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The tercios were the largest units of Spanish infantry during the Habsburg period that lasted from the early 16th century to the early 18th. The origin of the term is obscure, perhaps lying either in an original division of a force into three, the usual strength of 3,000 soldiers, or the combination of types of weapons used.Spain dominated Europe prior to the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), and the tercio was arguably the embodiment of Spanish military might in this period. The troops of Emperor Charles V (Charles I of Spain) won Spain hegemony in Europe from…

1. TerminologyConscription in the narrower sense means compulsory military service for a few years by young men without exception as a civic duty; it was established in several European countries during the radical change from the 18th to the 19th century. In international debate at that time, the commonest term for this military service was (and still is) the English and French word  conscription. In contrast to this narrower sense, the noun can also be used for any form of compulsory military service that arises from membership in a ruling organization.…

1. Religious discipline 1.1. General considerationsIn the modern period there is an evident increased effort in all confessions to subject the lives of the faithful to Christian norms. Research into confessionalization was for a long time limited to church discipline (Ger. Kirchenzucht , Fr. discipline ecclésiastique), equating it with social discipline[10] or placing it in parallel with state defense against criminality. It is only recently that the aspects of “self-regulation” have been emphasized [11] and discipline has been classified with church efforts towards…

Desertion is the military offense of absenting oneself without leave from one's unit (Martial law). The term is not yet found in military law (War, law of) of the classical mercenary armies in the early modern period, but rather a whole series of related concepts, circumscribed as deserting the flag, abandoning one's post, etcetera. The spectrum ranged from plundering without due authority, to fleeing under fire, to collective withdrawal as a form of strike. Such actions, most of whic…

1. OverviewFor their armies and navies, early modern states as a rule depended on recruiting (Recruitment) paid professional soldiers, not conscripts (see also Advertising; Army reforms). Experiments with conscription were no more than hesitant before the French Revolution and Napoleon. Only French successes with this system (Levée en masse) inspired European states (with the notable exception of Britain and the European colonial armies) to introduce universal military conscription in the early 19th century.Professional soldiers could be hired individually …

1. Goods The purpose of advertising today is, as a rule, to communicate information about a specific product to a particular target group, with a view to motivating that group to purchase that product. The advertising message conveyed may depend on spoken, written, or graphic media. At the instrumental level, the term refers to the various considerations entered into and measures employed to communicate the supplier’s offer to potential consumers.Advertising in the pre-industrial age served only to deliver information about craftsmen or announcements of functions…