Varangian killing Byzantine Emperor

Is their any possible point in Byzantine history where the Varangian Guard could have killed the emperor and sent the empire into ruin?
 
Killed the Emperor, yes. Sent the empire into ruin - no. Someone else would take the throne, and the Byzantines were generally good at coming up with competent successors to dead emperors (or at least not fatally bad ones) - you'd need a worse situation than 1204 for this.
 
Well, I was thinking about if The Varangians some how formed a power vacuum for the throne and took power, would that be possible at all>
 
You mean like a Varangian emperor? That'd be interesting. I know that in OTL a number of emperors had family ties conecting them to the Russians, the Vikings, and even as far afield as the Anglo Saxons, but I don't recall any emperor actually being born a Varagnar.
 
Ok, maybe not a varangian emperor but a russian emperor that is helped onto the throne by the varangians?
 
Ok, maybe not a varangian emperor but a russian emperor that is helped onto the throne by the varangians?

Would not last unless that person has all the usual credentials (no examples of that OTL, though an alt-timeline seeing things evolve so that they would at some point isn't inconceivable). If they did, it would just be an interesting variant on the usual military coup.

That's the problem. The Varangians aren't in a position to decide the issue if its only the Guard.
 
The ERE had several non-Greek/Roman Emperors, as I recall. Didn't a Gaul get onto the throne at one point? Or some sort of barbarian chap, anyway. A varangian taking the throne would not be entirely ASB.
 
The ERE had several non-Greek/Roman Emperors, as I recall. Didn't a Gaul get onto the throne at one point? Or some sort of barbarian chap, anyway. A varangian taking the throne would not be entirely ASB.
Do you mean like Apsimar/Tiberius III? Basically as long as the new Emperor can pay the Varangians they are going to play ball.
 
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