Spanish soldier of the XNUMXth century
Article "Iron Duke" Alba. The beginning of the battle path" we said that this Spanish grandee had no prejudice towards people of humble origin, such were many of the commanders of his army. One of them was Julian Romero de Ibarrola, who, having started his service as a simple soldier, received a knighthood from the kings of Spain and England, the military rank of maestre de campo and became the commander of the Sicilian terce.
At home, he is the personification of a "simple hero" who has served his homeland all his life - honestly and without pathos. Sometimes he is called the "best soldier of Spain", and sometimes - the "watch dog" of the Duke of Alba. They talk with delight about the heroism shown in many battles, and with horror about the "Spanish fury" in Antwerp, which was plundered by Julian's subordinates. He was a soldier of his era, and it makes no sense to judge him from the point of view of our relatively "vegetarian", but at the same time very cynical and hypocritical time. Today we will just talk a little about this man.
The origin of the hero
Julián Romero came from a poor La Mancha family, which nevertheless claimed to be of noble origin. In Spain, since the Reconquista, there have been a disproportionate number of nobles whose ancestors once received the title of hidalgo for military merit - but that’s all: neither land nor money was attached to such a title.
Moreover, in the northwest of Spain there are historical the region of Asturias that was not conquered by the Moors. Many of its inhabitants have light skin (veins are visible on the forearms - the notorious "blue blood") and gray or blue eyes. And therefore, all Asturians, regardless of occupation, considered themselves nobles. In the famous novel by Cervantes "The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha" one can read:
This girl boasted of noble origin only because she was from Asturias.
By the way, as you can see from the map, the kingdom of Asturias also included the modern provinces of Cantabria and the Basque Country.
The economic situation of Spain in the XNUMXth century
Julián Romero de Ibarrola was born in the small town of Huelamo near Cuenco (modern Castile-La Mancha) in 1518. At that time, sheep breeding was the main branch of agriculture in Spain. Huge flocks of sheep (a total of several million heads) were driven twice a year across the entire peninsula: in spring from south to north, in autumn from north to south. On the way, they often destroyed crops in the fields of local peasants.
The influential association of large noble sheep breeders Honrado Concejo de la Mesta (from the Latin “animalia mixta” - mixing of cattle), created in 1273 by decree of King Alfonso X, was granted the right to unhindered driving of their herds throughout the country. At the same time, the peasants were forbidden to enclose fields, gardens and vineyards at the place where the herds followed, and the townspeople did not have the right to block the streets. In the same Madrid, cattle were driven for many years through the city center.
The fact is that Spanish wool was in great demand in Flanders, France and other European countries, its sale abroad brought a lot of income, from which taxes were paid to the treasury. The kings, interested in receiving the largest possible tax deductions, patronized the Mesta to the detriment of the farmers. So, in 1489, a decree was issued, according to which the Mesta had the right to use communal pastures at the place where the herds followed, and from 1501, the members of the Mesta could enter into permanent lease agreements for any piece of land where their herds grazed for at least some time.
Often, already plowed lands were given over to pastures, and in 1528 the Cortes noted with alarm the fact of a sharp impoverishment of the peasants: it was noted that many of them were "close to complete ruin." The Society of the Place, by the way, was abolished only in 1836. In the XNUMXth century, quite a few peasants, having lost their land, turned into farm laborers - peonies, and were forced to work for shelter and food. Others left the village altogether, becoming robbers, vagabonds or beggars.
In addition to wool, wine, olive oil, fruits, leather and metals were exported from Spain. But the main export commodity was still wool, which was exported from the country to the detriment of local manufactories. Due to the growing export of wool, cloth-making in Spain did not develop, and then local manufactories began to decline altogether, unable to compete with the products of Dutch, English and French competitors. Wealthy nobles and merchants preferred imported products, Spanish cloth makers produced mostly cheap and coarse fabrics for the poor local population.
A year before the birth of the hero of our article (in 1517), a new king came to Spain from the Netherlands - Charles I (since 1519 - Holy Roman Emperor Charles V). He was born in Ghent and at that time did not even know Spanish. Numerous Flemish advisers arrived with him, who ended up in the most important posts (including in the church). As a result, the Cortes at first did not even want to recognize Charles as king, and in 1519 in Toledo they put forward conditions supported by other cities of Castile: the king had to not leave Spain, pledged not to approve foreigners in government positions, promised to ban the export of gold and horses abroad.
But Charles, who was elected Emperor of the Roman Empire in the same 1519, did not fulfill his promises, and in May 1520 he left for Germany, leaving Cardinal Adrian of Utrecht as governor. This caused uprisings in a number of cities in Castile, as well as in Valencia and Mallorca. Karl, who was busy with European affairs, did not show any particular interest in his kingdom.
According to the customs tariff approved in 1546, it became more profitable to transport raw silk from Granada to Genoa than to Castile. Foreign merchants who exported raw materials abroad received such profits that Spain began to be called "Indies for foreigners." As a result, a persistent downward trend in production was formed, which continued under Charles's successor, Philip II, even though he tried (in vain) to ban the import of foreign cloth into the country.
In the second half of the XNUMXth century, many wool and silk weaving workshops were closed in Toledo. The production of silk in Granada and cloth in Zaragoza almost stopped. The production of cloth was significantly reduced (as well as its quality) in Segovia and Cuenca. To a lesser extent, the cloth and silk weaving in Seville suffered, but the products of its workshops were mainly exported to the colonies. The production of expensive thin fabrics has practically ceased, they are now imported from abroad.
In Cordoba and the cities of Andalusia, leather manufactories fell into decay. Gold and silver brought from the colonies did not reach the main strata of the population. Moreover, their influx contributed to the rise in the price of basic goods, and a significant part of American precious metals flowed abroad, enriching the bourgeoisie of the Netherlands, France and England, as well as German and Genoese bankers.
And Philip II, constantly receiving gold and silver from America, was forced several times to declare himself and the state bankrupt. Things got to the point that already at the beginning of the XNUMXth century in Spain itself, gold and silver coins practically disappeared from circulation, and copper money depreciated terribly. They say that at that time the weight of copper coins given for a wax candle was three times the weight of this candle.
The region of Castile-La Mancha - the birthplace of the hero, in Spain is called the country of castles, windmills, and also - "Land without water". As you understand, there could not have been a well-fed and rich area with such a name in the Middle Ages. Of the poor La Mancha hidalgos typified by Don Quixote, Cervantes writes at the beginning of his novel that three-quarters of their income went to food.
It is not surprising that Hualing Romero was forced to enlist in the army as a simple soldier at the age of 15.
The beginning of the military service of Hualin Romero de Ibarrola
Hualing began his military service in Flanders, first as a drummer, then as a pikeman. Two years later, his unit was among the troops that went on a campaign to Tunisia, captured in 1534 by the Ottoman admiral Khair ad-Din Barbarossa.
This campaign was successful: Barbarossa then fled from Tunisia, which, however, did not prevent him from becoming the master of the entire Mediterranean Sea very soon. From Tunisia, Julian Romero was transferred to Italy, where the future Spanish hero “pulled the strap” for 9 years and it seemed that nothing foreshadowed a great future for him.
This is how the "Procession of Landsknechts" is represented in the engraving by Niklas Stoer (first half of the XNUMXth century).
But there were also romanticized images, for example, an engraving by Lucas Cranach the Elder, in which St. George himself is represented as a landsknecht (40s of the XNUMXth century).
In 1542, the next Ninth (out of ten) Italian War began (these wars took place in 1494–1559), during which in the summer of 1544 the Spanish army besieged the city of Saint-Dizier, located in the north-east of France (these were then the Italian wars). On August 17, the city was surrendered, and Julian, who was here with the Spanish troops, set off from the Netherlands by sea home.
Some believe that Julian was among the soldiers demobilized from the Spanish army due to the fact that there was no need for their services yet. On the way, the ships with these soldiers entered Dover, where the head of Hualin, Don Pedro de Gamboa, received an offer from Henry VIII to transfer to the English service. Spain and England at that time were allies, the offer seemed to everyone advantageous, and the Italo-Spanish detachment of 300 cavalry riflemen turned out to be part of the English army.
They were of value primarily because they were fluent in a new progressive method of warfare, which was called caracol (caracol, translated from Spanish as a snail). From twelve to sixteen ranks of riflemen on horseback almost at a gallop drove up to the enemy's formation at a distance of a shot, the soldiers of the first rank fired alternately from two pistols and turned around, driving to the rear. Then the arrows of the next ranks entered the battle. When the horsemen of the last rank fired their shots, the first had already managed to reload their pistols. This fighting technique quickly became very popular in Europe and the French marshal Gaspard de Tavannes wrote in his memoirs:
Duel in Montreuil-sur-Mer
On June 7, 1546, peace was signed between England and France, and then one of the most famous duels in world history took place. Julián Romero de Ibarrola opposed his compatriot, Captain de Mora. The fact is that one of the Spanish detachments, commanded by the Spanish nobleman - Captain de Mora (his name was either Antonio, or Cristobal), entered the service of Francis I. This circumstance greatly outraged Julian, who expressed his claims to de Mora : they say, what are you ... a bad person against the motherland and its allies are fighting.
Mora was a distinguished nobleman and was very indignant at the "collision" by some beggar hidalgo. He answered him that he was fighting on the side of honest Catholics, but Julian Romero was in the army of vile heretics and enemies of the church - Protestants.
In general, hot Spanish men inflicted insults on each other that are incompatible with life (at least a quiet life). They decided to fight a duel, not only for themselves, but also for the monarchs: Julian represented Henry VIII, More - Francis I.
The idea of such a duel led everyone into wild delight, and in Montreuil-sur-Mer a classic (as in chivalric novels) tournament field was organized with stands, on which Francis and his heir, official representatives of Henry VIII and many specially arrived aristocrats from other countries. Sometimes you have to read that the duel took place in Fontainebleau, which seems unlikely.
The entourage was appropriate - with heralds and beautiful ladies, coats of arms of two crowns, luxurious costumes of spectators. The participants of the duel were dressed in armor with closed helmets, armed with either Gothic swords, or wide-bladed rapiers resembling them, estoks (intended for injections into weakened places of armor) and dagas (daggers for the left hand, used in fencing).
According to the recollections of eyewitnesses, the aristocrat de Mora then demonstrated his nobility with all his might, and the former ordinary landsknecht Julian Romero showed an indomitable desire to win. Since Mora was a cavalryman, and Julian was an infantryman who had only recently mounted a horse to "caraculate" on it, everyone believed that victory would be on the side of France. And, indeed, the first part of the fight was won by de Mora. At first, he knocked the rapier out of the hand of his opponent, but then he threw his own too - the opponents exposed the escots. Then Mora, to the applause of the public, with a deft lunge killed the opponent's horse.
However, Julian, who jumped off the falling horse in time, for some reason did not consider himself defeated. Contrary to Mor's calls to admit defeat and end the fight, he simply ran around the carcass of his horse, dodging blows. According to some sources, Mora shouted that he did not wish Julian harm, according to others, he assured him that he did not want to kill.
For some reason, Mora did not get off his horse: either he believed that his opponent would be stronger in a foot fight, or he was waiting for a signal from the steward to end the fight for his clear advantage. This parody of a joust went on for quite some time, and Mora let his guard down.
In the end, choosing the moment, Julian in a sharp throw, jumping over the corpse of a horse, was able to hit his opponent's horse with an escort. At the moment Mora was dismounting, he knocked him to the ground, cut the helmet straps with a dagger and put a dagger to his throat. Maura had to give up.
Many noble French nobles were unhappy with this outcome of the duel, but grateful spectators, including the king of the losing side, applauded the hero. Julián Romero received a gold chain from Francis I, and Henry VIII, who was moved by the news of "his" victory, granted his duel a knighthood with a life annuity. True, it was canceled under Elizabeth I. However, according to other sources, Julian received the title of knight-banneret (serving the lord under his own banner) in 1547 after the Battle of Pinky Cloud.
In the next article, we will continue the story of Julián Romero de Ibarrol.
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