Units of History: The Druzhina - Knights of the Kievan Rus DOCUMENTARY

The Druzhina were the elite knights of the Medieval Kievan Rus! Click the link www.blinkist.com/invicta in my description to start your free 7 day trial with Blinkist and get 25% off of a Premium membership.
This Units of History documentary explores the early history of Ukraine and Russia through the lens of the Elite Druzhina of the Kievan Rus. The video begins with the geography of eastern europe and the various peoples of early and late antiquity who came to occupy these lands. Among the most prominent of these were the Slavs who soon merged with the steppe and norse tribes that frequently entered their lands for trade and conquest. We cover the rise of the Kievan Rus under Prince Rurik and how his descendants came to carve out a vast domain with the help of their loyal bodyguards. It is these men who would eventually become the Druzhina that both served as the military and administrative backbone of the realm. The documentary next covers the equipment, organization, tactics, and service history of these Kievan Rus knights. Notable examples of their campaigns invovled the siege of Constantinople against the Byzantines, the Battle of Alta River agains the Pechenegs, and the Battle on the Ice against the Tutonic Order.
Stay tuned for more episodes on the history of the Kievan Rus as a part of our ongoing exploration of the history of Ukraine and the history of Russia.
What Units of History should we cover next?
THE BYZANTINES
Byzantine Flamethrowers and Grenadiers : • Units of History - Byz...
The Varangian Guard : • Units of History - The...
THE HELLENISTIC WORLD
Macedonian Silver Shields : • Units of History - The...
Macedonian Companion Cavalry : • Units of History - The...
The Spartan Skiritai : • Units of History: The ...
The Spartan Royal Guard : • Units of History - The...
The Sacred Band of Thebes : • Units of History - The...
Mycenaean Chariots : • Units of History - Myc...
Balearic Slingers : • Units of History - The...
THE ROMANS
Roman Cataphracts : • Units of History - Rom...
Roman Army Spies : • Units of History - The...
Roman Army Scouts : • Units of History - The...
THE NORTHMEN
The Jomsvikings Mercenaries : • Units of History - The...
Viking Berserkers : • Units of History - Vik...
Early Germanic Warriors : • Units of History - Ear...
THE AFRICANS
Nubian Archers : • Units of History - Nub...
The Sacred Band of Carthage : • Units of History - The...
Carthaginian War Elephants : • Units of History - Car...
The Numidian Cavalry : • Units of History - The...
THE NEAR EAST
The 10,000 Immortals : • Units of History - The...
Sources and Suggested Reading:
The Rus Primary Chronicle
Armies of Medieval Russia by Osprey Publishing
Credits:
Research = Sophia Ware
Writing = Sophia Ware
Narration = Guy Michaels
Artwork = Penta Limited
#History
#Ukraine
#Documentary

[@InvictaHistory]

Thanks to all who suggested this topic! A reminder that we take suggestions and provide documentary previews and art downloads on our Patreon: www.patreon.com/InvictaHistory

[@samburdge9948]

have you covered the exploratores and speculatores......are there any super elite mongol forces.....werewolves of wwii germany....any ancient barely known scythian, (india)n, or chinese units......I heard or read only once that the Qin units that conquered and solidified China had giant polearms and used them like teeth but I can not find that anywhere else

[@NodDisciple1]

28:34 The units from I think Ivan The Terrible's Era. I forget under which king, but some of the troops used Bardiches or a similar weapon to prop up rifles when firing.

[@tanegurnick5071]

What about a documentary about polynesians?

[@LilShakkas]

@@NodDisciple1 streltsy

[@LJPMotorsports]

Soldiers involved in the Reconquista of Iberia

[@BrainDancer]

Love that Slavic armor aesthetic. Cool blend of viking, turcomongol and byzantine

[@_Lumiere_]

The face masks are hella cool

[@BrainDancer]

@@_Lumiere_ I do feel like they are intimidating.

[@user-jm6kq9cn3c]

Россия- это регион смешения многих культур. Мы вобрали в себя и традиции Запада, и традиции Византии, и тюркских и монгольских народов. Но у нас достаточно и своего)

[@user-jm6kq9cn3c]

Россия- это наследница Киевской Руси, Римской Империи, Империи Чингисхана Москва- Третий Рим, а четвёртому не бывать!

[@Markov092]

Makes sense, where one language ends, another similar starts. Same goes to cultures, customs and even equipment.

[@hiddensalami4334]

I really enjoyed this documentary about Vaegir Knights, everyone always wants to talk about the Swadians but Vaegirs have knights too. Also the theme from Viking Conquest was a nice touch. If I had to offer a critique I would say next time less talking and more raiding.

[@BrainDancer]

Loool

[@ArghastOfTheAlliance]

That's a nice head you have on your shoulders.

[@cjclark2002]

*Spicy Salami*

[@TheMrFu]

Less talking, more raiding!

[@mortache]

This is more about Sturgians from Bannerlord than anything in Warband. Though sadly Sturgia is super underpowered compared to their rivals. The Druzhina for example have great shields but tiny lances

[@BlackQback]

Druzhina is pronounced with a "ž" sound, like "je (suis)" in French. Being a native Serbo-croatian speaker, no translation of any of original terms needed. "Družina" or its synonym "družba" is still a word in Serbo-croatian, Slovenian (and, most likely, other Slavic languages) meaning a group or a band of friends. At least the word retained its original meaning - though a battle unit is gone.

[@magussimon7221]

Yep!

[@piotrnogas8448]

don't know aby any other slavic language, but in Polish "drużyna" has several meanings and one of them is equivalent of English 'squad' (small military unit)

[@EvilSmonker]

Can confirm as Bulgarian and self proclaimed representative of Slavonic language bpam Moi

[@user-jm6kq9cn3c]

Ты прав, мы до сих пор говорим "друг"

[@user-jm6kq9cn3c]

Например: "ты мне очень хороший друг!"

[@ancientsitesgirl]

Drużyna (in Polish) was also a formation of the army of the first Piasts - the dynasty that created and Christianized Poland in the 10th century!🇵🇱

[@Eglador]

Yes

[@Artur_M.]

As the contemporary traveller from Al-Andalus, Ibrahim ibn Yaqub has described it: "Mesko has three thousand armoured soldiers [divided into] detachments, and a hundred is as powerful as dozens of other [warriors]. He gives these men clothes, horses, weaponry, and everything they need."

[@huntclanhunt9697]

Did the Poles have a lot of norse influence, like the Rus did?

[@ancientsitesgirl]

@@huntclanhunt9697 The Piasts were a native Slavic dynasty

[@huntclanhunt9697]

@@ancientsitesgirl Ok. But what about the rest of them? Did their culture have norse influence? Did they have a lot of norsemen living in their land? Just because the leaders weren't norse doesn't mean they aren't culturally affected.

[@klakier19901]

Speaking a slavic tongue, it is an odd, but very satisfying feeling to fully understand every single Rus' word mentioned (despite pronounciation).

[@fridericusrex6289]

Its kinda funny that they do such video on "druzhina", yet do not even bother spending 10 seconds to check how the word is pronounced... Not to mention the rather general meaning of the word which just means "retinue" or "company" in most Slavic languages, so they arent any specific unit, rather "druzhynas" in different Slavic lands would be completely different (ranging from horse archers to heavy infantry).

[@skin4700]

@@fridericusrex6289 yes we all wagged war differently. Western slavs were more footmen and southern and eastern were more horse men. With the middle ground in poland. Mainly were there was more iranic influence you have more horse men, and were germanic influence is more prevelant you have footmen.

[@fridericusrex6289]

@@skin4700 Western Slavs were footmen? The most legendary Slavic cavalry, if not European cavalry were winged hussars From Poland. Western Slavic country.

[@skin4700]

@@fridericusrex6289 thats 1000 years after the period I was talking about. And yes hussars are op

[@samiamrg7]

Interesting how Voevodo was a title of a general in some times/places and the title of a region’s ruler in others. Kind of like how the Roman Dux was basically a general, but later evolved into Dukes who were powerful landed noblemen. (same goes for Comes becoming Counts; once officers underneath a Dux but later became landed nobles of a lower rank than a Duke)

[@user-jm6kq9cn3c]

Воевода- это человек, исполняющий должности и правителя, и воинского начальника

[@user-jm6kq9cn3c]

Например воеводой мог быть наместник князя в городе

[@bashmash8605]

It turned into Vojvoda, and was still commonly used much thru Slavic history. Not so much anymore.

[@Leo-yr5jb]

The fact is that the governors interim manager ruled only in the colonies, but not in Rus itself. It's like a governor general. In the Rus it voivode itself, this is literally how it is written "voi- military vode- leads" The joke is that the colonies were lawless and the local ruler basically also had no connection with his subjects, unlike ancient cities where the inhabitants could expel the prince. Actually Kyiv was ruined in 1169 by Andey Bogolyubsky, he temporarily ruled the city of Vyshgorod near Kyiv, but because of the complaints of the townspeople that he was an idiot, he was expelled by the prince of Kyiv. When in the next war he captured Kyiv, he burned it because he understood that he would not be able to manage it and he would be expelled again. It is much easier to rule people without rights than to balance between your own interests and the interests of the people. This 1169 is considered by many as the reason why Kyiv did not resist the attack of the Mongols.

[@krakendragonslayer1909]

Your instinct is quite good, since: *"VoyeVod"* would be literally translated into Latin as *"Dux Militorum",* into German as *"HerZog",* into English as *"Warriors' Leader"*

[@jonathannilsson8482]

I approve of the background music in the intro. For those that don't know it, it's the main theme for the Viking Conquest expansion for Mount & Blade: Warband.

[@velikan2916]

hey do you know what is the music from 14:42 to 17:17? I can't find anything and idk if its from Mount & Blade at all

[@jonathannilsson8482]

@@velikan2916 Don't know it, that specific section is not from Mount & Blade as far as I know.

[@velikan2916]

@@jonathannilsson8482 okay thank you tho

[@jamesnave1249]

Amazing as always. Thank you for making such great historical content!

[@MrPobeditell]

As a Bulgarian, I like what have happened with the north-east Brothers; and hear/see terms/words that are common. Great job Invicta!

[@yuotube.comAlpha]

this is nonsense, not a story! Rus is Ukraine! and no Muscovy, no Novgorod, and even more bastard Rurik have nothing to do with Rus! and the tales that the Rusyns invited the Nords to rule themselves are generally crazy nonsense! all the nonsense you voiced is a falsification of history carried out by Catherine after the destruction of the Cossack Sich! between Rus and Russia is the same difference as between the original ADIDAS and the Chinese ABIBAS!

[@steven_003]

I recommended this topic a while back, thanks a lot! :) Amazing artwork as always!

[@InvictaHistory]

thanks for the suggestion, it was a great vessel for understanding the history of the region

[@ajithsidhu7183]

@@InvictaHistory please do on the sikh empirw

[@ajithsidhu7183]

@@InvictaHistory sikh empire

[@tsriftsal3581]

Have avoided studying this "group" for a while. It's tempting to think it may answer many questions to boost a robust model of how we happen to have arrived here. /Without dividing by zero, logically!

[@RWNetworkEX]

Historical armor looks so cool. Put these is more games, devs!

[@juliusrosengrensrensen5456]

True. AC Valhalla really fucked this up

[@dand7763]

Mount and blade 2 Bannerlords - Sturgia faction (Druzzhinic Champion unit)

[@JJoftheOakleaf]

Love this series, great job mate

[@skylerbowling3243]

I would really love to see a video on the Irish Gallowglass

[@ethanarnold4441]

Another awesome video, Invicta!

[@silentsnow7310]

I really love how you describe history repeating itself as "They often Rhyme" and "Historical Rhythms" - I think that there's no other phrasing that can accurately describe the phenomenon. Good one!

[@yuotube.comAlpha]

this is nonsense, not a story! Rus is Ukraine! and no Muscovy, no Novgorod, and even more bastard Rurik have nothing to do with Rus! and the tales that the Rusyns invited the Nords to rule themselves are generally crazy nonsense! all the nonsense you voiced is a falsification of history carried out by Catherine after the destruction of the Cossack Sich! between Rus and Russia is the same difference as between the original ADIDAS and the Chinese ABIBAS!

[@miomio6890]

It's a quote from Mark Twain

[@johnypsilantis2442]

The clash of the Rus Druzhina and the Byzantine Immortals was, in my opinion, the most epic clash of elite armored warriors in Medieval history

[@BEPrimAnim]

Rus!

[@TheSturgian]

Empire vs Sturgia

[@paulglandorf4858]

Thank you SO MUCH for this video, i was trying so hard to find a video where they would show POSSIBLE choices of clothing, for everyday purposes, as well as war/combat. And you did exactly that, and on top of that mentioned all the different weapons. I love it. Also now i rest assured that my recent purchases of gear are indeed historically correct :) You have helped me alot sir, thank you.

[@StoicHistorian]

Great video, it’s awesome to see you guys expanding from usually doing Rome videos

[@ivanstrydom8417]

Most certainly the best quality historical content on KZbin. Thank you for the brilliant work.

[@MrLuisfrossi]

Loved the documentary, stellar work as always! I'd love an episode on either the English Longbowmen or Genoese Crossbowmen, some of my favorite units in history

[@yuotube.comAlpha]

this is nonsense, not a story! Rus is Ukraine! and no Muscovy, no Novgorod, and even more bastard Rurik have nothing to do with Rus! and the tales that the Rusyns invited the Nords to rule themselves are generally crazy nonsense! all the nonsense you voiced is a falsification of history carried out by Catherine after the destruction of the Cossack Sich! between Rus and Russia is the same difference as between the original ADIDAS and the Chinese ABIBAS!

[@cruzaider5339]

**At a round table** “Ok.... you all know what knights are?” “Of course” “And vikings too?” “Yes.... why do you ask?” “Ok hear me out”

[@helkarangory9155]

Despite current political situation i think its important to know that Kievan Rus is not "Ancient Ukraine" or something. This is not even a national state, it was a bunch of fragmented feodal territories.

[@vexillonerd]

Indeed. But later was formed Kingdom of Rus' - First Ukrainian state. It uses the term Rus' 4 ages before Moscovy started to appropriate it.

[@gibbon8827]

@@vexillonerd I would be surprised if, under such a comment, the Ukrainians did not begin to appropriate the history of Rus to themselves

[@adamthetired9319]

That's what I hate about both Russian and Ukrainian hooray-patriots. Can't just accept that they are separate nations with same origin/core. Like Germans and Dutch.

[@gibbon8827]

@@adamthetired9319 all questions to the Ukrainians, they like to exalt themselves and say that only they were Rus

[@Igor66966]

@@adamthetired9319 это не отдельные нации к сожалению

[@alexandr8568]

Great video! Thank you for your work

[@ThomasTheLukeEngine]

Bravo! I have been fascinated with the old Rus' for years and you really did their warriors justice in this video. 10/10!

[@user-jm6kq9cn3c]

Мы гордимся своей историей) Правда последние 8 лет нас пытаются убедить, что русские- не славяне. Например украинцы

[@anastasiyagavrylenko672]

@@user-jm6kq9cn3c ну ты точно русский, судя по имени

[@user-jm6kq9cn3c]

@@anastasiyagavrylenko672 родился и вырос в Москве. Кроме русского никакого другого родного у меня нет, внешность славянская (голубые глаза, русые волосы, светлая кожа), чего тебе ещё надо? Будешь к имени прикапываться?

[@yuotube.comAlpha]

this is nonsense, not a story! Rus is Ukraine! and no Muscovy, no Novgorod, and even more bastard Rurik have nothing to do with Rus! and the tales that the Rusyns invited the Nords to rule themselves are generally crazy nonsense! all the nonsense you voiced is a falsification of history carried out by Catherine after the destruction of the Cossack Sich! between Rus and Russia is the same difference as between the original ADIDAS and the Chinese ABIBAS!

[@Hello-xh3rx]

@@user-jm6kq9cn3c Да я сам только наполовину русский, даже не похож на славянина, но генетика славян у меня есть, и вырос как русский, так что это и наша история

[@G-Blockster]

This brings back memories of my pre-WW I Russian history class. Well done!

[@user-ob1qm6cs1q]

Єто не история Росиии

[@legus9684]

This was such a great video!

[@13thravenpurple94]

Great work 🥳 Thank you 💜

[@kkh42792]

This is awesome. I've been playing CK3 and have always been curious about this unit.

[@DelijeSerbia]

Druzina is just a slavic name for a group of fighters that stayed together. It literally translates as "friends group". At first it was not any kind of standardized unit, just group of fighters around a leader(prince, chief, or whatever). Later it evolved into a proper retinue of more powerful Princes.

[@lyubomirangelkov5803]

"Druzina" is common word for almost all Slavic languages and have the same meaning- group of man.

[@M167A1]

Language nerd comment. I think the best translation is "companions" in the classical sense.

[@BlackQback]

@@lyubomirangelkov5803 Well, not just any group of men, but men (sometimes even mixed with women) bonded in some way, be it friendship or common cause. Say, a random group of men waiting to cross a road at a traffic light are not referred to as "družina".

[@Porabany]

For most of the slavic languages it would roughly translate as the *"squad"* or *"team"* .

[@Dopelganger-jg2jq]

I guess great things have humble beginnings

[@nagamata]

That description of Prince Igor’s retinue is like something straight from a legend. What a quote

[@avreliyfivas265]

Because this is a quote from a literary work: "A word about Igor's regiment"

[@timetravelingphilanthropis5274]

Awesome content as always! Would love to learn more about the Spanish Tercios.

[@rogelioalonzo2911]

This

[@yuotube.comAlpha]

this is nonsense, not a story! Rus is Ukraine! and no Muscovy, no Novgorod, and even more bastard Rurik have nothing to do with Rus! and the tales that the Rusyns invited the Nords to rule themselves are generally crazy nonsense! all the nonsense you voiced is a falsification of history carried out by Catherine after the destruction of the Cossack Sich! between Rus and Russia is the same difference as between the original ADIDAS and the Chinese ABIBAS!

[@josephcairns6684]

I love your videos! Good work to your team! But would you mind making a video about knights of Europe.

[@martinan22]

Great video, thank you! There are many units of light engineers that have gained fame. For example the sappers of the FFL gained legendary status in one of their battles in North Africa. But light engineers have gained fame since the early modern age. Maybe one of those? Another unit is the Drabants of Charles XII of Sweden. Every soldier in the 200 strong regiment was considered of officers rank and they were lead by a captain liutenant who was considered the rank of major general. They were a combination of officer school in the field and shock troops where the captain. They were a reorganization of the Swedish life guard that was originally formed by the first 21 soldiers that the yeomen of the Dalarna province assigned to guard Gustav Eriksson (Vasa) in 1521 when he rebelled against Denmark and created modern Sweden.

[@yuotube.comAlpha]

this is nonsense, not a story! Rus is Ukraine! and no Muscovy, no Novgorod, and even more bastard Rurik have nothing to do with Rus! and the tales that the Rusyns invited the Nords to rule themselves are generally crazy nonsense! all the nonsense you voiced is a falsification of history carried out by Catherine after the destruction of the Cossack Sich! between Rus and Russia is the same difference as between the original ADIDAS and the Chinese ABIBAS!

[@HellenicWolf]

good work guys keep this up

[@davidsanford2843]

Loved it! Keep up the great work! Perhaps a video on the Polish Winged Hussars in the future??

[@mirekchance]

Ya they were great. As a Czech I am greatful, to Husars and that they showed up at Viena. As, that was at least one obvious time that Slavs saved Europe and even the Germanic folk.

[@DirtCobaine]

As someone who really has no formal education in history I seriously love the KZbin history community. It’s by far the wealthiest source of information and different perspectives of said information. I was a kid who loved to watch the history channel back when it wasn’t just pawn stars lol but I can never get enough

[@luffyseyepatch7952]

Ive always wanted a video about the druzhina since medieval 2

Very interesting. Brilliant Video!

[@FuriousBoreas]

I want to noticed point, that rota system of power inside dynasty makes druzhina single true loyal force to prince power. Princes often change city where they rule. And the boyars was a local nobles who more often was opposition to a prince. And the princes compete with the local boyars for loyalty of average city members. In different parts of Kievan Rus this process evolve in different directions.

[@TheIronMax]

The Mexica (aztec as you guys know it) military structure, it was very complex and had specialised units, they had universities for the warriors and other crafts; the Calmecac was were all the warriors went to learn how to subdue their enemies, and the Telpochcalli were all the population had to go in order to learn crafts and skills from the elder, this were more abundant, and that's only the system of the mexica, there were other tribes in the valley of Mexico that were older like the acolhua, if you guys ever want to make a video about prehispanic mexico I'd love to help you with references and history.

[@stephenkenney8290]

Invicta has already done several videos on the Mexica. Check them out, they're pretty good.

[@luiscastaneda5250]

Purepecha here. Never got beat by Mexica lol.

[@sportsfisher9677]

Can I just say as a Subricer I look forward to that when/if you all make it? Wow.

[@GallowglassAxe]

I love this series and how its done. As for units I would like to see I would of course love to see some Irish units (Gallowglass, Kern, Ostman, Hobblears, Ridiere, etc) or African units like the Tuareg, Mali, Ethiopian, etc. forces.

[@NihilIslands]

Here is the M&B warband c-rpg fan

[@ThorOdinson167]

@Floron because it is hot there + more mobility )))

[@peppiping]

@@NihilIslands video games are a great way of fostering interest in history

[@feragamosalvatore6085]

Nah fam u weak we slavs crush all

[@yuotube.comAlpha]

this is nonsense, not a story! Rus is Ukraine! and no Muscovy, no Novgorod, and even more bastard Rurik have nothing to do with Rus! and the tales that the Rusyns invited the Nords to rule themselves are generally crazy nonsense! all the nonsense you voiced is a falsification of history carried out by Catherine after the destruction of the Cossack Sich! between Rus and Russia is the same difference as between the original ADIDAS and the Chinese ABIBAS!

[@dholl17]

Great vid!

[@robbabcock_]

Superb video!

[@huntclanhunt9697]

I would like to see an episode on the Late Roman Liminati border guards, And the Comitotansis field troops. Maybe the Palatini?

[@rickardberglund1564]

Hi invicta. Here you have some warriors to make videos on .The Lombards Arimannus .The Ireland/Viking/Scottish Gallowglass . the swiss pikemen

[@felixrojas2575]

The best narrator out there. I'd hear anything from him.

[@skin4700]

Great video druže

[@colinlawler8785]

Would love an episode on the galloglass

[@AndriiF]

Good video, thanks! The only thing you missed that not only Novgorod survived more or less untouched by Mongols. The Halyts'ko-Volyns'ke kniazivstvo stayed in power with some degrees of vassality from Mongols. And even Kingdom of Rus' (or Ruthenia) was established that existed until half of 14th century and keeped tradition of druzhyna-knights.

[@Uncle_Smallett]

Yeah, Novgorod just surrendered into Horde rule as sattelite at once. Like Belarus for Russia nowadays.

[@-RONNIE]

Good video 👍🏻

[@loosersguild]

Another excellent historical animation. One day we will make a video revealing the evidence i promise

[@vragamisha3887]

At the beginning of the Polish state there was also an armed formation called „drużyna” (team). And today in poland scouts groups are organized in „drużyna harcerska”.

[@user-he2nh7ub7c]

Unexpectedly not bad, really. I mean there is some kind of cartoon/game style, but as a whole, this job well done. Almost everything is correct. Only specialists will find small mistakes. Perfect video for acquaintance with ancient rus designs.

[@boblee8069]

Great vid

[@ashityouknow123]

narrator's voice is majestic, it sets the atmosphere amazingly!

[@AmNotHere911]

Will consider doing 2 videos on the following? 1) Campaigns of Bellisarius. 2) Why the Byzantines lost their war to the Rashidun armies but won them against the Ummayyads?

[@ryanvouche254]

Go to epic history tv they just released the final bellisarius video in their series if you haven’t already.

[@nikitaradzey9646]

There is only one nuance. The Teutonic Order opposed the Mongol invasion, while Alexander Nevsky fought on the side of the Mongols. Moreover, Alexander Nevsky was the prince of a principality separate from Rus and opposed the legitimate king of Rus, Danylo Romanovych, who called on the Pope and the Teutonic Order for help against the Mongols.

[@skyrim654]

Awesome stuff.

[@jollygreen4662]

Best history Channel

[@3452te]

wait! aren't the rus also Vikings? and didn't the Druzhina also served as Varangian Guardsmen.

[@InvictaHistory]

Lots of mixing going on in the region. Druzhina were the personal companions of Kievan-Rus princes so they wouldnt have been Varangian Guardsmen whilst in that position. However some men could have fulfilled both roles at different times in their lives.

[@3452te]

@@InvictaHistory ah i see now.i was wondering about this.

[@davidjoelsson4929]

yes they were in oirign vikings

[@_Lumiere_]

@@InvictaHistory "druzhina" is also just a general slavic word for "band of companions", being cognate with the word for "friendship". So this word would have been widespread throughout regions where slavic languages were spoken.

[@blugaledoh2669]

@@_Lumiere_ you mean sharing the same meaning. Friendship and druzhina are not cognate

[@tisucitisin1]

I would like to see Trenck's Pandurs or Hungarian/Croatian Hussars, that way you can give south slavs a bit of love in your videos as well.

[@oprime0078]

Love listening to music I recognize and vibing while I lean about history.

[@TheSturgian]

These units gave inspiration to the Sturgian Druzhinnik Champion from Bannerlord. They were actually the best cavalry unit for a while but got nerfed to death.

[@Solon1581]

12:00 The 'Byzantine' style kite shield is actually of Norman origin and wasn't widely adopted by the Byzantines until the early 12th century by Emperor Alexios Komnenos. So it's probable that said kite shield wasn't adopted by the Druzhina until even later.

[@__mindflayer__]

Yes but the Kievan Rus were handed the Byzantine Shield. Like he said before the Byzantines had a lot of trade going on with the Rus especially when it came to armor and weapons. That’s what he meant when he said the “Byzantine style” kite shield.

[@Solon1581]

@@__mindflayer__ yes, the Rus got the kite shield from the Byzantines, but where do you think the Byzantines got it from?

[@__mindflayer__]

@@Solon1581 Yes I get that but they were BYZANTINE “STYLED” SHIELDS. Clearly implying they were Byzantine shields. I don’t see why you don’t seem to understand the differences between Byzantine Styled and Norman Styled. Both look very different from each other.

[@andrerobinson3233]

@@__mindflayer__ I think Stormwind is trying to say that the Byzantine version of the kite shield was result of the Byzantines adopting the Norman version and then modifying the design into their version over time.

[@__mindflayer__]

@@andrerobinson3233 I understand that part but they still were Byzantine designed. Making it Byzintinian.

[@zakan4898]

Drużyna (in Poland that we call it) was a private army in countries without feudalism law. All slavic and some others countries have smone kind of drużyna. In Poland when Kazimierz odnowieciel (restorater?) return to Poland he realized that he have no money to equipt drużyna or even give there paid so he start giving lands and that was a begining of feudalism in Poland. When emperor Otton III went to gnizno in 1000 polish prince Bolesław Chrobry going to impress the ruler of roman empire (he have tried to get king crown) so when emperor was raiding across the Poland lands Bolesław order drużyna to stand by road when emporer arrive to Poland and when emperor pass them they quickly must go to other road when Otto will riding. This looks for Otton like the coutry of Bolesław was very strong becouse on every road he seen a elite warrriors xd

[@NOLyricsx10]

A question out of sheer interest. Where do you get the background music for this video? The music is very relaxing and I like the style.

[@armymen7170]

What music did you use for this it’s really good

[@michasalamon8315]

Druzina can be literally translated in english to "team", but at the beggining it was meant as a group of companions/friends, so more fitting term would be "warband". These were a formal standing force of warriors in a tribe, while during war time every able bodied man could join or be called to arms by local prince.

[@nvmtt1403]

Knights: Lol, imagine using spears in a charge. What can they possibly do against our superior lances? Druzhina: *Pulls out axes.... Knights: Hol up..............

[@MarfSantangelo]

Druzhina: Allow us to introduce you to the Weapon Triangle.

[@loowick4074]

@@MarfSantangelo knight- "axereaver Lance" Druz- "pulls out sword" Knight- "switched back to Lance" Druzhina- "pulls out axe" Mongol- "drowns them both in arrows"

[@MarfSantangelo]

@@loowick4074 And when the survivors try and chase the mongols, the broken fuckers just Canto the hell away.

[@YuriiTemnikov]

There is an old Russian joke. Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich are riding across the field. And three musketeers meet them. Ilya Murovets accidentally touches D'Artagnan with his shoulder, and he falls off the horse. He immediately jumps up and shouts: You insulted me, I challenge you to a duel. Then he draws a small dot with chalk on the chest of Ilya Muromets. He asks what the hell is this? - I will pierce you in this place - the musketeer says - defend yourself!! Ilya Takes out his mace and says - Alyosha, sprinkle him all over with chalk.

[@reignadams6692]

Can we get a video on the military of the great Mali Empire by any chance?

[@brokenbridge6316]

Nice video

[@JustGrowingUp84]

Wait, is this a re-upload? Haven't I watched this before? I have a strong case of deja vu... Edit: It was a short. Nevermind.

[@TheSaneHatter]

Finally: we have some description of what the armies of, say, Alexandr Nevsky *might* have looked like, besides referencing the movie!

[@colinclifford2852]

Would love a soundtrack reference list from y’all’s videos!

[@kirilmickovski3543]

You guys are answering my prayers while playing medieval 2 teutonic campaign

[@westsidermetalhead4997]

Yeah in Bulgaria drujina literally translates to comradery - a group of drugari (comrades). Drujinas here were a thing during our Liberation from the Ottomans during the late 19-th century. Drujinas led by Voyvodas, waging guerilla warfare from the plenty mountains of the Balkans.

[@isaacwest]

great, now i have to go and waste another 1000 hours in mount and blade: viking conquest. that song always gets me in the mood for pillaging monestaries and cracking skulls

[@cognitivedisability9864]

I WILL DRINK FROM YOUR SKULL!

[@welemir9197]

Отличное видео

[@johnanita9251]

Great piece 👏. Would like to know more if possible about batavian horseman. Early roman empire. Thank you.

[@niculuca4798]

Druzhina=Brotherhood

[@Alastar92]

Not always.

[@l00neyville]

It's difficult to pronounce if you haven't heard it. Druzhina there is no D in zh, it's not Drudhina, more akin to the gandarme, the G sound from the french word would go into Drugina. I couldn't think of an english word that has that same sound sorry.

[@vexillonerd]

S in pleasure.

[@anyakosta364]

Well jin so its jeena?

[@anyakosta364]

Well jin so its jeena?

[@anyakosta364]

Dreu.....Jeeeaanaaa But then its like a hard eee after j Lol which changes the jjjj sound Ahhh

[@anyakosta364]

Jeans or Jina does not work eather Lol....Drue Jiyna????

[@anggaraalvinimansyahputra9722]

Nice documentary as always can you make a documentary about the Silahdar units of The Ottoman Empire

[@doomking9243]

I would love to see a Units of History: Knights Templar

[@AljosaPLampe]

Družina in slovenian means family

[@Aeg0r]

In ukrainian it means "wife", in Russian it's the same meaning like in this video, so guards or army, something like that.

[@napoleonibonaparte7198]

The Rus’ Companion Cavalry.

[@monegal1]

Cool, the cossack armoured wagons of the 16th century would be nice too

[@armymen7170]

You should do a unit profile on the Aztec jaguar warrior

[@user-savgtx]

Есть конечно до чего докопаться (например 40000 воинов Ярослава, серьезно? представляете себе как материально обеспечить такую толпу в те времена, а как управлять, держать дисциплину, да не реально, бред короче, 4000 воинов - вот это уже реальные цифры для периода Киевской Руси). Но в целом вменяемый источник по истории древней Руси и не только.

[@user-dw6ux8rw4d]

@@Sktarium Это разве что во влажных мечтах) Давайте серьезно - такое войско в то время в том регионе собрать просто невозможно, что говорить об обеспечении. Преувеличения многократные - это нормально для того времени, там любая заварушка казалась неимоверной войной.

[@user-dw4ty9wx7w]

Hey can u do a video on Mauryan empire

[@InvictaHistory]

Anything specifically?

[@user-dw4ty9wx7w]

@@InvictaHistory u replied thank u so much.. please start from Chandragupta to life of Ashoka please 🥰🥰..

[@user-dw4ty9wx7w]

@@InvictaHistory also the Seleucid Mauryan war.. please..

[@InvictaHistory]

@@user-dw4ty9wx7w I'll see if we can do the Seleucid Mauryan war as it will coincide with some Seleucid Roman content we have planned.

[@user-dw4ty9wx7w]

@@InvictaHistory thank you very much

[@natethomas587]

Mount and Blade Warand Viking mod music in background ! one of the greatest Games in human history!

[@Nervii_Champion]

I feel like the original Rome: Total War Gallic intro soundtrack would have been amazing for the intro of this video, that is what I was hearing over whatever soundtrack you used

[@gabrielinostroza4989]

That'd be the Mount & Blade: Viking Conquest soundtrack, an amazing game on its own

[@tatianayegovtseva9737]

It's really funny that they call Rus "Kievan", while at Byzantine' times the place was called Samvatas, under the Golden Horde the town was called Mankerkan which is in turcan languages has meaning something like “appraised town”, and the name Kuyaba / Kiyaba this town has received much later of the beginning of the Rus from Kiyan (Kiyat) Mamai (Mamay) who was a powerful military commander of the Golden Horde, thousand-man beklyarbek, temnik. The Russian united squads under the leadership of the Moscow Prince Dmitry Donskoy has defeated Mamai's Horde under command of Kiyan Mamai at the Kulikovo field. That was a start of Golden Horde to fell apart and come to an end

[@Crucio2317]

what does donskoy and moscow have to do with it? Kyiv as a city was founded long before the existence of moscovites who are actually a dirty mix of pechenegs and polovets

[@user-nk3eo8bl6j]

@@Crucio2317 ...)))))) При чём здесь Украина???????))))))).. откуда пришли Рюриковичи?!..не с Новгорода?!...)))))

[@Crucio2317]

@@user-nk3eo8bl6j no capito, sorry

[@Crucio2317]

@@user-nk3eo8bl6j ​ you should better learn other languages. nobody in the world do not want to have nothing common with your tribe, red scum

[@tatianayegovtseva9737]

@@Crucio2317 What actually “kyiv” has to do with Rus? For this lands it is just short period of time ) when Russian Princes/ knights/ dukes reigned ruled there over local tribes between turcan (Khazars) and turcan ( Golden Horde). Also “kyev” is at the north boarder and close to RUSsian BeloRUSsian boarder and the rest of the "jumping crowd" territory never being even close to be under european civilization and was acquired by Rus-sia after Ekaterina the Great win war against Ottoman Turkey Empire Sultanate. This “Ukrainian” steppe land was taken from the turks by Russians with remaining of all kind of Hordes such cherkass/ cossaks, nogay etc. - all turkan ethnicity. Even mentioned names of the Khazarian tatars fort on Dnieper ( turcan name of the river was Uzi) are different. Etc .As concern of date when “kyev” was established there is massive inconsistency of Kyevan fairly tales and reality. Kykyev’s “historian” even claim that ukrainins dig out Black sea and that Adam and Jesus Christ were “ukrainins”. (Bugaga...) Who would take seriously those schizophrenic mad outbursts?... __ About Moscow we can find well established written information. In the existing historical texts that survived the time historian have found the first mention of town name “Moscow” in regard of the even that Suzdals’ Prince/ Duke/ knight Jurij Dolgorukij has founded NEW Moscow Kremlin at Borodinskij Hill in 1141 - Kremlin was then moved from the water to the hills. And because Moscow name was first mentioned as in 1141 it is celebrated as foundation of the City. One can guess that there might be some documents mentioned the town at earlier times that have not survived the times. Also at the time town could be renamed as existing archeological founds have artifact from the center of Moscow from the bronze age!... Apparently Suzdal’s Prince Jurij Dolgorukij in two years after he has founded new Moscow Kremlin, After that Jurij Dolgorukij went to be the ruler at “Kiev” to become “kievan” Prince. Russian Princes ruled there in kievan area at some kind of fixed terms changing each other fairly often while keeping titles to another Rus’ lands in Original (Northern Varagrian) Russia. That were not dynasty of the monarch as such in other countries. But all russian Princes have in common despondence to the first ruler of Rus Initial/ Original - Rurik, Prince of Novgorod/ Novgard/ Holmgad, who has founded Rus at Vargarian lands near Ladoga Lake. Under Rurikids Rus has extended its original territories lower to the sought - alone Dnieper river to secure trade from Vargaria/ Rus to Greeks/ Byzanthin… “Kievans” have never had own Princes/ Dukes or noble society neither before there to “kievan” area before Russian druzhins from Novgorod have conquered the territory from khazars nor after “kyev” has fallen to Golden Horde…

[@HistoriaenCeluloide]

I'm sure both sides today are going to dispute them as their ancestors🧐

[@colonelarmfeldt8572]

Well, they are the ancestors of both Russians and Ukrainians. I guess both just like to claim that they were the ''original'' Kievan Rus, but the whole idea of that existing is inaccurate.

[@vikey1764]

Well, the fact that certain minor territories of Kyivan Rus these days are part of Russia does not give them the right to contest and/or lay a claim of the direct lineage and cultural heritage of the Kyivan Rus. Moscovy grew and developed on the very different values compared to those of Kyivan Rus. The geography, climate, how fertile the soil is, the level of development of local tribes/people - tons of factors that effected the development of people over the course of centuries in modern day Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine is in moderate climate, fertile soil, historically closer to the Europe (the information/ideas/trade/technologies would naturally travel to Ukraine quicker than to Moscovy). A typical Ukrainian is an individualist with the respect to a personal space/order/private property, hates it’s politicians, always open to the pluralism of thoughts and ideas. A typical Russian (well, a Moscovite to be very accurate) has a collectivist mind set up, totally obeying it’s political leaders (check out how they all bow to Putin and it’s been like this more or less through their entire history), does not have a deep respect to a private property, the expansionist minded which leads to an ignorance and disrespect of other cultures. Hates other opinions, no pluralism of thoughts. Of course we cannot generalize but these are some typical characteristics you may notice a lot. Russia is called Russia only from early XVIII century, when they rebranded Moscovy and by doing so could have a more noble and respectful image in XVIII century Europe who they tried to copy in everything at that time. Bottom line - calling Moscovy the Russia causes a lot of confusion. Russia is a Greek spelling of Rus. Moscovy is a distant relative of Rus

[@davidjoelsson4929]

@@vikey1764 And the word rus comes in oirign roslagen from Ros vikings from that area.

[@davidjoelsson4929]

@@vikey1764 Just cope, Russia is russia

[@vikey1764]

@@davidjoelsson4929 so what is Moscovy to do with Rus or Ukraine? Why don’t you call yourself something else - like Tartaria, Golden Horde, Vanuatu (sorry, Vanuatu - giving your name as a random example) or whatever else. Moscovy is Moscovy, accept it

[@Fordo007]

All this focus on Rus history makes me hope the Primary Chronicle gets published more. Did a cursory search and not that many versions for sale.

[@matthewneuendorf5763]

Future units that you could investigate: Medieval Roman Cataphracts (6th/C to 11th/C); the Medieval Roman Themata; the Medieval Roman Tagmata; the Medieval Roman Akritai.

[@007ShaolinMonk]

12:30 The mace has always been considered a premium weapon here in Ukraine, by the way. Even today if one to become the President, they receive the mace which symbolizes the role of the warlord.

[@user-nk3eo8bl6j]

..кто из запорожцев называл себя украинцем?..))))))))))))никто!!!)))

[@007ShaolinMonk]

@@user-nk3eo8bl6j чурка з Азії розповідає як живеться в Україні. Дякую, було цікаво.

[@bolie.limenie]

@@007ShaolinMonk чел, хватит срать не снимая штанов 😂

[@dmytrodelen]

@@007ShaolinMonk не ображайте корінні народи Азії порівнюючи їх з московитами 😏

[@007ShaolinMonk]

@@dmytrodelen я своїм коментарем гірше нічого вже не зроблю, від того, як буряти вже себе показали. Як там папа римський казав, "буряти та (кадирівські) чеченці - самі кровожерливі народи росії". Не треба відбілювати всю ту білєбєрду.

[@mariyan9266]

Druzina in Bulgarian means group or warband

[@ledeuce4820]

I did not expect the Viking Conquest OST in this

[@dragonlewis]

Can you please do the Scottish Highlander, Cataphracts from other Eras (Hellenistic Period, Stepps), Creten Archers or Preatorian Guard