Reconquista

For other uses, see Reconquista (Disambiguation).

War tactics in medieval Iberian Peninsula

Daily life was reflected in its warfare. Small, lightly equipped armies reflect how the society (constantly at war) had to be on alert and be capable of moving long distance in short times, to return home once sacking the objective. The main battles were either between clans, expelling intruder armies or sacking expeditions.

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Medieval Spain was in a different cultural context than the rest of Continental Europe, due to the contact with the Moorish culture and the isolation provided by the Pyrenees. As a consequence, war tactics were different from those in the rest of Europe (with the exception of Catalonia, which always was very influenced by the Franks).

Related Topics:
Moorish - Pyrenees - Catalonia - Franks

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Medieval Spanish armies were mainly formed by two groups of soldiers, cavalry (mainly nobles, but commoner knights from the 10th century onwards) and infantry, or peones, meaning peasants. Infantry only went to war if needed, which was not common.

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Cavalry fought in a typical Spanish way. Knights approached the enemy and then threw javelins, just before turning around and running back, so as to start all over again. Once the enemy formation was weakened enough, the knights charged with thrusting spears (as lances did not arrive to Hispania until the 11th century). There were three types of knights: royal knights, noble knights (caballeros hidalgos) and commoner knights (caballeros villanos). Royal knights were mainly nobles with a close relationship with the king, and had a Goth inheritance. They were equipped in the same manner as their Gothic ancestors - braceplate, kite shield, a long sword (designed to fight from the horse) and apart from the javelins and spears, the typical Visigoth double-axe. Caballeros hidalgos and Caballeros villanos were similarly equipped; the only difference among them was their origin. Noble knights were infanzones or lower nobles, whereas the commoner knights were not noble, but were wealthy enough to afford a horse. These horsemen had no feudal links, and only were under the control of the king or the count of Castile because of the fueros (explained in the ). They were a militia cavalry force unique through all Europe. Both types of knight wore leather armour, javelins, spears and round-tasselled shields (influenced by Moorish shields), apart from a sword.

Related Topics:
Caballeros hidalgos - Caballeros villanos - Goth - Castile

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The peones were the peasants who went to battle due to their feudal relationship, and served their lord. Poorly equipped (bows and arrows, spears and short swords), they were mainly used as auxiliary troops. Their function in battle was to contain the enemy troops until the cavalry arrived and to block the enemy infantry from charging the knights.

Related Topics:
Peasants - Feudal

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The typical armours were the leather ones; they usually had iron scales attached. Full coat of mails were extremely rare and horse barding was completely unknown. The head protections were the round helmet, with a nose protector (a Viking influence, result of the attacks of the 8th and 9th centuries) and a chain mail head piece. Shields were often round or kidney-shaped excepting those belonging to the royal knights, which used to be kite-shaped. Usually adorned with geometric designs, crosses or tassels, shields were made out of wood and had a leather cover.

Related Topics:
Viking - Chain mail

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Weapons were largely steel swords. Long and double-bladed if mounted and short and single-bladed if from a foot soldier. The guard of the sword used to be or half a circle or straight, but always very ornamented with geometrical patterns. The spears and javelins were up to 1.5 metres long and had an iron tip. The double-axe was perfectly designed to be thrown or to be used in close combat. It was iron-made and 30 cm long, with an extremely sharp edge. Maces and hammers were not common, but some have remained, and are thought to have been used mounted.

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Finally, mercenaries were an important factor, as many kings did not have enough soldiers and could afford them. Norsemen, Flemish spearmen, Frank knights, Moorish mounted archers and Berber light cavalry were the main mercenaries available, and were who was more often hired.

Related Topics:
Norsemen - Flemish - Berber

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This way of warfare remained in the Iberian Peninsula until the late 11th century, when couched lance tactics entered from France and substituted the traditional style of horse javelin-shot. Then, in the 12th and 13th centuries, horse barding, suits of armours, double-handed swords and crossbows definitely left the early Spanish tactics obsolete.

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