Reconquista list - Medieval Portuguese
The Portuguese knights have had there historical Dismountable characteristic removed despite the evidence of them dismounting and using English tactical at Battle of Trancoso and the Battle of Aljubarrota in 1385.
In The Chronicles of Froissart there is a description of the kings of Portugal ordering 12 knights to mount up and search the battlefield for survivors. This suggests that the knights were easily able to mount/dismount. The overall mention of mounted knights were amongst the Castilian/French knights being killed by English bowman and in the resting melee. Again supporting the argument that Portuguese knights were dismounted.
This is also very important period to the Portuguese as Aljubarrota is as important to them as Agincourt is to the English and is widely celebrated with all the battles of the 1383-85 war having state of the art visitors centres this battle matters to the Portuguese people.
The Portuguese visitors centres website for Battle of Aljubarrota has descriptions of the battles of 1383-85 war. They repeatedly make reference to dismounted knights for both Portuguese and Castilian armies and notes it was common to dismount to fight.
Aljubarrota is a very similar battle to Agincourt in fact Sir Thomas Erpingham who commanded the English archers at Agincourt also commanded English archers at Aljubarrota.
I also note Portuguese knights have been down graded to Mixed TuG comprising 1/2 knights and 1/2 sergeants what was the evidence for this?
This is a description from the visitors centres website for Battle of Aljubarrota.
In the early morning of August 14, the army of D. João I took its ground position, chosen the previous day by Nuno Álvares Pereira. By the end of the morning the Castilian army approached from a Roman road.
The shock with the Portuguese was avoided, once that implied having to go up a hill in very unfavourable conditions. They preferred to instead avoid the strong defensive position of the Portuguese through sea, and set ground in the wide area of Chão da Feira. The Portuguese army constituted of approximately 7.000 dismounted cavalry, then moved two kilometres south and inverted its battle position to face the enemy front.
Around six o'clock the Castilian assault the Portuguese position. Once the battle had begun five main phases of the battle can be described:
MOMENT I - ATTACK
The impetuous front of the King of Castile (mostly constituted by French allied troops, assured by Froissart) most likely begins a mounted attack which is repelled by the solid defence works prepared in advance by the D. João I´s troops, which came as a total surprise for their arrogant enemies. For the battle to proceed, the French were forced to dismount their Calvary (those who were still able to do so) at the enemy front and therefore in an absolute critical position.
MOMENT II - COMBAT ON THE GROUND!
Once D. Juan I is aware of the total disorder of his frontline, he decides to order the rest of his army, awaiting in Chão da Feira, majority of which were also mounted cavalry.
When approaching the Portuguese line, he realizes – contrary to what he had expected - that the battle was being fought on foot (due to the characteristics of the defensive entrenchment system conceived by the Portuguese army). Therefore, the Castilian cavalry is dismounted early and march the rest of the way on foot (a few hundred meters) until they reach their enemies. At the same time they cut their long spears to facilitate their movement in the face-to-face battle that awaited them.
MOMENT III - ARROWS
In the meantime, D. Juan I´s arms men are struck by spears and arrows from the English archers and the Portuguese "Flank of Sweethearts" respectively, which, together with the progressive narrowing of the battlefront (due to the ditches, pitches and caltrops) which hinder, disconcert and "deceive" (in the words of Fernão Lopes) the enemy and centre them in a disorganized fashion in the central part of the plateau; these were, by chance, the most decisive minutes of the day.
MOMENT IV - CASTILIAN FLANKS
As for the Castilian flanks, these remained mounted, which were destined - as was tradition at the time – to attack the Portuguese front which, due to the narrow characteristics of the plateau only allowed the right flank (led by the Master of Alcántara ) to do so, although at a tardy moment of the battle.
MOMENT V - PANIC AND GETAWAY
The Castilian army panics, when, within the Portuguese square the flag of the Castilian monarch is brought down. The Castilians then start to flee in a disorganized manner. This was followed by a short yet devastating Portuguese pursuit, interrupted by night fall. D. Juan of Castile flees, mounted on a horse along with some hundreds of Castilian Calvary . He travels close to fifty kilometres throughout that evening, reaching Santarém, exhausted and desperate. Until the following morning, thousands of Castilians are killed by population in the surrounding areas of the Battlefield and neighbouring towns.
The remaining of the franc-Castilian army leaves Portugal, through Santarém and later Badajóz and the other part, through Beira, from where they had entered.
At the battlefield, the Portuguese sustained looses of approximately 1.000, while the Castilian army, approximately 4.000 and 5.000 prisoners. Outside the Battlefield, in the days following the battle, the Portuguese population killed 5.000 men of arms fleeing from the Castilian army. Due to the political consequence of the Battle and to the numerous noblemen and men of arms lost, Castile mourned for a period of two years.
Think the Dismountable just got accidentally lost when the changes to the knights were made.
quote author=GDP link=topic=1025.msg8890#msg8890 date=1577800423]
I also note Portuguese knights have been down graded to Mixed TuG comprising 1/2 knights and 1/2 sergeants what was the evidence for this?
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Wrong question ;) There is (IMO) no evidence that the Portuguese were any different from other Iberian knights so the question was why were they not 50:50 knights:sergeants before :)