At the end of the 15th century, the first centralized nation states appeared in Western Europe. Rich Italy was a patchwork quilt of many small, warring states, militarily weak. France, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire (of the German nation) tried to use this situation. They tried to occupy parts of Italy and at the same time fought for dominance in Europe.
In 1493, the French king Charles VIII, as heir to Anjou, announced a claim to the Kingdom of Naples, which had been ruled by the Anjou dynasty since 1265. Although officially this kingdom bore the name of the "Kingdom of the Two Sicilies", Sicily itself since 1282 was under the rule of the Spanish kingdom of Aragon. Charles VIII, preparing for the conquest, concluded treaties with England, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. In 1493, when the French king made an alliance with Emperor Maximilian Habsburg, the news spread throughout Europe that the navigator Columbus had opened the sea route to India (in fact, it was a new, American continent, which he did not yet know about) and declared these lands a possession the Spanish king. This prompted Karl to act quickly. With a small army, the basis of which was the new mobile artillery and 10,000 Swiss mercenaries, he overcame the Mont Genevre alpine pass and occupied Naples with little or no resistance.
Chaos erupted in Italy. To restore the balance, on April 31, 1495, Spain and the Habsburgs formed the Holy League, which England and the Italian states also joined. The Spanish general (gran capitan) Fernando de Cordoba reacted first and led his troops from Sicily to Naples. Charles VIII, fearing encirclement, left only a small garrison in Naples and with the main forces retreated to France. Charles's Italian campaign can serve as an illustration of a typical medieval raid without a prepared base and communications. This campaign began the first of six Italian wars that lasted until 1559.
After the retreat of the French, the Holy League disintegrated, and the heir to the French throne, Louis XII, began planning a new campaign in Italy. He made an alliance with England and peace treaties with Spain and Venice. The Swiss Confederation allowed him to recruit Swiss "reislaufer" (reislaufer, reisende Krieger - traveling, nomadic warriors, German) as mercenaries for his infantry. In July 1499, French troops crossed the Alps and the war broke out again.
The Swiss and their long spears
Switzerland managed to defend its independence in the 15th century. The people lived freely in the highlands, and all conflicts were resolved with swords, axes, halberds and spears. Only an external threat could force them to unite in defense of independence. There were few shooters among them, but they learned to resist cavalry in field battles with the help of their long (up to 5, 5 m) spears. In the battle of Murten, they managed to defeat the then-best heavy European cavalry of the Burgundian Duke Charles the Bold. The Burgundians lost in the battle from 6,000 to 10,000 soldiers, and the Swiss - only 410. This success made the "Raislauffers" the most demanded and highly paid mercenaries in Europe.
The Swiss were known for their cruelty, endurance and courage. In some battles, they literally fought to the last man. One of their traditions was to kill alarmists in their ranks. They went through a tough drill, especially with regard to the possession of their main weapon - a long spear. The training continued until each soldier became an integral part of the unit. They did not spare their opponents, even those who offered a large ransom for themselves. The hard life in the Alps made them excellent warriors, trustworthy of their employers. War was their trade. This is where the saying comes from: "No money, no Swiss." If the salary was not paid, they immediately left, and they did not care about the position of their employer. But with regular payments, the loyalty of the Swiss was ensured. At that time, long (up to 5.5 m) spears were the only effective weapon against cavalry. The infantry formed large, from 1000 to 6000 fighters, rectangular formations, similar to the phalanxes of the era of Alexander the Great. For the fighters of the first rows, armor was required. From the beginning of the 16th century, arquebusiers began to support the spearmen. A three-part formation was common: the vanguard was Vorhut, the center was Gewalthaufen, and the rearguard was Nachhut. Since 1516, according to an "exclusive" treaty with France, the Swiss have served her as pikemen and arquebusiers. The long infantry spear has been known in Europe since the 13th century, but it was in the hands of the Swiss that it became so famous and, following the Swiss model, was used in other armies.
Landsknechts and Spaniards
The standing army of the Holy Roman Empire was organized by Emperor Maximilian I in 1486. The infantrymen were called landsknechts. At first they served the empire, but then they began to be hired to others. A typical unit under the command of the captain (Hauptmann) consisted of 400 landsknechts, 50 of whom were armed with arquebusses and the rest with pikes, halberds or two-handed swords. The soldiers chose the non-commissioned officers themselves. Experienced veterans usually had the best weaponry and armor. They received a higher salary and were called "doppelsoeldner" (Doppelsoeldner - double salary, German).
In the 16th century, Spain became the leading military power in Europe. This happened mainly because it turned out to be the only state west of the Ottoman Empire with a regular army. The "regular" troops were constantly in military service and therefore received a salary throughout the entire time. And Spain needed such an army, since throughout the 16th century it waged continuous wars on land and at sea. These campaigns were paid for by the wealth of the colonies of South and Central America.
One of the advantages of standing armies was that officers could gain experience over a long period of service. Therefore, Spain had the best officer corps at that time. In addition, a standing army can continuously develop its organizational structure and tactics and adapt them to the requirements of the times.
In the 16th century, Spanish troops fought in Italy and Ireland, France and the Netherlands, South and Central America, Oran and Tripolitania in North Africa. For some time Spain was closely associated with the Holy Roman Empire. The Spanish king Charles I was at the same time Emperor Charles V. In 1556 he renounced the Spanish throne in favor of his son Philip, and from the emperor in favor of his brother Ferdinand. At the beginning of the 17th century, Spain weakened economically and technically and at the same time was forced to confront new rivals, primarily England and France. Until the Thirty Years' War of 1618-48, or rather, the Franco-Dutch-Spanish War, she still retained the status of a great power. But defeat by the French at Rocroix in 1643 was the blow from which Spain's military power never recovered.
Tertsii
At the end of the 15th century, the Catholic spouses Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile expelled the Moors from Spain and began to transform the troops of their states into a single army. In 1505, 20 separate units were formed - Coronelia or Coronelas (from the Italian colonelli - column). At the head of each was a "column commander" - cabo de coronelia. Each of these units included several companies, numbering from 400 to 1550 people. Since 1534, the three "columns" have been combined into one "third". Four thirds formed one brigade, and seven thirds formed one double brigade. At that time, southern Italy and Sicily belonged to Spain, where the first thirds were formed. They got their names from the districts where they formed: Neapolitan, Lombard and Sicilian. A few years later, another one was added to them - Sardinian. Later, some thirds were named after their commanders. From 1556 to 1597, King Philip II formed a total of 23 thirds to serve in the Spanish-controlled lands. So, in the period 1572-78 in the Netherlands there were four thirds: Neapolitan, Flemish, Luttikh and Lombard. The strongest was the Neapolitan, which included 16 mixed companies, consisting of pikemen and arquebusiers, and four purely rifle companies, consisting of arquebusiers and musketeers. It is also known that the Sicilian and Lombard thirds consisted of eight mixed and three rifle companies, and the Flemish - of nine mixed and only one rifle company. The number of companies ranged from 100 to 300 fighters. The ratio of pikemen and shooters is 50/50.
The number of thirds ranged from 1500 to 5000 people, divided into 10 - 20 companies. It is known that some thirds, intended for landing in England in 1588, had from 24 to 32 companies, the actual number of personnel is unknown. The record was recorded in 1570, when the Flemish third numbered 8,300, and the Sicilian and Lombard in the same year were strengthened to 6,600.
Organization
Around 1530, the third took their final form, and this was an important step in the development of the infantry organization of that time. Tertsia was an administrative unit and consisted of a headquarters and at least 12 companies, consisting of 258 soldiers and officers. Two companies were pure infantry, and the remaining ten had a 50/50 ratio between pikemen and arquebusiers. According to the Duke of Alba, the combination of 2/3 pikemen and 1/3 archers was the best. After 1580, the number of soldiers in the companies decreased to 150, while the number of companies, on the contrary, increased to 15. The purpose of this was to increase tactical flexibility. Also, soon the number of pikemen decreased to 40%, and the share of musketeers in rifle companies increased from 10% to 20%. From the beginning of the 17th century, the number of pikemen was again reduced - to 30%. Since 1632, both arquebusier companies were abolished.
The third was commanded by Colonel - Maestre de Campo. The headquarters was called Estado Coronel. Deputy Commander - Sargento Mayor (Major or Lieutenant Colonel) was responsible for personnel training. In this he was assisted by two adjutants - Furiel or Furier Mayor. At the head of each company (Compana) were a captain (Capitan) with an ensign (Alferez). Each soldier after five years of service could become a non-commissioned officer (Cabo), then a sergeant (Sargento), after eight years - an ensign, and after eleven years - a captain. The commander of several thirds held the rank of Maestre de Campo general (colonel general), and his deputy, Teniente del maestre de campo general. Over time, the third from a tactical unit turned into an administrative unit, although in some cases they acted as a single unit. Individual units of one or more thirds took part in the battles more often. Since about 1580, more and more individual companies have been fighting, if necessary, combined into impromptu formations of up to 1,000 soldiers, called Regimentos (regiments) and bearing the names of their commanders. Many mercenaries served in the Spanish army, most often Germans. The record year was 1574, when there were 27,449 in the infantry and 10,000 in the cavalry.
Tactics
A common Spanish tactic was to build pikemen in a rectangle with an aspect ratio of 1/2, sometimes with empty space in the middle. The long side was facing the enemy. At each corner there were smaller rectangles of shooters - "sleeves", like the bastions of a fortress. If several thirds participated in the battle, then they formed a kind of a chessboard. It was not easy to arrange the soldiers in regular rectangles, so tables were invented to help officers calculate the number of soldiers in ranks and ranks. Up to 4-5 thirds participated in large battles. In these cases, they were located in two lines in order to provide each other with fire support without the risk of hitting their own. The maneuverability of such formations was minimal, but they were invulnerable to cavalry attacks. Rectangular formations made it possible to defend against attacks from several directions, but their speed of movement was very slow. It took many hours to build an army into battle formation.
The size of the building was determined by the deputy. commander. He calculated the number of soldiers in the ranks and ranks in order to get the front of the required width, and from the "extra" soldiers made up separate small units.
To this day, calculation tables have been preserved for planning the formation and tactics of the third, consisting of separate small units. Such complex constructions required mathematical precision and intense long-term drilling. Today we can only guess how it looked in reality.
