Dallas Public Library

The Irish in the Spanish armies in the seventeenth century, Eduardo de Mesa

eng

It is well-known that many Irishmen who refused to submit to the English in the reigns of Elizabeth and the early Stuart kings, including the famous earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell, went to fight for the king of Spain, but what they did when they joined the Spanish armies is much less well-known. This book provides a wealth of detail on the activities of the Irish in the Spanish armies in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It outlines who the Irish soldiers were, how they were recruited and the terms under which they served. It discusses their military roles both in the wars in Flanders between the Spanish and their former Dutch subjects, and, later, in the Hispanic peninsula, showing how the Irish were often employed as elite troops who made significant contributions to major military actions, such as the siege of Breda in 1624. It examines military tactics, explores the politics of the Spanish armies, showing how the Irish fitted in, and discusses how, when the rebellion of 1641 broke out in Ireland, many Irish soldiers returned to Ireland to resume the fight against the English

Includes bibliographical references and index

mapsillustrations

index present

non fiction

The Irish in the Spanish armies in the seventeenth century

bibliography

880566248

Eduardo de Mesa

Irish historical monographs series,, 12, 1740-1097

1. Origins, composition and strength -- 2. Recruiting and levies for the Irish Tercios in Flanders -- 3. Irishmen in the War of Flanders, 1621-44 -- 4. An urgent need of soldiers for Spain -- 5. The ware experience of Tyrone's Tercio, 1638-42 -- 6. The long journey of Tyroconnell's Tercio, 1639-44 -- 7. The Irish in the War against Portugal, 1641-4