The
tercio ( "third") or
tercio español ("Spanish third") was a Spanish military unit of the
Spanish Empire during the era of the dominance of
Habsburg Spain in Europe and the
Renaissance era. The tercio was an
infantry formation made up of
pikemen,
swordsmen and
arquebusiers or
musketeers in a mutually supportive formation, that in theory was up to 3,000 soldiers, although it was usually less than half this size. It was also sometimes referred to as the Spanish Square in other countries and the formation was also much used by other powers, especially the
Imperial Army of the
Holy Roman Empire.