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Rodeleros
''Rodeleros'' ("shield bearers"), also called ''espadachines'' ("swordsmen") and colloquially known as "Sword and Buckler Men", were Spanish troops in the early 16th (and again briefly in the 17th) century, equipped with steel shields known as ''rodela'' and swords (usually of the side-sword type). Originally conceived as an Italian attempt to revive the legionary swordsman, they were adopted by the Spanish and used with great efficiency in the Italian Wars during the 1510s and 1520s, but discontinued in the 1530s. The majority of Hernán Cortés's troops during his campaigns in the New World were rodeleros: in 1520, over 1000 of his 1300 men were so equipped, and in 1521 he had 700 rodeleros, but only 118 arquebusiers and crossbowmen. Bernal Díaz, the author of an account of Cortés' conquest of the Aztecs, served as a rodelero under Cortés. When the Spanish adopted the ''colunella'' (the first of the mixed pike and shot formations), they used small groups of sword and buckler ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Push Of Pike
The push of pike was a particular feature of late medieval and Early Modern warfare that occurred when two opposing columns of pikemen (often Swiss mercenaries or German Landsknechte) met and became locked in position along a front of interleaved pikes. Shoving match During push of pike, opposing blocks of pikemen would advance with their pikes "charged" horizontally at shoulder level to jab at one another until bodily contact was made. The two sides would then push physically until one or other of them gave way. The push of pike would continue until one of the opposing formations routed or fled, which would generally lead to massive casualties. Each man pressed on the one in front, and so sometimes the formations would crush against each other and many pikemen would have to fight in closer melee combat. The rear ranks would sometimes join the fray but their primary role was to add more weight to the push. Aside from getting impaled by enemy pikes, those in the front ranks died ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Habsburg Spain
Habsburg Spain is a contemporary historiographical term referring to the huge extent of territories (including modern-day Spain, a piece of south-east France, eventually Portugal, and many other lands outside of the Iberian Peninsula) ruled between the 16th and 18th centuries (1516–1713) by kings from the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg (also associated with its role in the history of Central and Eastern Europe). Habsburg Spain was a composite monarchy and a personal union. The Habsburg Hispanic Monarchs (chiefly Charles I and Philip II) reached the zenith of their influence and power ruling the Spanish Empire. They controlled territories over the five continents, including the Americas, the East Indies, the Low Countries, Belgium, Luxembourg, and territories now in Italy, France and Germany in Europe, the Portuguese Empire from 1580 to 1640, and various other territories such as small enclaves like Ceuta and Oran in North Africa. This period of Spanish history ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Seminara
The Battle of Seminara, part of the First Italian War, was fought in Calabria on 28 June 1495 between a French garrison in recently conquered Southern Italy and the allied forces of Spain and Naples which were attempting to reconquer these territories. Against the redoubtable combination of gendarmes and Swiss mercenary pikemen in the French force, the allies had only Neapolitan troops of indifferent quality and a small corps of lightly-armed Spanish soldiers, accustomed to fighting the Moors of Spain. The result was a rout, and much of the fighting centered on delaying actions to permit the fleeing allied force to escape. The battle is notable primarily because it is often cited as the prime reason for the reorganization of the Spanish army, which brought about widespread adoption of firearms in pike and shot formations, one of the milestones of the "Military Revolution." Antecedents French king Charles VIII had invaded Italy in 1494 in an attempt to press his Angevi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knights
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Ancient Greece, Greek ''hippeis'' and ''hoplite'' (ἱππεῖς) and Ancient Rome, Roman ''Equites, eques'' and ''centurion'' of classical antiquity. In the Early Middle Ages in Europe, knighthood was conferred upon Equestrianism, mounted warriors. During the High Middle Ages, knighthood was considered a class of lower nobility. By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect Court (royal), courtly Christian warrior. Often, a knight was a vassal who served as an elite fighter or a bodyguard for a lord, with payment in the form of land holdings. The lords trusted the knights, who were skilled in Horses in warfare, battle on horseback. Knighthood ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tercio
A ''tercio'' (; Spanish for " third") was a military unit of the Spanish Army during the reign of the Spanish Habsburgs in the early modern period. The tercios were renowned for the effectiveness of their battlefield formations, forming the elite military units of the Spanish Monarchy. They were the essential pieces of the powerful land forces of the Spanish Empire, sometimes also fighting with the navy. The Spanish tercios were a crucial step in the formation of modern European armies, understood as made up of professional volunteers, instead of levies raised for a campaign or hired mercenaries typically used in other European countries of the time. The tercios' internal administrative organization, and their battlefield formations and tactics, grew out of the innovations of Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba during the conquest of Granada and the Italian Wars in the 1490s and 1500s. The tercios marked a rebirth of battlefield infantry comparable to the Macedonian phalanxes and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swiss Mercenaries
The Swiss mercenaries (german: Reisläufer) were a powerful infantry force constituted by professional soldiers originating from the cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy. They were notable for their service in foreign armies, especially among the military forces of the Kings of France, throughout the Early Modern period of European history, from the Late Middle Ages into the Renaissance. Their service as mercenaries was at its peak during the Renaissance, when their proven battlefield capabilities made them sought-after mercenary troops. There followed a period of decline, as technological and organizational advances counteracted the Swiss' advantages. Switzerland's military isolationism largely put an end to organized mercenary activity; the principal remnant of the practice is the Pontifical Swiss Guard at the Vatican. Ascendancy During the Late Middle Ages, mercenary forces grew in importance in Europe, as veterans from the Hundred Years War (1337–1453) and other confl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swashbuckler
A swashbuckler is a genre of European adventure literature that focuses on a heroic protagonist stock character who is skilled in swordsmanship, acrobatics, guile and possesses chivalrous ideals. A "swashbuckler" protagonist is heroic, daring, and idealistic: he rescues damsels in distress, protects the downtrodden, and uses duels to defend his honor or that of a lady or to avenge a comrade. Swashbucklers often engage in daring and romantic adventures with bravado or flamboyance. Swashbuckler heroes are gentleman adventurers who dress elegantly and flamboyantly in coats, waistcoats, tight breeches, large feathered hats, and high leather boots, and they are armed with the thin rapiers used by aristocrats. Swashbucklers are not unrepentant brigands or pirates, although some may rise from such disreputable stations and achieve redemption. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pikemen
A pike is a very long thrusting spear formerly used in European warfare from the Late Middle Ages and most of the Early Modern Period, and were wielded by foot soldiers deployed in pike square formation, until it was largely replaced by bayonet-equipped muskets. The pike was particularly well-known as the primary weapon of Swiss mercenary and German Landsknecht units. A similar weapon, the sarissa, had been used in antiquity by Alexander the Great's Macedonian phalanx infantry. Design The pike was a long weapon, varying considerably in size, from long. Generally, a spear becomes a pike when it is too long to be wielded with one hand in combat. It was approximately in weight, with the 16th century military writer Sir John Smythe recommending lighter rather than heavier pikes. It had a wooden shaft with an iron or steel spearhead affixed. The shaft near the head was often reinforced with metal strips called "cheeks" or langets. When the troops of opposing armies both car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Landsknechts
The (singular: , ), also rendered as Landsknechts or Lansquenets, were Germanic mercenaries used in pike and shot formations during the early modern period. Consisting predominantly of pikemen and supporting foot soldiers, their front line was formed by ''Doppelsöldner'' ("double-pay men") renowned for their use of ''Zweihänder'' and arquebus. Originally organized by Emperor Maximilian I and Georg von Frundsberg, they formed the bulk of the Holy Roman Empire's Imperial Army from the late 1400s to the early 1600s, fighting in the Habsburg-Valois wars, the Habsburg-Ottoman wars, and the European wars of religion. Although prone to mutiny if unpaid and divided within their ranks between Catholics and Lutherans, the ''Landsknechte'' were well-armed, experienced, and fierce warriors. In addition, they were recruitable in large numbers throughout Germany and Austria by the Holy Roman Emperor and thus guaranteed both quantity and quality to the Imperial military for a century a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musketeer
A musketeer (french: mousquetaire) was a type of soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern warfare particularly in Europe as they normally comprised the majority of their infantry. The musketeer was a precursor to the rifleman. Muskets were replaced by rifles as the almost universal firearm for modern armies during the period 1850 to 1860. The traditional designation of "musketeer" for an infantry private survived in the Imperial German Army until World War I. Asia China The hand cannon was invented in China in the 12th century and was in widespread use there in the 13th century. It spread westward across Asia during the 14th century. Arquebusiers and musketeers were utilized in the armies of the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing dynasties (1644–1911). Zhao Shizhen's book of 1598 AD, the ''Shenqipu'', contains illustrations of Ottoman Turkish and European musketeers together with detailed diagrams of their muskets.Needham, Volume 5, Par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thirty Years War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle, famine, and disease, while some areas of what is now modern Germany experienced population declines of over 50%. Related conflicts include the Eighty Years' War, the War of the Mantuan Succession, the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659), Franco-Spanish War, and the Portuguese Restoration War. Until the 20th century, historians generally viewed it as a continuation of the religious struggle initiated by the 16th-century Reformation within the Holy Roman Empire. The 1555 Peace of Augsburg attempted to resolve this by dividing the Empire into Lutheranism, Lutheran and Catholic Church, Catholic states, but over the next 50 years the expansion of Protestantism beyond these ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
