Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Armour Plates" to "Arundel, Earls of"

their military organization, from other feudal states. As usual, mercenaries were the only forces on which reliance was placed for foreign wars. These troops called _almugavares_ (Arabic = scouts) won a great reputation on Italian and Greek battlefields of the 13th century, and with many transformations in name and character appeared from time to time up to the Peninsular War. Castile, however, had a military system very different from the rest. The forces of the kingdom were composed of local contingents similar to the English _fyrd_, professional soldiers who were paid followers of the great lords, and the heavy cavalry of the military orders. The groups of cities called _Hermandades_, while they existed, also had permanent forces in their pay. At the union of Castile and Aragon the Castilian methods received a more general application. The new _Hermandad_ was partly a light cavalry, partly a police, and was organized in the ratio of one soldier to every hundred families. In the conquest of Grenada (1482-92) _mesnadas_ or contingents were furnished by the crown, the nobles and the cities, and permanently kept in the field. The _Hermandad_ served throughout the war as a matter of course. From the veterans of this war was drawn the army which in the Italian wars won its reputation as the first army in Europe. In 1596 the home defence of Spain was reorganized and the _ordenanza_, or militia, which was then formed of all men not belonging to the still extant feudal contingents, was generally analogous to the system of "assizes at arms" in England. This _ordenanza_ served in the Peninsular War.