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In medieval and Renaissance Europe, mercenaries--professional soldiers who fought for money or other rewards--played violent, colorful, international roles in warfare, but they have received relatively little scholarly attention. In this book a large number of vignettes portray their activities in Western Europe over a period of nearly 900 years, from the Merovingian mercenaries of 752 through the Thirty Years' War, which ended in 1648. Intended as an introduction to the subject and drawing heavily on contemporary first-person accounts, the book creates a vivid but balanced mosaic of the many thousands of mercenaries who were hired to fight for various employers.
The eminent Renaissance historian’s classic study of warfare between Italian city-states between the 13th and 16th centuries. Michael Mallett’s lucid account of the age of the condottieri—or mercenary captains of fortune—and of the soldiers who fought under them is set in the wider context of the Italian society of the time and of the warring city-states who employed them. Mallett presents a colorful portrait of the mercenaries themselves, as well as their commanders and their campaigns, while also exploring how war was practiced in the Renaissance world. Mallett puts special focus on the 15th century, a confused period of turbulence and transition when standing armies were formed in Italy and more modern types of military organization took hold across Europe. But it also looks back to the middle ages, and forward to the Italian wars of the sixteenth century when foreign armies disputed the European balance of power on Italian soil. First published I 1974, Mallett’s pioneering study remains an essential text on the subject of warfare in the late medieval period and the Renaissance.
The Middle Ages were a turbulent and violent time, when the fate of nations was most often decided on the battlefield, and strength of arms was key to acquiring and maintaining power. Feudal oaths and local militias were more often than not incapable of providing the skilled and disciplined warriors necessary to keep the enemy at bay. It was the mercenary who stepped in to fill the ranks. A mercenary was a professional soldier who took employment with no concern for the morals or cause of the paymaster. But within these confines we discover a surprising array of men, from the lowest-born foot soldier to the wealthiest aristocrat the occasional clergyman, even. What united them all was a willingness, and often the desire, to fight for their supper.In this benchmark work, William Urban explores the vital importance of the mercenary to the medieval power-broker, from the Byzantine Varangian Guard to fifteenth-century soldiers of fortune in the Baltic. Through contemporary chronicles and the most up-to-date scholarship, he presents an in-depth portrait of the mercenary across the Middle Ages.
Originally contracted by wealthy Italian city states to protect their assets during a time of ceaseless warring, many condottieri of the Italian peninsula became famous for their wealth, venality and amorality during the 14th and 15th centuries. Some even came to rule cities themselves. Lavishly illustrated with contemporary depictions and original artwork, this title examines the complex military organization, recruitment, training and weaponry of the Condottieri. With insight into their origins and motivations, the author, Dr David Murphy, brings together the social, political and military history of these powerful and unscrupulous men who managed to influence Italian society and warfare for over two centuries.
*Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading The Middle Ages witnessed almost constant warfare in Europe, so mercenaries were a constant on the battlefield, but the 15th century also saw the rise of mercenary usage by the increasingly wealthy aristocracy. At the time, England and France existed in smaller versions than in the modern age, while the Spanish had unified into a few large kingdoms and were slowly pushing the Moors off the Iberian Peninsula. Norway and Hungary were larger than they are now, but otherwise, most of Europe was a patchwork quilt of small, constantly warring states. This was especially true in Germany and Italy, where innumerable city-states and little fiefdoms struggled to gain more territory and defend themselves against their neighbors.Switzerland, ringed by the Alps, was divided into numerous small statelets called cantons, with some in the valleys and some further up in the mountains. There was a great deal of local infighting like elsewhere in Europe, but by the Late Middle Ages, unification seemed possible for a few reasons. Most notably, the Swiss felt threatened by larger outside states such as the Holy Roman Empire, France, and Milan, which were poised to take advantage of Swiss division and relative weakness to invade. The Holy Roman Empire was an especially great threat because it had some political claim over the Swiss cantons, although the Swiss had always enjoyed a great deal of independence from Hapsburg rule. Furthermore, some important trade routes ran through the region, and all the cantons would benefit if these routes were kept open and secure. In 1291, three cantons around Lake Lucerne-Schwyz, Uri, and Unterwalden-formed the so-called "Everlasting League" to counter outside aggression. This became the nucleus of what would develop into the Swiss Confederacy, and eventually the nation of Switzerland. Gradually, more and more cantons would join, ending their constant, low-level infighting and making the land more secure for trade. By the beginning of the 16th century, the Swiss Confederacy was comprised of 13 cantons, and this voluntary unification, without threats or conquest, was remarkable for the time. It was helped by the fact that the Swiss had a roughly similar culture, and that the region, with its ring of protective mountains, made the advantages of unification against a hostile outer world obvious to all. Few powers dared try to enter Swiss territory, and they generally met with disaster when they did, but ironically, this led to a new problem. The Swiss villages had always been prone to fighting and raiding one another, maintaining a constant low-level warfare that made the Swiss good fighters, and hotheaded young men wanted a chance to fight. At the same time, other areas, especially Italy, saw a growing need for mercenaries. Constantly trying to take land from their neighbors, Italian city-states were hampered by the fact that most of their men were busy tilling fields, engaging in trade and crafts, or building the cities and monuments that would become the wonders of the Renaissance. Moreover, the cutthroat politics of the city-states were such that rulers could not trust their own officers, who might murder them and take over their positions, something that happened on numerous occasions. The obvious solution was to hire mercenary armies, units of foreign men who had no connections or loyalty to any of the local factions and who would fight for money. The Swiss were perfectly poised to fill this need, given that they were geographically close and many already spoke Italian. They were also well trained thanks to a well-organized system of local and canton militias. With mercenary units being organized on the canton level, it was often possible to hire an entire, ready-made army with a single contract, and not only did these armies come already armed and trained, but they came from the same local area.
A history of the evolution of military technology among knights in Renaissance Europe from the fifteenth century to the seventeenth century. The Art of Renaissance Warfare tells the story of the knight during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries—from the great victories of Edward III and the Black Prince to the fall of Richard III on Bosworth Field. During this period, new technology on the battlefield posed deadly challenges for the mounted warrior; but they also stimulated change, and the knight moved with the times. Having survived the longbow devastation at Crécy, Poitiers and Agincourt, he emerged triumphant, his armor lighter and more effective, and his military skills indispensable. This was the great age of the orders of chivalry and the freemasonry of arms that bound together comrades and adversaries in a tight international military caste. Men such as Bertrand du Guesclin and Sir John Chandos loom large in the pages of this book—bold leaders and brave warriors, imbued with these traditions of chivalry and knighthood. How their heroic endeavors and the knightly code of conduct could be reconciled with the indiscriminate carnage of the “chevauchee” and the depredations of the “free companies” is one of the principal themes of this informative and entertaining book.
These studies span the period from the origins of the crusading movement in the 11th century until its final active phase during the Renaissance. Some of the articles spring from Norman Housley’s work on crusading against Christian heretics, mercenary companies and lay powers which were involved in conflict with the Church. Others reflect his interest in the way crusading developed after the fall of the Holy Land to the Muslims in 1291. A third group looks at other forms taken by religious warfare in Europe during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. Certain themes recur throughout. One is the variety of ways in which war in God’s name was portrayed and justified. Another is the conflict of interest brought about by the diversity of crusading in the period from c.1200 onwards. Above all, the author shows the complexity, longevity and significance of a movement whose impact on medieval society was massive and whose repercussions were profound.
This is a reprint of the 1989 second edition of this book in our "Armies and Enemies" series. It includes details of armies from Andalusia, Bulgaria, England, Estonia, France, the Holy Roman Empire, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Morocco, the Ordensstaat of the Teutonic Knights, the Earldom of Orkney, the Papal State, Poland, Prussia, Lithuania, the Low Countries, Kievan Russia, Scandinavia, Scotland, Serbia, Sicily, Spain, Venice, Wales and Wendland.
Military Diasporas proposes a new research approach to analyse the role of foreign military personnel as composite and partly imagined para-ethnic groups. These groups not only buttressed a state or empire’s military might but crucially connected, policed, and administered (parts of) realms as a transcultural and transimperial class while representing the polity’s universal or at least cosmopolitan aspirations at court or on diplomatic and military missions. Case studies of foreign militaries with a focus on their diasporic elements include the Achaemenid Empire, Ptolemaic Egypt, and the Roman Empire in the ancient world. These are followed by chapters on the Sassanid and Islamic occupation of Egypt, Byzantium, the Latin Aegean (Catalan Company) to Iberian Christian noblemen serving North African Islamic rulers, Mamluks and Italian Stradiots, followed by chapters on military diasporas in Hungary, the Teutonic Order including the Sword Brethren, and the Swiss military. The volume thus covers a broad band of military diasporic experiences and highlights aspects of their role in the building of state and empire from Antiquity to the late Middle Ages and from Persia via Egypt to the Baltic. With a broad chronological and geographic range, this volume is the ideal resource for upper-level undergraduates, postgraduates, and scholars interested in the history of war and warfare from Antiquity to the sixteenth century.
*Includes pictures *Includes excerpts of contemporary accounts *Includes a bibliography for further reading When historians are asked to pick a point in history when Western Civilization was transformed and guided down the path to modernity, most of them point to the Renaissance. Indeed, the period revolutionized art, philosophy, religion, sciences and math, with individuals like Galileo, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Dante, and Petrarch bridging the past and modern society. The Renaissance also spawned the use of the label "Renaissance Man" to describe a person who is extremely talented in multiple fields, most notably Leonardo da Vinci, who found time to be a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer. However, while the Renaissance is remembered mostly for art and advances in philosophy and thinking, it's often overlooked that the era was also a transitional period in the history of warfare. The Middle Ages have long been remembered for armored knights battling on horseback and armies of men trying to breach the walls of formidable castles, but what is generally forgotten is that medieval warfare was constantly adapting to the times as leaders adopted new techniques and technology, and common infantry became increasingly important throughout the period. Meanwhile, political and technological progress led to continuous change of tactics and equipment. Cavalry became ascendant, only to be later replaced by infantry as their weapons improved, and by the end of the period, warfare was radically changing thanks to the rise of gunpowder weapons such as the handgonne and the bombard. Artillery and handgonnes had been known since the early 14th century but only became effective near the end of the 15th century, when they were the final factor in the infantry revolution and began to change warfare forever. By the middle of the 15th century, artillery was knocking down castle walls that had stood for generations. Infantry also proved their worth with powerful longbows and tight formations of polearms upsetting the long dominance of mounted, heavily armored knights, and handheld firearms threatened to make armor obsolete. New types of warriors were developed, and new tactics had to take the emerging era of black powder weapons into account, ushering in a time of great change in military strategy, tactics, and technology. The Middle Ages witnessed almost constant warfare in Europe, so mercenaries were a constant on the battlefield, but the 15th century also saw the rise of mercenary usage by the increasingly wealthy aristocracy. One of the finest groups of mercenaries were the Landsknechts from central and northern Europe. The term means "servant of the country," and they mostly served the Holy Roman Empire, first under Emperor Maximilian I (r. 1508-1519) and then under his successors. The Landsknechts (German: Landsknechte) were masters of the battlefield, adept at pike, sword, and dead shots with the crude matchlocks of the day. The only mercenaries rivaling them were the famous Swiss, who they hated and often fought bitterly. The Landsknechts were as famous for their flamboyant costumes as much as their prowess on the battlefield, and they became symbols of rebellion and freedom in early modern Europe, even as they fought in service of Europe's largest empire. The Landsknechts: The History and Legacy of the German Mercenaries Who Fought for the Holy Roman Empire examines the events that led to the rise of the mercenaries, what their lives and battles were like, and their impact. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Landsknechts like never before.