Usuario:Pedro.eguidazu/Taller

Character and lifestyle

A tercio in battle.

Soldiers serving in the tercios were proud and extremely cautious men when it came to their personal honour. So much so, that they would die before staining their reputation as soldiers. These were aggressive, disciplined and self-confident troops, but difficult to manage if not properly treated. Unlike in other armies of the time, the Spaniards would not allow physical punishment with rods or hands, for they considered it unworthy. Instead, they rather be punished with weapons such as swords, which, although more dangerous, were considered nobler.

Such an obsession for honour matters and reputation used to provoke numerous duels, which added to their fierceness on the battlefield, earned the tercios a quarrelsome reputation. When fighting together with allies or tercios from different nationalities, it was common that the Spaniard ones demanded the most decisive, dangerous or important positions in combat, in order to defend their reputation. In fact, the Spanish army was the only one at the time which had to include punishments for those who dared breaking formation due to the eagerness for fighting or to distinguish themselves in the face of the enemy.

These very same soldiers were those who, after years without collecting their pay and living in miserable conditions, rebelled against their chiefs. However, instead of doing so before an important battle, like was common in order to press for their pays, they always did it after the battle, so that no one could argue that they had not done fulfilled their duty. Even after rebelling, they maintained the military discipline and organization by electing new chiefs to command them.