ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes viewing Christian militias in North Africa and alAndalus in a different light. In re-narrating the history of these soldiers, it departs from earlier studies in two important respects. And perhaps most significantly, both Christian and Muslim rulers came to agree upon common practices and limits for the use of religious others as soldiers. Although the earliest evidence is sparse, within the Iberian Peninsula the use of foreign Christian soldiers by Muslim rulers can be traced at least as far back as the Umayyad period. In fact, the rise of the Almohad Empire marked an important step toward the institutionalization of Christian militias. Christian militia played a prominent role in the defense of the Almohads against the advancing Marinid armies. Despite the fact that the Almohads had depended upon Christian soldiers in their wars against them, these new Berber kingdoms systematically recruited these same men to serve in their armies and in their courts.
