development of the regular army; a brief account of its place in the
evolution of armies has been given above. Discipline, the feeling of
comradeship and soldierly honour were the qualities which marked out
the Spanish army as the model for others to follow, and for more than
a century the Spanish army maintained its prestige as the first in
Europe. The oldest regiments of the present Spanish army claiming
descent from the _tercios_ date from 1535. An officer whose regiment
was reduced commonly took a pike in some other corps (e.g. Tilly), the
_senor soldado_ was counted as a gentleman, and his wife and family
received state allowances. Nor was this army open only to Spaniards.
Walloons, Italians, Burgundians and other nationalities ruled over by
the Habsburgs all contributed their quotas. But the career of the old
army came to an end at Rocroi (1643), and after this the forces of the
monarchy began more and more to conform to the French model.