Almogàvers

Almogavars (Spanish: almogávares, Aragonese: almugávares, Catalan: almogàvers and Portuguese: almogávares) is the name of a class of soldier from many Christian Iberian kingdoms in the later phases of the Reconquista, during the 13th and 14th centuries. Almogavars were lightly clad, quick-moving frontiersmen and foot-soldiers. They hailed from the Kingdom of Aragon, the Principality of Catalonia, the Kingdom of Valencia, the Crown of Castile and the Kingdom of Portugal. At first these troops were formed by farmers and shepherds originating from the countryside, woods and frontier mountain areas. Later, they were employed as mercenaries in Italy, Latin Greece and the Levant.

There are several theories as to where this name comes from: in Arabic المغاور al-mughāwir (the one who provokes riots) or as المخابر al-mukhābir (the carrier of news), al-Mujawir, "Pilgrims, adjunct [to a holy place], outer marches" and finally a third theory which holds that it comes from the adjective gabar, which translates as "prideful" or "haughty". Similarly the names of their military ranks derive from Arabic.

The term was first used in the 10th century in the territory of Al-Andalus, to refer to small armed groups of Saracens engaged in looting and surprise attacks. The first documented historical reference appeared in the chronicle "Akhbar muluk Al-Andalus" or "Chronicle of the Moor Rasis", the history of the kings of Al-Andalus, written between 887 and 955 by Ahmad ibn Muhammad Ar-Razi, known among Arabs by the name Al-Tarij (The Chronicler) and among Christians as the Moor Rasis. In his chronicle, the historian of Qurtuba describes the territories of Al-Andalus, and upon arrival at the Ebro Valley, cites the existence of some troops called Almogavars present in the city of Saraqusta for the first time in history:

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