[Vytautas Z]

Hi all !

Just wondering if anyone here know about certain regulations for Saracen (Moslem) cavalry introduced in XIIth century in Egypt, (by Fatimids). The only documentation for cavalry like forces was ''Furūsiyya (Arabic: فروسية) is the historical Arabic term for knightly martial exercise during the Middle Ages, during the Crusades '' but I could not find specific requirements for Saracen cavalry.

I know that one of them was that the cavalryman had to be able to arm (i.e. put on armour and weapons etc.) himself without the help of an arms bearer. There are supposedly three more requirements...

Any ideas ? Thank you for your help !

[A. Elema]

I don't know the answer, but I suspect it comes from al-Ahdab, a.k.a. Najm al-Din Ayyub Ahdab al-Rammah, who wrote a fight book for cavalry in the thirteenth century.

We really badly need translations of the Arab fight books. There are more medieval manuals in that tradition than ones in German or Italian, but I don't think any of them have been translated into any European language yet.