“The Grand Retinue” Phenomenon in Northern and Eastern Europe in the 10-11th Centuries

Abstract

The author summarizes evidence of large professional armies in the service of the rulers of early medieval polities in Northern and Eastern Europe. Following František Graus, the author refers to that institution as “grand retinue” (Czech velkodružina, German Staatsgefolge). The rulers maintained these troops mainly by paying in cash collected as tribute from the populace. The late 10th-early 11th-century Poland and the “North Sea Empire” of Cnut the Great (1016-1035) provide the most compelling evidence on the grand retinue. In the 10-11th centuries Rus’, the princes also had armies of military servants, referred to as otroki (a Slavic word) or – more specifically – grid’ (term borrowed from Old Norse). Such troops played a major role during the emergence of the centralized political framework, but have disappeared or degenerated as early as the 12th century. Rus’ian records describe them as prosperous in the 11th century and show their decline during the 12-13th centuries. I interpret the Rus’ian “grand retinue” as an institution based on Scandinavian models, a result of the “transfer of knowledge” that occurred in Northern and Eastern Europe during the 10-11th centuries.