Patentes por Soldados. Recruitment and Sale of Military Offi ces in the Spanish Army During he Second half Of 17th Century

Abstract

The sale of military offices under the Spanish Habsburgs is a topic that has hither to received little scholarly attention. In this article, we approached the issue of the sale of commissions, especially during the 17th century, though various aspects, including municipality, recruitment and field armies. We found an important transition to 18th century methods of sale toward the end of the reign of Carlos II, when recruitment efforts began to produce new military units (companies and tercios) though new methods of sale, both in recruitment of a purely military nature, us well as a method of purchasing patents of nobility and habits of military orders.