Turcopolis XII sec.

During the period of the Crusades, turcopoles (also “turcoples” or “turcopoli”; from the Greek: τουρκόπουλοι, literally “sons of Turks”) 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.