Landsknechts - The Most Sought After Mercenaries in Europe | Late Medieval & Early Modern Warfare

The Landsknechts - arguably one of the most famous, most effective and most sought-after mercenary troops of Europe, but sometimes also pitiless plunderers and ruthless rogues. Armed with dreaded pikes and 2 handed swords the Landsknechts were admired by their allies and feared by their enemies. Here’s how the Landsknechts became a force to be reckoned with. Many contemporary historiographical accounts tell the tale of the Landsknechts' rise as follows:

In 1465 duke Charles the Bold came to power over the Dutchy of Burgundy. He pursued ambitious goals, namely, to make Burgundy a Kingdom and to expand its borders. Some even say he aspired to become emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. His ambitions to expand his realm ultimately led to the Burgundian Wars (1474-1477), in which the small Swiss Confederacy managed to defeat the overwhelming force of Burgundy in the battles of Grandson, Morat and finally Nancy, where Charles the Bold lost his life. The surprising strength of the Swiss mercenary pike men and the general outcome of this David vs Goliath-like military conflicts drove a good deal of attention to the way of warfare practiced by the old Swiss confederacy, namely to their massed formations of pikes.
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Sources:
Baumann, Reinhard, Landsknechte, Ihre Geschichte und Kultur vom späten Mittelalter bis zum Dreissigjährigen Krieg, München 1994.
Fiedler, Siegfried, Kriegswesen und Kriegführung im Zeitalter der Landsknechte (Heerwesen der Neuzeit, Abt. 1, Bd. 2) Koblenz 1985.
Fiedler, Siegfried, Landsknechte. Waffe und Waffengebrauch (Heerwesen der Neuzeit, Abt. 1, Bd. 1) Koblenz 1984.
Mallett, Michael; Shaw, Christine, The Italian Wars. 1494-1559, Harlow 2012.
Rogers, Clifford, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology (Vol. I.), Oxford 2010.
Rogg, Matthias, s.v. Landsknecht, in: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit.
Rogg, Matthias, Landsknechte und Reisläufer. Bilder vom Soldaten. Ein Stand in der Kunst des 16. Jh.s, 2002.
Stadler, Hans, s.v. Schlacht bei Pavia, in: Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz.
Tallett, Frank , European Warfare 1350–1750, Cambridge 2010.
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