Editing Pike (weapon) (section)

==Pike and shot==
{{Main|Pike and shot}}
[[File:BourtangeExerzieren2010.ogg|upright=1.35|thumb|A re-enactment of the [[Thirty Years' War]] with piekenier training at the [[Bourtange]] [[star fort]].]] [[File:Batalla de rocroi por Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau.jpg|thumb|The [[Battle of Rocroi]] (1643) marked the end of the supremacy of the Spanish [[Tercio]]s, painting by [[Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau]] [[:es:Rocroi, el último tercio|picture]].]]

In the aftermath of the Italian Wars, from the late 15th century to the late 16th century, most European armies adopted the use of the pike, often in conjunction with primitive firearms such as the [[arquebus]] and [[caliver]], to form large pike and shot formations.{{citation needed|date=November 2017|reason=all of the paragraph}}

The quintessential example of this development was the Spanish [[tercio]], which consisted of a large square of pikemen with small, mobile squadrons of arquebusiers moving along its perimeter, as well as traditional men-at-arms. These three elements formed a mutually supportive combination of tactical roles: the arquebusiers harried the enemy line, the pikemen protected the arquebusiers from enemy cavalry charges, and the men-at-arms, typically armed with [[sword]]s and [[javelin]]s, fought off enemy pikemen when two opposing squares made contact. The Tercio deployed smaller numbers of pikemen than the huge Swiss and Landsknecht columns, and their formation ultimately proved to be much more flexible on the battlefield.{{citation needed|date=November 2017|reason=all of the paragraph}}

Mixed formations of men quickly became the norm for European infantrymen, with many, but not all, seeking to imitate the Tercio; in England, a combination of [[Bill (weapon)|bill]]men, [[longbow]]men, and men-at-arms remained the norm, though this changed when the supply of [[yew]] on the island dwindled.{{citation needed|date=November 2017|reason=all of the paragraph}}

The percentage of men who were armed with firearms in Tercio-like formations steadily increased as firearms advanced in technology. This advance is believed to be the demise of cavalry when in fact it revived it. From the late 16th century and into the 17th century, smaller pike formations were used, invariably defending attached musketeers, often as a central block with two sub-units of shooters, called "sleeves of shot", on either side of the pikes. Although the cheaper and versatile infantry increasingly adopted firearms, cavalry's proportion in the army remained high.{{citation needed|date=November 2017|reason=all of the paragraph}}

During the [[English Civil War]] (1642–1651) the [[New Model Army]] (1646–1660) initially had two musketeers for each pikeman.<ref name=Firth1972/> Two musketeers for each pikeman was not the agreed mix used throughout Europe, and when in 1658, [[Oliver Cromwell]], by then the [[Lord Protector (Cromwell)|Lord Protector]], sent a contingent of the New Model Army to Flanders to support his French allies under the terms of their treaty of friendship (the [[Treaty of Paris (1657)|Treaty of Paris, 1657]]) he supplied regiments with equal numbers of musketeers and pikemen.<ref name=Firth1898/>} On the battlefield, the musketeers lacked protection against enemy cavalry, and the two types of foot soldier supported each other.

The post [[Restoration (1660)|Restoration]] [[English Army#Restoration|English Army]] used pikemen and by 1697 (the last year of the [[Nine Years' War]]) English infantry battalions fighting in the Low Countries still had two musketeers to every pikemen and fought in the now traditional style of pikemen five ranks deep in the centre, with six ranks of musketeers on each side.<ref name=Chandler/>

According to [[John Kersey the younger|John Kersey]] in 1706, the pike was typically {{convert|4.3|to|4.9|m|ft|abbr=on}} in length.<ref name=Phillips/>