Almogavars

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 Christian officers, or infanzones (low noblemen without money). They hailed from Catalonia, Aragon, and later Valencia. At first these troops were 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.