The Foundation of an Empire: Spain’s Army from the Conquest of Granada to the Tercio

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On October 14, 1469, all of Europe looked to Spain. There, a wedding of enormous political significance took place, a wedding that was to influence not only the future of Europe, but that of the entire world. Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon exchanged their vows in Valladolid, which was the first step towards a united Spain. After asserting Isabella's claim to the Castilian throne in the War of the Castilian Succession and Ferdinand succeeding his father as King of Aragon in 1479, the two ruled their kingdoms as a dynastic union. ANM This was the beginning of Spain's rise to a world power. What was missing was an army to conquer the world which was the next item on Isabella’s and Ferdinand’s to do list.

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Bibliography:
Barton, S.; Portass, R., Beyond the Reconquista: new directions in the history of Medieval Iberia (711–1085): in honour of Simon Barton, Leiden 2020.
Freller, T., Granada, Königreich zwischen Orient und Okzident, Ostfildern 2009.
Thomas, Hugh, Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire 1490–1522, New York 2004.
Mcalister, Lyle N., SocialStructure and Social Change in New Spain, in: The Hispanic American Historical Review, Aug., 1963, Vol. 43, No. 3 (Aug., 1963), pp. 349-370.
Perez, J., Ferdinand und Isabella, trans. by Antoinette Gittinger, München 1989, pp 211.
Pohl, John, Armies of Castille and Aragon 1370-1516, Oxford/New York 2015, pp 35.
Quatrefages, R., Etat et Armee en Espagne au debut des temps modernes, in: Mélanges de la Casa de Velázquez, vol. 17, 1981. pp. 85-103.
Quatrefages, R., La spécificité militaire espagnole, in : Pouvoirs et société dans l’Espagne moderne, pp 39-53.

Reading list:
Warfare:
Duffy, C., Siege Warfare: The Fortress in the Early Modern World 1494-1660, Vol. 1, 1979. https://amzn.to/32dvvwM
Devries, K., Douglas, R., Medieval Military Technology, 1992, https://amzn.to/3IazYoC.
Rogers, C.J., The military revolution debate. Readings on the military transformation of early modern Europe, 1995. https://amzn.to/3geVDMM
Rogers, C.J., Soldiers' Lives through History - The Middle Ages, 2006. https://amzn.to/3j2kQvG
Parker, C., The Cambridge History of Warfare, 2005. https://amzn.to/32ggn1L
Van Nimwegen, O., The Dutch Army and the Military Revolutions, 1588-1688, 2010. https://amzn.to/2E3Fc95

Fiction related to the Early modern period:
Alexandre Dumas,The Three Musketeers https://amzn.to/2CJVAuu
Alexandre Dumas, 20 Years After https://amzn.to/32g82Lv
Alexandre Dumas, The Vicomte de Bragelonne https://amzn.to/2EnIOCB
Markus Heitz, The Dark Lands https://amzn.to/3ntZgEu

Military Si-Fi recommendations:
Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe (Series of 22 books on the Napoleonic Wars), https://amzn.to/3RZyty0
Dan Abnett, The Founding: A Gaunt's Ghosts Omnibus (Gaunt’s Ghosts) https://amzn.to/3vdGxkZ
Dan Abnett, The Lost: A Gaunt's Ghosts Omnibus (Gaunt’s Ghosts) https://amzn.to/3osvFvA
Dan Abnett, The Saint A Gaunt's Ghosts Omnibus (Gaunt’s Ghosts) https://amzn.to/3orikUk
Glen Cook, Chronicles of the Black Company (Chronicles of the Black Company Series Book 1) https://amzn.to/3PVgyGV

Historiography:
Neville Morley, Writing Ancient History 1999. https://amzn.to/3NCyoNl
Albeit focused on ancient history, it's a brilliant book for anybody who is interested in what history actually is. Is it a story? How does it work in practise? Can writing history be objective? Is it "scientific"? What makes it a proper discipline at university?