Anspessade
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An anspessade, or lanspessade, is a kind of French police officer that has been used in the foot soldiers, below the corporals, and yet above the common sentinels, between the XVIth and XVIIth centuries.
There are usually four or five in each company. The term is formed of the Italian lancia spezzata ("broken lance"), used because they were originally disbanded gendarmes, horsemen in full armor, who for want of other subsistence sued for a place of some distinction in the infantry.
This article incorporates content from the 1728 Cyclopaedia, a publication in the public domain.
