Emerging in the early 1530s, these were a new step in infantry organisation, for the Spanish or any other European army — the first large permanent infantry units, both administrative and tactical, with territorial titles (the earliest were 'Lombardy', ‘Naples’ and ‘Sicily’) and enduring traditions and esprit de corps — they soon acquired nicknames too, such as ’The Invincibles’ and ‘The Immortals’. With the earlier Corunelas, they were the ancestors of all later regiments.
They were created by amalgamating existing Corunelas in threes (it may be this which gave rise to the name ’Tercio’, but it is likelier that it came from their resemblance to one of the three 'battles’ of earlier armies). This gave an organisation of 12 companies of 258 men each, two being of arquebusiers only, the others of both arquebusiers and pikemen, giving a roughly 50:50 ratio of pikes to shot (rather advanced for its time).
This basic set-up seems to have lasted through the 16th Century, with only two significant changes. The first was a decrease in the proportion of pikemen, which fell to 40 per cent by the 1580s; the second, the introduction of the musket. This weapon was pioneered by theSpanish army, and seemsto have appeared in the Tercios in the 1560s. At first, the proportion of musketeers in the Tercio was less than ten per cent, but by the last decade of the century, Parma’s army in the Netherlands is said to have had more musketeers than arquebusiers.
In the 17th Century the proportion of pikemen fell still further, to only 30 or sometimes even 20 per cent, but the trend toward the musket, in sharp contrast with developments in other armies, appears to have been somewhat reversed, the proportion of musketeers sometimes being as low as ten per cent, and not over 33V3 per cent. It may be presumed that this was connected with the greater handiness of the lighter weapon. In any case, the proportions were always variable, as were company strengths.
The 17th Century saw a reduction in company size(in the 16th Century the average size was probably about 150) and an increase in number of companies, this being set at 15 to 20 in 1603, and officially fixed at 15 by an ordinance of 1632, which also abolished the arquebus-only companies. Actual strength
F Guard halberdier, second half of the 16th Century. Colours probably red and yellow, g Arquebusier of a Tercio, 1534. He wears an ornate morion, ‘gola de mala' (mail cape) and short, baggy leather jerkin, h Musketeer, 1581. The velvet cap would later probably be replaced by a 'bowler' or felt hat. Later musketeers would also wear a bandolier. Note heavily tasselled flask, sash and musket rest, i Officer, 1581, wearing corselet with embroidered cloth covering, velvet bag-type hat with narrow brim, stuffed and slashed breeches, and sash, j Arquebusier, 1551, wearing tunic over mail shirt, sash and ornate burgonet. k Arquebusier, 1551, with flat plumed cap with narrow brim, slashed tunic (probably leather) and slashed and embroidered breeches. Note manner of sword suspension, also shown in other drawings, and alternative cap which would be worn by some Spanish/ Imperial arquebusiers a little earlier, m Trumpeter, 1525. Breeches red slashed yellow. Upper sleeves yellow slashed red, lower sleeves and hose yellow. Buckskin jacket. Blue saddle, edged gold. White felt hat, probably with red plume, n Genitor, 1509. Shield is roughly heart-shaped, with slight ‘V when seen from above, and is white with a red line about three inches in from the edge. Steel cap black, brigantine red, plume red or pink. Note elbow and knee armour, o Caballo Coraza, early 17th Century. Corselet and morion steel, sleeves yellow, shoulder pads red and yellow, breeches red and yellow. Boots, bandolier, gauntlets and harness (the only horse trapping is a plain breast strap) all brown leather. p Herreruelo, 1560. Leg and arm armour and corselet polished steel. Breeches black with red stripes. Cloak black, lined red. 'Bowler' hat black with red ribbon and many holes, showing red lining, q Mounted arquebusier, 1630s. Jacket yellow. Shoulder pads, undersleeves and cross red. Breeches blue with red stripes. Hose yellow and boots black. Note hanging sleeves, r and t Escopetero, 1508, and Caballo Ligero, 1493. 'r' has a black saddle edged red and red and yellow slashed breeches, 't' has brown trousers and a red corselet cover. Both wear steel armour and have leather horse trappings. s Man-at-arms, 1560. Yellow breeches, purple cassock with red lining, cross and helmet plume. Pennon red over yellow, u Horse trappings of Old Guard of Castile, 1490s. Lion red on white (arms of Leon); castle yellow on red (arms of Castile). They are reversed on the opposite side. V Standard bearer, 1525. Saddle, harness and tassels red. Saddle edged silver. Saddle cloth edged gold. Armour and scales, covering rear of horse only, polished steel. Plumes (from front) yellow-red-white. Standard white, with gold crucifix and red cross.
A wargames Tercio based on a ratio whereby one figure represents 20 real men in battle formation of the mid-16th Century. Figures are Miniature Figurines from the collections of the author and Graham Charles.
Probably fell; throughout our period the realities corresponded only very roughly with the ‘paper’ strength and organisation, Ter-cios of the 16th Century averaging closer to 1,500 than 3,000 men.
A Tercio was commanded by a Maestre de Campo, assisted by a ‘Sargente Mayor’ and a small staff including a doctor, a Drum Major (i/c Signals), a chaplain, and an honour guard of eight halberdiers (there may well have been a few halberdiers and sword-and-buckler men included among the Tercio pikemen as well, but they would not have formed over about five or ten per cent of the pikes). Each company had four officers and NCOS, including a standard-bearer, plus a chaplain, a drummer and a fifer.
The photograph posed with model soldiers shows a typical early Tercio formation; the pikemen are massed centrally in a solid square (derived from the Swiss); there are four ’mangas’ (sleeves) of shot at the corners, linked by a thin screen on each face of the square, provided by the arquebus companies.
A rather clumsy formation, wasteful of manpower, it was nonetheless used unti 1 well into the 17th Century with considerable success, though in later years the mangas became broader and stronger, and theshot at the rear were omitted; one advantage over linear formations was its aptitude for allround defence should a flank be turned. However, it did prevent the full use of firepower in one direction, and in the 17th Century Tercios did employ semi-line formations (though nine to 12 ranks deep) on occasion. The contemporary diagrams show some of the variations possible in battle and on the march.
The number of Tercios increased over the period, the Walloon and Burgundian troops being formed into Tercios around the end of the 16th Century; later ones included ’Portugal’, ’Liege’, ’Brabant’, ’Flanders’, ’Malaga’, ’Sardinia’ and ’Armada’ (Marines), but there remained many troops, especially non-Spanish ones, whose Banderas were not organised into Tercios. These were usually formed into Colunelas or Regiments of varying size; one of Germans in 1536 was no less than 8,800 strong (20 bands)! This was exceptional, however; most had five to ten ban-deras, with a similar combination of arms to that of a Tercio.
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