5 - A WARRIOR ARISTOCRACY

Summary

In Chapter 2, brief mention was made of the wax seal that was commissioned by Count Pedro Manrique, lord of Molina, some time prior to 1179. Although the seal has survived only in a very worn condition, it is still perfectly possible to make out its design. It depicts a knight, protected by a conical helmet and a long kite-shaped shield, mounted upon a galloping charger and brandishing a lance. This, without any shadow of a doubt, was how Count Pedro wished to present himself to the world: warlike, puissant, unstoppable; a warrior aristocrat indeed. In similar vein, when the author of the Poem of Almería sought to extol the virtues of the magnates who had taken part in the Andalusian campaign of 1147, he laid particular emphasis upon their martial qualities. On account of his valour and expert sword-play, for example, Count Ponce de Cabrera was considered the equal of Samson, Gideon, Jonathan, Hector and Ajax. Such was the military expertise of the Galician Fernando Yáñez, according to the poet, that he was never vanquished in battle. In a society where warfare was endemic, the role of the warrior was exalted and prowess in battle conferred prestige and privilege upon wealthy magnate and impoverished knight alike. True, the nobilitas of the aristocrat derived from his birth, his wealth and his power, but to a very great extent participation in war may be said to have been his very raison d'être.

Medieval León-Castile has been aptly described as ‘a society organised for war’.