The Mercenary Mediterranean_ Sovereignty, Religion, and Violence in the Medieval Crown of Aragon - Hussein Fancy

136 chapter six

Granadan cavalry (e aqui donaren se los uns abs los altres de grans colps).

For their part, the Templars dispatched several armed horsemen and

ordered their crossbowmen to discharge a volley of bolts. “Through the

mercy of Our Lord,” Berenguer added, the Templars and jenets killed a

hundred of the Granadan soldiers and pressed the rest into retreat within

the castle of Huercal. The Templars suffered the loss of one foot soldier,

and al- ‘Abbās, of four to six men. All the soldiers returned to Lorca the

following day. Two days later, on account of the honor and profit gained

by the Temple through this mission (e los profit e la honor del Temple per

aquesta raho vos scrivim aquestes novelles), Berenguer de Cardona ad-

dressed this report to Bertran de Canelles, the very same man who had

called al- ‘Abbās and his jenets the worst men in the world.

Berenguer’s report is striking not only for its substance but also for

its import. In the former respect, it provides unparalleled detail. Here,

one witnesses the quintessential border raid, the primary aim of which

was to plunder and create chaos rather than conquer: the soldiers ran-

sacked and burned mills, fields, and towns; they operated in a small, light

company with several scouts but nevertheless engaged in the siege of a

castle. The military skill of the jenets, moreover, was manifest. Al- ‘Abbās’

cavalry served as a frontline, and consequently suffered the only signifi-

cant losses. By contrast, the heavily armed Knights of the Temple lagged

behind with only a few horsemen capable of keeping pace with the jenets.

Perhaps more striking than this wealth of detail is the document’s import.

First, the Templars, whom one readily associates with crusading, were rid-

ing alongside Muslim soldiers into Muslim territory, a fact that deepens

the extent of Christian- Muslim military collaboration in this period.^103

Sec ond, among the hundreds of documents involving jenets, this is the

only surviving record of Aragonese jenets fighting Ghuzāh soldiers from

Granada.^104 Despite the fact that al- ‘Abbās’ jenets had refused to attack

Granada when speaking with Bernat de Libia, it now appears that they

underwent some change of heart.

In sharp contrast to the royal administrators, Berenguer de Cardona,

who penned this report, appeared confident of al- ‘Abbās’ loyalty to the

Crown: “My Lord [Jaume II], know that al- ‘Abbās acted well and faith-

fully in this raid, and we saw and know that he desires to serve loyally....

It should be certain to you, Lord, that he is essential to you in this kingdom

[Murcia].”^105 The Templars, it should be added, had strongly advocated

a full invasion of Granada.^106 And to the degree that al- ‘Abbās’ pres-

ence furthered that end, in Berenguer’s eyes, this collaboration between