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Basil II the “Bulgar Slayer” was a Byzantine emperor from 976 to 1025, and he is known for having offered the hand of his young sister, Anna Porphyrogenita, to the Rus Viking prince of Kiev, Vladimir "the Great", in exchange for Rus military reinforcements. At first, when Vladimir demanded to be married with the emperor’s sister, both Basil and Anna hesitated, as a Greek princess would never marry a "barbarian", but then, Vladimir promised to convert himself and his pagan people to Orthodox Christianity, which made Anna and Basil change their mind. Vladimir and Anna got married, and with their union, Orthodox Christianity and Byzantine influences were introduced in what today is Russia and Ukraine. And the Viking warriors that Vladimir sent to Basil in exchange for Anna became the Byzantine emperor’s personal bodyguard for centuries. They were known as the Varangian Guard. Notable Viking warlords and kings temporally offered their service to Byzantium as Varangians, for example Harald Hardrada (reigned from 1046 to 1066), the last Viking king of Norway who died in the battle of Stamford Bridge.
Go to this link to see my previous painting of Basil's sister, Anna: jfoliveras.deviantart.com/art/…
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Go to this link to see my previous painting of Basil's sister, Anna: jfoliveras.deviantart.com/art/…
www.facebook.com/JFoliveras/instagram: jfoliveras
Image size
1667x2500px 1.59 MB
© 2018 - 2024 JFoliveras
Comments51
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Curious you did not state the reason for the name "Bulgar Slayer".
99% of the soldiers lost both eyes. Th Byzantines were fond of gouging eyes out.
1% was spared 1 (one) eye so he could enable the soldiers, now blind beggers, to get home.
The khan of the Bulgars took it poorly: he died of a stroke ...
His 2 successors had short reigns and the Bulgar kingdom vanished, annexed by the Byzantines ...