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Kai walked amongst the wine-scarlet fields of Italy, dressed in his armour and clutching his sword. His mind drifted to his home on the Isle of Man, a world away from the Mediterranean landscapes he now traversed for pay. Kai was one of thousands of mercenaries who had come to the peninsula to fight for its quarrelsome city-states. His commander, John Hawkwood, had already become famous for his exploits. Kai simply hoped for enough coin to retire in peace. His story is one shared by countless soldiers from across Europe and the Middle East who fought for
whoever could pay them, from the battlefields of France to the walls of Constantinople. Who were the mercenaries of Medieval Europe? How did they fight, and why did they eventually disappear? ● The Origins of Mercenaries: There is no one single type of mercenary in Medieval Europe, so to speak of any 'origins' would be rather difficult. In addition, Europe itself was massively politically and economically diverse from the fall of Western Rome in the 5th Century to the Early Modern Period in the 16th Century. Thus, there is difficulty in discussing
a Rus Varangian in Constantinople in the 1000s and a Condottiere leader in Florence in the 1300s. We will thus need to focus on Mercenaries primarily hailing from Northern and Western Europe who fought everywhere from the Levant to the Baltics. For these Soldiers Without Borders, the origin story is a bit hazy. Some scholars trace the origins of Medieval mercenaries to the Foederatii, the quasi-vassal, quasi-allied tribes that fought alongside the Roman Empire on its frontiers. As the Western Roman Empire crumbled, it was replaced by various Romance- and Germanic-speaking,
fractured, multi-ethnic polities. These states were far less capable of mustering up large armies than the Occidental Romans once could, so they had to outsource the monopoly of violence to some local nobles who could muster troops. In addition, raids by various warlike peoples like the Norse and Saxons made Europe both unsafe and attracted many warriors seeking hefty profits to its lands. Thus, the seeds of the early Medieval Mercenaries emerged around the 7th - 8th Century when southern Italian and Burgundian states hired local nobles and Arabic Saracens for protection,
respectively. Wayward nobles and wandering warriors were only part of the military equation. In fact, the main driver of war economies was the expansion of the clientele. In the 11th Century, many cities and states began to require greater security against invaders, but faced issues with untrained personnel. Citizen armies, or armies of peasants under the command of kings, were untrained and prone to heavy losses. For small duchies and city-states, this could be a cataclysmic demographic hit. For larger states, it was often the case that mercenaries,
often more experienced in the art of war or in specialist military roles, could still be useful in the era before large bureaucracies and national conscription programmes. Thus, many nobles who ended up impoverished or had finished a war could be hired as mercenaries. Certain parts of Europe, such as Switzerland, also had few industries but important military traditions and thus their young men would often leave as mercenaries. These reasons coalesced into the rise of famous mercenary bands such as the Condottieri of Italy, the Landsknechts of the Germanic-speaking regions,
the Routiers in France, and the Free Companies, such as the Catalan and Navarrese Companies. ● The Economics of Mercenaries: Medieval mercenary bands, often of varied ethnic backgrounds, were businesses first and foremost. Their Golden Age was approximately from the 13th to the 16th Century, during which conflicts such as the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of the Italian Peninsula created a strong demand for their services. In the case of the Italian peninsula specifically, the city-states that had a low threshold for combat losses also had substantial capital to spend. Banking and crafting guilds both needed to protect themselves
and could use the money to hire mercenaries. Thus, many foreigners, like the famous John Hawkwood, who fought for polities like Florence in the 14th Century, migrated to Italy and formed their own companies there. The same pattern applied to some of the Crusader states in the Orient, particularly those in Greece. Many nobles, whether Byzantine or Latin, needed experienced troops to maintain control over newly conquered territories that were sometimes hostile to them. This is how the famous Catalan Company was formed: nobles who had fought in Sicily for Catalonia were hired by Byzantium
and then the Duchy of Athens to help in squabbles against invading armies and nobles. These economics meant that mercenaries could end up as far east as Jerusalem, and as far west as Ireland. These soldiers and their leaders needed to be fed and paid, and a relatively standard process for salaries emerged. Usually, in places like Italy, mercenaries had to be paid part of their contracts in advance. This payment ensured that the company could keep going even if losses occurred, and it also guaranteed that they would not be ripped off by a dastardly client. Mercenaries
often served short 'tours' for their clients, as fighting in the Middle Ages was rather seasonal in nature. Paradoxically, this ephemeral warfare meant that many mercenary companies would end up serving opposing sides in wars. Scots mercenaries, for instance, served both England in its raids in Ireland, and France during the Hundred Years War in the 1300s. Not even religion could stop an enterprising mercenary; Saracen mercenaries from North Africa were hired by Christian powers, and Muslim Almoravid rulers even hired Christian mercenaries. Both of these stories were
recounted in our 'Norman Kingdom of Sicily' and 'Christian Mercenaries in Muslim Service videos, which you should check out. The conclusion we can draw from the economics we discussed in this section is that Medieval Mercenaries grew out of the constant accumulation of wealth by Medieval Nobles and the epoch's constant warfare. In an era of constant conflict, where many warriors could be impoverished overnight, the mercenary life became an alluring prospect. ● Famous Mercenaries and Companies: During the major waves of mercenary work,
broadly from the time of the Hundred Years' War to the end of the Renaissance in Italy, various famed mercenaries and their 'free companies' became prominent in the annals of history. We have already mentioned the Catalan Company as well as the Varangian Guards of Byzantium in two of our previous episodes, so we will focus on other famous Dogs of War. John Hawkwood, whom we briefly mentioned, is perhaps the most famous English mercenary. Born in Essex in 1320, the son of a minor landowner ended up serving Edward III during the Hundred Years' War. He
then moved to Italy during the wars between Pisa and Florence and demonstrated innovative military command while serving Florence. His mercenary company - the so-called White Company, which he took over in 1363 - was notorious for its combat efficiency as well as its professionalism in combat, a fact deeply impressive to local Italian nobles. Hawkwood also served the Papal States and was renowned as a military reformer. He ended up being re-hired by Florence and helped them in their defence against Milan. For his services, he was made a citizen of Florence.
There is also the so-called Navarrese Company, composed mostly of people from the Navarre region of Spain. It was founded in 1366 to serve Charles II of Navarre in his wars against the French, and later served as a mercenary force in Albania. It is the Navarrese who won the famous Durres Expedition of 1376, and re-established the Kingdom of Albania. They then moved on to the southern tip of Greece, where they succeeded in dislodging the Catalans from their control over the Duchy of Athens. In 1396, they tried to gain ownership over the Principality of Morea by buying it, but
their leader, Pedro de san Superano, was unable to pay them. The company then faded from history as its leaders became nobles who lived more sedentary lives. There is also the Great Company, which was mostly German-speaking and founded in the 1340s by Werner von Urslingen. He and his company were hired by King John I Zápolya of Hungary to fight against the Kingdom of Naples. He was modestly successful and ended up retiring back to Germany in 1351. The new leaders, Konrad von Waldau and Fra'Moriale, sent the company to fight in central Italy, where the company distinguished
itself in wars against multiple Italian states. Fra'Moriale was executed in Rome in 1354, and von Waldau was killed in 1363, after which the company seems to have slowly crumbled. There are many other epic companies like the above, each with its own exceptional and cutthroat story. ● The Politics of Mercenaries: Having now had an overview of what the economics and composition of mercenary companies was, we will move on to their political importance and perception. The Medieval Epoch was one of large empires based on religious principles and
small city-states based on close community ties. For such cosmopolitan and provincial peoples, the idea of a mercenary was often seen as disdainful and dishonourable. Such a fact can be perceived as rather ironic, given that both empires and city-states constantly hired mercenaries. But much ink has been spilled in Medieval texts deriding mercenaries. In the case of France, the literati and nobles spent time espousing chivalric values that knights supposedly held and constantly contrasted them with the supposedly amoral mercenary vagabonds. Of course,
such divisions were artificial; many nobles became heads of mercenary companies, and many knights who only served one polity frequently participated in plots, coups, and civil wars against their kings. There were also religious objections to mercenary work. Priests, both Catholic and Protestant, often derided specific mercenary bands or the entire profession of soldiers of fortune. This is because they were perceived as not serving Christian values, but rather caring only about money. Sometimes this was politically driven. For instance, the Papacy opposed the Catalan
Company's conquest of the Duchy of Athens because it was allied with the Burgundian-linked dynasty that had previously ruled the Orthodox-majority region. Other times, opposition was either purely theological or denominational. Many Catholic mercenaries ended up in the lands of Byzantium or Crusader states with Catholic elites but Orthodox, Jewish, Armenian, or Muslim-majority populations. Their exploits often earned them the ire of many locals, who saw them as pillaging guerrillas. Some pacifist proto-Protestant sects also saw the use of violence for money
as deeply problematic and un-Christian. This was particularly the case in Switzerland, where many radical sects developed amongst the multi-ethnic, multi-confessional mountains and valleys. Similar objections began to be raised in more secular terms during the Renaissance on the Italian peninsula. As Italy was the hub of many wars and many condottieri bands, the violence and political power of mercenaries was particularly feared by many of the educated intelligentsia. The great political theorist Niccolo Machiavelli was particularly harsh on the concept of a mercenary.
He preferred a force that would be loyal to the hegemon of a city, and considered the mercenaries to lack virtue as warriors. This view is in line with Machiavelli's general focus on violence and amoralism as driving forces of politics, and his particular stress on stability and legitimacy as markers of a successful politician. Despite many religious, ethical, and secular objections, mercenaries continued to thrive because of the economic drivers of mercenary work. ● The Decline of Mercenaries: As the 15th century progressed, the era of Renaissance mercenaries began to end during the 15th-16th Centuries. In the Italian peninsula
specifically, the overwhelming political power that some of the companies had ended up being replaced with more centralised military forces. As regional empires encroached on the Peninsula, larger armies replaced the flexible military forces that had once roamed the Italian countryside. The end of most Crusader states and the rise of the Ottomans, which brought a semblance of political unity to the Eastern Mediterranean, also meant that much of the market for Christian rulers seeking professional mercenary help was eliminated. Of course,
free-roaming bands of pirates continued to plague the Middle Sea between Europe, Asia, and Africa. But both Italy and the Ottoman Empire had shifted gears toward larger militaries. The rest of Europe did see many mercenaries continue their work, but many mercenaries out of work, such as the ecorcheurs of the 15th Century began to be seen as evil. The ecorcheurs were soldiers or mercenaries who had served France in 15th Century wars, and when left out of work would rampage the countryside. This was not appreciated, to say the least,
by the average European farmer or artisan. Thus, moral objections to mercenaries grew and would only intensify as the Early Modern Period, with its proto-Enlightenment ideals, unfolded. Larger empires and kingdoms, such as France and England, also shifted their military doctrines. More focus was placed on loyal, state-backed troops such as the Compagnie d'ordonnance. These forces were trained in modern military tactics and thus could fight just as well as any experienced mercenary. The states that backed said companies also grew more centralised, providing equipment
and logistics far more effectively than before. Mercenaries still had a job market when a weak or small state needed them, but the time of those states would soon decline as well. By the 18th Century, large swaths of Europe were part of colonial empires with large armies, and mercenaries usually worked only as pirates in particularly chaotic parts of the world. The 19th Century brought the concept of the nation-state and, with it, national armies comprising trained professional and conscripted troops. Thus, the very notion of a mercenary was marginalised,
forever to be seen as an amoral dog of war. Of course, mercenaries continued to find a market in the gun-smuggling and colonial-war business. The 20th Century saw many famous mercenaries appear in Africa and Latin America, sometimes linked to intelligence agencies, sometimes to colonial or apartheid states, and sometimes linked to local dictators. An example is Mad Mike Hoare, who tried to instigate a coup in Seychelles in 1981 on behalf of Apartheid South Africa. The Geneva Convention tried to ban this practice in 1977, but was unsuccessful. As wars became more
privatized, private military companies became a staple of the modern battlefield. Thus, while Medieval Mercenaries died out, their profession is still very much alive. ● Conclusion: Kai looked at his pouch, full of Italian coins. This battle season had been brutal, but he had achieved what he wanted. After many battles, he could finally return home and live in peace. John Hawkwood asked him: 'Are you sure you want to give up on this life of adventure and war?' Kai nodded affirmatively and, upon mounting his horse, galloped towards the sunset. His story would be a common one for many young European men, but
its course would run after a few centuries. With the advent of the Early Modern Era, the economic conditions that made mercenaries like him possible began to phase out. The large wars of the 17th Century and the revolutionary ideals of the 18th - 20th centuries saw the coming of national or volunteer armies, making the soldier of fortune a marginalised and derided figure. As we have seen, however, the line between noble knight and mercenary in the Middle Ages was far from clear. These soldiers without borders committed dastardly, wicked deeds and were prized for their
military experience and efficiency. They were as much a symptom of a battle-ready epoch as they were opportunists exploiting its vicissitudes. More videos on the Middle Ages are on the way, so make sure you are subscribed and have pressed the bell button to see it. Please consider liking, subscribing, commenting, and sharing - it helps immensely. Our patrons and YouTube members can watch more than 200+ exclusive videos - join their ranks via the link in the description or by pressing the join button under the video to watch these weekly videos,
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