goods for silver interacted with cultures and goods from the Islamic World, and also from China, India, and North Africa. The trade between the Rus and the lands south of the Black and Caspian seas made it possible for cultural interactions to take place between the Rus and the Islamic World. The account written by Ibn Fadlan about his 921–922 travels from Baghdad to

1425-515: The Lithuanians" in 1198 while Luki is situated on the east of Polotsk. The Principality of Polotsk escaped the Mongol invasion of Rus' in 1237–1239. However, pagan Lithuanians began consolidating lands of the principality, and in 1240 Polotsk became a vassal of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . It officially became part of Lithuania in 1307, though it retained some degree of local autonomy until

1482-416: The Rus and the Islamic world developed quickly into a network of trading routes. Initially the Rus founded Staraya Ladoga as the first node from the Baltic to the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. By the end of the 9th century, Staraya Ladoga was replaced as the most important center by Novgorod. From these centers the Rus were able to send their goods as far as Baghdad. Baghdad was the political and cultural center of

1539-623: The Rus and the Muslims were interested in and fairly knowledgeable about each other's cultures. The geography of the Volga region and the relative lack of physical wealth available for stealing (compared to targets of Viking raids in the west) made raiding a less important aspect of the Rus/Varangian activities in the East. Some raiding was necessary to gain initial control of the towns and regions that they developed into centers of economic activities. The first small-scale raids took place in

1596-529: The Rus' had predominantly peaceful trading relations with the Byzantines, the rulers of Kiev launched the relatively successful naval expedition of 907 and the abortive campaign of 941 against Constantinople, as well as the large-scale invasion of the Balkans by Sviatoslav I in 968–971. In 1043, Yaroslav sent his son Vladimir to attack Constantinople. The Byzantines destroyed the attacking vessels and defeated Vladimir These raids were successful in forcing

1653-857: The Rus' may have been written prior to 842. It is preserved in the Greek Life of St. George of Amastris , which speaks of a raid that had extended into Paphlagonia . Contemporary Byzantine presence of the Rus' is mentioned in the Frankish Annals of St. Bertin . These relate that a delegation from the court of the Byzantine emperor visited Frankish Emperor Louis the Pious at his court in Ingelheim in 839. In this delegation were two men who called themselves Rhos ( Rhos vocari dicebant ). Louis enquired about their origins and learnt that they were Swedes. Fearing that they were spies for their brothers,

1710-482: The Rus' might have ruled an earlier hypothetical polity known as the Rus' Khaganate . Rurik's relative Oleg conquered Kiev in 882 and established the state of Kievan Rus', which was later ruled by Rurik's descendants . Engaging in trade, piracy, and mercenary service, Varangians roamed the river systems and portages of Gardariki , as the areas north of the Black Sea were known in the Norse sagas . They controlled

1767-731: The Teutonic knights and other East Slavic principalities; but from 1183 they refused obedience to the metropoly and established their state. The Cathedral of Saint Sophia in Polotsk – built by Vseslav between 1044 and 1066 – was a symbol of the independent-mindedness of Polotsk, rivalling churches of the same name in Novgorod and Kiev and referring to the original Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (and thus to claims of imperial prestige, authority, and sovereignty). After his defeat at

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1824-517: The Varangians. Contemporary Norse sagas described the town as the most heavily fortified in all of Kievan Rus'. Most of the time, descendants of Izyaslav ruled the Principality of Polotsk independently of the Grand Prince of the Rus', only formally recognizing the power of the Rurikides. After the late 10th century, Polotsk was also successful in colonizing the lands of its western neighbours,

1881-822: The West came from the East via those routes. Attracted by the riches of Constantinople, the Varangian Rus' began the Rus'-Byzantine Wars , some of which resulted in advantageous trade treaties. At least from the early 10th century, many Varangians served as mercenaries in the Byzantine Army , constituting the elite Varangian Guard (the bodyguards of Byzantine emperors ). Eventually most of them, in Byzantium and in Eastern Europe, were converted from Norse paganism to Orthodox Christianity , culminating in

1938-448: The ancestors of today's Latvians and Lithuanians. In the early 13th century, Teutonic knights seized power over the former from the hands of Polotsk, but the historical ties with the latter proved much stronger and lasted for 700 more years, although the leading role in this “marriage” soon shifted to the other side. The last pagans of Europe, brave and skilful warriors, Lithuanians initially served Polotsk as auxiliary troops in its wars with

1995-652: The area "was a Norman colony, which constituted a staging point midway on the route from the Vikings to the East." Archaeologist Igor Dubov , who excavated the settlement in the 1970s, views it as a center (perhaps the capital) of mysterious Arsania mentioned by Ibn Hawqal . 57°35′35″N 39°43′24″E  /  57.59306°N 39.72333°E  / 57.59306; 39.72333 Varangians The Varangians ( / v ə ˈ r æ n dʒ i ə n z / ) were Viking conquerors, traders and settlers, mostly from present-day Sweden . The Varangians settled in

2052-472: The capital of the Bulghar kingdom gives details which can reveal the cultural interaction between the two groups. Ibn Fadlan gives a vivid description of the daily habits of the Rus, as well as the only known first-person account of the complicated ship-burning funeral ceremony. Certain details in his account, especially the dialogue of the ceremonies and his personal conversations with Rus individuals, show that

2109-452: The city, raped Rogneda in front of her parents, then killed her entire family and burnt down the city. Rogneda was taken to Kiev to be Vladimir's wife. Thus the local dynasty was exterminated. After Vladimir converted to Christianity in 988 and took Anna Porphyrogeneta as his wife, he had to divorce all his previous wives, including Rogneda. She entered the convent and took the name, Anastasia, then she and her son Izyaslav were exiled back to

2166-517: The control of princes who were descendants of Yaroslav the Wise . The golden age of medieval Polotsk is associated with the rule of Bryachislav's son, Vseslav (1044–1101). He profited from the civil wars in Kiev in order to assert his independence and run the affairs of the principality separately. During this time Polotsk became a centre of trade serving as a transit location between other lands of Kievan Rus' and Scandinavia . It also asserted its independent status balancing between Kiev, Novgorod, and

2223-636: The decline of Sarskoe Gorodishche and the foundation of Yaroslavl . The latest coin found at Timerevo was issued by Bruno II of Friesland (dating it between 1038 and 1057). A growing number of other early medieval sites have been excavated near Yaroslavl, each important in its own way. The site of Mikhailovskoe immediately north of the city was explored from the nineteenth century to 1961. Of 400 barrows excavated there, only four percent yielded Scandinavian finds. Most burials featured inhumations of ordinary Slavs and Merians . The site of Medvezhy Ugol (literally, "Bear's Nook") in downtown Yaroslavl, proved to be

2280-463: The first hundred years, the guard increasingly included Anglo-Saxons after the successful Norman Conquest of England. By the time of 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

2337-500: The guard was composed of Varangians who came from Kievan Rus'. Immigrants from Scandinavia (predominantly immigrants from Sweden but also elements from Denmark and Norway ) kept an almost entirely Norse cast to the organization until the late 11th century. According to the late Swedish historian Alf Henrikson in his book Svensk Historia ( History of Sweden ), the Norse Varangian guardsmen were recognised by long hair,

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2394-454: The lands of Polotsk. Thus the principality was restored but with the most senior branch of the Rurik dynasty on the local throne. Since this time, the lands of the principality became Christian ( Eastern Orthodox ). In 1001 Izyaslav was succeeded by his son, Bryachislav of Polotsk . Under his rule, Polotsk attempted to distance itself from Kiev. Tensions were exacerbated by the fact that, under

2451-591: The late 13th century, Varangians were mostly ethnically assimilated by Byzantines, though the guard operated until at least the mid-14th century, and in 1400 there were still some people identifying themselves as "Varangians" in Constantinople. Primary sources Additional secondary sources Principality of Polotsk The Principality of Polotsk (obsolete spelling: Polock ; Belarusian : По́лацкае кня́ства , romanized :  Polackaje kniastva ; Latin : Polocensis Ducatus ), also known as

2508-463: The late 9th and early 10th centuries. The Rus' undertook the first large-scale expedition in 913; having arrived on 500 ships, they pillaged Gorgan , in the territory of present-day Iran , and the adjacent areas, taking slaves and goods. On their return, the northern raiders were attacked and defeated by Khazar Muslims in the Volga Delta , and those who escaped were killed by the local tribes on

2565-619: The later runestones in the Pr4 style is Ed runestone U 112 , a large boulder at the western shore of the lake of Ed. It tells that Ragnvaldr, the captain of the Varangian Guard, had returned home where he had the inscriptions made in memory of his dead mother. The youngest runestones, in the Pr5 style , such as Ed runestone U 104 (presently in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford ), are dated to

2622-406: The middle Volga . During their next expedition in 943, the Rus' captured Barda , the capital of Arran , in the modern-day Republic of Azerbaijan . The Rus' stayed there for several months, killing many inhabitants of the city and amassing substantial plunder. It was only an outbreak of dysentery among the Rus' that forced them to depart with their spoils. Sviatoslav , prince of Kiev, commanded

2679-738: The next attack, which destroyed the Khazar state in 965. Sviatoslav's campaign established Rus' control over the north–south trade routes, helping to alter the demographics of the region. Raids continued through the time period with the last Scandinavian attempt to reestablish the route to the Caspian Sea led by Ingvar the Far-Travelled in 1041. While there, Varangians took part in the Georgian-Byzantine Battle of Sasireti in Georgia (1042). The earliest Byzantine record of

2736-406: The period 1080–1130, after which runestones became unfashionable. The Varangians returned home with some influence from Byzantine culture, as exemplified by the Byzantine cross carved on the early eleventh-century Risbyle runestone U 161 , and which today is the coat-of-arms of Täby , a trimunicipal locality and the seat of Täby Municipality in Stockholm County, Sweden. The runes were made by

2793-438: The rulers of Vitebsk emerged victorious. For short periods, the neighbouring Principality of Smolensk also claimed control over some lands of the principality. Beginning in the mid-12th century there were changes in the lands to the west of the Principality. The fortress of Riga became the main military basis of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword . In 1209 German crusaders conquered the principalities of Jersika and Koknese in

2850-570: The runemaster Viking Ulf of Borresta , see Orkesta runestone U 344 , in memory of another Ulf, in Skålhamra, and at the request of the latter's father. In the 9th century, the Rus ' operated the Volga trade route , which connected Northern Rus ( Garðaríki ) with the Middle East ( Serkland ). The Volga route declined by the end of the century, and the Dnieper and Dniester routes rapidly overtook it in importance. Apart from Ladoga and Novgorod , Gnyozdovo and Gotland were major centers for Varangian trade. Having settled Aldeigja (Ladoga) in

2907-463: The south came from the area of modern Sweden. The Varangians left rune stones in their native Sweden that tell of their journeys to what is today Russia, Ukraine, Greece, and Belarus. Most of these rune stones can be seen today, and are a telling piece of historical evidence. The Varangian runestones tell of many notable Varangian expeditions, and even account for the fates of individual warriors and travelers. The Rus' initially appeared in Serkland in

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2964-463: The southeast of today's Latvia, which had previously been under the control of Polotsk, forcing Polotsk to permit free travel to German merchants in 1212 and ending Livonian tributes. In 1227 Smolensk ceded Polotsk by treaty to the city of Riga. Annals affirming the alliance and united military campaigns policy of Polotsk and Lithuania. For example, The Chronicle of Novgorod informs about "Izyaslav had been set to be Knyaz in Luki and covered Novgorod from

3021-449: The subsequent elite of Kievan Rus who assimilated Slavic culture. At that point, the new term Varangian was increasingly preferred to name Scandinavians, probably mostly from what is now Sweden, plying the river routes between the Baltic and the Black and Caspian Seas. Due largely to geographic considerations, it is often argued that most of the Varangians who traveled and settled in the lands of eastern Baltic, modern Russia and lands to

3078-417: The territories of present-day Belarus, Russia and Ukraine from the 8th and 9th centuries, and established the state of Kievan Rus' as well as the principalities of Polotsk and Turov . They also formed the Byzantine Varangian Guard . According to the 12th-century Primary Chronicle , a group of Varangians known as the Rus' settled in Novgorod in 862 under the leadership of Rurik . Before Rurik,

3135-414: The tribal union of Krivichs . In the second half of the 10th century, Polotsk was governed by its own dynasty; its first ruler mentioned in the chronicles was the semi-legendary Rogvolod (?–978), better known as the father of Rogneda . The principality was heavily involved in several succession crises of the 11th–12th centuries and a war with the Novgorod Land . By the 13th century, it was integrated into

3192-409: Was a power struggle between his two sons: prince of Novgorod Vladimir and prince of Kiev Yaropolk . Both had hoped for political and military support from Polotsk. To achieve this, Vladimir proposed to Rogneda , Rogvolod's daughter. She declined, thus making Polotsk an ally of Yaropolk. Vladimir then waged war against Polotsk. According to colourful legends recorded in the Primary Chronicle, he took

3249-495: Was the largest deposit of such coins ever found from Early Medieval Europe . The earliest coin was issued by Idris II (who reigned in the 810s and 820s). Many dirhams have Runic graffiti carved on them. The site was abandoned towards the end of the ninth century, only to be revived half a century later. At least 400 druzhina kurgans were erected there in that period. The burial rite normally featured cremation . Excavations revealed an unusual amount of Scandinavian pottery and

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