Everything about The Almogavars totally explained
The
Almogavars (
Aragonese:
Almogabars,
Catalan:
Almogàvers,
Spanish:
Almogávares, from
Arabic:
Al-Mugavari) were a class of soldiers from the
Crown of Aragon, well-known during the Christian
reconquista (reconquest) of the
Iberian peninsula. They were much employed as
mercenaries in
Italy,
Latin Greece and the
Levant during the
13th and
14th centuries. Though the origin of the word Almogavar isn't clear, it may come from the Arabic "Al-Muqafir," a "raider, devastator."
The Almogavars came originally from the
Pyrenees, and were in later times recruited mainly in
Navarre,
Aragon, and
Catalonia. They were frontiersmen and foot-soldiers who wore no armour, dressed in skins, were shod with brogues (
abarcas), and carried the arms similar to those of
Roman legionaries: two heavy
javelins, or "
assegai" (
atzagaia in
Catalan);and a short stabbing sword.
They were professional soldiers, and served kings, the
Roman Catholic Church, nobles, or towns for pay; eventually they also hired themselves out to the
Byzantine Empire. When
Peter III of Aragon made 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.
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 military victories, but 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
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.
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'.
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. The parachute brigade of the modern-day
Spanish army is also named
Brigada de Infantería Ligera Paracaidista Almogávares VI (Parachute Light Infantry Brigade "Almogavars" VI).
This article is mainly based on an entry in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.Further Information
Get more info on 'Almogavars'.
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