Battle Of Aljubarrota, August 14, 1385

By André Geraque Kiffer

Aljubarrota was one of the great pitched battles of the Middle Ages between two royal armies and one of the most decisive events in the history of Portugal. In the diplomatic field, it allowed the alliance between Portugal and England, which continues to this day. Politically, it resolved the Portuguese dispute against the Kingdom of Castile and Leon, allowing Portugal to be declared an independent kingdom, paving the way under the Avis dynasty for one of the most remarkable eras in its history, the Age of Discovery. Analyzing the battle of Aljubarrota we observed that the Castilians should have sought to guard against the tactical surprises of the Portuguese device. They should have forced the noble gentlemen (mainly French) to put aside the pride of their cavalry charges. They should not have left the bulk of their infantry behind - on the contrary, it should have been the top echelon from the start - and when this weapon was employed it should not have been concentrated in the center, not only after some initial success, but throughout the whole battle. And in this case, the penetration “shoulders” - right and left wings - should have been reinforced. Finally, in the technique they should have sought a better job - adapted to the terrain and enemy situation - for their important force of crossbowmen, particularly in counterbattery the Portuguese fire.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clube de Autores
• Release date: Feb 1, 2024

Book preview

ANDRÉ  GERAQUE  KIFFER

Battle  of  Aljubarrota, August  14,  1385.

A  Castilian  Historical  Simulation

Author’s  Edition

Resende

2019

---  Kiffer,  André  Geraque.

Battle  of  Aljubarrota,  August  14,  1385.  A  Castilian Historical  Simulation.  André  Geraque  Kiffer.

Author’s  Edition,  Resende,  2019. Bibliography:  94  p.  52  im.  21  cm..

1.  History.  2.  Art  of  War.  3.  War  Science.  4.  Wargames.  I. Author.  II.  Title.

ISBN  978-85-65853-40-8

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My  story  will  be  less  certain  than  history;  but  whoever  wants to  relive  the  past  to  study  the  similarities  and  analogies between  human  conflicts  in  the  present  is  enough  for  me  to find  it  useful.  This  War  History  of  mine  is  a  definite achievement  and  not  an  ostentatious  work  for  a  current audience.

(André  Geraque  Kiffer)

4 PROLOGUE

I  was  inspired  to  build  this  work  by  reading  Arnold Toynbee's  book,  A  Study  of  History,  and  Trevor  N. Dupuy's  Future  Wars.  Between  2005  and  2007  I acquired  a  collection  of  board  wargames  in  New York,  and  reading  the  book  Wargame  Design published  by  Strategy  &  Tactics  Magazine consolidated  a  Matrix  for  A  Study  of  Military History.  Thus,  from  2008,  I  was  able  to  begin  an analysis  of  the  wars,  campaigns,  and  battles  of history  of  a  particular  time  and  /  or  civilization described  in  the  Smithsonian  Institute's  Atlas  of Military  History.  So  far  I  have  published  the  following series:  I.  Historical  Simulation  of  the  First  Empire Wars  in  2010;  VIII.  World  War  I  Historical Simulation  in  2011;  II.  Historical  Simulation  of  the Wars  in  Classical  Greece  in  2012;  III.  Historical Simulation  of  the  Roman  Wars  in  2016;  and  IV. Historical  Simulation  of  Wars  in  the  Medieval  Era  in 2018.  In  2014,  to  continue  my  work  "A  Study  of

Military  History,  I  read  the  book  Japanese  and

5 Chinese  Chess  -  The  Science  and  Art  of  War  and added  a  new  book  The  Study  of  Wars  and  Chess Games  to  my  planned  study,  associating  the foundations  of  chess  games  with  the  principles  of Art  and  Science  of  War.  In  each  book  of  the  work  a selected  war,  campaign,  or  battle  is  studied  at  any of  the  applicable  decision  levels,  namely  the Political,  Strategic,  Operational,  Tactical,  and Technical.  Based  on  a  summary  of  the  historical  fact I  seek  to  highlight  the  decisive  fact  (s)  causing  the negative  result  (s)  before  playing  the  simulation through  a  board  wargame  -  the  actions  on  the  other side  of  the  hill  (from  the  enemy)  are  studied through  a  parallel  electronic  wargame.  In  the simulation  all  the  possibilities  of  the  purpose  of  the study  are  completed  when  the  past  of  history  is analyzed  on  the  basis  of  present  theory  and projected  into  the  future  or  revived  as  a  what  if schematic  case.  When  we  play  we  will  follow  the maxim  WIN  ALWAYS  BUT  WITH  THE  LOWEST

POSSIBLE  COST".

6 Keywords:  History.  Art  of  War.  War  science.

Wargames.

7 SUMMARY

CHAPTER  1  –  THE  HISTORICAL  BATTLE….….....8 CHAPTER  2  –  TACTICALANALYSIS...….............40 CHAPTER  3  –  TACTICAL  SIMULATION.…….......60

REFERENCES.................................................…..88

8 CHAPTER  1

THE  HISTORICAL  BATTLE

For  the  reader  who  wants  an  introduction  to  the history  of  the  Wargames  and  the  historical  period  of the  Art  and  Science  of  Wars  in  the  Medieval  Era,  we recommend  purchasing  the  first  book  in  this  Series.

Hundred  Years  War

At  the  time  of  the  Battle  of  Aljubarrota,  this  war was  at  a  time  when  the  French  had  been  severely punished  by  the  Treaty  of  Bretigny-Calais  (1360), after  which  they  had  lost  about  a  third  of  their territory.  France  was  supported  by  Scotland, Bohemia  and  the  Avignon  Papacy  (in  Provence). England  was  supported  by  Flanders,  Portugal  and

German  nations.

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Im