User:Gofigure41/almagovars



Almogavars is the name of a class of soldier mostly from the Crown of Aragon and other Iberian kingdoms during the  13th and 14th centuries. Almogavars were lightly clad, quick-moving frontiersmen and foot-soldiers. They were well-known during the Christian Reconquista (reconquest) of the Iberian Peninsula. Aragonese crown troops were commanded mainly by officers, infanzones or low noblemen without money. They hailed from Catalonia, Aragon, and later Valencia. At first these troops were originally formed by farmers and shepherds originating from the countryside, woods and frontier mountain areas. Later, they were much employed as mercenaries in Italy, Latin Greece and the Levant.

Origins and early history


The origin of the name "Almogavar" derives from the Arabic المغاور, "al-mughaawar." Originally of Muslim descent (or "sarraceyn" in mediaeval Catalan, "Saracens" in English), they were described by contemporary "infanzon" of almogavar troops. Catalan chronicler Bernat Desclot described them in his 13th century history, Libre del rei en Pere e dels seus antecessors passats

The origin of the people who formed the Almogavars dates back to Arabic invasions of the Iberian peninsula. On April 29, 711, Tariq ibn Ziyad, under the orders of the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I, led a large army from the north coast of Morocco. The armies of Tariq, composed of recent converts to Islam, landed at Gibraltar and quickly swept through Hispania. During the Islamic period, the native population had a large contingent of Muslim newcomers, so the population was gradually converted to Islam.

During this period, Iberia was largely populated by Muslims who were at first ethinically Arabian, a greater Near East Muslims. They also contained a number of Arabic Muslims and Berber. A smaller minority included Spanish native converts (muwallads) and native Christians. A minority of ethnic Jews comprised 5 percent of the population. The ethnically Arab were at the top of the social hierarchy; Muslims in general had a higher social standing. Although Christians and Jew. Non-muslims were considered dhimmis and had to pay a special tax called a jizya. Despite this discrimination, non-muslims still enjoyed a possibility of social mobility. Half of the Christians in Al-Andalus are reported to have converted to Islam by the 10th century, with more than 80% by the 11th century. Even Christians that did not accept Islam as their religion, became increasingly Arabized in terms of culture. These Christians became known as Mozarabs or musta’ribs, a word meaning ‘Arabized’, as they had adopted the Arabic language and customs.

Economically, the population that would create the Almogavars came from peasant or shepherd people whose livelihoods were harmed by continual incursions of troops in "reconquista" wars. Indeed, many Almogavar soldiers were deserters from the Muslim side, originating in the Muslim areas or in the Ebro Valley Christian or Muslim.

Subsequently, they were adding Christian or pagan ones from diverse origin reinforced by restocking with "Navarres" of Kingdom of Pamplona, and "gascons" during Reconquista, so Aragonese, Vascon, Navarre, Vall D'Aranese and other vascon or vasconized people of Ebro Valley; Franks, Urgellese, Ampurianense, Gironese, Toulousian, Rosellonese, Barcelonian, ​​Pallaresian... including Valencian, Mallorcans, Galician, Castilian, Sicilian, Sardinian, Calabrese, Occitan and even Greek, Turkish, and Even Germans, who joined the troops of the king of Aragon during the expedition by the Byzantine Empire.

The original known Al-Mogauar were bandits located in the territories of the Al Andalus towards tenth century. The first historical reference appears in the Arabic chronicle «muluk Akhbar Al-Andalus», history of the kings of Andalus, written between 887 and 955 by Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Razi, known among the Arabs with the nickname Al-Tariji (the Chronicler) and between Christians as the Moor Rasis. In his chronicle, the historian of Qurtuba describes the areas of Al-Andalus, and reached the Ebro valley, Al Tariji quote for first time in history the existence of troops called almogavars, in side Muslim, in the city Saraqusta, the Islamic Zaragoza.

The hinterland of Ebro Valley oscillated between two powerful states, Moors of al Andalus and Franks, of Carolingian Empire, looking for expanding The Marca Hispanica. When Charlemagne destroyed the walls of Pamplona after a failed attempt to conquest the Muslim Saraqusta, the Vascons Leaders, allies and relatives of Banu Qasi, a muladi family of Muslim leaders, annihilated the rearguard of Franks in the Battle of Roncevaux Pass through an ambush of a coaliated vascon and Muslim force.

Northern Basques, organized in the Duchy of Vasconia, collaborated with Franks during campaigns such as the capture of Barcelona in 799 but after the death of Charlemagne in 814, uprisings started anew. The revolt in Pamplona crossed the Pyrenees north and in 816 Louis the Pious deposed the Basque Duke Seguin of Bordeaux for failing to suppress or sympathising with the rebellion, so starting a widespread revolt, led by Gartzia Semeno, according to late traditions, a near-kinsman of Eneko Aritza, to be the first monarch of Pamplona, and newly appointed duke Lupus Centullo (c. 820). Meanwhile, in Aragon the pro-Frankish Count Aznar Galindo was overthrown by Enecco´s allied Count Gartzia Malo, with Aznar Galindo in turn seeking refuge in Frankish-held territory. Louis the Pious received the submission of rebel Vascon lords in Dax, but things were far from settled.

Muslims attacked, taking possession of Pamplona for some time, but they were expelled by a rebellion in 798-801 that helped to create the Basque Muslim realm of the Banu Qasi around Tudela. In 806 Pamplona, still under Cordovan rule, was attacked by the Franks, and the Pamplonese led by a certain Velasko pledged allegiance to Charlemagne again, but his tenure on power proved feeble. At about 814, an anti-Frankish faction led by Enecco, allied of the Banu Qasi, seems to have taken over again. A Frankish army was sent to quash the revolt, to little effect. Furthermore, on their way north through Roncevaux an ambush attempt took place that ended in stalemate, due to the greater precautions taken by the Franks, i.e. Basque women and children taken as hostages.

Íñigo Arista of Pamplona was stepbrother of Musa ibn Musa ibn Qasi, by mother. In 799, pro-Frankish assassins, murdered Mutarrif ibn Musa, governor of Pamplona, perhaps the brother of Musa ibn Musa ibn Qasi and of Íñigo himself. Ibn Hayyan reports that in 816, Abd al-Karim ibn Abd al-Wahid ibn Mugit launched a military campaign against the pro-Frankish "Enemy of God", "Velasco the Gascon" (بلشك الجلشقي, Balašk al-Ŷalašqī), Sahib of Pamplona (صاحب بنبلونة), who had united Christian and pagan factions. They fought a three-day battle in which the pro-Córdoba faction routed their enemies and killed Velasco, along with García López, kinsman of Alfonso II of Asturias, Sancho "warrior/knight of Pamplona", and pagan warrior "Ṣaltān". This defeat of the pro-Frankish force appears to have allowed the anti-Franks Íñigo to come to power. In 820, Íñigo is said to have intervened in the County of Aragon, ejecting a Frankish vassal, count Aznar I Galíndez, in favor of García el Malo (the Bad), who would become Íñigo's son-in-law. In 824, the Frankish counts Aeblus and Aznar Sánchez made an expedition against Pamplona, but were defeated in the third Battle of Roncesvalles. In 824 took place the third Battle of Roncevaux, when counts Eblo and Aznar Galindo, identified as Aznar Sánchez too, Frankish vassals and the latter appointed Duke of Gascony, were captured by the joint Pamplonese and Banu Qasi forces, strengthening the independence of Kingdom of Pamplona.

Sitting the original source in lands of Al-Andalus, these bands consisting of small groups engaged in the assault of the people by surprise. It will be Aragonese's Crown people, the first documented Christians that they will adapt these lifestyle and fought as their counterparts Muslims, ending in such a way as to be known too by the name of almogavers.

The Banu Hud Of taifa of Saraqusta resisted the Almoravid dynasty and ruled until they were eventually defeated by the Almoravids in May 1110. The last sultan of the Banu Hud, Abd-al-Malik, and Imad ad-Dawla of Saraqusta, was forced to abandon the capital. Abd-al-Malik allied himself with the Christian Aragonese under Alfonso I of Aragon and from the time, the Muslims of Saraqusta became military regulars within the Aragonese forces.

In the Taifa of Zaragoza Christian infanzon exiled of Castilla El Cid offer his service to Yusuf al-Mu'taman ibn Hud and accepted command of the forces of the Taifa of Zaragoza as their Master in services to the Moorish Muslim king of the northeast Al-Andalus city of Zaragoza, Yusuf al-Mu'taman ibn Hud, and served both him and his successor, Al-Mustain II. He was then given the title of Al Sidi ( El Cid, The Master) and served as a leading figure in a Moorish force consisting of Muladis, Berbers, Arabs and Malians.

O'Callaghan writes: "That kingdom was divided between al-Mutamin (1081–1085) who ruled Zaragoza proper, and his brother al-Mundhir, who ruled Lérida and Tortosa. El Cid entered al-Mutamin's service and successfully defended Zaragoza against the assaults of al-Mundhir, Sancho I of Aragón, and Ramón Berenguer II, whom he held captive briefly in 1082. In 1084, El Cid and the Moorish armies defeated Sancho of Aragon at the Battle of Morella near Tortosa. He was then troubled by the fierce conflicts between the Muladis of Badajoz and the Arabs of Seville."

In 1086, the Almoravid invasion of the Iberian Peninsula through and around Gibraltar began. The Almoravids, Berber residents of present-day North Africa, led by Yusuf ibn Tashfin, were asked to help defend the divided Moors from Alfonso. El Cid had probably commanded a large Moorish force during the great Battle of Sagrajas, which took place in 1086, near the Taifa of Badajoz. The Almoravid and Andalusian Taifas, including the armies of Badajoz, Málaga, Granada, Tortosa and Seville, defeated a combined army of León, Aragón and Castile.

Although there are no contemporary chronicles of the events of eleventh century or twelfth century, the first mention about almogavers on the Christian side was when the Christian king Alfonso I of Aragon and Pamplona destined Almogavers as population of "El Castellar" fortress, on the banks of the Ebro near Zaragoza circa 1110 or 1111, the same year that Aragonese and Navarrese troops were conquested Ejea and Tauste and they are preparing to besiege Saraqusta.

Already in 1095 troops named almogavars were at service of King Sancho Ramírez I of Aragon, in the conquest of a Muslim city, which the Chronicles not give the name and that after his recapture, was named by the King, naming it in Limousin Mont Són, which was transformed to Castilianize in Monzón.

Alfonso the Chaste went to the siege of Al- Madinat kunka (Cuenca) in 1177 with a group armed identified as almogavers to support the Castilian monarch, by be then Aragon yet, a vassal kingdom of Castilla kingdom.

The Muslim Almogavars were less important and decreasing in the whole troops because the national policy followed by the Spain kingdom. In 1502, violating the 1492 peace treaty Ferdinand II of Aragon forced all Muslims in Castile and Aragon to convert to Catholicism, or be expelled. The Inquisition was responsible for judge all Christians, new forced converteds and the suspected of to be Protestant Christians. Portugal had already expelled or forcibly converted its Muslims in 1497 and would establish its own Inquisition in 1536.

In 1609, the nominally converted Christian Moriscos expulsion took place.

King Ferdinand, as ruler of the Kingdom of Aragon, continued to tolerate the large Muslim population living in his territory. Since the crown of Aragon was juridically independent of Castile, their policies towards Muslims did differ during this period. Historians have suggested that the Crown of Aragon was inclined to tolerate Islam in its realm because the landed nobility there depended on the cheap, plentiful labor of Muslim vassals. However, the landed elite's exploitation of Aragon's Muslims also exacerbated class resentments. These Aragonese's crown troops were subjected mainly by Christian nobility.

In the 1520s, when Valencian guilds rebelled against the local nobility in the Revolt of the Brotherhoods, the rebels "saw that the simplest way to destroy the power of the nobles in the countryside would be to free their vassals, and this they did by baptizing them." The Inquisition and monarchy decided to prohibit the forcibly baptized Muslims of Valencia from returning to Islam.

War in Sicily and crusade against the Crown of Aragon
When Peter III of Aragon waged war on Charles of Anjou after the Sicilian Vespers of March 30 1282 for the possession of Naples and Sicily, the Almogavars formed the most effective element of his army. Their discipline and ferocity, the force with which they hurled their javelins, and their activity, made them very formidable to the heavy cavalry of the Angevin armies. They fought against cavalry by attacking firstly horses instead of knights. Once the knight was on the ground he was an easy victim for the Almogavar.

The "Crusade against the Crown of Aragon" was declared by Pope Martin IV against King Peter the Great of Aragon between 1284 and 1285, for his intervention in Sicilian affairs against the papal will. Most of the conflict took place in Catalonia, although the first episode took place in the frontier of Navarre and Aragon. The Almogavars were at the service of King commanded by King Peter or Roger of Lauria.

Roger of Lauria had much more control over his captains than the enemies did. His crews were made up of specialized troops, instead of the more generic types used by his enemies. His archers were used initially, while his oarsmen Almogavars stayed under cover. These Almogavars were much more agile than the heavily armored knights with swords, as his enemies often used, especially on the moving deck of a galley at sea. He used trickery to disguise the size of his force. In addition, he sometimes kept some of his galleys hidden, to attack the rear of the enemy after the battle had started.

Roger was also infamous for the ruthless sackings and the devastation of his actions, often driven only by greed and personal advantage. On the other side, his reputation alone possibly caused some enemies to lose heart during a battle.

The Catalan Company
When the Peace of Caltabellotta in 1302 ended the war in southern Italy, the Almogavars, under the leadership of Roger de Flor ("Roger Blum", a former Knight Templar), formed the Catalan Company in the service of the emperor of the East, Andronicus II Palaeologus, to fight against the Turks. Both kings of Aragon and Sicily agreed with the idea since peace had been reached and it was viable alternative to having the Almogavar standing army unemployed in their realms.

Their campaign in Asia Minor during 1303 and 1304 was a series of military victories, but with widespread looting of Byzantine civilians. When they insisted in receiving the agreed payment, the Emperor refused. Thereafter the Almogavars turned to violence, making their presence intolerable to the Byzantine population. Roger de Flor and his lieutenants were assassinated by orders of the Emperor in 1305 while meeting to discuss terms on their compensation, presumably on the instigation of Genoese merchants, who were conspiring to keep their own position of influence and power and keep the Catalans out of the loop. This betrayal resulted in the Almogavars ravaging the neighbourhood of Constantinople.

The Catalan Duchy of Athens
Subsequently they marched against the Duchy of Athens, under the rule of the French House of Brienne. Duke Walter V of Brienne was defeated and slain by the Almogavars with all his knights at the Battle of the Cephissus, or Orchomenus, in Boeotia in March 1310. They then divided the wives and possessions of the Frenchmen by lot, and summoned a prince of the house of Aragon to rule over them.

The foundation of the Aragonese rule over the duchy of Athens was to be the culminating achievement of the Almogavars. Although the duchy eventually fell to the Ottoman Empire, even today the King of Spain still holds the title of 'Duke of Athens and Neopatria'.

Cultural and linguistic legacy
Almogavars were also known as "catalans" in Byzantine Empire territories. The presence of the company left its mark on the Folklore and the popular legend of the different regions where they spent, Balkan area and Greece. A part of the folklore substrate has reached today a negative memory due to the devastation caused by Almogavars troops.

In the region of Thrace it get the saying: the revenge of the Catalans fall on you. In Bulgaria expressions "Catalan" and "Son of Catalan" mean "wicked man, soulless, torturer". This bad reputation reached beyond the boundaries of folklore to influence poets as Ivan M. Vazoz in the poem Pirates, first published in 1915, that cites the Catalans with the Turks as the greatest oppressor of the Bulgarian nation. In the region of Parnassus it is collected the saying: "I will flee from the Turks to fall into the hands of the Catalans".

The Greeks were referring to the Almogavars as dirt people. People are referring from Almogavars irreverence towards the Christian religion, with different examples: "Catalan even eat meat on Good Friday", "To fast as Catalan one" to refer to who did not fast.

In the current Albania the word "Catalan" means "ugly and wicked man." Likewise for "Catalan" ("Katallani") is designated in Albanian folklore, a monster with one eye, reminiscent in many ways the Cyclops Polyphemus. This Cyclops is represented as a blacksmith wild, that feeds on human flesh, without knees, so he can not bend, and with long legs like masts of a ship. He faces a young hero named Dedaliya, which expires with the help of his cunning. This tradition, in various versions, is usually called by the title of Daedalus dhe Katallani, Daedalus and Catalan.

Etymology
Like most Iberian words beginning with the prefix "al-", it is derived from the Arabic language, from al-maghāwīr, "scout"

Al-Mogawer المجاور, means "beside" or "neighbor". Other sources claim that the word Almogavar may come from the Arabic "al-muqafir," a "raider" or "devastator". Some sources claim that the catalan word "Almogàver" is based on the name al-mughawwar, meaning «els que provoquen algarades» ("the ones wreaking havoc") given to them by the Saracens. When they made brief incursions, lasting one or two days, of about twelve men into Muslim-controlled territory. The name and also the presence of these muslim mercenary troops is earlier, in other Iberian kingdoms.

The Almogavars were led by the "Adalí", from Arabic ad-dalla, "guide". The captain of a large squadron was known in Catalan as "Almogaten", from Arabic al-muqaddam, "captain".

The battle cry of the Almogavars in Catalan
As their distinct battle cry, Almagovars of Muslim decent shouted "Awake sword, kill, kill, Aragon, Aragon..." as referred to by Catalan chronicler Ramon Muntaner in the XIV Century.


 *  Aur! Aur! Desperta ferro!
 * Deus aia! 
 * Veyentnos sols venir, los pobles ja flamejen: 
 * veyentnos sols passar, son bech los corbs netejen.
 * La guerra y lo saqueig, no hi ha mellors plahers. 
 * Avant, almugavers! Que avisin als fossers! 
 * La veu del somatent nos crida ja a la guerra. 
 * Fadigues, plujes, neus, calors resistirem, 
 * y si'ns abat la sòn, pendrèra per llit la terra,
 * y si'ns rendeix la fam carn crua menjarem! 
 * Desperta ferro! Avant! Depressa com lo llamp 
 * cayèm sobre son camp! 
 * Almugavers, avant! Anem allí a fer carn! 
 * Les feres tenen fam! 
 * Les feres tenen fam! 

Meaning: Listen! listen! Wake up, O iron! Help us God!...Just seeing us coming the villages are already ablaze. Just seeing us passing the crows are wiping their beaks. War and plunder, there are no greater pleasures. Forward Almogavars! Let them call the gravediggers! The voice of the somatent is calling us to war. Weariness, rains, snow and heat we shall endure. And if sleep overtakes us, we will use the earth as our bed. And if we get hungry, we shall eat raw meat. Wake up, O iron! Forward! Fast as the lightning let us fall over their camp! Forward Almogavars! Let us go there to make flesh, the wild beasts are hungry!

Recent use of the name
The name "Almogavars" was revived for a short time as a party nickname in the civil wars during the reign of Ferdinand VII of Spain.

Links

 * ALMOGÁVERS
 * This article is partly based on the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica entry.