A
scara was a contingent or unit of soldiers, possibly cavalry, in
CarolingianThe Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name "Carolingian", Medieval Latin karolingi, an altered form of an unattested Old High German *karling, kerling The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the...
armies.
Etymology
The term (pl.
scarae) is a Latinized form of an ancient German word meaning "group." (A modern descendant is the German word
Schar, also meaning "group.") Members of the
scara units were called
scariti,
escariti and
scarii.
Function
Although of uncertain composition, the
scarae are thought by many modern historians to have been permanently embodied units of elite cavalry, because in the primary sources they are generally described as being tasked to important missions that required mobility.
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GFDL.
