The Varangian Guard (, "Tágma tōn Varángōn") was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army, from the 10th to the 14th centuries. Their members served as personal bodyguards to the Byzantine Emperors. At first they were made up of Vikings or Rus. Later, after the Norman conquest of England, Anglo-Saxons joined the guard. For a time it caused an Anglo-Saxon emigration to Byzantium).