Kingdom in the Sun

Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM

Kingdom in the Sun: The Normans in Andalus

England. Sicily. France. The Holy Land. These were the places where the Normans left their mark. ”Materialistic, quick-witted, adaptable, electic, still blessed with the inexhaustible energy of the Viking forebears and a superb self confidence that was all their own, the early Norman adventurers were admirably equipped for the roles they were about to play”. But there was another place where they might have…

In 1014, forty odd Normans decide that instead of visiting Monte Cassino on their way home from the Holy Land, they shall visit Compostela, in Spain. Compostela was, historically, one of the greatest sites for pilgrimage in the Middle Ages, and the legendary burial place of the Apostle James the Greater (Santiago).

Compostela was the third greatest pilgrimage site in the middle ages, after Rome and Jerusalem, so I do not find this too implausible. They are attacked in Southern Spain by brigands (this is in the time when the Umayadd Caliphate, or Al-Andalus, was disintegrating into civil war).

The Normans kill the brigands, but they impress many in Spain. Upon arriving Leon, where Alfonso V, the Noble, is holding court, he offers their leader a proposal. Would they fight as mercenaries for him?

Here is a chance that the Normans have been waiting for. This is a rich fertile land, where they could live as kings. A land where they were being invited, implored almost, to enter, which offered them boundless opportunities. Even better, the war could be justified on both legal and religious grounds, as its goal was the liberation of a subject people from the infidel, and restoring the Roman Church to Southern Spain.

Of course, not even Norman pilgrims are prepared for a war. The Normans return home, laden with gifts from Andalusia. , including lemons, almonds, silk clothes, and fine weapons. The Normans return to Normandy, where word spreads of the rich land to the south, ruled by an effeminate people who had far more wealth than they could need.

The first contingents leave in 1017, and are largely composed of knights’ and squires’ younger sons. In addition, there are many other mercenaries, gamblers, and others who join the party. By the summer the party has reached Leon, where it appears that there has been a terrible misunderstanding.

Alfonso has been busy establishing the fuero, a statement of military obligation. The charter demands that the residents of the city meet with the king of his representatives, and for settlers of new lands to assist in the defense of the city’s walls in times of war. The leader of the Normans, Rainulf, is impressed by this. But Alfonso wanted mercenaries to help unify the north, not to take Southern Spain. The Caliphate still appears to be formidable, and no one yet knows that the disintegration is permanent. Also, in 1016, Normans destroyed Tuy, in Leon. This does not cause Alfonso to have warm feelings towards them. Rainulf is contemptuous of the attitude, and the Normans head into Al-Andalus, in search of better pickings.

The Normans travel east, where they reach Zaragosa. The city of Zaragoza is, at this time, ruled Al-Mundhir b. Yahya, of the Tjibis. The Tujibis have been the rulers of Zaragoza, since effectively the early 900’s. As the Caliphate collapsed, they have become more and more independent. Al-Mundhir receives the Normans courteously, praising the bravery of the Normans, and their skill with weapons. He pays the Normans well, and gives their leader, Rainulf, a gift of a silk robe. The two eat bread and salt together, and Rainulf leads the Normans as mercenaries. The Normans quickly become contemptuous of the local warriors, who are inexperienced. Al-Mundhir has, by the end of 1017, solidified his rule over Tortossa.

1018- The Normans join the Andalusi expedition force which is led by the Umayyad claimant Al-Murtada. The Normans give the force additional strength, but it is stopped outside of Grenada by the Berbers. Rainulf makes out rather well from the expedition, gaining wealth from the capture of Malaga.

1019- Normans stream to Iberia. But in a land where three races (Berbers, Andalusis, and Spaniards) and two religions (Christian and Muslim) fight everyone else and themselves, swords are always in high demand. Some Normans refuse to sell themselves to the Moors, and fight for the Christian kings. Sancho III of Navarre hires some, and they are rather useful in annexing the counties of Aragon, Sobrarbe, and Ribagorze. The latter two are conquered from Moors in the Taifa of Zargaroza.

Meanwhile, Sancho III of Navarre has solidified his status as the “protector” of Castille, and his nephew, who is only a small child at the time.

With the encouragement of Rainful, leader of the Norman band in Zargaroza, Al-Mundhir attacks and conquers the Taifa of Tudela, which is ruled by a general in the former army of the Caliphate. It is added to the Taifa within a year.

1020- The Normans continue their attack on Tudela, which falls in March.

Sancho begins a war against Alfonso of Leon. The war will prove rather indecisive, as the Normans in these two armies will press for clemency for the mercenaries from Normandy on the other side.

1021- In February, Al-Mundhir dies. He is succeeded by his son, Yahya. Yahya views the Normans as his key to reuniting the Caliphate, as the current Caliph, Al-Qasim, is seen as a joke.

Al-Mundhir begins a policy of rapacious expansionism. Muqatil, the mercenary Slav who has become the warlord of the city of Tortosa, is the first to go. Muqatil hires Normans of his own, who fight for the warlord.

1022- The expedition of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry to subdue Southern Italy fails miserably. Outside the walls of the Byzantine border town of Troia, Henry watches helplessly as his army dies in the pestilence ridden south Italian landscape. He finally withdraws, and the Byzantines and Empire agree to a truce.

Muqatil is executed by Al-Mundhir. The Normans are given clemency, however; Rainful takes them on as part of his force.

1023- The Caliphate effectively ends, when Muhammed, the Taifa of Seville, shuts the gate to Al-Qasim, the caliph.

Al-Mundhir’s army appears unstoppable. The Normans repulse a raiding party of Sancho’s, and with his help, take the Berber Taifa of Albarricin. This causes a panic in the other Taifas. The Normans appear unstoppable. With their support, who can resist Al-Mundhir?

Fortunately, Rainulf is aware of that as well. Rainulf is also one of the few Normans to realize what is at stake. Rainulf, who is oin command of the largest band of Normans, receives messages covertly from Ismail of Toledo, Mujahid of Denia, and Muzaffar in Valencia. All three are, of course, former Slav mercenaries. They offer to divide the treasury of Zargaroza with tnhe Normans. This isn’t enough. The Normans want land.

1024- The Normans garrisoning Zargaroza raise the banner of revolt. The armies of Denia, Valenica, and Toledo attack the borders, and succeed in taking border territory.

But the core of the realm remains intact. Rainulf has taken over the Taifa of Zargaroza.

1025- Rainulf sends an envoy to Sancho, who is invading Leon. In exchange for some of his men, Rainulf would swear fealty as the Count of Zargaroza. Sancho considers the offer for a month. On the one hand, he could use the men, and the tribute would be useful. But the Normans have shown themselves to be treacherous, to a degree. Sancho finally agrees, and Rainulf becomes the Count of Zargaoza. This is the greatest day to the Normans since their arrival. Now they have land of their own, by the age-old feudal tradition. They were tenants of their own elected leader. More and more Normans devote themselves to carving out territory of their own. Spain is no longer a battlefield, no longer a place to plunder, but one to be developed. It is their home.

Kingdom in the Sun: Part Two

To recap: The Normans go to Compostela instead of Monte Cassino on the way home from the pilgrimage. They are hired as mercenaries by Alfonso of Leon, rebuffed, and hire themselves out to the Moor ruler of the Taifa of Zargaroza. As all good mercenaries do when the situation is favorable, they promptly launch a coup (promptly being 5 years after being hired) and form the Duchy of Zargaroza. (It was a county, but something of this size would have, historically, been a County; thus the change).

1026- Rainulf, Count of Zargaroza, is worried about his position. With so many of his subjects fleeing in terror at their barbarian conqueror, he is losing vital revenues. Rainulf has been wondering about this for a while, and, like most Normans, holds the law in great esteem. Not necessarily just law, mind, but the concept of law. He issues the Charter of Rights and Responsibilities for his subjects. He guarantees them:

1) The Right to worship to God in the manner of their forefathers. Converting from the religion of your forefathers is punished by death. (This was also the case, for a while, in Norman Sicily).
2) The feudal tradition is established in the County, in a fashion. Men who serve the king in war pay less taxes than those who do not. He also has several q'adis provide him Quranical evidence for this, on the basis that the poll tax applies to those who do not fight as well. Needless to say, Zargaroza becomes the first territory to raise Muslim levies.
3) The great estates of the lords of the marches are broken up. Instead of the massive estates which characterized the Taifa zargaroza and the Caliphate, the Normans establish a series of manors. But there are also many small farmers, because as of now, land is plentiful. The region had been depopulated over the last fifty years, despite its great fertility..
4) Finally, Rainulf pledges that the Count will assemble "learned men" from his lands every year, to listen to their pleas and requests. This is known as the Cortes.
5) To resolve local disputes, Rainulf appoints justicars, who act as magistrates for the region.

With this completed, Rainulf continues encouraging the settlement of his County. The temporary hemorrhage of Moors is abated, and gradually reversed, as the County is the most peaceful region of the peninsula.

Meanwhile, Rainulf continues to assist Sancho III of Navarre in his conquest of Leon. Sancho is crowned in the capital of Leon in 1029, and effectively unifies all the Christian regions of the peninsula. Many of the Moors begin conquering smaller neighbors.

1035- Sancho dies. Viewing his kingdom as his personal domain, divides it amongst his sons. Ferdinand becomes king of Castile-Leon, Garcia gains Navarre, and the bastard Ramiro gains Aragon, which is promoted to a kingdom status.

The Byzantines receive an appeal for help from Aal-Akhal, who was being attacked by the Zirids of Kairouan. The Byzantines, who had decided to invade Sicily, agree to help.

Finally, three Hautevilles, William, Drogo, and Humphrey travel to Zargaroza, where they enlist in the serve of Rainulf. Rainulf is rapidly fanning the flames of the war that is stirring between Ferdinand and Garcia.

In Souther Italy, Gaimair V, prince of Salerno, rises against his uncle, Pandulf. Gaimar appeals to the emperors of the East and the west.

1036. Pandulf appeals to the Byzantines to help him instead of invading Sicily. The Byzantines, disgusted with him, refuse. Gaimar gains control of Naples and Salerno over the next several years, and is the loyal vassal of the Holy roman Emperor of the West.

1037- The Abbasids of Seville begin a policy of rampant expansionism in the south. They are principally opposed by the Grenadines, who are led by a Jew named Samuel.

1038- The Byzantines land in Sicily. Messina falls to the Byzantines, and so does Rometto. Their armies over the next several years reach as far as Syracuse.

The war between Ferdinand and Garcia continues. Norman troops are conspicuously absent.

Rainulf has been busy, however. The pirates of the Emirate of Malloraca have been raiding his coast, and he has had enough. In the first Norman anaval expidition, they invade the Baleares. After a grueling three year campaign, the last island, Menorca, falls. This marks the beginning of the Norman Mediterranean empire.

1040- Maniakes continues the conquest of history. The intrigues in the court in Byzantium against him fail, in part because the heavier losses he has received without the Normans have made him appear even more important to the conquest. The island of Sicily will return to the Empire of the East by 1042, when the last garrison surrenders.

But the depletion of Greek garrisons, and the conscription for manpower, in Magna Graeca (Greek Italy) leads to a revolt in Southern Italy. Maniakes succeeds in suppressing the revolt, earning him honors and acclaim.

Maniakes becomes the new Capatan of Byzantine Italy. He crushes the Lombards utterly under his heel.

The war between Garcia and Ferdinand continues. The Normans see little of interest to gain from the war, and remain neutral.

Also, a border skirmish over the city of Guadalajara. Arises between Count Rainulf and Ibn Dhi'l-jNun of Toledo. Rainulf, hearing of the sack of the city, vows to seek revenge. Rainulf personally, despite his age, leads an army against the Taifa of Toledo. Rainulf defeats Ibn outside of Toledo, and ravages the countryside. His fearsome Mullawad (Spanish Muslim) heavy infantry are by far the best in Spain, and Norman cavalry provides a devastating complement.

1043- The Taifa of Toledo is divided amongst its neighbors. Rainulf has more than doubled his realm's size with the conquest, and can now raid, if he so pleases, into any land he pleases.

Rainulf, tired from his exertions, passes away. Some speak of poison, but the most probable cause for his death was simply the bad meat he ate. His death is lamented by all in the County, and his

Robert Guiscard, a relative of Drogo, Duke of Tortosa, arrives in the capital in Zagaroza. Guiscard wants land; and while there is plenty to give, his brash attitude infuriates brother and King. Robert receives a proposal from Rainulf II, who dislikes Robert intensely, in part because he has a claim to the County. Robert is to be the Duke of Lisboa; if he can conquer it.

1045- After two years of raising funds and men, Robert attacks Bajadoz, ruled by Muhammed b. 'Abd Allah al- Muzaffar. Muhammed is a scholar, not a poet; yet he feels confident that his walls can withstand the siege. Guisard earns his nickname the cunning by personally leading a handful of men into the city by sneaking in a wagon. Upon entering the city, the men hide as travelers, until the Norman army arrives. When it reaches the gates, they are opened by Guiscard and his men.

Robert Guiscard is now the Duke of Lisboa, and pays homage to the King Garcia.

Guiscard's conquest triggers wages of panic in the southern Taifas. Badis of Grenada speaks with Abbad of Seville about joining forces against them, but they cannot do anything; yet. Their military is too weak, and there is no hope of support from outside the peninsula. The Abbads and Grenadines wage war against Guiscard, but Guiscard breaks the alliance between Abbad and Badis, and forces Abbad to pay him a large tribute, known as the paria.

1049- Guiscard has finally established his position as the Duke of Lisboa. His brother, Drogo, Duke of Tortosa, is slain. Although in reality the agents of his brother's death were hired by Abbad of Seville, Guiscard lays the blame upon Rainulf II. Rainulf, already an unpopular king, declares Guiscard a rebel. Guiscard, in return, says that he is the rightful ruler of the County, and demands Rainulf surrender his claim.

Ferdinand of Castille Leon pledges his support, and Robert pays homage to him, with money collected from the Abbad's paria. The paria is humiliating to the people of Seville, who are forced to pay taxes that not even their brethren to the north pay.

1050- Gaimar, prince of Salerno, goes to war with the Byzantines over possession of the town of Reggio. Maniakes, in his last campaign before his death, defeats Gaimar near Taranto.

Guiscard's heavy cavalry defeat his relative Rainulf's army outside of Toledo. Rainulf II retreats, but Guiscard has assassins he hired from Abbad kill him. The Counties accept Guiscard as their lawful sovereign. Guiscard's army then marches north, into Navarre. Guiscar'd presence in the war between Ferdinand and Garcia, which he started.

1051- A pro-Byzantine faction emerges in Amalfi, and refuses to pay tribute. The Maniakes proceeds to smash Gaimar's mercenary armies, and eventually the city falls to him. Maniakes gains the city on the basis that this was once a Byzantine city, and by rising in revolt against his sovereign, the Lombard prince and his lineage have forfeited their rights. This marks the effective end of Lombard nationalism.