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Turcopole
Recruits by the Byzantines and crusaders / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
During the period of the Crusades, turcopoles (also "turcoples" or "turcopoli"; from the Greek: τουρκόπουλοι, literally "sons of Turks")[1] were locally recruited mounted archers and light cavalry employed by the Byzantine Empire and the Crusader states. A leader of these auxiliaries was designated as Turcopolier, a title subsequently given to a senior officer in the Knights Templars and the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, in charge of the coastal defences of Rhodes and Malta.[2] In addition to the two Military Orders, the army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem employed king's turcoples under the direction of a Grand Turcopolier.[3]
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