Part 8 - The Earldom of Epirus - Society
Cerdic Uffason’s new earldom of Epirus was strictly speaking a district within the Theme of Epirus. As such Cerdic was (at least in theory) subject to the commands of Nikephoros Palaiologos, Prince of the Theme of Epirus and Count of Arta. The Theme consisted of three districts: 1) in the north Cerdic’s Earldom of Epirus; 2) in the south Prince Nikephoros’ district of Arta; 3) the island of Corfu (ruled by a succession of Nikephoros’ relatives).
Earl Cerdic and Prince Nikephoros did not get on. They both owed their position to their relationship with the Doukas family (currently represented by Emperor Constantine X), but there the similarity ended. Nikephoros felt that he was Cerdic’s superior, both by his position as Prince of the Theme, and more naturally as he was a civilised Greek of noble Macedonian descent, while Cerdic was an “illiterate barbarian from an island on the edge of the world”.
Needless to say, Cerdic saw things differently. He had been given his district of Epirus by the Emperor’s own hand. In Cerdic’s (English) view that made him an Earl, a lord in his own domain and answerable to no one but the Emperor and (in some circumstance) a Witan (i.e. assembly) of the nobles and churchmen within the Earldom. As such he refused to call out his retainers at Nikephoros’ command. Nikephoros never dared to force Cerdic’s hand on this, as to do so might have looked suspiciously like building up the powerbase for a revolt against Emperor Constantine X. While Nikephoros might have been reckless in many of his personal dealings, he had not become a Prince of the Empire without learning the consequences of apparent disloyalty. Indeed he had disposed of such threats to the Emperor more than once in his climb to power.
It would be fair to say that there are six main constituencies that must be considered when looking at any realm of Cerdic’s time: the Ruling Family; the High Nobility (Princes, Dukes, Earls, Counts); the Minor Nobility (thegns, barons, knights, etc); the Clergy; the Burghers (merchants, craftsmen, etc); and finally the peasants (whether free or unfree). Let us look at each of these groups within Cerdic’s Earldom of Epirus in 1067:
The Peasants. This group had little reason to like Cerdic. He was an outsider and like all nobles would inevitably take the fruit of the labours, be that the sons and daughters, their money or their crops (including their fruit). However, if Cerdic was no worse than the average Count of the Empire they were unlikely to rebel, and would confine themselves to grumbling and trying to withhold their taxes.
The Burghers. This group were keen on Cerdic’s administration from the start. While Adalasia had little experience of agriculture, her family background meant that she understood the importance of trade. She persuaded Cerdic to increase the amount of power held by the Burghers. They appreciated this honour, and the protection it brought from the Minor Nobility and served the Uffason’s loyally. Many members of the early administration were drawn from the merchant community. The Burghers also appreciated the improved trade opportunities (e.g. better access to the Italian market, lower shipping costs) that came from improved relations with Venice.
The Clergy. Their attitude to Cerdic was one of benign indifference. They too viewed him as a barbarian, but appreciated his conversion to the Orthodox rite. Cerdic was not the most pious of men, but he observed the correct forms, confirmed the church in its property, and encouraged the conversion to Orthodoxy of his retainers and household. While Adalasia retained her own private chapel, Cerdic swore that his heir (when one came) would be brought up to follow the Orthodox rite. The clergy were certainly not going to stir up the Peasants or Greek Minor Nobility against Cerdic.
The Minor Nobility. These formed the backbone of virtually every army of this period. Men wealthy enough to arm themselves for war and to take the time to train for it.
When Cerdic arrived in Epirus the established Minor Nobility were Greeks, holding grants of land in exchange for service in the army of the Theme. In theory this service was for one year in every 3 or 6 years, but in practice the time required had become quite flexible. These land grants were heritable, and as long as some member of the family (or a suitable proxy) turned up when required, then the duty was considered fulfilled. This was a set of responsibilities not very different from those of a knight in England under the William the Bastard’s land-pirates. The established Greek Minor Nobles were referred to as
Old Greeks as their tenure predated Cerdic’s arrival. They had no love for him, and were waiting for him to be cast down by the Emperor.
This view was not held by the increasing number of members of the Minor Nobility who owed their position to Cerdic. He promoted Greeks who had entered his service from the Minor Nobility and the Burgher class alike. These so-called
New Greeks were reasonably loyal, but would adjust to new circumstances if the Uffason’s failed to become a dynasty.
The final element within the Minor nobility were the men known in our family history as
Saxons or
Varangians. Both terms are misnomers, as only a minority of them were Saxon or had served in the Varangian Guard. The term Saxon came about because Cerdic was known to be an Englishman, and because much of our terminology and some of our (in Greek eyes rather outlandish) styles and customs are English in origin. Cerdic’s non-Greek followers came from a range of peoples, particularly England, Frisia, Scandinavia and the Princedom’s of Rus. Their languages and customs were similar enough for them to serve as comrades and where they differed, they adopted standards based on Cerdic’s English usages.
Let us consider what I call an ‘alternative history’. Imagine men from England settled the (possibly fictional) land the Norse call Vinland. They would take their own social structures and customs and use them in that new place. If individual settlers came from across Europe to settle there is it not likely they would take on some of these English words and customs to enable them to join the community? This is what happened when Cerdic’s non-Greek followers came together in Epirus.
The term I (and indeed most modern writers) prefer for this group are
Varangians. This reflects the fact that many early members had served in the Emperor’s Varangian Guard with Cerdic, while many more were the half-Greek children of a previous generation of Guardsmen. These half-Greeks had every reason to serve Cerdic, as he offered them a degree of acceptance that they did not find having been born between two worlds. The use of the term Varangian for Cerdic’s ‘foreigners’ also reflects the practical need to differentiate them from the ‘pure’ English that lived under Norman tyranny.
The Varangians were fiercely loyal to Cerdic. The word itself comes from the old Norse word to pledge (
var) and all of them had pledged their service to Cerdic and his heirs. This formed the basis for what was to become effectively a feudal society, where Minor Nobles pledged service to their Earl. The New Greeks took on this custom straightaway, and the Old Greeks eventually followed suit.
The Ruling Family & High Nobility. At this point these two constituencies consisted entirely of Earl Cerdic and his wife Adalasia. Cerdic had no family left alive and the couple had no children. The foundations of the new Earldom were clearly quite shallow.