Create an Amazon Business Account
Illustration from
Scylitzes Chronicle
f73v upper. Battle at Lalakaon and death of Amer
180 Detail of eleventh/twelfth-century Byzantine 'Skylitzes' manuscript showing Byzantine and Saracen troops. (Biblioteca nacionale, Madrid. Skylitzes Manuscript - Cod 5-3. NZ)
Source: p165, David Nicolle, "An introduction to arms and warfare in classical Islam", in: Islamic Arms and Armour, ed. Robert Elgood, London 1979
Referenced on p11 Byzantine Armies 886-1118 by Ian Heath
Another engagement between kontarion-armed cavalry, this time from the heavily illustrated manuscript of Scylitzes, now in Madrid. The illuminations probably post-date this era but appear to have been largely based on 11th-century originals. Points to note here are the quivers of the two bodies in the foreground, and the bandon-type standards with their long, streamer-like tails. Armour is mainly scale (or mail?). (Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid)
