a sovereign crisis 43
openly prized and praised their Muslim archers — who specialized in using
the heavy “two- foot crossbow,” so called not because of its length but be-
cause archers used both feet to tense it.^24 Christian Aragonese soldiers, by
contrast, only employed a light crossbow. Relatedly, the Crown employed
Mudéjares for the purpose of weapon making. In 1280 , an engineer ( faber)
named Mahomet (Muḥammad) arrived at the court and so impressed the
king with his metalwork, in particular crossbow bolts (cairells), that the
king placed him in his private employ.^25 And in 1295 , the king called upon
the Mudéjares of Daroca and Calatayud to make weapons for his armies.^26
There is, however, no evidence of Mudéjar cavalry, a fact that may provide
an explanation for the need to recruit North African soldiers for this role.
Significantly, the Crown’s experience with Mudéjar soldiers was not
without problems. During al- Azraq’s second uprising, when the jenets
were attacking the lands of the Crown, King Jaume expressed anger and
surprise at the refusal of certain Mudéjares to come to his aid:
While we were in Valencia, the leader (alcait from Ar. al- qā’id) of Játiva came
to us with a large group of Saracens and about ten elders from the village. He
entered very happily and kissed my hand and asked how we were. And we
said, “Well by the grace of God, but that we are very distressed by the wrongs
al- Azraq has committed in [taking] our castles and marvel at your allowing it.”
[And he said:] “Lord, if it distresses you, know that it distresses us and causes
grief.” But they seemed happier and more content than we had ever seen them.
We thought that they would be distressed by the wrong al- Azraq had done us
and offer help, but none of them offered it.^27