Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba
Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba was a Spanish general and statesman who led successful military campaigns during the Conquest of Granada and the Italian Wars. His military victories and widespread popularity earned him the nickname “El Gran Capitán”. He also negotiated the final surrender of Granada and later served as Viceroy of Naples.
Posthumous portrait, 1877
El Gran Capitán battling the Moors at the Siege of Montefrío by José de Madrazo, 1838
Bronze bust of Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos
Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba gazes upon d'Armagnac's lifeless body at the Battle of Cerignola, by Casado del Alisal, 1866
Pike and shot was a historical infantry tactical formation that first appeared during the late 15th and early 16th centuries, and was used until the development of the bayonet in the late 17th century. This type of formation combined soldiers armed with pikes and soldiers armed with arquebuses and/or muskets. Other weapons such as swords, halberds, and crossbows were also sometimes used. The formation was initially developed by the Holy Roman Imperial (Landsknechte) and Spanish (Tercios) infantries, and later by the Dutch and Swedish armies in the 17th century.
A 16th-century pamphlet showing a mixed pike and shot formation. Pikemen are represented by the letter "p", the two "winges of shot" by the letter "o". (The letter "h" represents halberdiers.) A group of "loose shotte" has been pushed forward into the front of the formation.
A model of a section of a pike and shot formation from the Thirty Years' War on display at the Army Museum in Stockholm. Consistent (uniform) dress was not common for military troops at the time.