The journalist and researcher Fernando Martínez Laínez He is one of those pioneers who laid the foundations for the history of the Tercios in these parts. And don’t believe it’s lip service. He began his research on these units more than two decades ago and, even today, his works continue to be republished. His word is law, or almost. Now he returns to the bookstores, and he does so with an essay –‘Brothers of war. The victories of the Tercios’ (Espasa)– in which he settles one of the few debts he had with them: analyzing what he called ‘group spirit’. That unity and camaraderie that led them to dominate the Old Continent for almost three centuries. Although, as it could not be otherwise, it also gives some slap on the wrist to those who support hackneyed topics such as the multiculturalism of the most legendary infantry of its era. “Yes, there were Tercios of other nationalities, but the Spanish were made up only of levies from the peninsula,” he explains to ABC. Today, we ask him about all of this, and much more.
–What is the objective of this book?
The idea is to make a kind of compilation of the battles of the Tercios. But not to narrate victories, but to transmit the spirit of these soldiers. The genesis is that they were not defined and immutable structures, but rather they obeyed an evolution that was defined by the centuries of border war against the Muslims and by the civil wars in the interior of the peninsula. They were centuries that forged a very warlike people, the Spanish, whose spirit was later reflected in the Tercios.
–And how were they illuminated?
This evolution was marked by the royal decrees of the Catholic Kings. They, through a series of writers, created what was, at a bureaucratic level, the most advanced military organization in Europe and the world. All this administrative apparatus forged the best army of the moment, something that was later evident in the overwhelming triumphs of Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba under the orders of King Ferdinand in Italy. From that a strong brotherhood was generated that fought only for the Crown, because there were never patriotic Tercios who were mercenaries from other nations. They fought to serve God and the King, and not as laborers for money. Although it may seem strange to many now, at the time values such as honor and glory were very important. That warlike animosity was what made the difference and was fiercely maintained for centuries.
–Was it something known at the time?
This idea has been reflected in the opinions of foreign historians of some renown. The British Charles Oman, for example, was already talking about the organization and effectiveness of the Tercios. He claimed that they were the admiration of all his contemporaries. Spain applied the innovative Swiss model. He based it on it, adapted it, improved it and surpassed it. The result was the astonishment of all of Europe.
–He states in his book that the Spanish Tercios were made up only of peninsular soldiers
Evidently there were Tercios of other nationalities. Except for the Germans, who were another notable force on the Hispanic side and fought as regiments with their own leaders and were mercenaries. The key is that the Spanish Tercios were made up only of Spaniards, just as the Italian Tercios were made up of only Italians.
The Spanish Tercios were made up of levies recruited within the Iberian Peninsula, with local chiefs. Furthermore, these units could not be commanded by non-Spanish officers, which was the other way around. Ours did have the power to lead the so-called Tercios of nations, which were those of any other nationality. Another thing is that when they entered battle each other fought together, although in different units.
–More than two decades have passed since you began your investigations into the Tercios. Have you changed any of your initial theses in this time?
The essence is the same, but, as you read and investigate, you analyze other aspects that you had not initially considered. An example is Rocroi. Beyond the fact that the French exaggerated the defeat and turned it into a kind of fairy tale to give themselves airs, the reality is that the Tercios were sold that day. The deployment was terrible, they were not even trained in battle, they did not adapt initial dispositions… In Castelnuovo They were also abandoned, and with no signs of receiving reinforcements. Perhaps what I do now is put the emphasis on that spirit of belonging.
Fernando Martínez Laínez
–Do you think, in that sense, that the soldiers of the Tercios enlisted for a salary, or that they were looking for something more?
At that time, those who enlisted did not have a discharge date. You were a combatant until the king decided that you were leaving. You could spend forty years fighting without being able to return home. I don’t deny that there were people who signed up to get a job, but I maintain that that spirit of belonging prevailed.
–There is also some controversy, which you analyze, about what year the embarked Tercios were born.
Yes, there have been many discrepancies, but they are minor issues. I have broken down the different theories throughout the book, but we should not focus on facts that generate controversy. What is clear is that Spain deployed a new army, paid and organized by the Crown, and not by feudal lords and mercenaries. And that the levies that were made in Spain were organized by the monarch and his ministers. This represented a very important advance for the military history of the time.
–Tell us about a battle that society does not know enough about
The Battle of Kinsalein Ireland. It is very little known. British literature has erased it from history. I tried, when I was in the area, to look for documentation about it, and I hardly found anything. Just some minor works. It’s a shame because it was a very important contest. It was intended to attack England on that flank, after an infantry landing, with the support of the earls of O’Neill and O’Donnell. The idea was to support a local rebellion and suffocate the enemy in a sort of vice, but it didn’t work. After an initial defeat, the Spanish were isolated in Kinsale. The force held out to the end, almost as at Castelnuovo, despite disease, skirmishes and British artillery. In the end, they withdrew.
–How was that defeat seen on the peninsula?
When the man who commanded that force, Juan del Águilareturned to Spain, he was judged for having retired. And that, despite the fact that he had done it in inhumane conditions. He was court-martialed. It is true that he was saved and was not imprisoned, but he was very scarred and died shortly after.
–After a lifetime of study, what myth are you tired of?
It is a myth to think that the soldiers of the Tercios were of base and vile origins. That was not so. At that time, the profession of arms was highly valued in Spain and, in that sense, many of the combatants had a good cultural level and were even nobles. They were above average in that sense. There is also the idea that they were only motivated by money. The soldiery was necessary, but in no case were they considered day laborers; In the vast majority of cases they were attracted by the desire for adventure and by the spirit of what Spain represented to the world. They sought to see other lands, to have a certain honor and prestige that could later be of value to them upon their return. We must put an end to the view that they were mere mercenaries, but also the fallacy that they were not disciplined. Even when they mutinied they chose a leader and were governed by very strict rules that were rarely broken.
–It is also often said that they were very scandalous…
They always fought in silence so that the orders could reach them better. That greatly surprised the enemy.
–In his book he includes Nietzsche’s quote: ‘Spain is a people that has loved too much’…
Yes, but not in a negative way. Although it may sound cliché, Spanish military history of the 16th and early 17th centuries was characterized by the idea of ’us against all’. There was a time when they fought simultaneously against Turks, Lutherans, French, English… And that, without counting the exploration of the New Worldwhich was not easy, since we had to face pirates and privateers. It is true, Spain wanted too much, but it tried.
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