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The ''tercio'' ((:ˈterθjo) "third") or ''tercio español'' ("Spanish third") was a Spanish military unit of the Spanish Empire during the era of the dominance of Habsburg Spain in Europe and the Renaissance era. The tercio was an infantry formation made up of pikemen, swordsmen and arquebusiers or musketeers in a mutually supportive formation, that in theory was up to 3,000 soldiers, although it was usually less than half this size. It was also sometimes referred to as the Spanish Square in other countries and the formation was also much used by other powers, especially the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Empire. The care that was taken to maintain a high number of "old soldiers" (veterans) in the units, and their professional training, together with the particular personality imprinted on them by the proud hidalgos of the lower nobility that nurtured them, made the tercios for a century and a half the best infantry in Europe. Moreover, the tercios were the first to efficiently mix pikes and firearms. The formation dominated European battlefields in the sixteenth century and the first half of the seventeenth century and is seen by historians as a major development of Early Modern combined arms warfare. ==History== The tercio was the product of the Italian Wars, in which the Spanish general, Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, called "the great captain", reorganized the Spanish army throughout a series of conflicts at the end of the 15th century and early 16th century, into a tactically unique combination of combined arms centered around armored infantry.〔This emphasis on the infantry was the result of Spain's great dependence on mules in daily life. Davies, T. R. 1961" Davies, T. R. (1961).〕 To counter the French heavy cavalry a unit called a ''colunella'' ("colonelcy"), commanded by a ''colonel'', was created. A colonelcy could theoretically have up to 6,000 men but by 1534 this had been reduced to the tercio with a maximum of 3,000, for increased mobility on the offense.〔Davis, Trevor. ''The Golden Century of Spain, 1501–1621'' London: Macmillan and Co, 1961. Page 24.〕 Armies using tercios generally intended to field them in brigades of at least three, with one tercio in the front and two behind, the rearward formations echeloned off on either side so that all three resembled a stepped pyramid, hence the name ''tercio'', which means "one third" (that is, one third of the whole brigade or battle group). The Spanish Third never had more than 1500 men, neither at the first time. This unit was called the "Third" because it uses 1/3 pikemen, 1/3 swordsmen, and 1/3 of firearms. The only Tercio to have 3,000 men was "The Galleys' Tercio" (Tercio de Galeras), dedicated only for galleys and galleons and specialized in naval warfare and landing operations, assigned in 1537 by Royal assent to the Spanish Navy to be in permanent service. It is the proud ancestor of today's Spanish Navy Marines. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tercio」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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