Spanish musketeer of the 16th century Military illustration, Conquistador, 16th century clothing

During the 16th century, Habsburg Spain saw steady growth in its military power. The Italian Wars (1494-1559) resulted in an ultimate Spanish victory and hegemony in northern Italy by expelling the French. The 16th and 17th centuries marked the peak of Spanish power, the so-called Spanish Golden Age. Spain acquired vast empire by defeating the centralised states of the Americas, and colonising the Philippines. Her tercio units, backed by imperial gold and silver, were dominant in Europe.

Spanish Soldier With Various Weapons and Armor, Early 16th Century Soldado español, Historia

Army of Flanders Flag of the Spanish Tercios. The Army of Flanders ( Spanish: Ejército de Flandes Dutch: Leger van Vlaanderen) was a multinational army in the service of the kings of Spain that was based in the Spanish Netherlands during the 16th to 18th centuries. Tercios disembarking, 1583 During the Granada War (1482-1491), the soldiers of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain were divided into three classes: pikemen (modelled after the Swiss ), swordsmen with shields, and crossbowmen supplemented with an early firearm the arquebus. [citation needed] The conquistadors who took these mighty Empires down ( Hernan Cortes in Mexico in 1525 and Francisco Pizarro in Peru, 1532) commanded relatively small forces: Cortes had around 600 men  and Pizarro initially had about 160  . These small forces were able to defeat much larger ones. Spain was very definitely the dominant military power of 16th Century Europe, primarily because her troops were the only real regulars west of the Ottoman Empire—regular, that is, in the sense that they alone were permanently employed, since Spain was permanently at war.

Spanish Tercios Historical armor, Medieval history, Historical warriors

There are multiple 16th-century narratives of the events by Spanish conquistadors, their indigenous allies, and the defeated Aztecs. It was not solely a small contingent of Spaniards defeating the Aztec Empire but a coalition of Spanish invaders with tributaries to the Aztecs, and most especially the Aztecs' indigenous enemies and rivals. The Pike and Shot of the Spanish Tercio. May 11, 2011. 2 mins read. The Spanish Army was transformed in the first part of the 16th century into the most formidable military force of its age. By the 14th century, infantry were gaining ascendancy over heavy horse on the battlefield. Archers and gunners were able to shoot many of them down before. Scale models of a 16th-century Spanish galleon, left, and a rowed war galley from the period. The Spanish needed ships with the endurance of merchant vessels that could carry guns and soldiers to fend off attacks. They also needed ships that could withstand the rough weather encountered in trans-Atlantic voyages. In 1565 a conquering party led by Miguel López de Legazpi sailed across the Pacific to establish a permanent Spanish settlement in the Philippines. 1 Ever afterwards, the history of the archipelago was defined by its orientation towards the Pacific.

MINIATURAS MILITARES POR ALFONS CÀNOVAS UNIFORMES ESPAÑOLES Солдаты

1653-54 saw a great influx of Irish soldiers into Spain, as a result of losing the war back in Ireland to Cromwell. About 14000 went to Spain itself, but about 2300 went to Flanders. The regiment of D. Costello was one of these, with 732 men. Regiment of Kannan. Likewise entered into Flanders in 1653-54. While the process of colonization began through bloodshed, relatively few Indigenous peoples fought against Spanish soldiers. Convento San Agustín de Acolman, mid-16th century (photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). Atrial Cross, convento San Agustín de Acolman, mid-16th century (now located across the street from the convento) (photo. By the beginning of the 16th century, the dominance of the tercios symbolized the leading role of infantry on the battlefields. The end of the Medieval Age brought new technology that changed. A morion ( Spanish: morrión) is a type of open-faced combat helmet originally from the Kingdom of Castile (Spain), [1] used from the beginning 16th to early 17th centuries, usually having a flat brim and a crest from front to back. Its introduction was contemporaneous with the exploration of North, Central and South America.

Spanish soldier

The 16th-century Spanish historian and chronicler, Bartolomé de las Casas, reported that Becerrillo "attacked his enemies with frenzied rage and defended his friends with great courage…," adding that the indigenous people were "more afraid of ten Spanish soldiers with Becerrillo than a hundred by themselves." In the 16th century, they had explored the southern area of the country. For example, in Florida, the St Augustine fort was established by the Spanish in 1565. The impact of the Spanish way of understanding Roman Catholicism is evident in this region. The Spanish also influenced the economy in this area and attacked local Native Americans.