%20-%20Copia.png)
The first version of the ETAF database (ETAF01) will be tailored to a relatively limited but crucial source of information: the eighty-one Registres aux Ordres of the Secrétairerie d'État et de Guerre at the Archives Generale du Royaume de Bruxelles. This work will lay solid scholarly foundations for our project while at the same time developing effective digital tools and working practices for future iterations and sources.
In the Registres, the Secretario de Estado y Guerra copied all the warrants, patents, and other formal orders which he issued in favor of the troops and clerical staff of the Army of Flanders. The Registres document the changes in pay, rank, and unit of affiliation of thousands upon thousands of soldiers of the Army of Flanders of all nations from 1578 to 1701. In many cases, the Registres also provide information on the physical condition and appearance of the soldiers, their ancestry, place of birth and age, and sometimes even their families.
The data extracted from these volumes will shed light on its social, cultural, and ethno-national make-up, showing how the dimension and composition of the migratory flows changed over time. It will also show how living and operating abroad and in a multinational framework affected the career and life patterns, as well as the identities of the members of the various national, social, and military networks that made up the Army of Flanders, and the history of the military units they formed around.