Vikings ventured further inland beyond the coasts of Europe, at first attacking Constantinople as they had everywhere else--but eventually settling into trade agreements and settling among Slavs and steppe nomads, their descendants forming a new kingdom. bit.ly/EHPatreon
I love the Byzantines. Constantly find yourself under attack? Invent the deadliest weapon of the Medieval Age: Greek Fire. Find yourself being invaded by Vikings? Hire them! They weren't the heirs to Rome, they were Rome.
According to Wikipedia "Greek fire was an incendiary weapon used by the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire that was first developed c. 672". It was called greek because the primary inhabitants of the Byzantine empire spoke Greek and were descendants of the ancient Greek peoples even though they were called Romans.
They did, Byzantines didn't call it "Greek" fire those who came after named it that. Byzantines referred to it with various names including "Roman" fire
Let's take a moment to appreciate how the two most noticeable animation pieces in this video were 1) the beer-chugging emperor and 2) splitting the man with trees. Love you guys.
Oh, there are so many things in real medieval history which is 100 times worse than the red wedding. Most of Russian and Polish medieval history would make great GOT like series.
The original one is rather a scottish wedding where they slaughter every one, GoT is mostly inspired by british and french history ^^ Heck, even Westeros's map is a map of Great Britain. Just put upside down and much much larger ^^
Don't worry, they were also raided back by their many neighbours from the southern shore of Baltic sea... They hadn't exactly the same reputation among them as in Western Europe.
Novgorod in modern day Ukraine? You sure Extra credits? It's a quite far north of Ukraine. Cyrillic characters of Byzantium? Jeez. Cyrillic characters were invented in the then Bulgarian tzardom, the Byzantines used the Greek script and language. The Glagolic script was invented by Byzantine intellectuals/clergymen, but the Cyrillic by two of their Slavic pupils.
Exactly. Speaking of which, how much of the Cyryllic alphabet can be actually credited to them? They created Glagolitic script, sure, but as far as I know, Cyrillic was invented some time later, in Bulgaria, probably by the students of Methodius. Or am I wrong in this? EDIT: OP answered my question by editing his post, thereby confirming what I've said.
@@Vitalis94 It was invented by the students of Cyrilus and Methodius as a substitute for glagolic script mostly I think because it would be easier to learn for anyone coming from the east since it's closer to the Greek script than Glagolic which is UTTERLY different. Just look at this thing: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glagolitic_script#Characteristics . It looks like no European language. Unlike Cyrilic which borrows quite a bit from the greek.
@@Vitalis94 from what i can rem Methodious created the glagolitic alphabet and Cyril continued to work on it after his brother died. Supposedly his pupils finished it in Bulgaria. I can't guarantee it's 100% accurate though.
In their defense, they didn't say Novgorod was in modern day Ukraine. They said Rurik came to modern day Ukraine. What they left out, is that he was also in modern day Russia. Because his successors would rule from Kiev, in the Ukraine, we often think of that culture as "in modern day Ukraine" but it formed the basis of Belarus and Russia as well. You're very right about Cyrillic though. That was a bit of a gaff that they could have easily avoided with better wording like "based on Byzantine Greek."
Greetings from Kyiv. Another fun story is about Olgas conversion, and how the Emperor of Byzantium wanted to marry her. She insisted shed convert to Orthodox faith first, when marriage is proposed, and asked the Emperor to be her godfather. He gladly agrees, as she is fair and fun and he wants to bed her. But once she converts, she says she cant marry her 'father'.
@@yourmom-uc1vm take care of the city for us you will be in Russia soon you missed your chance for those capitalist nato pigs to cover your ass now Сука
"Slovo o polku Igoreve" wasn't about Igor Rurikovich (killed by Drevlians), but about Igor Svyatoslavovich (killed by Cumans), who lived more than 2 centuries later.
Michael the Drunkard King of being drunk and probably breaking records of being drunk. You gotta drink a lot to get that title. Imagine what it’s like in taverns with the king/emperor. Also, who else already heard of Olga from Sam o nella? Don’t remember his exact channel name...
Well, it's worth mentioning that his successor, Basil I the Makedonian, was the one who murdered him and he had to justify his coup. So he probably branded him as a drunkard.
I'm so glad you touched on Khazar. It is a fascinating empire. A Jewish state of Turkish converts, with two kings. It was made rich by the silk road, and survived by playing the Byzantines and the Caliphate off each other.
This video saved my history final in 11th grade when my teacher gave it a month early without telling us. I had happened to rewatch this series the weekend before, and was able to cite Olga of Kiev for the specificity requirements along with a lot of Viking culture. Thank you so much, Extra Credits team!
9:34 But only AFTER completely destroying the Khazar Khaganate and First Bulgaria Tsardom, defeating a Pecheneg rebellion, and failing in his invasion of the Eastern Roman Empire.
It was also the Byzantines who asked for his help in destroying the bulgar Tsardom, but the romans, worried that he would turn his vast army (according to reports 60,000 strong) against them, sponsored another pecheneg rebellion
@@WitcherGerd I think the Pecheneg rebellion you mentioned and the one I mentioned are the same (assuming you're refering to the one when, while he was over in Bulgaria, the Pechenegs attacking Kiev)
"The reign and personality of Michael III are difficult to evaluate because of the hostile accounts written by Byzantine authors operating under Basil I and his successors. Byzantine accounts describe Michael's habitual drunkenness, his obsession with chariot racing and his orchestration of public displays mocking the processions and rituals of the church. The impression gained from Arab sources, however, is one of Michael as an active and often successful military commander.[20]" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_III#Legacy
Arab scholars: ...and despite his clear infidelity, he nonetheless was an impressive performer in his military campaigns. Post-Michael Byzantine Scholars: ...and was a laughable, impious alcoholic who achieved nothing other than single-handedly doubling the price of wine a radius of 30 cubits around Constantinople.
Just a couple of things: The influence of the Swedish vikings on the map should extend to the Vaasa region of Finland as well, and including the theories on why the Swedes were called "Rus" would have been fun to see (and adding some more context, it would have done). Also, the weaponized napalm birds is either folklore, true, or legends based on Scandinavian myth, as this has been a tactic used in Europe more than once in sieges.
Holy crap! This really has been an informative series. i had no idea how the Viking invasions had an integral part in shaping Europe into what it is today if I had not seen this series
If you look at Estonian and Finnish languages then you will notice that in both of those languages Sweden is Rootsi and Ruotsi respectively. Russia in those languages is Venemaa and Venäjä respectively. If you translate the Estonian word Venemaa to Finnish it would literally mean boat land if translated in English implicating the varyags, the vikings in Russia.
Actually, Rurik’s friend and military commander, Oleg, who had moved the capital to Kyiv, raided Constantinople and put his shield above the city gates as a sigh of victory.
Cyrilc is not Byzantian - the Byzantians used Greek - the Cyrilic was Glagolic(Glagolitic created 855, Cyrillic somewhre between 885-893) adaptation developed in Tsardom of Bulgaria by the students of Cyril and Methodius which name their creation after one of their teachers! The aim for both alphabets were to translate Bibles and other scriptures to slavic languages, and those had a bit of a different tones to pronounce - Ж(zh),Щ(sht),Ш(sh),Ъ and similar.
Well rurick never was in Kiev, He did rule in Novgorod but his heirs would go on to conquer and unite the eastern slavs into rus. But ya they did mix up the two but not the place he ruled just location.
Wait, did you confuse the Patriarch of Constantinople with the emperor? Also, you made the Byzantine Orthodox monks look way to western and made it sound like Novgorod is in modern Ukraine. Besides that, it was a very good episode. Of course, you had to simplify things. I expect the "lies" episode after this series to be especially interesting because there are much uncertainty and hotly debated theories around the early Rus history. Hopefully, this will make some people interested in the subject and inspire them to look up more. Edit: Some people didn't understand what I meant regarding the patriarch and the emperor, so I'll try to make myself clear. That guy shown at the very beginning of the video, who is supposed to be the patriarch (Photios I the Great to be precise), looks exactly like the emperor Michel III appearing at 3:22, and his outfit, in general, seems to fit the emperor more than a patriarch (especially the crown).
I’m pretty sure he specifically mentioned that the Emperor was gone on campaign so the Patriarch would probably be the most powerful man in the city. Also they never said that Novgorod was in Ukraine. Modern nations aren’t really relevant to medieval history. As to the monks, I dunno.
@@jacksonthesyndicalist2771 Well they shouldn't have mentioned it then. It made this whole thing confusing: Ukraine is stretched from the delta of Dnieper in the south to lowlands in the north (the Baltic sea is far more to the north from here on) and from the Caprathian Mountains in the west to the Sea of Azov to the east. And Rurik landed in Novgorod. I know, Russian geography is confusing, but this is just dumb.
I know, but I'm talking about the visuals. At the begging of the episode, when talking about the patriarch, they showed the same figure they later shown as the emperor. He looks more like a emperor too. Maybe it was some misunderstanding between writers and animators? Anyway, I know all my criticism was rather minor nitpicks and I generally liked this episode.
In these episodes 3 and 4 you can see one of the Vikings' greatest legacies: Founding trade cities in the parts of Europe where Rome hadn't, and then integrating with the local population around them.
I've been watching this channel for years, and I love that you guys are starting to improve your animations! I love the still images but the moving ones blew me away!
The bird story is very interesting, Ive also heard of this tactic being used by Genghis Khan. It shows how these folk legends are applied to multiple people. Another good example is how a viking warrior laid siege to a fortress but couldnt get in, he faked his death and had his men ask the besieged if they could bury him as a new convert. They snuck weapons with the leader's "body" so they could launch a surprise attack and throw open the gates. Ive seen this story attributed to Ragnar, Harald Harada, and Hastein
Love these videos. Have recommended multiple videos to the teachers at my school. Currently doing a project on the cold war in history, so I even used this channel's video on the Berlin Airlift to help. Can't wait for part 5 of Viking Expansion!
10:10 “The Cyrillic characters of Byzantium” Ummm... Byzantium used Greek letters. The Cyrillic was created in Bulgaria (Old Church Slavonic) as a way to read and write the Bible so the populace can understand it, and so the state won’t be reliant on Greek bishops to do mass.
@@jon-unicorn-doxxer Crusader Kings 2. A game published by Paradox Interactive. You essentially roleplay a ruler and their descendants (from Ireland to India) for as long as you can hold onto power. Very character driven, as opposed to some of Paradox's more traditional grand strategy titles.
Here's an interesting tidbit for the "Lies" episode: The cyrillic alphabet was developed in Bulgaria - not Byzantium. It's a common misconception that it was developed by the Byzantine monks/diplomats Cyril and Methodius. They actually developed the Glagolic alphabet (named for the slavic word for "to speak" at the time) and it was basically a series of loops unlike any other alphabet in use at the time. The cyrillic script was developed in the Bulgarian capital of Preslav and is based on the greek and glagolic alphabets (since a lot of the clergy were already familiar with greek and found it easier to use compared to the glagolic, only using some characters specific to slavic pronunciation, the name of course is in honor of one of the brothers - guess which one!). All this took place in the mid- to late 9th century and originally both scripts were in use simultaneously with the glagolic slowly being phased out by the time the Rus got converted. Bonus fact. A lot of late Bulgarian manuscripts are now in Russia due to the fact that the majority of bulgarian clergy fled to Russia when the Ottomans conquered Bulgaria in the late 14th century.
I have enjoyed this series so much! I knew quite a bit of the info you've presented, but there's a surprising amount I haven't heard of yet. You guys are awesome and everything you put out is fascinating. Thank you so much!
Basil II would be epic. Simeon and good tsar Peter would make a great story, too. But series on the rise and fall of the first Bulgarian Tsardom would be the best.
Oh boy, that is basically Russian state mythos for ya. Very delighted to hear it from you. And Olga, her son, Vladimir the Shining Sun (yes really) are kinda founding fathers (and mother I guess) of our nation and semi-religious figures.
The Roman kingdom was the unpopular comic. The republic was the popular first movie. The empire was the awesome sequel. The byzantines were a pretty good 3rd film. Then the ottomans were the direct to dvd sequel. Then the Russians were an awesome spinoff film. The Holy Roman Empire wasn’t. Then the series was finally killed off by the Italy film
Why so? As it was mentioned several times trough the series (and specifically here), Nords were a minority in almost all of their foreign settlements. They had the power and ruled the land, they influenced and changed the local culture, but still they were a minority. Sooner or later they had adopted the culture of the land where they lived and became, hm, local. This happened in France, this happened in Ireland and in England, this happened in Rus. You can see this even in their names. Rurik, Oleg (Helgi), Igor (Ingvar) are Scandinavian names. But already Igor's son had 100% slavic name - Sviatoslav. And after him: Yaropolk, Vladimir, Yaroslav, etc. Even more, in 13th century Rus fell under Mongol invasion. Quite ironic, actually - the descendants of greatest sea nomads had lost to greatest land nomads... Anyway, for 250 years Rus was the vassal of Golden Horde and Moskowia, that rises after that, (and was renamed into 'Russia' in 16th century) had little in common with that old Rus.
I just imagine the Vikings sailing to Constantinople, raiding the outlying farms, only to see the walls and go “s**t” and proceed to sail right back north
Gonna be honest. I love you extra credits, your videos have been an amazing boon to my life since I found you waaaaay back when you told the story about a some big ol elephants climbing mountains.. But this new voice, his inflections, the different sound cues. (HAHAHA GET IT HE DRANK WHEN HE TALKED ABOUT A DRUNKARD!) I just can’t do it. Miss that old high narrator too much.
Oh my, did we just learn the origins of Russia? As soon as Novgorod was mentioned, I stared making connections. Eventually, all of the pieces fell in the right place (especially considering Russia is highly Orthodox Christian today), and my suspicions were confirmed. Although, I can't believe I missed the "Rus" part, because it all makes sense when you think over it in retrospective. Really learnt a lot from this, well done Extra Credits!
Some histories i would like to see on Extra History: -The Spanish conquests in the Americas -The muslim expansion -The first settlement of the Americas(The Clovis people, paleo-indians, the death of megafauna…) -Alexander the Great -Cyrus the Great -Julius Caesar -The Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain -The Great Emu War
Vikings ventured further inland beyond the coasts of Europe, at first attacking Constantinople as they had everywhere else--but eventually settling into trade agreements and settling among Slavs and steppe nomads, their descendants forming a new kingdom.
bit.ly/EHPatreon
Yas,my favorite vikings
Man, the Vikings are in all of us :O
*vikingrs
Amazing that that happened 60 AC
I am from Iceland or Ísland
Id just like to point out to everyone Olga is a *literal*Saint
In orthdox chrisitanity yes. And Vladimir also.
She holy the shit out of her enemies
@@thefakecorvus7842 ayy samonella refrence
lol my grandma was named Olga (she was Greek as I am btw) by I didn 't knew that this woman was the original saint Olga
Shes a saint in roman Catholic too
I love the Byzantines. Constantly find yourself under attack? Invent the deadliest weapon of the Medieval Age: Greek Fire. Find yourself being invaded by Vikings? Hire them! They weren't the heirs to Rome, they were Rome.
Well I don't think the Byzantines invented "Greek" fire.
According to Wikipedia "Greek fire was an incendiary weapon used by the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire that was first developed c. 672". It was called greek because the primary inhabitants of the Byzantine empire spoke Greek and were descendants of the ancient Greek peoples even though they were called Romans.
They did, Byzantines didn't call it "Greek" fire those who came after named it that. Byzantines referred to it with various names including "Roman" fire
@@Lexender Yes, they did. The Byzantine Empire was mostly Greek.
Didn’t they have freaking grenades, but with Greek Fire instead of ordinary explosives?
7:03 can we all agree that was the best transition known to humanity.
Yes we can.
Of course!
Why would anyone ever doubt that?
Oh my god, I didn't realise. Pardon my late reply, but wow. Ingenious.
Whoof but ouch
Otto von Bismarck would be impressed by Olga's plans.
But he always have a plan
@@vector2799 Otto von Bismarck: I have a plan
@@kamerad_marzuki3631 BUT WE NEED MO' MONEH!!!!
@Arturo Reyes Cortez
RE: "Otto von Bismarck would be impressed by Olga's plans."
So would Niccolò Machiavelli.
She was a woman with plans afterall
"He established a fortified market town at a point where several rivers met, and called it..."
Rurikstead !
"...Holmgard".
Dammit.
3:22 Blew most of this seasons animation budget on this one didn't you? :)
Yep
Let's take a moment to appreciate how the two most noticeable animation pieces in this video were 1) the beer-chugging emperor and 2) splitting the man with trees. Love you guys.
“The Vikings are about to meet the heirs of Rome.”
*History buff fanboy screaming in the distance.*
aaaaahhhh
Olga, HBO's on the phone, they want to discuss plans for a Game of Thrones sequel.
No don't
In Viking Russia, the land raids the Vikingrs.
In Mongol Russia, you beat winter
In diseased Russia, you cure the doctor
In modern russia, the Vodka drinks YOU!
In England people understand these jokes aren't that funny.
In Russia, jokes understand that people aren't that funny!
7:00 that was really well executed. Pun absolutely intended.
Lol
Well played.
I'm kind of _split_ on this - though admittedly, not as badly as Olga's hubby :P
lol I would argue 8:44 is a better pun.
“Carl, the vikingrs are back”
“Dammit!” (Bangs fist on table) “STEVE, GET THE FLAMETHROWER! THE VIKINGRS ARE BACK!”
"CARL WANTS THE FLAME THROWER!"
"HE WANTS THE WHAT?!?"
"THATS WHAT HE SAID, NOW *MOVE!!!"*
Hmm, time to re-watch the Byzantine videos, anyone?
DragoniteSpam Yep, keep mixing that up with so many other series
Definitely
@Messed_pie Is gIAy I'm a time traveler.
Oh yes bois
Long live Justin and his wife
(Too bad they are ded)
The original red wedding
Oh, there are so many things in real medieval history which is 100 times worse than the red wedding. Most of Russian and Polish medieval history would make great GOT like series.
The original one is rather a scottish wedding where they slaughter every one, GoT is mostly inspired by british and french history ^^
Heck, even Westeros's map is a map of Great Britain. Just put upside down and much much larger ^^
@@krankarvolund7771 I though GoT was inspired by the War of the Roses.
@@jackpadz6079 War of Roses is not english history? ^^'
Yes, he take inspirations from War of Roses but also from other events ;)
@@krankarvolund7771 Oh okay
Hahaha
My fault.
Seems the Vikings had their influence on everything.
Don't worry, they were also raided back by their many neighbours from the southern shore of Baltic sea... They hadn't exactly the same reputation among them as in Western Europe.
*vikingrs
In reality in those days all cultures had a back and forth of exchange either by trade or war.
I bet you Walpole was a Vikingr
G Gamer Vikingar*
“Vikingr” is singular ;)
Novgorod in modern day Ukraine? You sure Extra credits? It's a quite far north of Ukraine.
Cyrillic characters of Byzantium? Jeez. Cyrillic characters were invented in the then Bulgarian tzardom, the Byzantines used the Greek script and language. The Glagolic script was invented by Byzantine intellectuals/clergymen, but the Cyrillic by two of their Slavic pupils.
Exactly. Speaking of which, how much of the Cyryllic alphabet can be actually credited to them? They created Glagolitic script, sure, but as far as I know, Cyrillic was invented some time later, in Bulgaria, probably by the students of Methodius. Or am I wrong in this?
EDIT: OP answered my question by editing his post, thereby confirming what I've said.
@@Vitalis94 It was invented by the students of Cyrilus and Methodius as a substitute for glagolic script mostly I think because it would be easier to learn for anyone coming from the east since it's closer to the Greek script than Glagolic which is UTTERLY different.
Just look at this thing: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glagolitic_script#Characteristics . It looks like no European language. Unlike Cyrilic which borrows quite a bit from the greek.
@@Vitalis94 from what i can rem Methodious created the glagolitic alphabet and Cyril continued to work on it after his brother died. Supposedly his pupils finished it in Bulgaria. I can't guarantee it's 100% accurate though.
Indeed, some sloppy history slipped in there.
In their defense, they didn't say Novgorod was in modern day Ukraine. They said Rurik came to modern day Ukraine. What they left out, is that he was also in modern day Russia. Because his successors would rule from Kiev, in the Ukraine, we often think of that culture as "in modern day Ukraine" but it formed the basis of Belarus and Russia as well.
You're very right about Cyrillic though. That was a bit of a gaff that they could have easily avoided with better wording like "based on Byzantine Greek."
Mortal Kombat 9: look at the wishbone fatality
Slav tribe: hold my mead
The tribe was named Drevlians, to be exact, which translates to something like "Wood tribe"/"Forest tribe"
Greetings from Kyiv.
Another fun story is about Olgas conversion, and how the Emperor of Byzantium wanted to marry her.
She insisted shed convert to Orthodox faith first, when marriage is proposed, and asked the Emperor to be her godfather.
He gladly agrees, as she is fair and fun and he wants to bed her.
But once she converts, she says she cant marry her 'father'.
Good grief this lady cast so much shade you'd think she was the moon on a solar eclipse.
Patriarch: Who is this sassy girl?!
Greetings to Kiev
St. Olga so rad Chernobyl was still a wasteland
@@yourmom-uc1vm take care of the city for us you will be in Russia soon you missed your chance for those capitalist nato pigs to cover your ass now Сука
Can you make an entire series on Kievan Rus thought? it is REALY an underexplained topic.
He does not even know were Kiev is, if he believes that Rurik has settled in Modern Ukraine
@@Djteacher101 Rurik settled in Novgorod, which is located in modern Russia, Kiev was captured much later. Sorry for the bad English
Supplementary fun facts:
Olga's husband's name was Igor Rurikovich. The tribe he got torn apart by were called drevlians.
"Slovo o polku Igoreve" wasn't about Igor Rurikovich (killed by Drevlians), but about Igor Svyatoslavovich (killed by Cumans), who lived more than 2 centuries later.
@@mrpyakovlev Woops, there goes my credibility. Thanks for the correction :)
6:58 i paused, cringed, then looked down and was thankful everything is still there and intact
A reference to a drinking skull in a video about Nords?
*MOUNT AND BLADE INTENSIFIES*
ITSALMOSTHARVESTINGSEASON
I WILL DRINK FROM YOUR SKULL
That's a nice head on your shoulders
@@weldonwin They're masterworks all, you can't go wro-oh sorry, wrong game.
Less talking, more raiding!
Michael the Drunkard King of being drunk and probably breaking records of being drunk. You gotta drink a lot to get that title. Imagine what it’s like in taverns with the king/emperor.
Also, who else already heard of Olga from Sam o nella? Don’t remember his exact channel name...
Well, it's worth mentioning that his successor, Basil I the Makedonian, was the one who murdered him and he had to justify his coup. So he probably branded him as a drunkard.
Salm O' Nella I believe
Hostile historians from another dynasty gave him the title. He wasn't that drunk all the time
I imagine the innkeeper "Your majesty, may you pay your bill?
-More beer!
-No problem"
XD
Facts
Swedes are still called Rus in Finnish.
"Ruotsi".
El Fixo and how do you call Russia?
KKmies do you know why?
KKmies thanks for explanation. In Russian , Finns were previously called "Sum' "
@@sxbcdbfxs7069 Suomenskuvo
@@sxbcdbfxs7069 Probably cuz Soumi u know
Got a Viking problem? Just use a flamethrower 🔥🔥🔥!
"Introducing SWEDE-B-GONE! Just one jet of this terrifying incendiary, and you'll be seeing their longships sparkling nicely on the water!"
When in doubt, kill it with fire.
Hi guys!
What is going on in this comment thread...?
OH MY GODS! WHY IS EVERYTHING ON FIRE?!?!??!
Naw, they'll keep coming. Danegeld on the other hand... no wait, that never worked either.
@@Handles-Suck-TH-cam *NOW THAT'S A LOT OF DAMAGE!*
Just started a Rus Ck2 playthrough when this came out!
Sir Hetiu, you are gonna suffer so much with your brothers...(If you are playing in the time period I think you are playing)
Rurik's stats stats are super op.
Lol same here, i am seen the coments after some time to(?
Started a Polish game just before this video came out. The Slavic Union is fun.
@@tinchosabala Im playing 867.
I'm so glad you touched on Khazar. It is a fascinating empire. A Jewish state of Turkish converts, with two kings. It was made rich by the silk road, and survived by playing the Byzantines and the Caliphate off each other.
I suggested this channel to my history teacher 👍
Same here, this channel is the best. :p
Doesn’t everybody ?!
@Jeggdude yep yep yep.
these animations man they're tearing me apart in laughter
That's very punny
This video saved my history final in 11th grade when my teacher gave it a month early without telling us. I had happened to rewatch this series the weekend before, and was able to cite Olga of Kiev for the specificity requirements along with a lot of Viking culture. Thank you so much, Extra Credits team!
9:34 But only AFTER completely destroying the Khazar Khaganate and First Bulgaria Tsardom, defeating a Pecheneg rebellion, and failing in his invasion of the Eastern Roman Empire.
It was also the Byzantines who asked for his help in destroying the bulgar Tsardom, but the romans, worried that he would turn his vast army (according to reports 60,000 strong) against them, sponsored another pecheneg rebellion
@@WitcherGerd I think the Pecheneg rebellion you mentioned and the one I mentioned are the same (assuming you're refering to the one when, while he was over in Bulgaria, the Pechenegs attacking Kiev)
"The reign and personality of Michael III are difficult to evaluate because of the hostile accounts written by Byzantine authors operating under Basil I and his successors. Byzantine accounts describe Michael's habitual drunkenness, his obsession with chariot racing and his orchestration of public displays mocking the processions and rituals of the church. The impression gained from Arab sources, however, is one of Michael as an active and often successful military commander.[20]"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_III#Legacy
Antti Björklund ok
Medieval Christian accounts caring more about appareances than fact than Arab accounts seem to be a common point when talking about medieval history
Arab scholars: ...and despite his clear infidelity, he nonetheless was an impressive performer in his military campaigns.
Post-Michael Byzantine Scholars: ...and was a laughable, impious alcoholic who achieved nothing other than single-handedly doubling the price of wine a radius of 30 cubits around Constantinople.
@@ethanlu2039 And the writer was like "And now I'm only half drunk. Dammit Michael!"
On the other hand Michael probably was aware of his own liabilities and this led to be coemperor with Basil the 1st
The Moment you realise these guys travelled to more places tan you and your family combined even though they achieved this centuries earlier
Millennia
But what if they are part of my family? (As in ancestors)
What would win:
The entirety of Europe
Or
Some northern sailors
Some raidy bois
Or some weirdly-shaved unarmed guys with wooden crosses.
And that kids is how Russia got its name
Yes, really
Russia is not Rus. This is historical mistake.
Yeah, I know, but it's just a reference to the way the narrator keeps saying "Yes, Really" every time a weird name pops up
From Ukraine’s empire which became a thing because of Scandinavians... HMMM
"Rus"ssiya and "Rus"si.
Eastern Slavs of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine will always be the the "People of Rus".
Ah so thats where "I WILL DRINK FROM YOUR SKULL" comes from.
My family history has Norse and Viking and Byzantium history so it’s really cool to hear how all of this went down!! Keep up the great work guys!!!
Just a couple of things: The influence of the Swedish vikings on the map should extend to the Vaasa region of Finland as well, and including the theories on why the Swedes were called "Rus" would have been fun to see (and adding some more context, it would have done). Also, the weaponized napalm birds is either folklore, true, or legends based on Scandinavian myth, as this has been a tactic used in Europe more than once in sieges.
Can we please get some love for the trifle-based visual pun at 8:44? The world needs more visual puns like this!
The last act by Olga was something
Holy crap! This really has been an informative series. i had no idea how the Viking invasions had an integral part in shaping Europe into what it is today if I had not seen this series
If you look at Estonian and Finnish languages then you will notice that in both of those languages Sweden is Rootsi and Ruotsi respectively. Russia in those languages is Venemaa and Venäjä respectively. If you translate the Estonian word Venemaa to Finnish it would literally mean boat land if translated in English implicating the varyags, the vikings in Russia.
That is, swedes are russian, and russian is vikings? Did you smoke anything today?
6:32 Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks referenced! 7 out of 5 stars.
Oh snap! Totally missed that reference. I thought the image was kinda off on first watch. Thanks for the heads up. :)
I expect that to be their next outfits in a BTE sketch.
Someone tweet this at the Bucks and watch this channel blow up
Tyler Kolbe Done!
The Rus: We have come to sack you!
The Byzantines: We don't even know who you are.
Actually, Rurik’s friend and military commander, Oleg, who had moved the capital to Kyiv, raided Constantinople and put his shield above the city gates as a sigh of victory.
Cyrilc is not Byzantian - the Byzantians used Greek - the Cyrilic was Glagolic(Glagolitic created 855, Cyrillic somewhre between 885-893) adaptation developed in Tsardom of Bulgaria by the students of Cyril and Methodius which name their creation after one of their teachers! The aim for both alphabets were to translate Bibles and other scriptures to slavic languages, and those had a bit of a different tones to pronounce - Ж(zh),Щ(sht),Ш(sh),Ъ and similar.
Yeah, Glagolitic should be fully credited to the brothers, but Cyryllic was actually created by their pupils, on the orders of Tsar Boris I.
You mixed up Kiev and Novgorod. Novgorod is in northern Russia while Kiev is the capital of modern Ukraine.
Otherwise great video! :)
Well rurick never was in Kiev, He did rule in Novgorod but his heirs would go on to conquer and unite the eastern slavs into rus. But ya they did mix up the two but not the place he ruled just location.
Exactly, Novgorod is nowhere close to modern Ukraine, should have learned his Geography for starters
Z-tard
@@sarkis951 u mad bro?)
Wait, did you confuse the Patriarch of Constantinople with the emperor?
Also, you made the Byzantine Orthodox monks look way to western and made it sound like Novgorod is in modern Ukraine.
Besides that, it was a very good episode. Of course, you had to simplify things. I expect the "lies" episode after this series to be especially interesting because there are much uncertainty and hotly debated theories around the early Rus history.
Hopefully, this will make some people interested in the subject and inspire them to look up more.
Edit: Some people didn't understand what I meant regarding the patriarch and the emperor, so I'll try to make myself clear. That guy shown at the very beginning of the video, who is supposed to be the patriarch (Photios I the Great to be precise), looks exactly like the emperor Michel III appearing at 3:22, and his outfit, in general, seems to fit the emperor more than a patriarch (especially the crown).
I’m pretty sure he specifically mentioned that the Emperor was gone on campaign so the Patriarch would probably be the most powerful man in the city. Also they never said that Novgorod was in Ukraine. Modern nations aren’t really relevant to medieval history. As to the monks, I dunno.
@@jacksonthesyndicalist2771 Well they shouldn't have mentioned it then. It made this whole thing confusing: Ukraine is stretched from the delta of Dnieper in the south to lowlands in the north (the Baltic sea is far more to the north from here on) and from the Caprathian Mountains in the west to the Sea of Azov to the east. And Rurik landed in Novgorod. I know, Russian geography is confusing, but this is just dumb.
I know, but I'm talking about the visuals. At the begging of the episode, when talking about the patriarch, they showed the same figure they later shown as the emperor. He looks more like a emperor too. Maybe it was some misunderstanding between writers and animators?
Anyway, I know all my criticism was rather minor nitpicks and I generally liked this episode.
In these episodes 3 and 4 you can see one of the Vikings' greatest legacies: Founding trade cities in the parts of Europe where Rome hadn't, and then integrating with the local population around them.
That tree execution jumpcut was kinda funny
Slavic - Olga, Oleg, Igor, Vladimir
Scandinavian - Helga, Helge, Ingvar, Valdemar
Zacharias Thomasson , Vladimir isn’t Slavic. It’s a russian pronunciation.
In Ruthenian (pra-Ukrainian) and in Ukrainian the name sounds VOLODYMYR.
@@_FireHeart we sauth slavs also speak Vladimir. It's translate: man who rule.
“She buried the diplomats alive”
Oh, THAT Olga
Olga really snapped tho LMAOOOOO
3:21 there aren't many animations, but when there are.. they're awesome!! BD
We rode the rivers of the Eastern trail,
Deep in the land of the Rus'.
Following the wind in our sails,
And the rhythm of the oars.
I've been watching this channel for years, and I love that you guys are starting to improve your animations! I love the still images but the moving ones blew me away!
Game of thrones: Red wedding happens
People: Damn harsh and brutal
Olga of Kiev: Hold my beer
I'd say this was more a Rains of Castamere moment that a Red Wedding
@@weldonwin Tywin would definitely fanboy over Olga.
I like this new narrator. He isn't half as annoying as the previous one
The bird story is very interesting, Ive also heard of this tactic being used by Genghis Khan. It shows how these folk legends are applied to multiple people. Another good example is how a viking warrior laid siege to a fortress but couldnt get in, he faked his death and had his men ask the besieged if they could bury him as a new convert. They snuck weapons with the leader's "body" so they could launch a surprise attack and throw open the gates. Ive seen this story attributed to Ragnar, Harald Harada, and Hastein
That was Bjorn Ironside during his adventures in the mediterranean, he was besieging an Italian city he though was Rome.
So the Vikings pulled in a trojan horse but instead it was a viking coffins
Love these videos. Have recommended multiple videos to the teachers at my school. Currently doing a project on the cold war in history, so I even used this channel's video on the Berlin Airlift to help. Can't wait for part 5 of Viking Expansion!
You could make a series about the two emperors of Brazil, Pedro I and Pedro II.
That bit with Michael the Drunkard was the most animation Extra Credit ever done, in my records.
10:10 “The Cyrillic characters of Byzantium” Ummm... Byzantium used Greek letters. The Cyrillic was created in Bulgaria (Old Church Slavonic) as a way to read and write the Bible so the populace can understand it, and so the state won’t be reliant on Greek bishops to do mass.
First the walker, now the drunkard.
I'm loving these animations
damn now i know why theres so many god damn Rurik's in ck2
One does not simply attack _a_ Rurikid prince. (Learnt that one the hard way)
keep hearing this..whats Ck2?
@@jon-unicorn-doxxer Crusader Kings 2. A game published by Paradox Interactive. You essentially roleplay a ruler and their descendants (from Ireland to India) for as long as you can hold onto power. Very character driven, as opposed to some of Paradox's more traditional grand strategy titles.
@@jon-unicorn-doxxer if you like history you like this game
Ok...so what gaming platform? PC only right?
The scene cut at 7:02 was pure perfection.
The historical ties from Russia's origins back to the Vikings is fascinating, but I can't get over Olga's revenge plan.
Here's an interesting tidbit for the "Lies" episode:
The cyrillic alphabet was developed in Bulgaria - not Byzantium. It's a common misconception that it was developed by the Byzantine monks/diplomats Cyril and Methodius. They actually developed the Glagolic alphabet (named for the slavic word for "to speak" at the time) and it was basically a series of loops unlike any other alphabet in use at the time. The cyrillic script was developed in the Bulgarian capital of Preslav and is based on the greek and glagolic alphabets (since a lot of the clergy were already familiar with greek and found it easier to use compared to the glagolic, only using some characters specific to slavic pronunciation, the name of course is in honor of one of the brothers - guess which one!). All this took place in the mid- to late 9th century and originally both scripts were in use simultaneously with the glagolic slowly being phased out by the time the Rus got converted.
Bonus fact. A lot of late Bulgarian manuscripts are now in Russia due to the fact that the majority of bulgarian clergy fled to Russia when the Ottomans conquered Bulgaria in the late 14th century.
3:22 he's sitting in the same spot as norm from cheers
NORM! I actually referenced Sam's spinning mug trick for that bit.
I have enjoyed this series so much! I knew quite a bit of the info you've presented, but there's a surprising amount I haven't heard of yet. You guys are awesome and everything you put out is fascinating. Thank you so much!
*Basil the second would be cool in a series of episode.*
You take a sip of your trusty vault 13 canteen. Then I demand a series on Simeon the Great
Basil II would be epic. Simeon and good tsar Peter would make a great story, too. But series on the rise and fall of the first Bulgarian Tsardom would be the best.
I am *looking* forward to *seeing* it
7:24 Wow, even the spade is historically acurate! I love the fact you guys spend so much time on details! :)
Oh boy, that is basically Russian state mythos for ya. Very delighted to hear it from you. And Olga, her son, Vladimir the Shining Sun (yes really) are kinda founding fathers (and mother I guess) of our nation and semi-religious figures.
Vladimir was her grandson
@@kogotokLenok Oh, I know, I meant Svyatovlav Olga's son. I just was unclear.
deadass it's 2:51AM and i was about to sleep until i saw this, ExtraHistory why you gotta do me like this
My mans with the Kenny Omega and Young Bucks cameo.
6:47 Hey, it's my namesake, Igor of Kiev! Dude's death is as legendary as that transition
3:37 that's not how Byzantine monks dress
Catholic monks
That was so awesome. I’m a Swede and i had no knowledge of this! Thx extra history!
Did anybody else start humming Varyags of Miklagaard as soon as they mentioned Constantinople?
Miklagaard Overture tbh
I absolutely love the weird visuals. Perfectly illustrated.
The Roman kingdom was the unpopular comic. The republic was the popular first movie. The empire was the awesome sequel. The byzantines were a pretty good 3rd film. Then the ottomans were the direct to dvd sequel. Then the Russians were an awesome spinoff film. The Holy Roman Empire wasn’t. Then the series was finally killed off by the Italy film
What does that make the Etruscans then
Crusching My Opponents prequel film made later (made later for being rediscovered much later)
Actually the Byzantines could be the series, a series like the Game of Thrones and even more ridiculous in times and more complicated.
Byzantine is, of course, a crossover with Ancient Greece franchise.
I love the illustrations of Baghdad and Holmgard!
Uh. That actually explains a lot about russian people.
Russians being russians even before becoming russians.
@@abcdef27669 Being ruthlessly cunning and cunningly ruthless?
@@Blazo_Djurovic
Probaly
North korean people are better tbh.
Why so? As it was mentioned several times trough the series (and specifically here), Nords were a minority in almost all of their foreign settlements. They had the power and ruled the land, they influenced and changed the local culture, but still they were a minority.
Sooner or later they had adopted the culture of the land where they lived and became, hm, local. This happened in France, this happened in Ireland and in England, this happened in Rus.
You can see this even in their names. Rurik, Oleg (Helgi), Igor (Ingvar) are Scandinavian names. But already Igor's son had 100% slavic name - Sviatoslav. And after him: Yaropolk, Vladimir, Yaroslav, etc.
Even more, in 13th century Rus fell under Mongol invasion. Quite ironic, actually - the descendants of greatest sea nomads had lost to greatest land nomads... Anyway, for 250 years Rus was the vassal of Golden Horde and Moskowia, that rises after that, (and was renamed into 'Russia' in 16th century) had little in common with that old Rus.
Vikings: Let's go conquer Mikelgard!
Byzantines: Have a ****** flamethrower, NOOBS!
Drinking Cup story... Drinking Cup story... DRINKING CUP STORY!!!
I just imagine the Vikings sailing to Constantinople, raiding the outlying farms, only to see the walls and go “s**t” and proceed to sail right back north
Oh the irony of Russia being formed by a group from Kiev considering the events of the past year
Keiv was founded by a Novgorod Chieftain , Novgorod Russia
Do you know where Novgorod is?
Gonna be honest. I love you extra credits, your videos have been an amazing boon to my life since I found you waaaaay back when you told the story about a some big ol elephants climbing mountains..
But this new voice, his inflections, the different sound cues. (HAHAHA GET IT HE DRANK WHEN HE TALKED ABOUT A DRUNKARD!) I just can’t do it. Miss that old high narrator too much.
Holmgard and Beyond!!!
The people in this series have the best titles.
We need to go dnieper
Vladimir the Great and Basil II the Bulgar Slayer, what a fucking terrifying team.
Rurik did not come to modern day Ukraine. He died in Novgorod or Aldeigjuborg (Old Ladoga).
7:03 That's gotta be the best transition I've ever seen
sees video finds out doesn't mention Viking graffiti dislike
I hope they bring up the runes in Barcelona soon
P O O R L Y M A D E W A S H E R E
"Halfdan was here" or "This is very high"?
Man these names are getting better and better
6:31 The Elite, the, the Elite, break it down!
Oh my, did we just learn the origins of Russia? As soon as Novgorod was mentioned, I stared making connections. Eventually, all of the pieces fell in the right place (especially considering Russia is highly Orthodox Christian today), and my suspicions were confirmed. Although, I can't believe I missed the "Rus" part, because it all makes sense when you think over it in retrospective. Really learnt a lot from this, well done Extra Credits!
10:06 The cyrilic letters are from Bulgaria, ok? Ok?
Some histories i would like to see on Extra History:
-The Spanish conquests in the Americas
-The muslim expansion
-The first settlement of the Americas(The Clovis people, paleo-indians, the death of megafauna…)
-Alexander the Great
-Cyrus the Great
-Julius Caesar
-The Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain
-The Great Emu War