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BERBER MUSICIAN
An extract from Armies of Feudal Europe 1066-1300by Ian Heath
84. BERBER MUSICIAN
Murabit, Almohade, Marinid and Granadine armies alike were usually accompanied by musicians, particularly trumpeters and drummers. Each Murabit and Almohade cavalry unit in fact had its own drums, and it was the large drum batteries of the Murabits, first encountered at the Battle of Sagrajas in 1086, by which Christian chroniclers appear to have been most impressed; they are mentioned in nearly all the surviving sources, thundering across the battle-field and dumbfounding the Christian knights. The figure depicted here is again from the 13th century 'Cántigas' mss. Note the absence of stirrups due to his sitting well back on his horse, almost on its rump. He has a pair of kettle-drums one slung to each side of the horse, and wears a faded red tunic, white turban, light tan leggings and black shoes.
[Based on Panel 5 of Page 2 of Cantiga 165 of the Cantigas de Santa Maria of Alfonso X]