The Monteros de Espinosa are the oldest Bodyguard unit of Royal Guards in Europe. They were founded by the Counts of Castile around the year 1006 and kept in service by the Castilian Sovereigns and posterior Dynasties that inherited their Kingdoms and united with. It is still part of the Spanish Guardia Real.
Originally a small tight unit of five to nine men who like their contemporary Houscarls or the Somatophylakes of Alexander the Great accompanied the Counts and later Kings everywhere, it was raised successively to their highest number in times of the Emperor Charles who extended their number from 48 to 75 in order to take custody night and day of his Queen Mother Joan, the Mad. They had no other officer than the King himself as its Captain and in his absence the King's Right Arm was its Lieutenant.
It was a privilege reserved only for the local Hidalgos of the oldest mountainous districts of the County of Castile at the time of its foundation. In particular, membership was reserved to hidalgos born in or around Espinosa, the town in northern Burgos that gave its name to the unit. These hidalgos could ask for or be asked by the Crown for its service at any time.
With time, their service was limited only to night time and the most sensitive occasions, distinguished with the Honour of watching the Monarchs closest privy Chambers and doing direct custody of the Royal persons during sickness, as well as watching and carrying from the moment of death the Royal Corpses to burial. Birth, Baptism, Marriage and Coronation. All the most intimate aspects of Guard duties.
With time, their functions became less military and mostly like the Gentlemen at Arms and the Yeomen of the Guard limited to Palace duty. The last time they were in campaign escorting their Monarch in the field was in the side of Carlos VII during the Carlist Wars.
The King's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard is a bodyguard of the British monarch. The oldest British military corps still in existence, it was created by King Henry VII in 1485 after the Battle of Bosworth Field.
Hans Majestet Kongens Garde (HMKG) (lit., His Majesty The King's Guard; the Royal Guards) is a battalion of the Norwegian Army. The battalion has two main roles; it serves as the Norwegian King's bodyguards, guarding the royal residences (the Royal Palace in Oslo, Bygdøy Kongsgård and Skaugum) and Akershus Fortress in Oslo, and is also the main infantry unit responsible for the defence of Oslo. The HMKG is located in Huseby leir in Oslo. Huseby leir is located on the old Oslo farm Nordre Huseby gård (Northern Huseby farm), which was acquired by the Norwegian government in the late 19th century.
In some militaries, foot guards are senior infantry regiments. Foot guards are commonly responsible for guarding royal families or other state leaders, and they also often perform ceremonial duties accordingly, but at the same time are combat soldiers.
The Household Division forms a part of the British Army's London District and is made up of five regiments of foot guards and two Household Cavalry regiments. The division is responsible for performing public duties and state ceremonies in London and Windsor. Such functions include the State Opening of Parliament, Trooping the Colour, and mounting the King's Guard.
Spanish nobles are persons who possess the legal status of hereditary nobility according to the laws and traditions of the Spanish monarchy and historically also those who held personal nobility as bestowed by one of the three highest orders of knighthood of the kingdom, namely the Order of the Golden Fleece, the Order of Charles III and the Order of Isabella the Catholic. A system of titles and honours of Spain and of the former kingdoms that constitute it make up the Spanish nobility. Some nobles possess various titles that may be inherited, but the creation and recognition of titles is legally a prerogative of the King of Spain.
Guard mounting, changing the guard, or the changing of the guard, is a formal ceremony in which sentries performing ceremonial guard duties at important institutions are relieved by a new batch of sentries. The ceremonies are often elaborate and precisely choreographed. They originated with peacetime and battlefield military drills introduced to enhance unit cohesion and effectiveness in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
The Kingdom of Castile was a large and powerful state on the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. Its name is popularly thought to come from the castles built in the region. It began in the 9th century as the County of Castile, an eastern frontier lordship of the Kingdom of León. During the 10th century, its counts increased their autonomy, but it was not until 1065 that it was separated from León and became a kingdom in its own right. Between 1072 and 1157, it was again united with León, and after 1230, this union became permanent. Throughout this period, the Castilian kings made extensive conquests in southern Iberia at the expense of the Islamic principalities. The Kingdoms of Castile and of León, with their southern acquisitions, came to be known collectively as the Crown of Castile, a term that also came to encompass overseas expansion.
Grandee is an official aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the Ancien Régime, though in neither country did they have the significant constitutional political role the House of Lords gave to the Peerage of England, of Great Britain and of the United Kingdom. A "Grandee of Spain" nonetheless enjoyed greater social privileges than those of other similar European dignities.
The King's Guard are sentry postings at Buckingham Palace and St James's Palace, organised by the British Army's Household Division. The Household Division also mounts sentry postings at Horse Guards, known as the King's Life Guard.
The High Constables of Holyroodhouse are a small corps of ceremonial bodyguards at the Sovereign's official residence in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. Created in the early sixteenth century to protect the Monarch in residence at Holyrood, as well as to guard the Palace and Abbey, and enforce law and order within the precincts of the Palace and the Holyrood Abbey Sanctuary.
The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then Castilian king, Ferdinand III, to the vacant Leonese throne. It continued to exist as a separate entity after the personal union in 1469 of the crowns of Castile and Aragon with the marriage of the Catholic Monarchs up to the promulgation of the Nueva Planta decrees by Philip V in 1715.
The Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III, originally Royal and Much Distinguished Order of Charles III was established by the King of Spain Charles III by means of the Royal Decree of 19 September 1771, with the motto Virtuti et mérito. Its objective is to reward people for their actions in benefit to Spain and the Crown.
The Royal Guard is an independent regiment of the Spanish Armed Forces that is dedicated to the protection of the King of Spain and members of the Spanish royal family. It currently has a strength of 1,500 troops. While the guard does participate in parades and other ceremonial events, it is a fully functional combat unit. Its members are recruited from the ranks of all three branches of the Spanish Armed Forces and receive the same combat training as regular soldiers.
Espinosa de los Monteros is a municipality located in the province of Burgos, Castile and León, Spain, with a population of c. 2,100 inhabitants.
The Council of State, is the supreme consultative council of the Spanish Government. The current Council of State was established in 1980 according to the article 107 of the Constitution of 1978. The institution of the Council of State, understood as supreme consultative council of the Government, has existed intermittently since 1812, but it has been advising the Spanish monarchs since Carlos I established it in 1526. During the Ancien Régime, the Council of State advised the King about foreign policy.
The Infantry Regiment "Inmemorial del Rey" No. 1 is the senior regiment of the Spanish Army, and is considered the oldest still active military unit in the western world.
Kheshig were the imperial guard for Mongol royalty in the Mongol Empire, particularly for rulers like Genghis Khan and his wife Börte. Their primary purpose was to act as bodyguards for the emperors and other important nobles. They were divided into two groups: the day guard (Torguud) and the night guard (Khevtuul). They were distinct from the regular army and would not go to battle with them, instead staying back on guard duty. Their supreme commander was called the Cherbi.
The Royal Household of Spain, officially the Household of His Majesty the King, is the constitutional body whose primary function is to provide aid and support to the King of Spain in the exercise of his royal duties and prerogatives. These include his role as head of state and as commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armed Forces. It functions as the king's executive office.
The Monarchy of Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. As such, the role and position of the monarch are governed by the Constitution of the Netherlands. Consequently, a large portion of it is devoted to the monarch. Roughly a third of the document explains the succession, mechanisms of accession and abdication to the throne and the roles and duties of the monarch. This includes the formalities of communication between the States-General and the monarch's role in creating laws.
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