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Maestranza de caballería
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maestranzas de caballería (literally translated as 'cavalry armories') are noble militias created in the early modern era by the Spanish Crown, with the aim of giving the nobility practice in horsemanship and the use of weapons. In the sixteenth century, the caballería (cavalry) was the typical military branch for nobles to follow, but the aforementioned skills had become less common as the Spanish aristocracy converted into a class of courtiers. These noble institutions created a dedicated cavalry corps that was directly funded by its members. The participating nobles, or maestrantes, organized themselves under the advocacy of a holy patron and took the internal form of a confraternity.
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