Anglo-Saxon Exodus to Constantinople - 1088CE
Dec 15, 2022 23:07:38 GMT
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Post by dividavi on Dec 15, 2022 23:07:38 GMT
Barry McGuinness
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www.quora.com/What-language-was-spoken-in-England-BEFORE-and-after-Norman-Conquest-1066
Did any of the Anglo-Saxon nobles survive the Norman Conquest of 1066? Are their descendants a prominent part of British Society today?
This is a little-known but fascinating episode in British history known as the Anglo-Saxon emigration to Byzantium (Constantinople). It led to the founding of a ‘New England’ settlement of Anglo-Saxon exiles in the Crimea.
Following the Conquest of 1066, the Anglo-Saxon English initially fought a resistance campaign against the new king William and his Norman invaders, but this proved unsuccessful. Within twenty years of the invasion, almost the entire nobility had either died or fled the country.
A few Anglo-Saxon nobles had relocated to Scotland, France or Scandinavia. Those who had remained were mostly dispossessed of everything they owned and reduced to poverty.
The rest, however, undertook a mass exodus by sea, sailing from England into the Mediterranean, heading ultimately for Constantinople.
Medieval Constantinople
The city of Constantinople (part of modern-day Istanbul, Turkey) was known to the ancient Greeks as Byzantium. It had been the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire since the fall of the West.
The exodus of Anglo-Saxon nobles to the city is recorded in both a 13th-Century French chronicle, Chronicon universale anonymi Laudunensis [see Ciggaar, 1974] and a 14th-Century Icelandic saga, Játvarðar Saga. The arrival and welcoming of English refugee warriors at this time is also recorded in Byzantine history.
But why would so many Anglo-Saxon nobles want to emigrate to Constantinople of all places?
There are various likely reasons:
The Anglo-Saxon fleet consisted of 250 to 350 ships, and up to 5,000 people, including “three earls and eight barons", their top fighting men (and presumably their families as well as some clergy). They were led by one "Siward earl of Gloucester", who may (or may not) be the person known to history as Siward Barn. [1]
In effect, the Anglo-Saxon nobles and warriors were migrant refugees seeking a new life abroad. But they were also battle-hardened Christian soldiers, perhaps eager for victory.
Sailing into the Mediterranean, they captured Ceuta (a city on the north coast of Africa) and the islands of Majorca (Mallorca) and Menorca (Minorca) from ‘infidels’ (Muslims) before embarking to Sicily.
But upon hearing that Constantinople itself was being besieged, they headed straight there too and helped free the city.
As a result of their triumphs:
The Varangian Guard was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army whose members served as personal bodyguards to the Emperors. The Varangians also participated in many wars and often played a crucial role, since they were usually employed at critical moments of battle.
[The Byzantine Empire, c. 1070]
The fact that axe-bearing English soldiers joined the Guard at this time is also recorded by Byzantine historians. And in true character —
Other than their fierce loyalty, the most recognizable attributes of the Varangian guard during the 11th century were their large axes and their penchant for drinking. There are countless stories of the Varangian guard either drinking in excess or being drunk. — Varangians, New World Encyclopaedia
The Anglo-Varangians helped Alexius in his many battles to restore the Byzantine Empire’s lost ground, fighting Seljuk Turks in the East as well as (ironically) Norman invaders in the West.
But while some of the English refugees liked the idea of joining the Varangian Guard, Siward and a number of others desired a realm of their own to rule over into old age.
Alexius told them of a land over the [Black] sea that had formerly been under the emperor of Constantinople, but was now occupied by heathens. The emperor granted this land to the English, and a party led by Earl Siward sailed for this land while another party of English remained in the service of Alexius.
The land lay "6 days north and north-east of Constantinople", and was won by Earl Siward, who after many battles drove away the heathens. They called it "England" and the territory's main towns were called "London", "York", and "by the names of other great towns in England" — New England (medieval), Wikipedia
Thus some of the English took up the offer of establishing a ‘New England’ (or Nova Anglia) settlement across the Black Sea, evidently in the Crimea and to the south of the nearby Sea of Azov.
There is evidence to support this. Medieval maritime charts of the area show place names such as ‘Londina’ (London) and ‘Susaco’ (Sussex). [2]
The English colonialists kept their independence. According to the French account, Chronicon universale anonymi Laudunensis, when an envoy of the Byzantine emperor came to Nova Anglia demanding taxes, they killed him.
A hundred years later, missionaries passing through this area reported coming across a Christian people who called themselves ‘Saxi’ (Saxon?).
NOTES
[1] Siward Barn was the only landowner named ‘Siward’ listed in William the Conqueror’s Domesday Book of 1086 as having substantial holdings in Gloucestershire. He had been captured and imprisoned in 1071 while fighting for the English resistance against the Normans, but was released from prison by a guilt-ridden King William just before the latter’s death in 1087. If the Anglo-Saxon fleet arrived in Constantinople in 1088, then this could well be the same Siward.
[2] According to Andrew Philips (1952):
“After painstaking research it has been discovered that mediæval maps of this region list no fewer than six towns with names suggesting English settlements. These settlements on maps of the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries are located along the northern coast of the Black Sea. One of the names appears as ‘Susaco’, possibly from ‘Saxon’. Another town, situated some 110 miles to the east of the straits of Kerch near the Sea of Azov appears variously as ‘Londia’, ‘Londin’ and ‘Londina’. On the twelfth century Syrian map the Sea of Azov itself is called the ‘Varang’ Sea, the Sea of the Varangians, a name used for the English in Constantinople at this period.”
Follow
UKUpdated Nov 2
Related
www.quora.com/What-language-was-spoken-in-England-BEFORE-and-after-Norman-Conquest-1066
Did any of the Anglo-Saxon nobles survive the Norman Conquest of 1066? Are their descendants a prominent part of British Society today?
This is a little-known but fascinating episode in British history known as the Anglo-Saxon emigration to Byzantium (Constantinople). It led to the founding of a ‘New England’ settlement of Anglo-Saxon exiles in the Crimea.
Following the Conquest of 1066, the Anglo-Saxon English initially fought a resistance campaign against the new king William and his Norman invaders, but this proved unsuccessful. Within twenty years of the invasion, almost the entire nobility had either died or fled the country.
“By the time the Domesday Book was compiled in 1086, the elite had been almost completely wiped out: of the 500 or so top individuals listed in the survey as tenants of the king, only 13 had English names... The aristocracy of Anglo-Saxon England had been almost completely swept away – killed in battle, driven into exile or forced to exist in suppressed circumstances.” — Morris (2016), p. 34
The rest, however, undertook a mass exodus by sea, sailing from England into the Mediterranean, heading ultimately for Constantinople.
Medieval Constantinople
The city of Constantinople (part of modern-day Istanbul, Turkey) was known to the ancient Greeks as Byzantium. It had been the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire since the fall of the West.
The exodus of Anglo-Saxon nobles to the city is recorded in both a 13th-Century French chronicle, Chronicon universale anonymi Laudunensis [see Ciggaar, 1974] and a 14th-Century Icelandic saga, Játvarðar Saga. The arrival and welcoming of English refugee warriors at this time is also recorded in Byzantine history.
But why would so many Anglo-Saxon nobles want to emigrate to Constantinople of all places?
There are various likely reasons:
- Constantinople was known to be the largest, wealthiest and most beautiful city in all of Europe, ‘the Queen of Cities’.
- It had long-established trade links with southern Britain.
- It may also be that the Anglo-Saxons revered Constantinople as the holy centre of Christendom, their spiritual heartland, and felt an affinity with Eastern Orthodox Christianity [Turner, 2015]. The Great Schism between the Catholic Church of Rome and Eastern Orthodox Church of Constantinople had only recently occurred, in 1054.
The Anglo-Saxon fleet consisted of 250 to 350 ships, and up to 5,000 people, including “three earls and eight barons", their top fighting men (and presumably their families as well as some clergy). They were led by one "Siward earl of Gloucester", who may (or may not) be the person known to history as Siward Barn. [1]
In effect, the Anglo-Saxon nobles and warriors were migrant refugees seeking a new life abroad. But they were also battle-hardened Christian soldiers, perhaps eager for victory.
Sailing into the Mediterranean, they captured Ceuta (a city on the north coast of Africa) and the islands of Majorca (Mallorca) and Menorca (Minorca) from ‘infidels’ (Muslims) before embarking to Sicily.
But upon hearing that Constantinople itself was being besieged, they headed straight there too and helped free the city.
As a result of their triumphs:
The ruler of Constantinople, Alexius I Comnenus (Kirjalax), offered to take the English into service, allowing them to live in Constantinople as his bodyguards, "as was the wont of the Varangians who went into his pay". — New England (medieval) , Wikipedia
Composed primarily of Scandinavians for the first 100 years, the guard began to see increased inclusion of Anglo-Saxons after the successful invasion of England by the Normans. In 1088 a large number … emigrated to the Byzantine Empire by way of the Mediterranean. [They] became so vital to the Varangians that the Guard was commonly called the Englinbarrangoi (Anglo-Varangians) from that point… — Varangians, New World Encyclopaedia
By the time of the Emperor Alexios Komnenos in the late 11th century, the Varangian Guard was largely recruited from Anglo-Saxons. — Varangian Guard, Wikipedia
By the time of the Emperor Alexios Komnenos in the late 11th century, the Varangian Guard was largely recruited from Anglo-Saxons. — Varangian Guard, Wikipedia
[The Byzantine Empire, c. 1070]
The fact that axe-bearing English soldiers joined the Guard at this time is also recorded by Byzantine historians. And in true character —
Other than their fierce loyalty, the most recognizable attributes of the Varangian guard during the 11th century were their large axes and their penchant for drinking. There are countless stories of the Varangian guard either drinking in excess or being drunk. — Varangians, New World Encyclopaedia
The Anglo-Varangians helped Alexius in his many battles to restore the Byzantine Empire’s lost ground, fighting Seljuk Turks in the East as well as (ironically) Norman invaders in the West.
But while some of the English refugees liked the idea of joining the Varangian Guard, Siward and a number of others desired a realm of their own to rule over into old age.
Alexius told them of a land over the [Black] sea that had formerly been under the emperor of Constantinople, but was now occupied by heathens. The emperor granted this land to the English, and a party led by Earl Siward sailed for this land while another party of English remained in the service of Alexius.
The land lay "6 days north and north-east of Constantinople", and was won by Earl Siward, who after many battles drove away the heathens. They called it "England" and the territory's main towns were called "London", "York", and "by the names of other great towns in England" — New England (medieval), Wikipedia
Thus some of the English took up the offer of establishing a ‘New England’ (or Nova Anglia) settlement across the Black Sea, evidently in the Crimea and to the south of the nearby Sea of Azov.
There is evidence to support this. Medieval maritime charts of the area show place names such as ‘Londina’ (London) and ‘Susaco’ (Sussex). [2]
The English colonialists kept their independence. According to the French account, Chronicon universale anonymi Laudunensis, when an envoy of the Byzantine emperor came to Nova Anglia demanding taxes, they killed him.
A hundred years later, missionaries passing through this area reported coming across a Christian people who called themselves ‘Saxi’ (Saxon?).
NOTES
[1] Siward Barn was the only landowner named ‘Siward’ listed in William the Conqueror’s Domesday Book of 1086 as having substantial holdings in Gloucestershire. He had been captured and imprisoned in 1071 while fighting for the English resistance against the Normans, but was released from prison by a guilt-ridden King William just before the latter’s death in 1087. If the Anglo-Saxon fleet arrived in Constantinople in 1088, then this could well be the same Siward.
[2] According to Andrew Philips (1952):
“After painstaking research it has been discovered that mediæval maps of this region list no fewer than six towns with names suggesting English settlements. These settlements on maps of the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries are located along the northern coast of the Black Sea. One of the names appears as ‘Susaco’, possibly from ‘Saxon’. Another town, situated some 110 miles to the east of the straits of Kerch near the Sea of Azov appears variously as ‘Londia’, ‘Londin’ and ‘Londina’. On the twelfth century Syrian map the Sea of Azov itself is called the ‘Varang’ Sea, the Sea of the Varangians, a name used for the English in Constantinople at this period.”