Recently, I've been trying to think of cool ideas for an Early Medieval timeline. I started messing around with the Portrait Maker for Crusader Kings II (HIP mod) trying to come up with interesting characters just as a creative project to pass the time. It's actually entertaining, and I saved a few that I made so far and figured I would share.
Bashīr al-Dīn al-Saqlabi, ʾAmīr of Ṣiqilliya
Bashir the Slav, a renowned Umayyad soldier and the Governor of Sicily
for the Caliphate
Hróðgeirr Hóskuldson, Ourghos tōn Varángōn
Hrothgeir Hoskuldson, a lieutenant of the Varangian Guard mentioned in Byzantine sources
in 1023 for attempting to murder the Emperor Stephanos Tzykandeles, allegedly
at the behest of agents of the Pope in Rome.
Ibrāhīm Sayf al-Dawla, ʾAmīr of Frangistan
Ibrahim of Andalus, a key figure in the Muslim conquest of Occitania in the
11th century, victory of the Battle of the Aveyron, and later the Governor of the
conquered territories on behalf of the Umayyad Caliph
Konstantinos Arbantenos, Stratēgos tōn Anatolikon
Constantine Arbantenus, Commander of the Anatolian territories, kingmaker in Byzantine
politics during the turbulent period of the Italian Wars, and eventually murdered after
his failed bid to ascend to the Imperial throne after the death of Basileus Tzykandeles in 1029
Stephanos Tzykandeles, Basileus Rhomaíōn
Byzantine Emperor in the early 11th century, oversaw the culmination of the ecclesiastical
and theological disputes between the Eastern and Western Churches afterthe Ravenna Conference
in 1020, was severely disfigured in an attack in 1023 allegedly ordered by the Roman Pope, and
then kicked off the Italian Wars in order to both forcefully realign the Church and as a broader
project of shoring up Byzantine power on the Italian peninsula. He died from chronic illness in
1029