ABSTRACT
The third chapter examines how after 1525 the Habsburg authorities used the popular militias in Friesland until 1552. They continued to rely on the male population for defence, especially in support of the professional forces. To this end, they held regular arms inspections and issued ordinances for an ensign organisation modelled on the professional formations of the time. The government deployed the militias primarily for guarding services and actions against religious revolutionaries. However, at the beginning of 1552, it also considered the possibility of using them in turning an invasion by enemies of the Franco-Saxon coalition. All healthy men between sixteen and sixty were summoned to assist in this, with the understanding that only one man per household had to perform the service.
