The cernide or cernida (also known as the cranide in

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

) were territorial armies of the

Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

and

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

that annually received some military training. The name ''cernida'' derives from the fact that the one or two young men were chosen (cf. 'to choose, select') for every ten from among the young men resident in these areas.Tratto da: Lino Ertani. La Valle Camonica attraverso la storia. Esine, Tipolitografia Valgrigna, 1996. 168 These units could thus be mobilized quickly, unlike the army, which was slower to recruit and slower moving. They were formed of soldiers on annual service, with an obligation to gather for brief training periods four times a year, and accounted in total for about 30,000 men.

Notes

{{reflist Military history of the Republic of Venice Militias