and towards subdivision had now pronounced themselves. At the same time,
while national armies, as dreamed of by Machiavelli; were not yet in
existence, two at least of the powers were beginning to work towards an
ideal. This ideal was an army which was entirely at the disposal of its
own sovereign, trained to the due professional standard, and organized
in the best way found by experience to be applicable to military needs.
On these bases was formed the old Spanish army which, from Pavia (1525)
to Rocroi (1643), was held by common consent to be the finest service in
existence. Almost immediately after emerging from the period of internal
development, Spain found herself obliged to maintain an army for the
Italian wars. In the first instance this was raised from amongst
veterans of the war of Granada, who enlisted for an indefinite time.
Probably the oldest line regiments in Europe are those descended from
the famous _tercios_, whose formation marks the beginning of military
establishments, just as the Landsknechts were the founders of military
manners and customs. The great captains who led the new army soon
assimilated the best points of the Swiss system, and it was the Spanish
army which evolved the typical combination of pike and musket which
flourished up to 1700. Outside the domain the tactics, it must be
credited with an important contribution to the science of army
organization, in the depot system, whereby the _tercios_ in the field
were continually "fed" and kept up to strength. The social position of
the soldier was that of a gentleman, and the young nobles (who soon came
to prefer the _tercios_ to the cavalry service) thought it no shame,
when their commands were reduced, to "take a pike" in another regiment.
The provost and his gallows were as much in evidence in a Spanish camp
as in one of Landsknechts, but the comradeship and _esprit de corps_ of
a _tercio_ were the admiration of all contemporary soldiers. With all
its good qualities, however, this army was not truly national; men soon
came from all the various nations ruled by the Habsburgs, and the
soldier of fortune found employment in a _tercio_ as readily as
elsewhere. But it was a great gain that corps, as such, were fully
recognized as belonging to the government, however shifting the
_personnel_ might be. Permanence of regimental existence had now been
attained, though the universal acceptance and thorough application of
the principle were still far distant. During the 16th century, the
French regular army (originating in the _compagnies d'ordonnance_ of
1445), which was always in existence, even when the Swiss and
_gendarmes_ were the best part of the field forces, underwent a
considerable development, producing amongst other things the military
terminology of the present day. But the wars of religion effectually
checked all progress in the latter part of the century, and the European
reputation of the French army dates only from the latter part of the
Thirty Years' War.