The
Turcopoles were first encountered by the
Crusaders during the 1st crusade while fighting for the Byzantines. These auxiliary cavalry were recruited from mixed Greek and Turkish origin, but later when employed by the
Crusaders were probably recruited from converted Seljuk Turks or Christian Syrians .
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| 28mm Curteys Miniatures Turcopoles with bow ME60 |
Primarily employed as light cavalry armed with light lance and bows the
Turcopoles would usualy be found acting as skirmishers, scouts, and mounted archers, used but on occasion could be as rear ranks in a charge to support the
Frankish Crusading knights.
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| 28mm Curteys Miniatures Turcopoles with spear ME57 |
Turcopole style light cavalry could be found serving throughout the Holy Land fighting for both military order and the secular armies of Outremer.
Following the expulsion of the military orders out of the Holy Land Turcopole light cavalry were established on Cyprus with the
Knights Templar on Rhodes and Malta with the
Knights Hospitaller, while the
Teutonic Knights called its own northern native light cavalry 'Turcopolen'.this pobably reflects the transformation from an ethnic origin to a name associated with the actions performed by troops of a certain type.
The 28mm
Turcopole figures shown are the first 2 packs available towards our ever expanding range of C13th medieval figures, more packs including Turcopole command, Turcopoles armed with hand weapon or throwing spear and Turcopole archers loading are in the pipeline.
