Today's post covers some of the infantry that were fielded by the Spanish Kingdoms in the very early Italian Wars. If you have followed this blog for a while you will know I am fascinated by these very early clashes in the 1490s and at the start of the 1500s where the armies involved were still "medieval" in some regards but were quickly evolving into the more organised and regimented armies of the later 16th century. The stand out commander of these conflicts was of course "El Gran Capitan", Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordoba, and it was reading some, rather dated, biographies of de Cordoba that I first encountered the Galician and Asturian infantry.
Gerald de Gaury in his 1955 biography "The Grand Captain" stated how King Ferdinand wrote to de Cordoba in September 1502, whilst El Gran Capitan was surrounded in Barletta by the French, explaining how he had sent reinforcements which included "An army of two thousand from the Galicians and Asturians". Some years later Mary Purcell in her 1962 "The Great Captain"(de Gaury had already used the title of Grand Captain!) wrote how, following his defeat at the first Battle of Seminara in 1495, https://camisado1500s.blogspot.com/2019/10/seminara-1495.html, de Cordoba was reinforced by a "contingent of Gallegan levies - three hundred instead of the fifteen hundred Ferdinand promised - sent to Italy in rags and without arms or ammunition". When reading these biographies I had wondered if these troops were any different from the rest of the Spanish in the early Italian Wars, many of whom were veterans of the war in Granada.
Having never been able to discover more about the Galicians and Asturians I was fascinated to see Massimo Predonzani has depicted and described them in his latest Helion book on the Italian Wars, Volume V, which covers the Franco-Spanish War in Southern Italy 1502-1504, https://www.helion.co.uk/military-history-books/the-italian-wars-volume-5-the-franco-spanish-war-in-southern-italy-1502-1504.php. I will quote Predonzani's passage on the Galicians and Asturian in full as it refers to the contemporary descriptions of them and shows what I have tried to represent in these miniatures:
"Frenchman Auton mentions 4,000 Galicians stationed in Calabria as part of the army of Portocarrero at the beginning of 1503. According to him, the Galicians wore high hats, were almost all barefoot and were equipped with a targe and pavise. In June 1503, a few months after the victory at Cerignola, Auton mentions another 500 Galicians under Captain Diego d'Arillano, engaged in Puglia against Louis d'Ars - who would defeat them. He writes that these Galicians wore high caps on their heads and had targes and partisans.
Another chronicler, Paolo Giovo, mentions that in 1495 the Galician infantrymen already in the kingdom of Naples as part of the army of Cordoba - the Great Captain had rushed to the aid of King Ferdinando against the French of Charles VIII. Giovo writes that "they were Galicians from the furthest part of Spain, close to the sea. At that time they used large shields and short zagaglie (a throwing weapon similar to a javelin but with feathered flights), others used small iron bucklers with long partisans". He gives a description similar to Auton's, except for the hats. Giovo also mentions the Galician and Asturian infantry taking part in the defeat of Aubigny at Seminara (1503). It is the same contingent described above by Auton in Portocarrero's army. Giovo writes that "the Galician and Asturian infantry used, according to the ancient Roman custom, long and bent shields and throwing darts".
The records studied by Ladero Quesada confirm once again that these Galicians were peculiar infantrymen. A document from 1495 reports a long list of infantry under the command of the Hermandad. The first on the list are precisely the Galician infantrymen with Galician casquetes, swords, long spears with a wide iron head and Pontevedra pavise. The list goes on with 400 infantrymen from León equipped in the Galician fashion, 200 from Ponferrada and 600 from Asturi, also armed in the Galician fashion.
Here it is reported that the Galicians wore a casquete, which can be translated as "helmet", "cap" or as a "cover" of fabric or leather that covers the helmet. It should be noted that they were typical headdresses of the Galicians, also worn by the aforementioned foot soldiers. In fact, in a later document, the Asturians are described with this type of tall cap. It is a chronicle of 1517 about an expedition of Charles V to Asturia, it is reported that, "the men are still armed with large well-painted pavises, long underpants, no hose and high caps"."
"Frenchman Auton mentions 4,000 Galicians stationed in Calabria as part of the army of Portocarrero at the beginning of 1503. According to him, the Galicians wore high hats, were almost all barefoot and were equipped with a targe and pavise. In June 1503, a few months after the victory at Cerignola, Auton mentions another 500 Galicians under Captain Diego d'Arillano, engaged in Puglia against Louis d'Ars - who would defeat them. He writes that these Galicians wore high caps on their heads and had targes and partisans.
Another chronicler, Paolo Giovo, mentions that in 1495 the Galician infantrymen already in the kingdom of Naples as part of the army of Cordoba - the Great Captain had rushed to the aid of King Ferdinando against the French of Charles VIII. Giovo writes that "they were Galicians from the furthest part of Spain, close to the sea. At that time they used large shields and short zagaglie (a throwing weapon similar to a javelin but with feathered flights), others used small iron bucklers with long partisans". He gives a description similar to Auton's, except for the hats. Giovo also mentions the Galician and Asturian infantry taking part in the defeat of Aubigny at Seminara (1503). It is the same contingent described above by Auton in Portocarrero's army. Giovo writes that "the Galician and Asturian infantry used, according to the ancient Roman custom, long and bent shields and throwing darts".
The records studied by Ladero Quesada confirm once again that these Galicians were peculiar infantrymen. A document from 1495 reports a long list of infantry under the command of the Hermandad. The first on the list are precisely the Galician infantrymen with Galician casquetes, swords, long spears with a wide iron head and Pontevedra pavise. The list goes on with 400 infantrymen from León equipped in the Galician fashion, 200 from Ponferrada and 600 from Asturi, also armed in the Galician fashion.
Here it is reported that the Galicians wore a casquete, which can be translated as "helmet", "cap" or as a "cover" of fabric or leather that covers the helmet. It should be noted that they were typical headdresses of the Galicians, also worn by the aforementioned foot soldiers. In fact, in a later document, the Asturians are described with this type of tall cap. It is a chronicle of 1517 about an expedition of Charles V to Asturia, it is reported that, "the men are still armed with large well-painted pavises, long underpants, no hose and high caps"."
Although Predonzani contains two illustrations of these troops in the book it seems we have no contemporary illustrations of the Galicians and Asturians. This leaves the question of how to represent them on the table top? Reading through the information above I have decided to show the troops barelegged and armed with a mixture of throwing darts and longer spears. As they are variously described as having bucklers, targes, "bent shields" and pavises I have gone for a mixture of large pavises, smaller round shields and a couple of oval shields to represent the "bent shields". The toughest thing to represent was the high caps they wore, especially as we have no real idea of how they looked! To represent these I have modelled three in green stuff whilst another three have been provided by head swaps with plastic heads wearing slightly pointed caps from the Perry Miniatures Wars of the Roses set. I cheated a little and five are wearing helmets whilst one has a flat cap but half of the figures in pointed caps isn't bad.
The figures used are a mixture of Wargames Foundry conquistadors and Assault Group Italians. Some of the conquistador figures are wearing sandals. It is quite easy to remove the sandal parts with a scalpel so it looks as though the figures are barefooted. I was pleased with the results of this and out of the dozen figures only one is wearing hose. The Italian Assault Group figures are wearing skirted garments and hose which means they can be painted to look as though they are barelegged. The conquistadors have had their swords swapped for javelins and spears and their empty scabbards have had the hilts added back with plastic sword hilts from the Perry Miniatures kits. From the descriptions of how these troops were armed with shields and throwing darts and the fact that both Galicia and Asturia have mountainous and hilly terrain I have chosen to depict them as skirmishers but this may be incorrect. The Swiss were from mountainous terrain yet fought in very close order, although that may be because of the more urbanised nature of the Swiss cantons.
The resulting unit is shown below. Of course it is purely conjectural and based on the descriptions provided in Predonzani's book. I feel they match the two drawings in his colour plates fairly well. Whilst looking different they are also a good fit with the rest of my early Italian Wars Spanish army. This is definitely one of my favourite armies in the collection, despite it being one of the oldest or maybe because it is one of the oldest! The last few photos below show the Galicians and Asturians with the rest of the Spanish. Hopefully they will get to see action on the wargames table sometime soon.
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| A unit of Galician and Asturian infantry. |
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| The Galicians and Asturians carry a mixture of pavises, "bent shields", targes and bucklers. |
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| Some of the tall caps they are described as wearing have been modelled in green stuff. |
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| They carry throwing darts and "long spears with a wide iron head". |
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| 28mm Galicians and Asturians for the early Italian Wars. |
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| A view of the unit from behind. |
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| The early Italian Wars Spanish with the Galicians and Asturians skirmishing in front. |
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| A view of my early Italian Wars Spanish army. |
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| 28mm Early Italian Wars Spanish Army. |
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