Editing Harald Hardrada (section)

===In Byzantine service===
[[File:The body of Leo V is dragged to the Hippodrome through the Skyla Gate.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|Near-contemporary depiction of [[Byzantine]] [[Varangian]] Guardsmen, in an illumination from the [[John Skylitzes|Skylitzes ''Synopsis'']].]]

After a few years in Kievan Rus', Harald and his force of around 500 men<ref name="vikingerikrig284"/> moved on south to [[Constantinople]] (''[[Miklagard]]''), the capital of the [[Eastern Roman Empire]] (also known today{{snd}}but not to contemporaries{{snd}}as the [[Byzantine Empire]]), probably in 1033 or 1034,<ref>Tjønn (2010) p. 28</ref> where they joined the [[Varangian Guard]]. Although the ''[[Flateyjarbók]]'' maintains that Harald at first sought to keep his royal identity a secret, most sources agree that Harald and his men's reputation was well known in the east at the time. While the Varangian Guard was primarily meant to function as the emperor's bodyguard, Harald was found fighting on "nearly every frontier" of the empire.<ref>DeVries (1999) p. 29</ref> He first saw action in campaigns against [[Arab people|Arab]] pirates in the [[Mediterranean Sea]], and then in inland towns in [[Asia Minor]] / [[Anatolia]] that had supported the pirates. By this time, he had, according to [[Snorri Sturluson]] (a 12th-century Icelandic historian, poet, and politician), become the "leader over all the Varangians". By 1035, the Byzantines had pushed the Arabs out of Asia Minor to the east and southeast, and Harald took part in campaigns that went as far east as the [[Tigris River]] and [[Euphrates River]] in [[Mesopotamia]], where according to his [[skald]] (poet) [[Þjóðólfr Arnórsson]] (recounted in the sagas) he participated in the capture of eighty Arab strongholds, a number which historians Sigfus Blöndal and Benedikt Benedikz see no particular reason to question. Although not holding independent command of an army as the sagas imply, it is not unlikely that King Harald and the Varangians at times could have been sent off to capture a castle or town.<ref>DeVries (1999) pp. 29–30</ref>{{sfn|Blöndal|2007| pp=60–62}} During the first four years of the reign of [[Byzantine Emperor]] [[Michael IV the Paphlagonian]], Harald probably also fought in campaigns against the [[Pechenegs]].{{sfn|Blöndal|2007| pp=63}}

Thereafter, Harald is reported in the sagas to have gone to [[Jerusalem]] and fought in battles in the area. Although the sagas place this after his expedition to [[Sicily]], historian [[Kelly DeVries]] has questioned that chronology.<ref name="DeVriesp30">DeVries (1999) p. 30</ref> Whether his trip was of a military or peaceful nature would depend on whether it took place before or after the 1036 peace treaty between Michael IV and the [[Muslim]] [[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimid]] Caliph [[Ma'ad al-Mustansir Billah]]<ref name="DeVriesp30"/> (in reality the Caliph's mother, originally a Byzantine Christian, since the Caliph was a minor), although it is considered unlikely to have been made before. Modern historians have speculated that Harald may have been in a party sent to escort pilgrims to Jerusalem (possibly including members of the Imperial family) following the peace agreement, as it was also agreed that the Byzantines were allowed to repair the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]]. Furthermore, this may in turn have presented Harald with opportunities to fight against bandits who preyed on Christian pilgrims.<ref>DeVries (1999) pp. 30–31</ref><ref>Tjønn (2010) p. 43</ref>

In 1038, Harald joined the Byzantines in their expedition to [[Sicily]],<ref name="DeVries 1999 p. 31">DeVries (1999) p. 31</ref><ref name="Tjønn 2010 p. 47">Tjønn (2010) p. 47</ref> in [[George Maniakes]]'s (the sagas' "Gyrge") attempt to reconquer the island from the Muslim [[Saracen]]s, who had established the [[Emirate of Sicily]] on the island. During the campaign, Harald fought alongside [[Normans|Norman]] mercenaries such as [[William Iron Arm]].<ref name="DeVries 1999 p. 31"/> According to Snorri Sturluson, Harald captured four towns on Sicily.<ref name="Tjønn 2010 p. 47"/> In 1041, when the Byzantine expedition to Sicily was over, a [[Lombards|Lombard]]-Norman revolt erupted in southern Italy, and Harald led the Varangian Guard in multiple battles.{{sfn|Beeler|1971|pp=68}} Harald fought with the [[Catepan of Italy]], [[Michael Dokeianos]] with initial success, but the Normans, led by their former ally William Iron Arm, defeated the Byzantines in the [[Battle of Olivento]] in March,{{sfn|Blöndal|2007| pp=70}} and in the [[Battle of Montemaggiore]] in May.{{sfn|Gravett|Nicolle|2007|pp= 102}} After the defeat, Harald and the Varangian Guard were called back to Constantinople, following Maniakes's imprisonment by the emperor and the onset of other more pressing issues.<ref>DeVries (1999) pp. 31–32</ref> Harald and the Varangians were thereafter sent to fight in the [[Balkan peninsula|southeastern European frontier]] in [[Bulgaria]], where they arrived in late 1041.{{sfn|Blöndal|2007| pp=63}} There, he fought in the army of Emperor Michael IV in the [[Battle of Ostrovo]] of the 1041 campaign against the [[Uprising of Peter Delyan|Bulgarian uprising]] led by [[Peter Delyan]], which later gained Harald the nickname the "Bulgar-burner" (''Bolgara brennir'') by his skald.{{sfn|Bibikov|2004| pp= 21}}<ref>Tjønn (2010) pp. 55–56</ref>

Harald was not affected by Maniakes's conflict with Emperor Michael IV, and received honours and respect upon his return to Constantinople. In a [[Greece|Greek]] book written in the 1070s, the ''[[Strategikon of Kekaumenos]]'', '''Araltes''' (i.e. Harald) is said to have won the favour of the emperor.{{sfn|Blöndal|2007| pp=57}}{{sfn|Bibikov|2004| pp=20}}<ref>Tjønn (2010) p. 32</ref> The book says that the Byzantine emperor first appointed him ''[[manglabites]]'' (possibly identified with the title ''[[protospatharios]]''), a soldier of the imperial guard, after the Sicilian campaign.{{sfn|Bibikov|2004| pp= 21}}<ref>DeVries (1999) p. 33</ref> Following the campaign against the Bulgarians, in which Harald again served with distinction, he received the rank while at [[Mosynopolis]]<ref>Raffaele D'Amato, ''The Varangian Guard 988–1453'', p. 8,  {{ISBN|978-1-84908-179-5}}</ref> of ''[[spatharokandidatos]]'', identified by DeVries as a promotion to the possibly third highest Byzantine rank, but by Mikhail Bibikov as a lesser rank than ''protospatharios'' that was ordinarily awarded to foreign allies to the emperor.{{sfn|Bibikov|2004| pp= 21}} The ''Strategikon'' indicates that the ranks awarded to Harald were rather low, since Harald reportedly was "not angry for just having been appointed to ''manglabites'' or ''spatharokandidatos''".<ref>Tjønn (2010) p. 41</ref> According to his skald Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Harald had participated in eighteen greater battles during his Byzantine service.<ref name="SNL"/> Harald's favour at the imperial court quickly declined after the death of Michael IV in December 1041, which was followed by conflicts between the new emperor [[Michael V Kalaphates|Michael V]] and the powerful empress [[Zoe Porphyrogenita|Zoe]].<ref>DeVries (1999) pp. 33–34</ref>

During the turmoil, Harald was arrested and imprisoned, but the sources disagree on the grounds.<ref>DeVries (1999) p. 34</ref> The sagas state that Harald was arrested for defrauding the emperor of his treasure, as well as for requesting marriage<ref name="DeVries 1999 pp. 34–35">DeVries (1999) pp. 34–35</ref> with an apparently fictional niece or granddaughter<ref name="SNL"/> of Zoe, called Maria (his suit supposedly being turned down by the empress because she wanted to marry Harald herself). [[William of Malmesbury]] states that Harald was arrested for defiling a noble woman, while according to [[Saxo Grammaticus]] he was imprisoned for murder. DeVries suggests that the new emperor may have feared Harald because of his loyalty to the previous emperor.<ref name="DeVries 1999 pp. 34–35"/> The sources also disagree on how Harald got out of prison, but he may have been helped by someone outside to escape in the midst of the revolt that had begun against the new emperor. While some of the Varangians helped guard the emperor, Harald became the leader of the Varangians who supported the revolt. The emperor was in the end dragged out of his sanctuary, blinded and exiled to a monastery, and the sagas claim that it was Harald himself who blinded Michael V (or at least claimed to have done so).<ref name="DVpp3538">DeVries (1999) pp. 35–38</ref>