Maestranza de caballería

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 or cavalry, was the typical military branch for nobles to follow, but the aforementioned skills had become less common as the Spanish 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.

Philip II of Spain issued a Royal Decree on September 6, in which he encouraged the distinct local nobilities to organize themselves into noble brotherhoods. On August 3, 1573, the nobility of Ronda created the Hermandad del Santo Espíritu under the advocacy of Nuestra Señora de Gracia ('Our Lady of Grace'), which would later become the Real Maestranza de Caballería de Ronda.

Seville created a fraternity in the name of its patron saint, Saint Hermengild, soon thereafter, though it dissolved rapidly. By 1670, a group of nobles took Nuestra Señora del Rosario ('Our Lady of the Rosary') as its patron saint and the following year drew up orders which would give rise to the Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla from that time forward.

Nuestra Señora del Triunfo ('Our Lady of the Triumph') became the patroness of the Real Maestranza de Caballería de Granada, created in 1686 to imitate its Sevillian counterpart. Eleven years later, another of the modern-era maestranzas was formed: the Real Maestranza de Caballería de Valencia.

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Wikipedia