Andalusian Warriors and Soldiers-El Cid

 

Today let’s consider the Andalusians. Those with more subject knowledge than I conclude the following. Above Slav Mercenaries.

The Andalusian nobility were well motivated and skilled warriors. Very well mounted and compared to Christian Hidalgo more lightly protected. More your swift javelin throwers who can hit and evade. Actually, many Hidalgos fought just like that. What gave them the edge and all agree they had it, was the Christian fondness for a decisive charge.

From this we might conclude that against Jinete of any kind the Andalusian nobles have a good chance of winning.

They might also ride down skirmishers or do something fast and clever to overrun missile men, formed or not.

Steady close formed foot could be reduced with missilery rather than immediately charged head on.

Unless numbers dictated otherwise Andalusian nobles shouldn’t expect too much if they met a Spanish cavalry charge head on.

This all makes sense to me. The lessons are easily absorbed.  Things to do, things to avoid.

Likewise, Andalusian Jinete are good light cavalry. Meeting their Christian or Berber equivalents on level terms. Form dictates function. Or, is function dictates form? Either way we are talking about good light cavalry.

Things take a turn for the worst when we consider the infantry of Al Andalus.  The skirmishers were not the best but they could and would skirmish. It was the close order infantry that everyone thought was markedly inferior. Their only edge was sartorial it seems. Man for man they seem to have been wealthier than their foes. Below Berber Warriors.

I don’t know why this disparity should have been so marked. It may be that the mounted element of the Andalusian Armies was descended from the professional soldiers of the original conquering Arab Army. Perhaps the infantry were comprised of the descendants those who arrived later or had converted for better conditions. I have a couple of books coming that may shed some light.

Whatever the cause, attempts were made to effect redress. The easiest was to employ steady mercenaries-expensive. The other was to adopt the crossbow. The Andalusians did both.

There was sound reasoning for the Papal Ban on the crossbow. It could kill better skilled and protected warriors from a relatively safe distance. In terms of the order of society promoted by Frankish Christianity the crossbow was a serious threat to the establishment. That was a world where Nobles Fought, Clerics Prayed and everyone else worked. Where would that World be if the peasants could kill the nobles before the nobles killed the peasants?

I’m going to give my Andalusians two crossbow units. They won’t have high morale but they will shoot hard.

The mercenaries could be Christian warriors, or Berbers or the Soldiers of the defunct Caliphate of Cordoba. The latter could be Slavs or Sub Saharan Africans who had been enlisted on the Mamluk model. All of the forgoing were capable fighters. Importantly, Christian knights could be and were hired to deliver the missing deadly charge.

Above, you see my Andalusians and their mercenaries so far.