The Kourtikioi were originally from Armenia, but by this period they were well established among the aristocracy of the empire. Constantine served as interpreter between the byzantines and the Anglo-Saxon soldiers in the imperial army. The most famous of the regiments of foreign troops were the Varangians, noted for their loyalty to the person of the emperor. In the 10th century these troops tended to be from Russia, but in the 11th century increasingly large numbers of Anglo-Saxons were to found among them, a process which was accelerated after 1066.