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Please Urdu subtitles should be provide .I like your videos but I am unable to understand them. Therefore, Urdu subtitles should be provided so that we can easily understand History . Thanks
So like the Swiss Mercenary bodyguard regiement in France: they couldn't betray their employer, because no one would ever trust them again if they did, and they had no other support or power base in the region.
The video misses the fact that there were many Christians part of the eastern church for ideological reasons refused to support Catholics and joined Muslims because Islam permitted freedom of religion and allowed Christians to judge in family and religious matters among themselves.
@@Staytrue-gk6ex But the Moslem kings did not allow those native Christians to use weapons. Unless the authority needed them to do so, for example, to defend the city during a siege. It was the same for Jews and Moslems under Christian kings. This was the rule on Spain, Portugal and Sicily during the Middle Ages. Anyway, the video focus is on Christians FIGHTING for Moslem kings. Not living under them.
The theme of using ostensible foreigners as an elite guard due to cultural divide / lack of local power base or connections seems to a relatively common idea. from the Varangian guard of Byzantine Rome to the Mamelukes and Janissaries. Over time the thing to what out for was them over time gradually becoming entrenched as a power block in there own right after too much intermingling culturally as happened with the latter 2 the Mamelukes taking over Egypt directly and the janissaries going full praetorian guard and deposing and murdering sultans for the own enrichment and benefit.
not just the Swiss, during the period of 15th to 17th centuries the European mercenaries were contracted by employers through the banking system and their leaders usually had to advance their own money to maintain their units while relying on their personal contacts to get the credit from the banks. So if they betrayed their own employers, the banks would stop dealing with them. It was the employers who were more likely to betray the mercenaries.
@@robertbodell55and the Numerus Batavorum - the bodyguards for the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Allegedly, Caeser also used Germans for his personal bodyguard
Mamluks do get paid in the form of tax farming over administrated lands they were granted by Sultans. Slave soldiers were less of unpaid forced workers but more like the need to have separate society without any connection to the major populations. They were extremely rewarded if they are loyal, they were not free though in the earlier phase of their life.
Just because they are considered 'slave soldiers', the Mamluks are definitely not in any way badly treated, unpaid 'slaves'. These guys were well trained and well compensated.
Mamlukes are legit forced to get administrative roles and alot of rewards like money, reputation, fame and glory. At the exchange of slaving your early life training, but even then being a Mamluke can get your family out of poverty and create generational wealth
The Christian population in Egypt was largely Miaphysite Christian, so when the Muslims conquered Egypt, they went from being considered heretics by their government to being considered Christians by their government overnight.
Heretical Christians predfh their form of Christianity as the one true one and identify as Christians. Like the church of the east or most protestants, they're still Christians. @@motex3572
@@VicmundLimI believe the terms 'turcomans' and 'turkopoles' referred to the many different peoples of Muslim cavalry working for the Byzantines and Crusaders. For the Byzantines it seems for most of their history they recruited Muslim cavalry as either an auxiliary from border territories or as outright mercenaries, and as was the case for the skythikon, variatadai, latinikon, varangians etc they were usually capable and loyal compared to native troops The Crusaders also quickly adopted this practice too once they entered the Near East. Sometimes the terms were used for light cavalry or horse archers in general, as in a 'turkic style' even if they were local christians and sometimes any Muslim force were referred to this way no matter how they were armed.
Hahaha i am Saqlabi but when i did a genetic test i got a lot of iberian but also 5 percent nordic. Im from tunisa it could be the people back then confused them with saqaliba but they where actually christian mercenaries.
True, Especially in Levant and North Africa, due to The Islamic Conquest of Byzantine Lands. But sometimes they can be a torn in the butt, especially During the Abbasid Siege of Constantinople.
Someone like Viscount Reverter de La Guardia sounded like someone who deserved his own movie. And I believed his movie can be a window into what was life like for the peoples in Morocco during the time of the Almoravid Emirate.
Strange figure. French name and Italian surname. La Guardia was alzo a mayor of New York from which comes the name of the International Airport of La Guardia, New York.
Christian mercenaries was a thing in Morocco throughout its Muslim history even up until as recently as 100 years ago. One of the very last European christians employed to lead the Moroccan army was Harry Aubrey de Vere Maclean, who was employed by the Sultan of Morocco in the late 19th century to instruct and then to elad the Moroccan army
This topic should be continued further. There are many other stories of the so-called Farfanes or 'Uluj between Reverter and the Nasara ar-Rabat of the 15th Century. For instance, how Las Cantigas de Santa Maria depicts both sides of the Almohad civil war employed Christian Mercenaries against each other. Or how Al Umari stated that the Marinid Sultanate army employed 4000 Franks. Or the Maluyyun/Malughun guard of Granada (they are closed to Mamluks though than mercenaries). The Courts of Maghreb, did not stop at European Mercenaries. Oghuz Turks and Kurdish Mercenaries were also employed as horse archers; as Horse Archery is not the tradition of the Berbers of North Africa (Berbers were known as mounted javelineers, light lancers, and mounted infantry instead, for instance like their Numidian and Mauri ancestors in Carthaginian and Roman Armies) And of course, for the same reason for having troops that only beholden to the Sultan and not having anything to do with local politics, there was Black Guards trained from African slaves. The Abid al-Makhzan of the Almohads famous for being the unit which guarded the Caliph's tent at the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa at 1212. Subsequent Tunisian Hafsid dynasty and Moroccan Alawi dynasty possessed Black Guards too, who also served as as tax collectors.
El Cid was not branded as a heretic... He was respected by Christians all around the Iberian Peninsula. The only Christian that hated him was his king, and yet, he was not hated because he had fought for Muslims, but because he was a famous person, a rags to riches kind of guy and he detested competition. Stop inventing shit
@@Sal3600 Honestly adherence to the code depends on the specific mercenary company and its own power and wealth. In the Italian city states mercenary companies switched sides like there was no tomorrow because they were too powerful for individual city states to handle. A strong mercenary company would find an employer there even if it had several betrayals in its history.
Like all wars, the crusades and other conflicts that involved Christians and Muslims, had much more to do with power, wealth and politics than anything to do with religion
Interesting. I knew this was common in "Spain" itself but didn't realize it extended beyond that. Makes sense though. Professional fighting men will always find a place.
Especially if they can fulfil a role that is lacking in the land they are finding employment. In this case, i would assume, probably Heavy Infantry and/or Cavalry.
Do never think of Middle Age nobles as "professional fighting men". It was not a profession. Any reference to work would have been received as an insult. They were not peasants, craftsman or even scribes or lawyers. They were the persons possessing the land and the people. Just because they were "noble". That came from the fact that in most places the nobles were mostly descendants of the Germanic invaders who destroyed the Roman Empire. The sons of the bandits who sacked, robbed, raped and murdered, happened to be owners of the land and the people living on it. After some time, they argued that some god wished so. And the only way to keep that "order" was monopolising the violence to avoid what nobles called "peasant revolts". Unless the revolt succeeded and the "peasants" founded their own country. If it didn't survive, the nobles called it "peasant republic". If it survived... Well, there is a Helvetic Confederation, a French Republic and, during several centuries, a Dutch Republic, a Venetian Republic, even a pirate Republic in the Atlantic coast of current Morocco. Say once more that nobles are "professionals", that they need to work in order to get the money they need to live. Insult them in such a way and your noble lord will order you to be quartered and thrown to his dogs.
@@augustuslunasol10thapostle Are you sure about that? Count the European monarchies. Some of those kings still have around the same families with the same nobility titles that a century ago. I've personally met the son of a count that was minister under our last dictatorship, the younger son (so no county for him) in a family with the same title during the last 1,000 years, being one of the two main land owners a century ago.
It’s unbelievable how much effort you put in your videos, I learned a lot about almost every civilization in the world because of these ultra professional yet simple and well explained videos
Please do a video on the life and times of Sheikh Bedreddin he is really fits in with the theme of Abrahamic Congregation in this video ( Turkish Theologian and revolutionary who believed Muslims and Christians could live together in harmony)
Very refreshing video. Recently, I only saw online conversations with people still convinced the reconquista was a centuries long fight of Christians against muslems, rather than complex politics with many fights between Christians among themselves and Muslems among themselves, or even working with the other faith against their own, that happened to eventually result in the Muslem rulers being weak enough for Christians to take over entirely.
This subject is very interesting. I've heard that during the Moroccan (Saadian) conquest of The Songhai Empire (West Africa) in the 16th century, the leaders of the army were essentially Spanish mercenaries.
the fun fact that a lot of people missed here..reverter he wasn't just a mercenary leader....he was the real viscount of barcelona descended from a noble family back to charlemagne the great of paris..His race is still in till now in Morocco...even the spaine and french hide it but when u red the history u will.know the trute...and because reverter become a muslim and his sons ...now they erased his memory from.history.
I am from Barcelona. I studied history. I never heard of Reverter until this video. Thank you for rescuing such a tall figure from the shadows of the past. I only knew about the Almogaver mercenaries in the late Eastern Roman Empire.
The Turks also employed heebs of east Europeans in north Africa, including a huge population of Bulgars and Jews, that disappeared in history. ❤ Would be nice to make a video about them
Very interesting! I’ve been reading the Mercenary Mediterranean by Hussein Fancy, which explores this topic. It’s also interesting that Ibn Khaldun mentioned Christian mercenaries were better at fighting in formation, which is why they were employed in North Africa.
Please make one about the European mercenaries and advanturers in the Indian subcontinent during the British era... There were dozens of Europe's generals especially from Nepoleonic war veterans who went to India after Napoleon's defeat and train armies of various Indian kingdoms and even rose to Generals and governors
Amazing timing since I not only love your content, I'm currently in the middle of a Barcelona playthrough in Crusader Kings 3 (currently 1139AD and the business of Empire is booming)
I highly doubt the story about tax collectors going to the Atlas mountains and the Berber Amazigh population allowing these men to do these rapes. Anyone who knows Amazigh history and culture (even modern Amazigh culture) would know they would never accept such things, they would cause massive uprisings and the muslim overlord of the christian tax collecters would seriously object this being done to their muslim citizens by christians. And also the extent of the Almohad territory map is wrong, is was much deeper then only confided to the coastal areas.
I don't know where he got that information from because people in the atlas mountains were known to have light eyes and hair due to the environment they live in
@@oussamamarroqino2579that’s false, I come from the Atlas corniche kabyle and from a mountainous tribe Beni foughal. Some have light eyes such as my mother’s side with green and blue but it’s rarer, light skin is not found a lot too and rare.
you seem to doubt the power of the kings mercenaries, one side had weapons, armor, training, and authority from their state, and the other side is mountain peasants that own money.
@@stefthorman8548thing is local berbers in the atlas mountains had these feature as were their cousins the guanches long before any interaction with europeans with whom they distant origins .however the armed mercenaries would surely have powers in the breeding field . Women love powerful men .😅
Excellent video ❤ Why unusual, Central Europe Christians served the Ottoman Empire for 600 years like the Serbian heavy cavalry not just the janissaries.
One specific case was Frederick II Hohenstaufen who employed Muslim soldiers in his army. This was particularly useful because he had poor relations with the pope.
@@hocineamri8252 Bedouin guides spies infiltrators yes mostly Never heard of Bedouin soldiers fighting under Crusader armies unless the Alawite Nusayris or Druze mountaineers were involved
Great video!! One point, in catalan (and spanish), in general "gue" and "que" are pronounced "ge" and "ke", like geisha or kept. So in names lik BerenGUER the U isn't pronounced. There are exceptions where the u is pronounced but are signaled with ü
Great video! Thank you. I'd be intrested in a video about Assyrians, Arameans and Christian Arabs during the middle ages, specially during the Crusades era. I'm pretty sure they were employed as mercenaries. Would love to know their tactics, weapons and garments.
Great video as always. Many Thanks! History is still our best remedy against the disease poisoning Europe (though I guess it’s the same in many nation state throughout the world). It’s shocking to see how those fairy tale from late 19th about folk/culture and ethnicity are still used by politics to promote an illusory historical unity. It’s important channels like yours keep detailing the complexity of history. Opportunism and pragmatism are often more usefull to undersrand history than religion, culture and color.
This video highlighted for me how little I actually know about medieval Spain, lol. On another note, I would be interested in more videos on interesting examples of cross- culturalism in history! Thank you for the video. God be with you out there, everybody. ✝️ :)
Don Enrique, the brother of Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England and brother-in-law to Edward I also served as a mercenary under Al-Mustansir, the Hafsid ruler of Tunis in the 1260s. There are other examples also, even in Spain itself where Christian troops served Muslim overlords and vice versa.
İn Ankara Conflict between Ottoman's ruled by Beyazıt First The Thunderstorm and Timurid Dynasty ruled by Temur ( İron) , serbs fight shoulder to shoulder with Ottoman Empire Army. Because Yıldırım Beyazıt ( The thunderstrome) was law in brother with serbian king
Europe were the only continent that was 100% Christians. Eliminated all religions that were not Christians. At that time, it may be difficult to see Christians and Muslims get along. However compared to Muslim countries it was nothing new to see Christians due to there were many arab Christians. Egypt still now has 10% Christians, Lebanon 40% Christians etc
What we are taught - A war between 1)east vs west 2) Islam vs Christianity Reality- "I'm not big on religion, only coin." It cracks me up at times to think people still consider el Cid a true, honest to god christian knight waging a crusade against the 'infidel' muslim. Same can be said about ibn Mardanish, though a king, he was all in for the money. In fact the entire taifa period right till the fall of Granada, it was never about muslim vs Christian, except with the almoravids and almohads, but all about the money.
The Turkish Empire also made use of Christian soldiers very often. Voynuks and Martolos were the Christian units of the empire exempt from Jizya tax. I have also read Sipahis, who were traditionally Turkish horse archers, were sometimes recruited from Christians too. And of course most famously Janissaries, the royal guards of the Ottoman dynasty.
I hoped there would be something about christians dukes from balkans serving unter Ottoman Sultuans. Serbian involvement in Battle of Ankara first comes to mind.
Yes But it’s not due to Frankish or Latin soldiers Even Tariq Ibn Ziyad was blonde blue eyed Berbers can be from fair skinned blondes to dark skinned brown almost black North to South it seems
This os what weird on war, u can have christian on muslim side and muslim on christian side, take example of how eastern roman help saladdin, while seljuk help eastern roman to reclaim Constantinople
There still was romance languages within the berber lands until the late 16th century. I wonder if these soldiers may have had a part in keeping it alive.
The quasi mythical Cid was also (or had been at times) a mercenary for muslim rulers, a fact that's oft overlooked by those trying to portray him as a "champion of christianity against muslims" Edit: Also, a king of Navarre (wh's name eludes me) did do some mercenary work in north africa for a local ruler. Something the kingdom of castille took advantage of to launch an invasion of navarre, forcing him to rush back to its defence
Consider not using annoying sound effects like beeping/dinging, loud background talking/yelling/screaming. It detracts from the video and makes it difficult for neurodiverent viewers.
As far as I know, muslim women are not allowed to marry Christian men. So how did these European men have descendents in North Africa? Did they bring wives with them or was there still a Christian native population large enough to find women from?
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Please Urdu subtitles should be provide .I like your videos but I am unable to understand them. Therefore, Urdu subtitles should be provided so that we can easily understand History .
Thanks
Next, Muslims Mercenaries in Norman Sicilian Services
I am from Pakistan. I like your
videos butt i can't understand please provide urdu subtitle on video.
Why dont you cover the french occupation of mexico? Battle of puebla and battle of camerone the famed french foreign legion battle
Early jihad... Oriented Orthodox fought with muslim against Byzantine,
source: Antioch patriarchal journal..
All mercenaries, the world over, throughout history, have always spoken the same language. And it is accompanied by the jingling of coins.
just professionals being professionals
True
Hebrew?
Yiddish?
la pela es la pela
So like the Swiss Mercenary bodyguard regiement in France: they couldn't betray their employer, because no one would ever trust them again if they did, and they had no other support or power base in the region.
The video misses the fact that there were many Christians part of the eastern church for ideological reasons refused to support Catholics and joined Muslims because Islam permitted freedom of religion and allowed Christians to judge in family and religious matters among themselves.
@@Staytrue-gk6ex But the Moslem kings did not allow those native Christians to use weapons. Unless the authority needed them to do so, for example, to defend the city during a siege. It was the same for Jews and Moslems under Christian kings. This was the rule on Spain, Portugal and Sicily during the Middle Ages.
Anyway, the video focus is on Christians FIGHTING for Moslem kings. Not living under them.
The theme of using ostensible foreigners as an elite guard due to cultural divide / lack of local power base or connections seems to a relatively common idea. from the Varangian guard of Byzantine Rome to the Mamelukes and Janissaries. Over time the thing to what out for was them over time gradually becoming entrenched as a power block in there own right after too much intermingling culturally as happened with the latter 2 the Mamelukes taking over Egypt directly and the janissaries going full praetorian guard and deposing and murdering sultans for the own enrichment and benefit.
not just the Swiss, during the period of 15th to 17th centuries the European mercenaries were contracted by employers through the banking system and their leaders usually had to advance their own money to maintain their units while relying on their personal contacts to get the credit from the banks. So if they betrayed their own employers, the banks would stop dealing with them. It was the employers who were more likely to betray the mercenaries.
@@robertbodell55and the Numerus Batavorum - the bodyguards for the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Allegedly, Caeser also used Germans for his personal bodyguard
Janissaries: wait I can explain
Medieval Christian mercenary: you get paid way more than me!
Mamluks: you guys are getting paid?
Mamluks were technically just a ruling class of janissaries after they overthrew the sultanate.
Mamluks do get paid in the form of tax farming over administrated lands they were granted by Sultans. Slave soldiers were less of unpaid forced workers but more like the need to have separate society without any connection to the major populations. They were extremely rewarded if they are loyal, they were not free though in the earlier phase of their life.
Well Mamluk not only got paid but they got the crown LMAO
Just because they are considered 'slave soldiers', the Mamluks are definitely not in any way badly treated, unpaid 'slaves'. These guys were well trained and well compensated.
Mamlukes are legit forced to get administrative roles and alot of rewards like money, reputation, fame and glory. At the exchange of slaving your early life training, but even then being a Mamluke can get your family out of poverty and create generational wealth
The Christian population in Egypt was largely Miaphysite Christian, so when the Muslims conquered Egypt, they went from being considered heretics by their government to being considered Christians by their government overnight.
Life truly is stranger than fiction at times
I'm imagining Mr. Incredible's meme of Math is Math format
To:
Muslim: Christians are Christian
@@pfyzergaming7116 heretical Christians are still technically christian though aren't they?
@@bablo82 According to whom?
Heretical Christians predfh their form of Christianity as the one true one and identify as Christians. Like the church of the east or most protestants, they're still Christians. @@motex3572
"What God do you serve?
"Money."
Ah yes, the one true God $$$ 😂
Ah... Yess... The true ol'
G old
O il
D iamond
The Almighty Dollar.
@@uncommon_name9337
Money will not help you at another life
Same with the Muslims, many Turkics from the Seljuk Sultanate served as mercenaries in the Christian Eastern Roman Empire
Next up muslim mercenaries in christian armies
They did exist! Byzantines hired mercenaries from the seljuk sultanate during Byzantine-Norman wars
I second that motion. There were Tatar units in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. I would like to know of other examples.
@@StaunchVicinity50 this is interesting. I like to read it, any info or source?
@@ukaszgrzesik7231 I heard of this too. Heck if you look at the sabre used by the winged hussar. It resemble those used by the tatars
@@VicmundLimI believe the terms 'turcomans' and 'turkopoles' referred to the many different peoples of Muslim cavalry working for the Byzantines and Crusaders.
For the Byzantines it seems for most of their history they recruited Muslim cavalry as either an auxiliary from border territories or as outright mercenaries, and as was the case for the skythikon, variatadai, latinikon, varangians etc they were usually capable and loyal compared to native troops
The Crusaders also quickly adopted this practice too once they entered the Near East.
Sometimes the terms were used for light cavalry or horse archers in general, as in a 'turkic style' even if they were local christians and sometimes any Muslim force were referred to this way no matter how they were armed.
Muslims : we thought you don't deal with Islamic gold
Mercenaries: gold is gold
Like emperor vespasian used to say: "Pecunia non olet" (Money doesnt stink).
HAHA KINGDOM OF HEAVRN REFERENCE
@@gabriellouisemanalansan2507 bingo
Muslim General: Well? I'm waiting..
Christian Mercenary: A**** HU A****
Muslim General: Another 2000 Gold in your bank.
Suggestion: mercenaries in the Carthaginian army!
Agreed especially with the 2nd punic wars series going atm would be good to see whats actually in Hannibal's army or at least close to it lol
Yes please
Hahaha i am Saqlabi but when i did a genetic test i got a lot of iberian but also 5 percent nordic. Im from tunisa it could be the people back then confused them with saqaliba but they where actually christian mercenaries.
Yes this is perfect. Could you also go over the recruitment process of these mercenaries in Carthages army
Too similar to putin and his mercenaries or france and it's mercenaries money torture war crimes betrayal..
This explains the Christian knight units in my Almoravid and Almohad armies in Medieval 2 Total War.
Reverter was playing Mount & blade IRL
When you make a European-looking character but joined the Sarranid Sultanate
@@huslethal relatable
@@huslethalThat's me
Wanted this since a decade
Christian Arabs had a huge credit in the Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia
True, Especially in Levant and North Africa, due to The Islamic Conquest of Byzantine Lands. But sometimes they can be a torn in the butt, especially During the Abbasid Siege of Constantinople.
Unfortunately, and today there are only shadows of a Christian population left in the Middle East...
@@AoalinMac1038why was this the case?
@@MedjayofFaiyum Most Of the Abbasid Fleet Were Christians, That has Likely supplied the Islamic Conquest of Iberian Peninsula.
Most christian arabs were nestorian , a christian sect deemed as heretical by the latins and greeks so helping the muslims sounded better to them.
Haha when I play medieval total war 2 and go against the moors and see Christian guard it always made me wonder. Thank you for video!
Someone like Viscount Reverter de La Guardia sounded like someone who deserved his own movie. And I believed his movie can be a window into what was life like for the peoples in Morocco during the time of the Almoravid Emirate.
Strange figure. French name and Italian surname.
La Guardia was alzo a mayor of New York from which comes the name of the International Airport of La Guardia, New York.
@@danielefabbro822 It's Catalan, that it's part to the Occitano-Romance family. La Guardia is Castillian/Spanish
@@Angel24Marin en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiorello_La_Guardia
@@Angel24Marin Occitano-Romance is spoken also in Italy.
@@Angel24Marin la guardia is also catalan...
Yeah. Muslims too, sometimes works for Christians. Othello, for example.
Christian mercenaries was a thing in Morocco throughout its Muslim history even up until as recently as 100 years ago. One of the very last European christians employed to lead the Moroccan army was Harry Aubrey de Vere Maclean, who was employed by the Sultan of Morocco in the late 19th century to instruct and then to elad the Moroccan army
@yasserotmani2346 As a european ask yourself why is your Moroccan star older then the modern isreali star?
@@mikymike-m1jWhy does it matter?
@@mikymike-m1jwhat?
This topic should be continued further. There are many other stories of the so-called Farfanes or 'Uluj between Reverter and the Nasara ar-Rabat of the 15th Century. For instance, how Las Cantigas de Santa Maria depicts both sides of the Almohad civil war employed Christian Mercenaries against each other. Or how Al Umari stated that the Marinid Sultanate army employed 4000 Franks. Or the Maluyyun/Malughun guard of Granada (they are closed to Mamluks though than mercenaries).
The Courts of Maghreb, did not stop at European Mercenaries. Oghuz Turks and Kurdish Mercenaries were also employed as horse archers; as Horse Archery is not the tradition of the Berbers of North Africa (Berbers were known as mounted javelineers, light lancers, and mounted infantry instead, for instance like their Numidian and Mauri ancestors in Carthaginian and Roman Armies)
And of course, for the same reason for having troops that only beholden to the Sultan and not having anything to do with local politics, there was Black Guards trained from African slaves. The Abid al-Makhzan of the Almohads famous for being the unit which guarded the Caliph's tent at the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa at 1212. Subsequent Tunisian Hafsid dynasty and Moroccan Alawi dynasty possessed Black Guards too, who also served as as tax collectors.
Thank you for the historical trivia, greetings from Tunisia.
Según unas fuentes los Alauitas llegaron a tener a diez mil renegados Daneses bajo su mando
@JosmanLeonelVielmaPuente You mean the Russian Vikings
Very interesting. There are similarities to El Cid who fought for both Christian and Muslim rulers and was quite the mercenary himself.
Funny how the Christian kings branded El Cid as a heretic and exiled him while the Muslim rulers treated him with respect.
El Cid was not branded as a heretic... He was respected by Christians all around the Iberian Peninsula.
The only Christian that hated him was his king, and yet, he was not hated because he had fought for Muslims, but because he was a famous person, a rags to riches kind of guy and he detested competition. Stop inventing shit
Next suggestion: the Turks military officers in Abbasid court.
@@roihanfadhil2879 Need this!
Slaves*
Oh that’s a spicy take.
Kings and Generals incessantly giving us incredible content 🤳
Serbians were a valuable force in Ottoman ranks too
Yup the Ottomans had great respect for Serbien.knights
Mercenaries are always gonna fight for those who pay the highest
No. They fight for those that they agreed with. If they don't proceed as agreed upon, no one will hire them.
@@Sal3600 Honestly adherence to the code depends on the specific mercenary company and its own power and wealth. In the Italian city states mercenary companies switched sides like there was no tomorrow because they were too powerful for individual city states to handle. A strong mercenary company would find an employer there even if it had several betrayals in its history.
not always sometimes mediocre pay with being alive surpasses the higher pay with higher risk
Like all wars, the crusades and other conflicts that involved Christians and Muslims, had much more to do with power, wealth and politics than anything to do with religion
Interesting. I knew this was common in "Spain" itself but didn't realize it extended beyond that. Makes sense though. Professional fighting men will always find a place.
Especially if they can fulfil a role that is lacking in the land they are finding employment. In this case, i would assume, probably Heavy Infantry and/or Cavalry.
Do never think of Middle Age nobles as "professional fighting men".
It was not a profession. Any reference to work would have been received as an insult. They were not peasants, craftsman or even scribes or lawyers.
They were the persons possessing the land and the people. Just because they were "noble".
That came from the fact that in most places the nobles were mostly descendants of the Germanic invaders who destroyed the Roman Empire. The sons of the bandits who sacked, robbed, raped and murdered, happened to be owners of the land and the people living on it. After some time, they argued that some god wished so.
And the only way to keep that "order" was monopolising the violence to avoid what nobles called "peasant revolts". Unless the revolt succeeded and the "peasants" founded their own country. If it didn't survive, the nobles called it "peasant republic". If it survived... Well, there is a Helvetic Confederation, a French Republic and, during several centuries, a Dutch Republic, a Venetian Republic, even a pirate Republic in the Atlantic coast of current Morocco.
Say once more that nobles are "professionals", that they need to work in order to get the money they need to live.
Insult them in such a way and your noble lord will order you to be quartered and thrown to his dogs.
@@caniconcananas7687you explained the whole current history of Europe 👏🏻
@@caniconcananas7687 dude shut up a sell sword is still a profession no european noble alive even cares about this
@@augustuslunasol10thapostle Are you sure about that?
Count the European monarchies.
Some of those kings still have around the same families with the same nobility titles that a century ago.
I've personally met the son of a count that was minister under our last dictatorship, the younger son (so no county for him) in a family with the same title during the last 1,000 years, being one of the two main land owners a century ago.
Gotta say as a courier driver doing 8 hours plus routes playing your doc’s in the background, this channel has been a god send haha.
It’s unbelievable how much effort you put in your videos, I learned a lot about almost every civilization in the world because of these ultra professional yet simple and well explained videos
Please do a video on the life and times of Sheikh Bedreddin he is really fits in with the theme of Abrahamic Congregation in this video ( Turkish Theologian and revolutionary who believed Muslims and Christians could live together in harmony)
Very refreshing video. Recently, I only saw online conversations with people still convinced the reconquista was a centuries long fight of Christians against muslems, rather than complex politics with many fights between Christians among themselves and Muslems among themselves, or even working with the other faith against their own, that happened to eventually result in the Muslem rulers being weak enough for Christians to take over entirely.
This subject is very interesting. I've heard that during the Moroccan (Saadian) conquest of The Songhai Empire (West Africa) in the 16th century, the leaders of the army were essentially Spanish mercenaries.
Interesting! Where can i get info bro
@@pablolimbo3195 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judar_Pasha
He wasn't a mercenary, he was a slave-turned commander of the army. His name is Judar Pasha.
The artwork you guys use is beautiful! Great video!
the fun fact that a lot of people missed here..reverter he wasn't just a mercenary leader....he was the real viscount of barcelona descended from a noble family back to charlemagne the great of paris..His race is still in till now in Morocco...even the spaine and french hide it but when u red the history u will.know the trute...and because reverter become a muslim and his sons ...now they erased his memory from.history.
I am from Barcelona. I studied history. I never heard of Reverter until this video. Thank you for rescuing such a tall figure from the shadows of the past. I only knew about the Almogaver mercenaries in the late Eastern Roman Empire.
The Turks also employed heebs of east Europeans in north Africa, including a huge population of Bulgars and Jews, that disappeared in history. ❤ Would be nice to make a video about them
The quality of drawing art in this video is awesome
Very interesting! I’ve been reading the Mercenary Mediterranean by Hussein Fancy, which explores this topic. It’s also interesting that Ibn Khaldun mentioned Christian mercenaries were better at fighting in formation, which is why they were employed in North Africa.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
@@falcondesert1836 This is not my opinion, its what a Medieval Arab philosopher claimed.
Please make one about the European mercenaries and advanturers in the Indian subcontinent during the British era... There were dozens of Europe's generals especially from Nepoleonic war veterans who went to India after Napoleon's defeat and train armies of various Indian kingdoms and even rose to Generals and governors
Amazing timing since I not only love your content, I'm currently in the middle of a Barcelona playthrough in Crusader Kings 3 (currently 1139AD and the business of Empire is booming)
I highly doubt the story about tax collectors going to the Atlas mountains and the Berber Amazigh population allowing these men to do these rapes. Anyone who knows Amazigh history and culture (even modern Amazigh culture) would know they would never accept such things, they would cause massive uprisings and the muslim overlord of the christian tax collecters would seriously object this being done to their muslim citizens by christians. And also the extent of the Almohad territory map is wrong, is was much deeper then only confided to the coastal areas.
I don't know where he got that information from because people in the atlas mountains were known to have light eyes and hair due to the environment they live in
@@oussamamarroqino2579that’s false, I come from the Atlas corniche kabyle and from a mountainous tribe Beni foughal. Some have light eyes such as my mother’s side with green and blue but it’s rarer, light skin is not found a lot too and rare.
you seem to doubt the power of the kings mercenaries, one side had weapons, armor, training, and authority from their state, and the other side is mountain peasants that own money.
Yep it was an almohad propaganda to demonize the almoravids further
@@stefthorman8548thing is local berbers in the atlas mountains had these feature as were their cousins the guanches long before any interaction with europeans with whom they distant origins .however the armed mercenaries would surely have powers in the breeding field . Women love powerful men .😅
Amazing video I love medieval Spanish and North African history
Suggestion: Conquests of Samudragupta in the Indian subcontinent
There needs to be a movie about Reverter and his mercs. It would also give us a visual glimpse into the fascinating period of Andalusia.
Excellent video ❤
Why unusual, Central Europe Christians served the Ottoman Empire for 600 years like the Serbian heavy cavalry not just the janissaries.
Great video! But was there muslim mercenaries in middle-age christian armies? That would be a good video subject, no?
One specific case was Frederick II Hohenstaufen who employed Muslim soldiers in his army. This was particularly useful because he had poor relations with the pope.
@@long_something Yeah, and also with the bedouins by the Kingdom of Jerusalem, or some Iberian realms or in east europe
@@hocineamri8252
Bedouin guides spies infiltrators yes mostly
Never heard of Bedouin soldiers fighting under Crusader armies unless the Alawite Nusayris or Druze mountaineers were involved
Beneath the gold, the bitter steel 😂
Just wanted to mention how much I enjoy your visuals. Great artworks and style
Next would be Turkopols who fought along Christians or Levantines who fought along Muslim Turks.
Thinking about a real man fighting in a real battle with his son by his side, there’s something about that scenario that resonates deep within me.
Great video!!
One point, in catalan (and spanish), in general "gue" and "que" are pronounced "ge" and "ke", like geisha or kept. So in names lik BerenGUER the U isn't pronounced. There are exceptions where the u is pronounced but are signaled with ü
Great video! Thank you. I'd be intrested in a video about Assyrians, Arameans and Christian Arabs during the middle ages, specially during the Crusades era. I'm pretty sure they were employed as mercenaries. Would love to know their tactics, weapons and garments.
I second this! That would be a really cool video.
Great video as always. Many Thanks!
History is still our best remedy against the disease poisoning Europe (though I guess it’s the same in many nation state throughout the world).
It’s shocking to see how those fairy tale from late 19th about folk/culture and ethnicity are still used by politics to promote an illusory historical unity.
It’s important channels like yours keep detailing the complexity of history.
Opportunism and pragmatism are often more usefull to undersrand history than religion, culture and color.
This video highlighted for me how little I actually know about medieval Spain, lol. On another note, I would be interested in more videos on interesting examples of cross- culturalism in history! Thank you for the video.
God be with you out there, everybody. ✝️ :)
Don Enrique, the brother of Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England and brother-in-law to Edward I also served as a mercenary under Al-Mustansir, the Hafsid ruler of Tunis in the 1260s. There are other examples also, even in Spain itself where Christian troops served Muslim overlords and vice versa.
İn Ankara Conflict between Ottoman's ruled by Beyazıt First The Thunderstorm and Timurid Dynasty ruled by Temur ( İron) , serbs fight shoulder to shoulder with Ottoman Empire Army. Because Yıldırım Beyazıt ( The thunderstrome) was law in brother with serbian king
i am catalan, from barcelona and i never knew about this guy, i'm really surprised
This is a fascinating video, thank you so much for making it! Reverter deserves so much more wider recognition 👏
Its like Legalos and Gimli friendship.
The name 'Reverter' strongly implies that at least nominally he became a Muslim as converts are said to 'revert' to the faith.
No, that's English
@@pfyzergaming7116 and French
@@mrmr446It's a Catalan name...
@@ikad5229 and has the same meaning
Cool video! Any way you'll cover the Muslim mercenaries that Frederick II settled in Apulia?
I very much enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up
Anyone know the audio/song from 10:20 ?
Europe were the only continent that was 100% Christians. Eliminated all religions that were not Christians. At that time, it may be difficult to see Christians and Muslims get along. However compared to Muslim countries it was nothing new to see Christians due to there were many arab Christians. Egypt still now has 10% Christians, Lebanon 40% Christians etc
The abrahamic religions ahave the same terrorism
What we are taught -
A war between
1)east vs west
2) Islam vs Christianity
Reality-
"I'm not big on religion, only coin."
It cracks me up at times to think people still consider el Cid a true, honest to god christian knight waging a crusade against the 'infidel' muslim.
Same can be said about ibn Mardanish, though a king, he was all in for the money. In fact the entire taifa period right till the fall of Granada, it was never about muslim vs Christian, except with the almoravids and almohads, but all about the money.
This I found fascinating. I love Mediterranean history.
The Turkish Empire also made use of Christian soldiers very often. Voynuks and Martolos were the Christian units of the empire exempt from Jizya tax. I have also read Sipahis, who were traditionally Turkish horse archers, were sometimes recruited from Christians too. And of course most famously Janissaries, the royal guards of the Ottoman dynasty.
I hoped there would be something about christians dukes from balkans serving unter Ottoman Sultuans. Serbian involvement in Battle of Ankara first comes to mind.
Great video keep it up you're doing amazing things
All of this could've been avoided if the Church wasn't so authoritarian
Can we get some videos about mercenaries of the Ancient Chinese
You have to include Christian troops in Ottoman army in this series.
The truth is Muslim society has always been multi religious
To this day, you will find many Berber families in the Atlas Mountains with blue eyes and blonde hair
Native traits no relatin to Latin mercenaries this was just a lie to demonize the almoravids rulers
Yes
But it’s not due to Frankish or Latin soldiers
Even Tariq Ibn Ziyad was blonde blue eyed
Berbers can be from fair skinned blondes to dark skinned brown almost black
North to South it seems
Thanks for the great vids!
Love the artworks, amazing video 😊
Fun fact, one of Saladin military advisors was a Jew named Maimoides.
Not military Just Personal doctor
@@EM-tx3ly not only a doctor, he advised Saladin to conquer Yemen from a Shia ruler with actual military planning in 1174.
@@saltymonke3682 he was a doctor, what is your source that his he was also a military advisor?
Hi. Could you make a video about Diego García de Paredes? Dude was a gigachad. Maybe you could start a series of notable warriors.
I was waiting for someone looking at this topic for years, great video. Love it!
This os what weird on war, u can have christian on muslim side and muslim on christian side, take example of how eastern roman help saladdin, while seljuk help eastern roman to reclaim Constantinople
These are the lies the prayers said. The Romans are helping Muslims fight them, and this is the stupidest thing I have ever heard
Christians serving muslims has the same energy as greeks serving the persians
Not at all.. muslims and christians are abrahamic.. while persians were pagan..
I have the feeling that the old world was less radical in many ways than the world today
Pagan mercenaries in an Abrahamic-dominated world would be interesting.
Really nice video, thank you!
Less known and fascinating topic.
How do you have a battle if both sides are feigning retreat all the time?
Great video. More like this.
There still was romance languages within the berber lands until the late 16th century. I wonder if these soldiers may have had a part in keeping it alive.
in tamazgha latin continued in tunisia due latin minority
Thanks for the video ⚔️
Suggestions: Bengal and its eventual takeover by the East India company leading to the Colonization of India in general
Battle of plassey is covered. I would suggest Battle of Buxar.
The quasi mythical Cid was also (or had been at times) a mercenary for muslim rulers, a fact that's oft overlooked by those trying to portray him as a "champion of christianity against muslims"
Edit: Also, a king of Navarre (wh's name eludes me) did do some mercenary work in north africa for a local ruler. Something the kingdom of castille took advantage of to launch an invasion of navarre, forcing him to rush back to its defence
I'd watch a well-done TV series about Reverter and his bunch.
I guess they don't even know the meaning of the name Morocco
Land of god
Great job thanks 👍
The other way around is more often talked about. Thank you for this video.
Gold is Gold
Christian Guard for the Moors. Dismounted and Mounted, easily beat Feudal knights 1v1. Great unit.
Christians in Middle Eastern armies would've dressed the same as their Muslim counterparts: turban, robe, sandals, and sash
Super interesting topic! Thank you again for the super high quality content🙏
Consider not using annoying sound effects like beeping/dinging, loud background talking/yelling/screaming. It detracts from the video and makes it difficult for neurodiverent viewers.
You must be either a child or old asf if you think it's distracting
Make your own video than.
As far as I know, muslim women are not allowed to marry Christian men. So how did these European men have descendents in North Africa? Did they bring wives with them or was there still a Christian native population large enough to find women from?
Do one on turcopoles.
Plz make video on rise of democracy 🙏
Muslim ❤️ Christian