Spain

Warfare in the Spanish Reconquista Era II

Crusades Medieval Spain 26 Min Read

Military Standards and Leadership The military standard was a sign whereby kings, magnates, Military Orders, and town militias identified themselves; it also acted as a rallying point. Guillem de Montcada, who led the van in the battle of Portopí, commanded his men: “let no one separate himself from my standard” and Alfonso VIII ordered his standardbearer to advance into the…

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British France History Ottoman Spain 18 Min Read

Elizabeth towards War I

European matchlock musketeers of the Elizabethan period. By the early 1570s the Puritans had grown significantly in numbers and in economic and political clout. They were not only unsatisfied, however, but increasingly discontented. At the same time that they were trying and failing to pressure the government into killing Mary…

British France History Spain 19 Min Read

Elizabeth towards War II

What is often depicted as the apotheosis of the Elizabethan Age, the turning point at which the wisdom of everything the queen had done was made manifest and the way was cleared for England’s emergence as the greatest of world powers, came in the third week of July 1588. It…

Biography History Spain 17 Min Read

Fernando VI (1746–59), King of Spain

Portrait by Louis Michel Van Loo The Franco-Spanish fleet commanded by Don Juan José Navarro drove off the British fleet under Thomas Mathews near Toulon in 1744. Fernando VI (1746–59) ascended to the throne at the age of thirty-three, mature and well trained in the business of government. As the…

Biography History Spain 24 Min Read

Carlos III’s Reign

Portrait by Anton Raphael Mengs, c. 1761 Though Fernando VI’s reign saw the end of French tutelage, the latest intellectual currents from France and elsewhere circulated among the Spanish elite and characterized Spain’s version of the Enlightenment. Spain adopted the enlightened passion for scientific investigation, governmental reform, and social justice…

Ancient Warfare Roman Spain 11 Min Read

Sertorian War (80-72 B. C. E.)

Sertorius was a disaffected Roman who fought successfully against Sulla and Pompey. He was a masterly tactician specialising in surprise and ambushes exploiting wooded hills and according to Plutarch introduced Roman weapons, formations and signals. The 53 cohorts of Roman exiles under the treacherous Paperna that joined him maintained a…

Armies Ottoman Spain 11 Min Read

Spanish arquebusier

1568. Battle of Jemmingen. Spanish arquebusiers. Angel García Pinto for Desperta Ferro magazine Gonzalo de Córdoba, (1453-1515). “el Gran Capitan.” Castilian general who reformed the tercios, reducing reliance on polearms and bringing more guns to reinforced pike formations that could operate independently because of their increased firepower. He fought in…

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Dogs of the Conquistadors

The Spaniards began using dogs at least by the 1260s, as King Jaume I of…

Elizabeth towards War I

European matchlock musketeers of the Elizabethan period. By the early 1570s the Puritans had grown…

Uniforms of Italian Wars (1494-1559)

A series of sharp but also intermittent conflicts broke out over control of Italy at…

Spanish arquebusier

1568. Battle of Jemmingen. Spanish arquebusiers. Angel García Pinto for Desperta Ferro magazine Gonzalo de…