A Varangian Guard-esque group in a different medieval nation?

Zioneer

Banned
So I'm plotting out a surviving Norman Sicily TL, and I wanted to have the Sicilian monarchs take inspiration from the Byzantine and form their own equivalent to the Varangian Guard. I have a few questions for anyone who thinks this could be plausible.

1) From where could the Sicilian Guard be feasibly recruited? Scandinavia tended to have a surplus population of soldiers that could be recruited to the prestigious and rich empire of the Greeks/Eastern Romans, but assuming Sicily has enough wealth to attract such a group, from where could it be?

2) the Varangian Guard tended to have its own mystique and prestige, how could this hypothetical equivalent build a similar identity?

3) Assuming the Norman Sicilian army stays the same as OTL, with a core Norman cavalry generally supported by Arab archers and light-to-heavy footsoldiers from anywhere under Sicilian control, what role could this hypothetical guard play in battle? A roving bodyguard unit, perhaps?

4) Could a successful Sicilian Guard inspire copy-cats?

5) Is there anything else I should consider when figuring this out?
 
1) From where could the Sicilian Guard be feasibly recruited?
Probably Arabo-Siculan recruitment, or Arabo-African if Tunisia is held as Sicilian land. Not unlike Turcopoles, as in Christianised but using original tactics and material.
Eventually, you could likely see Siculo-Normans or other Christians joining up.

2) the Varangian Guard tended to have its own mystique and prestige, how could this hypothetical equivalent build a similar identity?
I'm not sure it could, or not the way you present it. Varangian Guard, like pretorian, had a really precise function and enough differences for develloping a precise esprit de corps. Structure of Norman society would, I think, prevent a too much distinct (in identitary matters) corps to exist.

That said, I could likely see an esprit de corps still develloping among this Sicilian Guard but knightly orders (which would arguably appear only a bit later, when feudal service would decline in the XIIIth century) were definitely had already an important mystique IOTL.
I'm thinking more of something not unlike English longbowmen in HYW.

That said the bodyguard role of Varangian Guard could be used to justify this Sicilian Guard, while I could see it being used more as a tactical unit.

4) Could a successful Sicilian Guard inspire copy-cats?
I don't think so : Sicily was a bit too peripherical, and knighthood already represented a large esprit de corps, mystique and military elite in Western Christiendom who didn't stop to grow in importance up to the XVth century (except in other peripherical regions, such as England).

5) Is there anything else I should consider when figuring this out?
As said above, possibility for Normans to hold on Tunisia and overall a more important mediterrnean policy.
(And an early PoD to set up this guard).
 

Zioneer

Banned
Thanks for the responses everyone.

My preferred PoD for the entire setting is for William I of Sicily either be much more competent and energetic then he was in OTL, or be replaced (perhaps he dies before becoming king, for example) with an OTL relative (my current preference is William's illegitimate half-brother Simon), who then is able to revitalize the Sicilian state. PoD would thus be anywhere from 1131 to 1154.

My initial notes had Sicily allying with the Hungarians (as they sort of did in OTL), and recruiting from Croatia to form a "Croat Guard", though I suppose that wouldn't be too plausible due to manpower issues and Hungary wanting to keep all the soldiers they can get. The idea was that Sicily would help the Hungarian monarchs in their civil wars and struggles against their neighbors (along with perhaps providing Hungary with a small tax), as well as ridding Hungary of potentially troublesome Croatian soldiers, in exchange for skilled and competent warriors. Would this be ASB or plausible?

I read that the Siculo-Normans did have a specific regiment of Arab Muslim soldiers that played a part in capturing one of the Popes, or at least fighting against Papal soldiers with no fear of excommunication. Would a secondary PoD being the monarchs of Sicily using a permanent Arabic honor guard/raiding force as an un-excommunable fighting force/bodyguard?

Also, I intend to have Sicily not only keep Tunisia, but also seize either Corsicia or Sardina (or both), as well as the Balearic Isles at some point. Could soldiers from there also work as a competent to a "Sicilian Guard"?
 
If they keep Tunisia and Arabs become a standard part of the Sicilian army, perhaps Berbers can form some kind of elite unit guard?
 
Would this be ASB or plausible?
There's an easier way : by the XIIIth century, you enter in a era where mercenaryship from small tactical units of friendly kingdoms becomes current. They wouldn't be considered as foreign expeditionary forces (the concept would simply not exist) but you could end with something looking more or less to the Genoese and Northern Italian troops that existed in Valois' side during HYW.

That said, I don't see it ending as a guard : remember that such unit is directly linked with the person they're supposed to...well guard. In order to become part of their house, domesticity, a closer relationship may be needed and one that wouldn't be parasited too much with conflicting loyalties and by the huge decline of the due military service on purely feudal basis.

Again, I'd go with Arabo-Siculans (at least in a first time, as it's extremely likely to see such unit Italo-Normanize and Christianize) as they would depend on royal protection and would be considered as safer for this exact reason.

Would a secondary PoD being the monarchs of Sicily using a permanent Arabic honor guard/raiding force as an un-excommunable fighting force/bodyguard?
It won't be sustainable : eventually, would it be only trough acculturation and to avoid a too great gap between Normans and this guards, such unit would Christianize; and the likely entry of Italo-Normans in this guard isn't going to help.

Could soldiers from there also work as a competent to a "Sicilian Guard"?
Maybe that's a too modernist view of a medieval and late medieval military organisation. Either by due service (something you can be sure would decline a lot by the XIIIth ITTL as well) or by mercenaryship (which would certainly blossom) but not by a standing guard outside domesticity (in the large sense), raised on the land.

Even if it gets largely inspired by Byzantium, eventually the structural basis of Norman society are going to tamper it. IOTL, it wasn't before the XVth that you really ended with "national" guards and even there it was based on semi-mercenaryship and domesticisation of the commanders.
 
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Zioneer

Banned
There's an easier way : by the XIIIth century, you enter in a era where mercenaryship from small tactical units of friendly kingdoms becomes current. They wouldn't be considered as foreign expeditionary forces (the concept would simply not exist) but you could end with something looking more or less to the Genoese and Northern Italian troops that existed in Valois' side during HYW.

That's true, if I take the timeline that far, I'll probably have something similar.

That said, I don't see it ending as a guard : remember that such unit is directly linked with the person they're supposed to...well guard. In order to become part of their house, domesticity, a closer relationship may be needed and one that wouldn't be parasited too much with conflicting loyalties and by the huge decline of the due military service on purely feudal basis.

True, by Varangian-style guard, I mean more of an foreign elite, personalized military unit that at least initially is utterly loyal to the monarchy, if not the particular monarch. Perhaps a bodyguard, perhaps not. I intend to have the Sicilians develop an imperial taste, and while they no longer wish to conquer Byzantium, they like to imitate it.

Again, I'd go with Arabo-Siculans (at least in a first time, as it's extremely likely to see such unit Italo-Normanize and Christianize) as they would depend on royal protection and would be considered as safer for this exact reason.

Fair enough. Perhaps the cultural makeup of the unit could be shifted to soldiers from the various places Sicily conquers (for example, Sardinia), to continue to avoid internal political entanglements.

It won't be sustainable : eventually, would it be only trough acculturation and to avoid a too great gap between Normans and this guards, such unit would Christianize; and the likely entry of Italo-Normans in this guard isn't going to help.

How did the Varangian Guard not acculturate, then? It had a pretty long tradition among the Byzantines, and seemed to stay un-Greek for a while.


Maybe that's a too modernist view of a medieval and late medieval military organisation. Either by due service (something you can be sure would decline a lot by the XIIIth ITTL as well) or by mercenaryship (which would certainly blossom) but not by a standing guard outside domesticity (in the large sense), raised on the land.

Even if it gets largely inspired by Byzantium, eventually the structural basis of Norman society are going to tamper it. IOTL, it wasn't before the XVth that you really ended with "national" guards and even there it was based on semi-mercenaryship and domesticisation of the commanders.

Hmm.. as I said, the Siculo-Normans are likely going to try and imitate the Byzantines in various ways, would a more imperial monarchy in Sicily be able to keep imperial-style quirks alive like an imitation of the guard? Hmm... Perhaps the guard begins Varangian style, but then eventually becomes more of a "prestige" thing? Sort of like getting the Order of the Garter or something like that? A test of manhood/honor/prestige for young nobles?

By the way, I'm still ultimately undecided with my TL's main PoD; I want the Sicilians to end up strong enough that the Byzantines don't try and incite rebellions with every new king, but I also want either the Byzantines or their successors to be strong enough that the Sicilians don't raid and invade them either. My initial idea was to have Roger II's successor be competent, but is that enough?
 
About the Varangian Guard,the chances for acculturation for the Varangian Guard is slim because their homeland was far from the ERE;they have a totally different religion;they were discouraged from learning the local language and generally return home after their pockets are filled.
 
Maybe something with Al-Andalus and the Moors? It's far away and foreign enough and there is plenty of battle experience, but I don't think they are poor enough to sign on with Sicilian infidels. A group of exiles?
 
Maybe if Sicily remained under cosmopolitan Norman kings in the mold of Roger II, who gave royal protection and patronage to Muslims and Greeks, a more lasting Arab presence - military, as well as cultural - might be possible. Roger added dominions (well, clients) in Africa, protected the Muslim minority, patronized Muslim scholars, and was generally well-regarded by the Muslims. Hell, the royal mantle he had made was embroidered in Arabic.

This experiment of his ends with his death, though the effects linger for a while. Succeeding kings and regents don't share his interests and pivot towards the Christian kingdoms of the north - importing officials from as far as England - rather than emulating the culture and governing styles and structures of the Muslim south. Furthermore, the greatest enemies of the Greek-Arabic bureaucracy in Palermo were the barons (chiefly on the mainland), who Roger's successors were too weak to control; various baronial revolts were quashed one way or another but they were successful in undermining Roger's system. Under such conditions it was probably inevitable that the Muslim minority Roger cultivated would eventually be subject to persecution, marginalization, massacre, and expulsion. The Lucera period comes off as an unusual but temporary interlude between their favor under Roger and their inevitable extermination; a Muslim colony in Italy was fundamentally incompatible with the social, political, and religious realities of the time, and the utility of the Muslims as soldiers could only delay the reckoning for so long.

I don't really think the "Saracen guard" was really comparable in many ways to the Varangians, but if you at least want to make it last I'd start with finding some way to give Roger more Roger-like successors or engineer some radical transformation of the mainland baronial power structure, which was always a mortal threat to the more centralized and cosmopolitan situation in Sicily proper. It's quite a task, possibly a doomed one.

Anti-Almohad renegades are one potential source for recruits - not everyone in Andalusia and the Maghreb was fond of the new puritans. With the subsequent death of ibn Mardanish in Murcia, a somewhat unimpressive Almoravid rump state in the Balears, and Egypt in the middle of Fatimid decay and turmoil (to say nothing of the fact that they were Shia), a philo-arabic king in Sicily might start looking like the most attractive emigration option for those not fond of Almohad rule. If Roger's successors are successful in hanging on to the African territories, so much the better.
 
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