The Future King Of Norway, Harald Hardrada, Supposedly Conquered A City By Playing Sports

From around 1038 to 1041, the Byzantine Empire’s talented general, George Maniakes, carried out a military campaign that led to the momentary conquest of the island of Sicily. Harald Sigurdsson, also known as Harald Hardrada or Harald the Ruthless, was one of the foreign mercenaries that took part in the campaign. He would later become King Harald III of Norway, but for now, he was leading the Varangian Guard, the most renowned mercenary company in the empire that took orders only from the Byzantine emperor.

The Greek historians, such as Michael Pseullus and John Skylitzes, mainly focused on the actions of George Maniakes in their commentaries on the Sicilian campaign. They acknowledged that foreign mercenaries were also present on the island and some admitted that Harald Hardrada accomplished impressive feats while in Sicily. They, however, reserved their highest praise for George Maniakes, who, by 1039, had conquered most of the island, and was said to have personally captured thirteen Sicilian cities.

Nevertheless, the future Norwegian king received more recognition from his Scandinavian peers. The great Icelandic historian and saga writer, Snorri Sturluson (c. 1179-1241), wrote a dramatic account of Harald’s war-torn life in King Harald’s Saga. In it, Sturluson claimed that Harald led his band of mercenaries in four successful sieges against Sicilian cities. Although each of these four supposed sieges were accomplished through very unique and memorable means, today we will only focus on the third city that Harald attacked.

After taking one city by setting it on fire, and another by tunneling under its walls, Harald Hardrada came across a third city that was populous and wealthy. The settlement was described as having strong walls, a moat, and enough supplies to last through a long siege. In addition, Harald thought that the local garrison in charge of the defense of the city looked competent enough to repel anyone trying to scale the walls with ladders. According to Sturluson, the defenders lined up on their walls and opened their gate, beckoning the invaders to attack. Still wary, the future king held his troops back and made camp.

Instead of storming the city, Harald marched his men over to a spot that was out of range from enemy projectiles and then had his men remove their equipment to start playing sports and games. Harald kept his troops playing these games (in shifts) for several days. With time, the besieged town took interest in the spectacle and people would crowd the walls to have a look at the ongoing competitions. As the days went on, the city grew lazy with its defense—spectators on the walls were unarmed and they would habitually leave their gate open.

On a certain day, the sporting event was being held as usual. This time, however, the competing mercenaries looked a little bulkier than usual; they had on hoods or large hats, and their clothing was looser than usual. The city defenders realized too late that the athletes were wearing helmets under their headgear and had swords stowed away under their tunics. Each soldier that happened to be playing a sport that day suddenly rushed toward the city’s open gateway. The defenders, unprepared and surprised, managed to keep this first wave of attackers from fully entering the city, but they could not close the gate. Then, as planned, Harald Hardrada charged in with his remaining band of fully equipped mercenaries and pushed his way into the city through the opening. The town fell shortly after that, but the assault was said to have been the most costly attack that Harald enacted in Sicily, primarily because the first wave of his soldier-athletes were wearing very little armor when they entered combat.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (A game from the Cantigas de Santa Maria, c. 1280, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• John Skylitzes. A Synopsis of Byzantine History: 811-1057, translated by John Wortley. Original text c. 11^th or early 12^th century. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
• https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/psellus-chrono04.asp 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harald-III-Sigurdsson 
• http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100130762  

The Avian Air Force Of The 11th-Century Harald Hardrada

From 1038 to around 1041, the Byzantine Empire’s skilled general, George Maniakes, conquered the island of Sicily. Present with Maniakes in Sicily, was one of the more unique figures from medieval history—Harald Sigurdsson, also known as Harald Hardrada or Harald the Ruthless. He would later become King Harald III of Norway, but for now, he was biding his time as a mercenary in the Byzantine Empire’s Varangian Guard, all the while amassing wealth and prestige from his military exploits.

The Greek historians, such as Michael Pseullus and John Skylitzes, who later wrote about the time period, largely erased Harald from their accounts of the Sicilian campaign. At most, they would acknowledge that foreign mercenaries were present on the island and that Harald, or “Araltes” as they would sometimes call him, accomplished some impressive feats while on Sicily. They, however, reserved their highest praise for George Maniakes, who, by 1039, had conquered most of the island, and was said to have personally captured thirteen Sicilian cities.

Harald Hardrada received more recognition from his Scandinavian peers. The great Icelandic historian and saga writer, Snorri Sturluson (c. 1179-1241), wrote a dramatic account of Harald’s war-torn life in his text, King Harald’s Saga. In the saga, Sturluson claimed that Harald led his band of Scandinavian mercenaries in four successful sieges against Sicilian cities. Although each of these four supposed sieges were accomplished through very unique and memorable means, this article focuses only on the first city that Harald attacked.

The first unnamed settlement that Harald was said to have besieged was described as being very large and populous, surrounded by walls that were too well-built to be knocked down with siege engines. Harald could not afford to wait until the population starved, for he had reports alleging that the city was well provisioned in food and water.

As he stared at those impenetrable walls, Harald Hardrada soon realized that the city hosted an abundance of wildlife—birds were constantly flying to and fro between the city and the nearby woods. With a plan in mind, Harald pulled together a team of his best birdcatchers. When his trappers were assembled, Harald told them to go catch as many birds as they could find that had flown from the city to the forest. When the mercenaries had assembled their battalion of birds, Harald was said to have had the poor creatures covered with flammable materials, which had earlier been smeared with wax and sulfur. Sadly for the birds, when the creatures had been given their combustible coverings (presumably set up like a fuse), Harald set them on fire and shooed the poor animals back toward the city.

Acting like mobile candles, the birds were able to fly back into the Sicilian city, where they returned to their nests on the rafters, underneath the flammable medieval roofs. Soon, at least according to the saga, the whole city was ablaze, and the distraught inhabitants evacuated the town and surrendered to the triumphant Harald Hardrada.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Birds in a dark and cloudy sky, [Public Domain] via pxhere.com).

Sources:

• John Skylitzes. A Synopsis of Byzantine History: 811-1057, translated by John Wortley. Original text c. 11^th or early 12^th century. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. 
• King Harald’s Saga, by Snorri Sturluson, translated by Magnus Mangusson and Hermann Pálsson. New York: Penguin Books, 1966, 2005.
• https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/psellus-chrono04.asp
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harald-III-Sigurdsson
• http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100130762