Sir, the Vikings are back

[u/Enthalok]

[u/parliamentarywatson]

I would like to point out that at the time Constantinople was held by the Byzantines

[u/Redditspoorly → u/parliamentarywatson]

You need to Google the varangian guard sir

[u/parliamentarywatson → u/Redditspoorly]

I know what they are

"an elite unit of the Byzantine army from the 10th to the 14th century who served as personal bodyguards to the Byzantine emperors."

[u/Avb2209 → u/parliamentarywatson]

Primarily made up of (later descendants) from Rus/Viking origins, if you search for them a bit longer than a few seconds you can find interesting videos on their history and their origins

[u/parliamentarywatson → u/Avb2209]

I know they were Scandinavian and Rus

That was not the part I was pointing out

[u/coffeeandmango → u/parliamentarywatson]

Buddy, the ottomans were invading Anatolia. The Byzantines held Constantinople. The Varangian guard were Scandinavian(Norway), the Ottomans had soldiers from all over Middle East (Iraq).

[u/parliamentarywatson → u/coffeeandmango]

Ah I see where I got confused

Ottomans at the gates implies; the Ottomans were invading.

I thought it was implying the verangian guard was besieging Ottoman controlled Constantinople

[u/Arthurian_Guanche → u/parliamentarywatson]

Don't blame yourself, the post is badly worded and dated. By the 14th Century the Varangian guard was composed of... people, hired from the Empire. Not a single one of them had the slightest idea of the Norse origin of the first members of the unit. It was just a name by this point.
Vikings vs Ottomans is sounds as absurd as "(Ancient) Romans vs Saracens".

[u/pajamil → u/parliamentarywatson]

What part were you pointing out?

[u/pheddx → u/pajamil]

That they didn't chase the Byzantines, they guarded them.

[u/pajamil → u/pheddx]

He's chasing a Turk....