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Medieval Castilian

Medieval Castilian

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Historical Overview Section

The Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula, which changed hands regularly in a series of alliances, marriages and conquests, all whilst still fighting the Moors. Castile first emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century as the County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region. When Fernando I (who had united several kingdoms through conquest) died in 1065 he again split the various kingdoms between his sons and one daughter. Sancho II inherited the Kingdom of Castile; Alfonso VI, the kingdom of León; García, the kingdom of Galicia; and his daughter Urraca inherited the town of Zamora. Sancho II allied himself with Alfonso VI of León and conquered Galicia. Not being satisfied with Castile and half of Galicia, Sancho later attacked Alfonso VI and invaded León with the help of El Cid. Urraca permitted the greater part of the Leonese army to take refuge in the town of Zamora. Sancho laid siege to the town, but the Castilian king was assassinated in 1072 by Bellido Dolfos, a Galician nobleman. The Castilian troops then withdrew. As a result Alfonso VI recovered all his original territory of León, and now became the king of both Castile and Galicia. This was the second union of León and Castile, although the two kingdoms remained distinct entities joined only in a personal union.

The "Crown of Castile", as a historic entity covered by this list is usually considered to have begun in 1230 with the third and definitive union of the two kingdoms of León and Castile. Almost immediately after the union of the two kingdoms under Ferdinand III, the parliaments of Castile and León were united. It was divided into three estates, which corresponded with the nobility, the church and the cities, and included representation from Castile, León, Galicia, Toledo, Navarre and the Basque provinces. Initially the number of cities represented in the Cortes varied over the next century, until John I permanently set those that would be allowed to send representatives (procuradores): Burgos, Toledo, León, Sevilla, Córdoba, Murcia, Jaén, Zamora, Segovia, Ávila, Salamanca, Cuenca, Toro, Valladolid, Soria, Madrid and Guadalajara (with Granada added after its conquest in 1492).

On the death of Alfonso XI a dynastic conflict started between his sons, the Infantes Pedro and Henry, Count of Trastámara, which became entangled in the Hundred Years' War. Alfonso XI had married Maria of Portugal with whom he had his heir, the Infante Pedro. However, the King also had many illegitimate children with Eleanor of Guzman, among them the above-mentioned Henry, who disputed Pedro's right to the throne once the latter became king. In the resulting struggle, in which both brothers claimed to be king, Pedro allied himself with Edward, the Prince of Wales, "the Black Prince." In 1367 the Black Prince defeated Henry II's allies at the Battle of Nájera, restoring Pedro's control of the kingdom. The Black Prince, seeing that the king would not reimburse his expenses, left Castile. Henry, who had fled to France, took advantage of the opportunity and recommenced the fight. Henry finally was victorious in 1369 in the Battle of Montiel, in which he killed Pedro.

In 1371 the brother of the Black Prince, John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, married Constance, Pedro's daughter. In 1388 he claimed the Crown of Castile in the name of his wife, the legitimate heir according to the Cortes de Seville of 1361. He arrived in A Coruña with an army and took the city. He then moved on to occupy Santiago de Compostela, Pontevedra and Vigo. He asked John I, Henry II's son, to give up the throne in favor of Constance. John declined but proposed that his son, the Infante Henry, marry John of Gaunt's daughter Catherine. The proposal was accepted, and the title Prince of Asturias was created for Henry and Catherine. This brought an end to the dynastic conflict, strengthened the House of Trastámara's position and created peace between England and Castile.

In October 1469 Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Aragon, married in secret in the Palacio de los Vivero in Valladolid. The consequence was a dynastic union of the Crown of Castile and Crown of Aragon in 1479 when Ferdinand ascended to the Aragonese throne. This union however was not effective until the reign of his grandson Charles I. Between 1478 and 1497 the monarchs conquered the Canary Islands of Gran Canaria, La Palma and Tenerife. On the 2nd January 1492 the monarchs entered Granada's Alhambra marking the end of the Reconquest. Also in 1492 Christopher Columbus discovered the West Indies and in 1497 Castile conquered Melilla. After Castile's conquest of the Later Granadine Kingdom its politics turned towards the Mediterranean, and Castile militarily helped the Medieval Crown of Aragon in its problems with the Ordonnance French culminating in the reconquest of Naples for the Crown of Aragon in 1504.

Using the army in FoG

  • Very much a not quite so good version of the Santa Hermandad Nueva Castilian, this list has many of the same strengths and flaws
  • Tempting as it is, there really isn't much point in having the jinetes and mounted crossbowmen as armoured - take them as Protected.
  • Use the XB in 8's to support your massed LH on a flank.
  • There are not quite enough spearmen to make a wall of spear, and they are protected so consider taking them as poor, with rear support from cheap poor crossbows or light spear blokes as mobile terrain.
  • Lots of LF may allow you to take a tricky terrain-heavy route to beating down your opponents will to live.
  • The French and Navarrese seem rather extravagant, as all these troop types exist in the main list
  • Once you have 8 compulsory knights, you may as well have 12 and then plan the rest of the army to support them. generally, if you like Knights, go big and have lots. Take only the minimum formed foot and use them to guard the camp, and then attack in a wall of knights across the table supported by lots of LH and LF units to bulk out the army size.
  • If you have a mix of BGs of drilled and Undrilled knights, only the end BGs need to be drilled – the undrilled can march forward and fight anything in their path.
  • BGs of 6 knights are probably too wide to use effectively
  • Defensive spears struggle to push forwards against most things - only take them if their role is going to be to hold up the enemy.
  • Crossbow units generally are troops which do not win battles. They can cause heavily armoured and armoured knights pause for thought and are pretty good against cavalry but generally unless you expect to face off against lots of knights, or cynically plan to use them as a unit of 6 in column to support spearmen from behind you may be better spending points elsewhere on game winning units.
  • A billiard table will allow all your LH and LF units most opportunity to irritate the enemy
  • Average Knights are the wrong choice in 99 out of 100 possible situations – even if you are tempted to downgrade the French allied Kn to save points, don't.

UK Tournament Results with this army

User-contributed links about this army:

Allies

  • Aragonese, Medieval Crown of Aragon A big messy ally with Knights, foot spears and crossbows, all of which duplicate the main list and are hard to co-ordinate.

15mm Manufacturers supplying figures suitable for Late Medieval Armies

You can see some of the figures in the Ancients Photo Gallery also on this site

Image Image Image Image Image

Core Troops


Which troops are absolutely needed for this army, and what are your thoughts on how to organise, paint and buy them.

Army Lists

Sample army lists for this army

  • General Castellano FC CinC 50
  • General Castellano FC 50
  • General Castellano TC 35
  • Men at Arms 2 BGs (4 stands each) Kn Heavily Armoured Superior Undrilled Lancers Swordmen 184
  • Military Order Men at Arms 1 BG (4 stand) Kn Heavily Armoured Superior Drilled Lancers Swordmen 104
  • Jinetes 1 BG (4 stand) LH Armoured Average Undrilled Javelins Light Spear 44
  • Mounted Crossbowmen 1 BG (4 stand) LH Armoured Average Drilled Crossbow 44
  • Crossbowmen 1 BG (8 stand) MF Protected Average Undrilled Crossbow 48
  • Granadine Cavalry 1 BG (4 stand) LH Unprotected Average Drilled Javelins Light Spear 28
  • Hermandad Spearmen 1 BG (8 stand) HF Armoured Average Drilled defensive spearmen 72
  • Other Spearmen 1 BG (8 stand) HF Protected Average Undrilled defensive spearmen 48
  • Javelinmen 1 BG (6 stand) MF Protected Average Undrilled Light Spear 30
  • Javelinmen 1 BG (6 stand) LF Unprotected Average Undrilled Javelins Light Spear 24
  • Archers 1 BG (6 stand) MF Protected Average Undrilled Bow 36

12 BGs, 797 pts

  • General Castellano FC CinC 50
  • 2 Generales Castellanos FC 70
  • Men at Arms 2 BGs (4 stands each) Kn Heavily Armoured Superior Undrilled Lancers Swordmen 184
  • Military Order Men at Arms 1 BG (4 stand) Kn Heavily Armoured Superior Drilled Lancers Swordmen 104
  • Jinetes 1 BG (4 stand) LH Protected Average Undrilled Javelins Light Spear 32
  • Mounted Crossbowmen 1 BG (4 stand) LH Protected Average Drilled Crossbow 32
  • Crossbowmen 1 BG (8 stand) MF Protected Average Undrilled Crossbow 48
  • Granadine Cavalry 1 BG (4 stand) LH Unprotected Average Drilled Javelins Light Spear 28
  • Hermandad Spearmen 1 BG (8 stand) HF Armoured Average Drilled defensive spearmen 72
  • Other Spearmen 1 BG (8 stand) HF Protected Average Undrilled defensive spearmen 48
  • Javelinmen 1 BG (6 stand) MF Protected Average Undrilled Light Spear 30
  • Javelinmen 1 BG (6 stand) LF Unprotected Average Undrilled Javelins Light Spear 24
  • Archers 1 BG (6 stand) MF Protected Average Undrilled Bow 36
  • Heavy guns 2 BGs (2 stand each) Hart Average Undrilled Heavy Artillery 40

13 BGs, 798 pts

Remember to leave a line before you copy the above section as a template for your own list

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Created by admin. Last Modification: Tuesday 12 of November, 2019 19:00:13 GMT by admin. (Version 12)
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