FORMACIÓN DE UN EJÉRCITO PERMANENTE EN EL SIGLO XV: LA CABALLERÍA DE ALFONSO EL MAGNÁNIMO

Abstract

From his conflicts with Castile until the conquest of the Kingdom of Naples and further enterprises in Italy, the wars of Alfonso the Magnanimous altered the military structures of the Crown of Aragon, consolidating an advanced model of military recruitment and administration based on paid service and the prominent role played by the Royal Household. But the most striking change –a result of the scale and continuity of war and the financial policy of the monarchy– was the formation of a standing army. After the conquest of Naples, Alfonso the Magnanimous sustained a permanent force of cavalry through the reorganization of his military affinities –knights and noblemen linked to the Royal Household– and the regular service of small companies of men-at-arms provided by the low nobility, and local professional men-at-arms. As an outcome of the foreign wars of the king of Aragon, a professional, contracted and State-dependent standing army –integrated by cavalry but also infantry troops organized into standardized units (esquadres)– emerged.