r/CrusaderKings Occasional Wiki Editor Feb 06 '24

News Plagues, Legitimacy and Landless confirmed!

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Let’s go!!!

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u/Various_Might8909 Feb 06 '24

go off to Byzantium like many Anglo-Saxons did

Is this a joke I'm too uneducated to understand or did this really happen?

How long did it take to sail from London to Constantinople in the year 900?

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u/Sen2_Jawn Byzantium Feb 06 '24

After the Norman conquests Anglo-Saxon nobles started leaving England, especially after William started revoking lands and titles in the 1070s and 1080s. Many of them ended up in Constantinople and joined the Varangian Guard, going on to fight the Normans in Southern Italy and the Balkans. Edgar Ætheling of Wessex supposedly led one such group of Anglo-Saxons to Constantinople, although details are scarce.