The Battle of Dyrrhechium – Don’t I Know You
From Somewhere?
While the story of the Battle
of Hastings (October 14) usually continues with a discussion of the
Norman-French political and to a certain extent cultural conquest of England,
it is interesting to consider the fate of certain of those who fought for the
losing side of Harold.
The core of Harold’s army was a corps of
household troops named the housecarls.
They fought with the Norwegian/Viking battle ax, sometimes with a shaft
of four feet in length. While it is true
that in the Middle Ages it would not be surprising for a person to be born,
live and die within a few miles of the same spot, all too often it is assumed
that such limited travel was typical.
Likely it was not.
After Hastings, some of Harold’s
housecarls traveled to Byzantium and there joined the Byzantine Emperor’s
Varangian Guard. According to some
sources, some of those housecarls, now as members of the Varangian Guard,
fought at the Battle of Dyrrhachium on October 18, 1081, a battle which took
place in modern day Albania. Where they
were opposing Norman invaders (the Normans had invaded and made a kingdom in
Southern Italy and Sicily and were seeking to expand their reach). According to those same sources, certain of
the troops who had fought as mercenaries for William (now the Conqueror) in
England in 1066 now faced off against the now Varangian former housecarls of Harold.
Normans versus Saxons, this time in
Albania. Not everyone stayed close to
home.
BTW, the Normans won the battle.
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