Hat 8249 El Cid Moorish Command

The Berber dynasty of the Almoravids was founded by Abdallah ibn Yasin in the mid-11th century and relatively quickly mastered large areas of today's Morocco and the southern part of today's Spain and Portugal. This dynasty ruled until the mid-12th century, and the last ruler of this family was Ishaq ibn Ali. The main core of the Almoravid dynasty's troops was infantry, which was characterized (especially in the 11th century) by a very high level of discipline and discipline. It can be assumed that this discipline was also influenced by the emphasis placed on the concept of jihad - especially in the course of battles with the Christian kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. The Almoravid infantry took on compact formations on the battlefield, which, in a very simplified manner, can be compared to the ancient Macedonian or Greek phalanx. The basic armament of both light and heavy infantry was the wheel weapon - javelin, spear and pike. Small discs were also used extensively. It is worth adding that light infantry played quite a role in the Almoravid army and was responsible, for example, for insuring the marches of their own troops, which played a significant role in mountainous terrain (e.g. southern Spain).