A Spanish Royal Cavalry Armory Of Valencia, Medal And Breast Star Set, Cased

"Real Maestranza de Caballería de Valencia". Medal: three-piece construction, silver gilt with red and white enamels, unmarked, 22 mm x 43 mm inclusive of its crown suspension, original ribbon; and Breast Star: four-piece construction, silver gilt with red, white, blue and yellow enamels, unmarked, 78.5 mm x 78.5 mm, vertical pinback flanked by dual prongs. Intact enamels, extremely fine. In their hardshelled case of issue, National Institute of Colonization insignia in gold-colored ink and silver name plate affixed to the lid, the name plate engraved "AL EXCMO. SR. D. ALEJANDRO DE TORREJON Y MONTERO / CON MOTIVO DEL XXV ANIVERSARIO DEL INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE COLONIZACION", case also extremely fine.

Footnote: The Real Maestranza de Caballería de Valencia (Royal Cavalry Armory of Valencia) is a Spanish "maestranza de caballería" created in 1697. The first set of bylaws were approved seven years later, and currently the organization is governed by the latest draft of 1999. It has, as its patron saint, the Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception. Since the Real Cédula of 1760, it has enjoyed the same privileges as its sisters in Granada and Sevilla. Maestranzas de caballería (literally translated as cavalry armories) are noble militias created in the early modern era by the Spanish Crown, with the aim of giving the nobility practice in horsemanship and the use of weapons. In the sixteenth century, the caballería or cavalry, was the typical military branch for nobles to follow, but the aforementioned skills had become less common as the Spanish aristocracy converted into a class of courtiers. These noble institutions created a dedicated cavalry corps that was directly funded by its members. The participating nobles, or maestrantes, organized themselves under the advocacy of a holy patron and took the internal form of a confraternity.