Slave Soldiers and Islam_ The Genesis of a Military System - Daniel Pipes

56

TheIslamicateContext

onthe

stirrup

in

Europe

6

andthen

explore

its

possible

effects

on

Islamdom.

Placingstirrups

ona

horse

vastly

enhancesthe

power

ofitsrider.Whenhesitsinthesaddle

without

anygrip

forhis

feet,

a

soldierwieldsalancewiththe

strengthonlyofhisarms

and

legs.The

stirrup

weldshorseandriderintoa

singleunit;

nowthesoldiercanattackwithhis

lance

carrying

theentireforce

ofhisand

thehorse’scombined

weight.Heavycavalryoutfitted

with

stirrupsenjoysa

greatpreponderance

over

infantry(itdoes

notaffect

lightcavalryinmost

cases).

Butitwas

exceedinglyex-

pensive;equipment

forone

horsemaninmedieval

Europe

cost

about

the same as

plough-teams

for ten

families--not even

counting

the

priceofremountsandretainers.

White

approaches

the

stirrup’s

roleinmedieval

Europeby

ac-

cepting

HeinrichBrunner’sclassic

statementof 1887 ontheori-

gins

offeudalism.Brunnerconnectstwoeventswhich

occurred

closelyintime:theincreasedroleof

cavalry

intheFranks’

ar-

miesbetween

732

and

775 c.E.andtheconfiscationofchurch

lands

by

CharlesMartel

(r.714-41).

He

suggests

thattheFranks

hadto

augment

their

cavalry

andthatthechurchlands

helped

to

pay for thevastnew

expenses

ofhorses,

equipment,

and

training;

butnowhere does

Brunner

explain

whatitwasthat

compelled

theFranksto

increasetheircavalryatthattime.Here,

where

prior

theorieswere

lacking,

White

introducedthe

stirrup

asan

explanation.

Themetal

stirruporiginated

in

fifth-century

China,whenceit

passed

toCentralAsiaandthe

MiddleEast.TheMuslimshadit

by

74/694

and

surely

useditafter92/711intheir

conquest

of

Spain

andinvasions

ofGaul.

Although

theMuslimslosttothe

FranksatPoitiersin

115/733,thelatter

presumably

notedthe

stirrup’s

effectiveness and took

steps

to

adopt it, enlarging

the

cavalryand

designating

churchlandsto

pay

forit.Accord-

ing

to

White’sthesis,the

stirrupbrought

abouta

military

trans-

formationwhichcontributedtoa

far-reaching

social

upheaval,

the

feudalorder.Thesoldiersonhorseswhobenefitedfrom

6.

Masterfullypresentedinchapter ofhisMedieval

Technology

andSocial

Change(London,1962).Foroneof
manycritiques,seeR.H.HiltonandP.H.

Sawyer,"TechnicalDeterminism:The
Stirrup

and

thePlough,"PastandPresent

24
(April1963):

90-100.