Vencedores
Vencedores (Spanish: vanquishers) is the name given to the companies of elite mercenary soldiers and explorers that spearheaded the expansion of Carloso during its colonial period and early independence. Initially hired to defend early coastal Spanish settlements and peripheral farmsteads against native raids, they were composed mainly of retired soldiers from throughout Europe, led by poor nobles who sought to make their fortune in the newly discovered continent of Musgorocia. As time progressed, many Musgorocian-born men found themselves joining companies of vencedores. They would prove a pivotal role in the War of Independence, forming the bulk of Cárlos de Oso's forces. Following the final victory in Madrigal and surrender of colonial forces in 1581, they would continue to be hugely influential in guiding Carloso's political and territorial development in the following centuries.
Starting in the 1590s, the vencedores led Carloso's rapid expansion northwards and westwards, successfully pushing back many native raids on the new towns and villages that were founded. With contracts spanning many decades, the vencedores slowly began to be integrated into the standing Carlosian Army as permanent regiments. At the same time, new forms of vencedor began to emerge, most famously the renowned warrior monks of the Holy Company of Saint Thomas Aquinas, which is the subject of many Carlosian folk songs. Nearing the late 1600s, however, and as Carloso began to consolidate control over its modern borders, there was no need for the vencedores and they quickly declined, hastened by the rise of full-time professional armies. Out of work, many resorted to banditry and piracy, which tainted the once heroic and virtuous reputation of the mercenary soldiers.
Starting in the 1800s however, the vencedores began to re-emerge as a romantic symbol of Carlosian patriotism, especially after the publication of the hugely influential epic novel The Tales of San Morillo. In 1899, The Vencedor's Song would prove a popular and would eventually be adopted as the national anthem of Carloso following the foundation of the Second Republic in 1932.
