Evolution or Innovation? The Technical and Tactical Changes in the Armament of the Spanish Army During the Dynastic Change: New Considerations

Abstract

The European historiography has affirmed that while other states improved the organization and armament of his armed forces during the 17th century, Spain was not capable to take the same way. This work analyzes the different weapons used by the soldiers of Spanish armies, the armament production and the tactical deployment and development in the different military conflicts, comparing the process with what it happened in the rest of Europe, trying to demonstrate if Spain was more backward tactics and technically, and if the high command proved to be opposed to any innovation. Inside this analysis, a very important point is the process of the introduction of the flintlocks muskets (fusil), to verify that the generalization of the flintlocks between the infantry it was not a transcendental innovation stimulated by the new dynasty or the Bourbons.