It's interesting that a lot of the bad reputation that mercenaries get comes from the same sketchyness in terms of getting their pay and rations disrupted that does and historically did also happen to national military forces under incompetent and leaders and politicians.
Good stuff. I tend to agree that equipment was the main factor when recruiting Doppelsöldneren. However, I'm not sure we can completely write off their supposed role, or rather their utility of charging ahead and disrupting pike formations. Like yourself I don't imagine individual fighters with their armour and halberds/two-handed sword would survive long going head-to-head against a fully charged pike block. But what about against a formation already in disarray? I theorize that, as a commander in the 16th century (or any other century for that matter), you would watch the ebb and flow of battle very carefully. For instance you might use your Doppelsöldneren to exploit a moment of weakness after your flanking arquebusiers have put in a particularly devastating volley before contact. From my understanding it is precisely this use of combined arms (pikes, specialized weapons, and guns) and the ratio between these, that evolves from Swiss Reisläufer to German Landsknechte, and later from Landsknechte to the Spanish Tercio. I'd be hugely interested to see any kind of test that can be done on the subject.
@Johannes "Fountain" Micha you nailed it.Even the regimental recorders/writers where Doppelsöldner. Döppelsöldner where just very well experianced and good trained and well equipped specialists.
From my experience/sources, Doppelsöldner usually used pikes and Arquebuses/Muskets, or sometimes Halberds, like anyone else. Greatswords/Schlachtschwerter were pretty rare in Musterlisten and seemed to have been mostly used by Trabanten
Great video, way too many people seem to have that idea of a doppelsöldner having a Greatsword and slaying the pikemen in a frontal charge. I want to add that the Term Doppelsöldner seems often to have been used for the pikes in the first rank or who cover the flanks of the formation ofc like you said heavily armoured. However despite them often not being listed as Doppelsöldner the halberds and greatswords were still paid the double pay. The forlorn hope seems to be a romanticised from what i found in older history books. Reality it seems was that they were simply scouts and skirmisher at the same time that should find out the weaknesses of the enemies Formation. Sometimes they were sent in to distract the cannons so that the enemy would need to send in soldiers to protect their cannons making them useless. Its mentioned that this wasn't so dangerous since they were loosely running toward them and the cannons were inaccurate. This was also done later on. Another job would be that after the clash of the pikes they would support them from the flanks. Regarding the beating away the pikes. What you have mentioned with the halberds is also supported by Lavater. He also mentioned big clubs for that purpose and puts them on the flanks to each side. I do think that a great sword could pull it off too since its implied that technically any weapon was able to cut pikes at least. Apparently it also seems greatswords were used for many specialised jobs since they were used in a lot of positions during the 16 and early 17th century not only guarding banners but most writers are frustratingly unclear about the details. And i agree so much on the Meister des langen Schwertes. My research indicates that it was mostly veteran soldiers or more importantly know how to use them. The source for Meister des langen Schwertes seems to come from one of the older german books. My guess is that since its required someone experienced or trained that they simply put it equal to having the Letter of the Marxbrüder. just my thoughts on that as someone who is really interested in that topic.
Very good video, as always I appreciate your work. I can confirm many things you mention as I had the chance to consult sources and books in order to fill information about two-handed swords in my book. A lot of this conclusions can come directly from Reinhard Baumann's book 'Landsknechte' which I have in Italian translation from the 90s and I guess you probably had the chance to read. I would also add that among others, the probable main task of Doppelsoldners armed with halberds or two-handed swords was to defend the flags, ususally not on the front but on the rear of formations. A lot of written sources and artworks witness this reality. I would like to note also that differences in payment were part of Italian and Spanish armies too, according to different roles or tasks of the soldiers. The term Doppelsodner passed the idea that it was something specifically German, but it just happened to have a German specific word to name something widespread. I am also glad to note that someone else had doubts and wondered about the famous Marxbruder certification which I also encounter and no one was able to point a source for that claim. In my opinion just bullshit coming who knows from.
@Virtual Fechtschule Yep and after the armour type shown in van Gheyns pictures the dutch armour was favoured. With shorter tassets and better formed breast plate. Richer Soldiers often had "buffcoat" armour although the term is somewhat misleading. But indeed Pikemen and short arms would still have quite a lot of armour for that time. Some lists are bit clearer and describe men with greatswords and arm armour or full infantry harnesses. Musketeers often had almost no armour or at least not a harness. Quite interesting but sadly this topic hasnt gotten as much attention it deserves from researchers.
@Superrobotmonkey Hyperteamforcego No worries, I would largely agree here! :D I think there's still plenty of armour around 1600 in use, but we definitely see a shift away from armour on the extremities, and more to quite heavy cuirasses. The increasing prevalence of firearms seems to have been the main reason. Looking at van Gheyn and Adam van Breen, we still see most pikemen in a cuirass though, so it definitely didn't go away. Improvements in firearms did mean that eventually there was no more point in wearing armou, but we'd then be talking about the late 1600's I think.
@Tobithedobi You mean around 1600 and the thirty years war? Some did still wore armour like the pikemen and often men with short arms sometimes musketeers too. Often also depended on the availiability and money. There is a drafting list where all Greatswords had at least arm armour sometimes a full harness included. And the cavalry or Reiters had it too. Why they disappear from depictions is hard to say. Often its simply too much work, or the armour is hidden underneath the clothing, or the painter wanted to make something clear that wouldnt be clear with armour. But armour was often worn if availiable drafting lists do tell us that. There were also alternative types of body protection such as buff coats, chainmail etc. Then again the ratio of muskets increased a lot and you could pretty much hire anyone with a musket to fullfill this job but they wouldnt have money for armour and it would be uncomfortable to wear(you need to aim , hold the musket against the shoulder etc) so they would be depicted without since many of the muskets didnt have armour. Edit: Whoops thought you asked on the other comment so i answered.
You and Virtual Fechtschule seem to be very knowledgeable about the topic maybe you can answer that question where did all the armor in later depictions about landknechts go when a short time before were all wearing armor?
From my interest in that topic i found that they did put them often in the second or third rank after the pikes. Kirchof i think states you could put some at the rear if you want to. Most however seem to put them close to the front near the "blood banner" to support the pikemen or replace them if they cant use their pikes anymore. Sometimes on the flanks too or the wings as Dillich suggests. Do you have any sources for the rear placement? Simply interested because i couldn't find much aside from Kirchof iirc.
In case of "Bad War" situation, highly skilled squad could be sent to crack enemy line at weaker point using trained coordinated tactics, or to block enemy breakthrough before it turns into total rout. Also, someone had to react on enemy cavalry attacks at flanks or back.
Theoretically, you'd have the centre of the square with such a squad, but it would mostly be greatswordsmen and halbardiers interspersed through the front lines that would seize upon the situation. As for cavalry flanking, at first this was generally prevented by using favourable terrain, but with increasing numbers of shooters on the flanks, pike blocks would generally be able to repel cavalry quite easily.
One additional role/purpose I've heard about for Doppelsöldner was as a guard for the company's standard, which tended to go to those with halberds or greatswords in particular. This would've been both a prestigious as well as a practical role. They'd generally be located around the standard near the centre of the formation where they'd, well, guard the standard. But in addition to that, from there they could also serve as a quick and impactful tactical reserve for when things devolved into a bad war, or if an opening presented itself in the enemy formation.
I believe my ancestor Adam Näf served in that role during the second war of Kappel. He used a great sword to prevent the Catholic forces from capturing the standard
That's a good addition, thanks! It kinda fell by the wayside for this video, but now that you mention it, it does illustrate that better equipment and special jobs are often correlated. :)
Excellent video. Being a fan of dark ages history, I have a little theory that both daneaxes and greatswords fill a very similar role on the battlefield. both are more anti flesh weapons than anti armour, both around the same size, both used by specifically trained, skilled career soldiers. Makes sense to me that they are bodyguarding or area controlling weapons in both a civilian and battlefield context, and excellent weapons in a press where neither side is backing down and resort to their shorter weapons. Interestingly in depictions of great axes they seem to be used against the lightly armoured horses a lot like in the bayeux tapestry, i wonder is there any parallel to that with greatswords in this period?
@Virtual Fechtschule my "battle" experience is mainly drawn from various larp events, so it has its limitations. But ive followed some of the principles from the various montante manuals and its a very imposing weapon to face off against, (even when made of foam!). 3 people with dane axes can hold a large area by intimidation alone using large fluid circular swings, where it might take 5 or 6 regularly armed fighters otherwise. especially if they are facing off against people with shorter weapons. I've also found that putting them in the 2nd or 3rd rank is much more useful than in the front, where they are vulnerable to spears etc. That way if a large push is made by the other side and it ends up with a press in the front ranks they are at the perfect range to deal out some devastating blows to the attackers. This seems to be matched in some depictions of greatswords and halberds i've seen within pike blocks, where they are situated further back in the formation, almost as insurance in case of "bad war"
That's a really fun idea actually. For the 16tg century you have halberds to compare them to as well of course, but I think this still makes a lot of sense. Have you ever tried developing that fighting style for Dane axe?
I actually wouldn't say he was a doppelsoldner, sorta lightly armoured for the job. But then they may have cared less for their lives than I do idk Edit: oh that's actually armour on his chest and arms, looked like a poorly cut vest and bare arms on my garbage tier mobile >
Forlorn Hopes were not usually 'suicide squads', they were not meant to fight to the death, but typically to make contact. They did not engage pike squares. The forlorn hope was often mostly comprised of shooters, the halberdiers and two-hand swordsmen were there to protect the shooters. They were also used to attack other forlorn hopes and small formations, or for example to both attack or protect banners.
No, I'm not just referring to later 16th Century battles, as Forlorn Hopes pre-date the Landsknechts by at least a century. My only point here is to try to correct the notion that the forlorn hope was disposable. I think this is an oversimplification which has knock-on effects in understanding war in this period, and specifically the Landsknechts (and the idea of doppelsoldner). Only in some very specific cases were the Forlorn Hope ever used this way. It was always a riskier job to go out in the smaller formations (of which there were at least two distinct types- shooters and battlers), but it was not normally a suicide mission. They played an important role as a kind of sensory organ to the larger formations (vorhut, gewalthut, nachhut) in Central and North European armies of this period. This was part of the Swiss strategy which was copied to create the Landsknecht companies, but was also in wide use by many polities throughout Central Europe back into the 14th Century at least.
True, but you are talking about later 16th century battles I think. There's some rather pervasive myths about Doppelsöldner with greatswords performing such attacks in battles during the Italian Wars (despite lack of evidence), so that's the myth I'm addressing here. :)
In Medieval Germany the Sinti people where often hired as mecernarys and get bettet paid as the normal soldiers. It makes absolute sence that the soldiers with great Sword where used when the Pike formations break up because then you have many people without a shield, you can simple cut in a vertical manner or thrust forward and you have the advantage of the longer weapon because the pikemen mostly cary a shorter sword for this Situation
Well, I find that interesting too, but I currently have very little research into it. I would have to chase some books down and generally learn all I can about it before I can do a video. I will in due time, but it might take a while. :)
Excellent info, thanks. One correction though, 'trabanten' doesn't mean 'bodyguard' in German. Rather it means 'Satellites' which they used as a nickname for bodyguards in the period. (Just a nit-pick). A little bit like saying, 'Ich rieche ein mause.' (I smell a mouse) to warn the unit that they could smell matchcord burning in the woods so there was an ambush waiting ahead. Keep up the good work.
@Virtual Fechtschule Absolutely a 'nit-pick'. People now days are exposed to so little German, I'd just hate to see someone get excited and use a colloquial word from the 15-1600s and embarrass themselves in front of someone who's taken a German class. It might put them to questioning your work (Which is excellent and great fun. 👍) A quick warning would head-off such misunderstandings for followers & students. Old language use can be a pain. I noted that-- according to a translator, 20 years ago-- schlactenbummlerin had changed from the 1500s pillaging 'battle loiterers' to 'sports fans', and now it comes up as 'battle lover'. Anyway, keep up the good work, Rob
Good question. No accurate battle simulators that I know off, but there are a whole lot of real world battles where Swiss, Germans and Spanish faced off and most of these happened during the Italian wars. Initially the Swiss tended to dominate, but the Landsknechte and Spanish started having more succes after 1515 through a combination of better entrenching tactics and a higher number of firearms in their ranks. :)
as far as I know "übler Krieg" bad war means that you do not take anyone alive. It happend a lot when Landsknechte and Eidgenossen met on Battlefield like the Swiss war
That's an interesting question. I think Tuchgeld was nothing new, as that happened everywhere way before the 1500's. Likewise paying in goods was not uncommon elsewhere. I think the outrageous style of Landsknechte had more to do with identity. They saw themselves as apart from society, where so in many legal aspects and at some point even built an identity as some sort of fourth estate (with its own customs, privileges and dress).
They are not tall boots, but rather homemade wool stockings. I should still mess around with figuring out how to keep them up for longer periods of time though. :P
This is an obviously true statement, but I'm very curious about the grey area in the middle. Many of these soldiers would have fencing experience, so to what extent are they able to adapt their skill to battlefield fighting. I'm currently working on a project to find out about that.
8:29 i guess, they could have had proof it to the Sergeant, or over the time, ...? We should not forget, that back than (and to be honest up to 18th - 19th hundreds), to climb up in ranks, in the Military, was way easier as it is nowadays.
Well, given that in most of these military formations, corruption was rife, I'm sure everyone knew, but nobody reported it. Just a guess though, I would have to look into it more at some point.
6:17 well, hmm depends ... but sure not running in front of the first line/charging forward especially not in a pike only formation, why, you break als your own ones pike, if than, in a kind of shield formation
This would be interesting. I haven't read anything about it, but it would make a lot of sense. Generally speaking though, Knechte would either make their own food or be dependent on camp followers, so skilled cooks would generally be found on officer's staff I suspect.
Not as such. But the Sold was just a basic unit to calculate wages with. Certain officers recieved four times sold, others eight times. I do get a feeling it was mostly even number multiplications of the Sold though. :)
The more i think about it, the more paying in fabric seems stupid. A doppelsoldner would partake in a battle, win, and then sell it to who? With luck, it was a normal field battle leaving the towns and citites relativly okay. Meaning that then you would have competition of everyone selling fabrick. Or you are in a siege or besieging, the siege ends, and who on earth will sell their gold desperatly needed for food in change of fabric? These men must have starved allot
They certainly didn't like it when they weren't payed in cash. And we also find loads of complaints about starving or freezing on campaign, so that definitely was a problem for Landsknechte.
The idea of using great swords when the pike formations broke-up and mixed is the most reliable. "Suicide squads" and "pike cutters" does not seem true. If anybody doubts - try to chop at least a wooden handle from a shovel in your country house. You would be surprised how hard is it. It`s almost completely impossible in battle.
Chopping stationary sticks that don't bend with you is still kinda possible,.I have done it and have seen it done. But pikes woble and move with cuts, so it's not very likely to be an effective way to deal with pikes. After all, the best way to deal with a pike block was having more arquebuses than the enemy. :P
One line of thinking that is useful in debates like these is thus: 1) doppelsoldner means you get double pay, 2) there are several ways to get that double pay (e.g. equipment, special role, veterancy, possibly being a fencing master), 3) the pay increase doesn't stack. That means there will be significant overlap - you do want your bodyguards to be well-armored and skilled fencing masters if at all possible. Conversely, if you have someone who is a fencing master fallen on hard times, you may well pay him double because you anticipate he will use a good chunk of that cash to get himself better equipment. In the end, your ideal situation is to have a doppelsoldner who is in a specialized battlefield role, while being a fencing master, while having a good set of armor and weapons - but in a pinch, one of those will do. This is more than just semantics because it can explain a lot of special cases - if you have a muster and not enough people show up with good equipment, you will have some doppelsoldners who you think are just solid lads in specialized roles. If you have a lot of people with good gear, then you will be asking for certificates (or maybe even testing them yourself) to select which ones will get the double pay - which will probably mean a lot of people with that good gear will get up and leave for a different company. This is the renaissance we're talking about - while it isn't as much of a wild chaos as the medieval period, we are still very, very far from formally defined roles and regulation equipment.
There might be several reasons to pay people more money like today. - important skills and certification (e.g. Meisterbrief) - task with high risk which nobody want to do volutarly e.g. lost hope formation - pay for ressources e.g. reimburst employees for using their private car, computer etc. for the company instead of gaining it from the employer for their work task
Imagine a mercenary today in modern military gear: plate carrier, ballistic helmet, tactical boots & the whole load out, but instead of BDUs, hes wearing Louis Vuitton or Gucci.
The Scottish & Irish Gallowglass were renowned for making such fearless & desperate charges at heavy cavalry formations & pike squares, using their outstanding & powerful swordfighting skills to chop away with great dexterity & fierceness. Their ferocity was unmatched! The Landsknechtes would hire them out on the Continent for just such services that entailed making forlorn hope attacks into opposing pike squares &/or fighting to the death while making these furious rearguard action holdouts. The Gallowglass were essentially Gaelic Doppelsoldners ☘️☘️☘️
I thought so at first, but then I saw them on other people in different contexts as well within the same book (Freydal), so I'm guessing it's just part of the costume.
Doppelsöldner with battle swords or halbards where never waiseted to hack a gap into pike formations from the front. That did not work, because you could not break 5m long ash lances with a sword or a halbard from the front. And there is absolutely no evidence in all recordings of the 16.th. and 17.th cent. as well. Experianced and well equipped Doppelsöldner with long swords or halbards where allways and "only" Trabanten /bodyguards of the flaggs and the officers in the center. Lost formations, young cocky teenagers with swords, with shields and daggers, with javelins where waisted to disturb pike formations from the flanks. The movie Alatriste shows this nicely. Long swords against pikes is just another myth.
Doesn't sound financially intelligent to pay double for a highly skilled warrior only to risk his life on the frontline where expected casualties would be the most high. I'm speaking from the point of view of an economically conscious individual of course and from what I've been reading and studying about the middle-ages and renaissance is Europeans were quite economically conscious themselves; they didn't even waste smoke when preparing for meals. In fact, like many cultures, wastefulness was taboo in medieval European culture and in an environment where resources were scarce and limited it makes sense to focus on efficiency and practicality. What doesn't make sense is a suicide squad, even if they were prisoners, volunteering their service in exchange for the possibilty of freedom it would still be considered a waste of resources.
Yeah, I would agree to some extent. The suicide squad thing would make some sense if the alternative would mean way higher casualties. And we have some accounts of it happening, but there's only one that I could actually verify and that involved Swiss mercenaries rather than Landsknechte and they charged cannons and not a pike formation. The use of your best troops in the front line would make a bit more sense if they're fully armoured, meaning that their staying alive would protect the rest of the formation and then lead to fewer casualties overall. :)
To some extent. They were used in some places, notably in Spanish and later also Dutch formations. It does require pretty big targe like shields though. Anything smaller doesn't really stand a chance. The nice thing about pikes is their reach, and there's a whole treasure trove of pictures depicting actual pike-group tactics. There's a lot to discover there. :)
"Where's the Doppeldsoldner?!" "What is a Doppelsoldner?!""Why is a Doppeldoldner?!", but nobody ever asks "Doppeldsolder, how are you?"
XD
Dead... they are dead. That's why you don't ask them question directly, let the poor bastards rest in peace!
It's interesting that a lot of the bad reputation that mercenaries get comes from the same sketchyness in terms of getting their pay and rations disrupted that does and historically did also happen to national military forces under incompetent and leaders and politicians.
Yeah, there's a lot of continuïty in warfare before 1800 and this is definitely one of them. :)
Good stuff. I tend to agree that equipment was the main factor when recruiting Doppelsöldneren. However, I'm not sure we can completely write off their supposed role, or rather their utility of charging ahead and disrupting pike formations. Like yourself I don't imagine individual fighters with their armour and halberds/two-handed sword would survive long going head-to-head against a fully charged pike block. But what about against a formation already in disarray? I theorize that, as a commander in the 16th century (or any other century for that matter), you would watch the ebb and flow of battle very carefully. For instance you might use your Doppelsöldneren to exploit a moment of weakness after your flanking arquebusiers have put in a particularly devastating volley before contact. From my understanding it is precisely this use of combined arms (pikes, specialized weapons, and guns) and the ratio between these, that evolves from Swiss Reisläufer to German Landsknechte, and later from Landsknechte to the Spanish Tercio. I'd be hugely interested to see any kind of test that can be done on the subject.
@Feels Seal : Singular and plural is here the same.
@Feels Seal Thank you for the correction. :)
Reisläufer is already plural :)
@Johannes "Fountain" Micha you nailed it.Even the regimental recorders/writers where Doppelsöldner. Döppelsöldner where just very well experianced and good trained and well equipped specialists.
From my experience/sources, Doppelsöldner usually used pikes and Arquebuses/Muskets, or sometimes Halberds, like anyone else.
Greatswords/Schlachtschwerter were pretty rare in Musterlisten and seemed to have been mostly used by Trabanten
Great video, way too many people seem to have that idea of a doppelsöldner having a Greatsword and slaying the pikemen in a frontal charge.
I want to add that the Term Doppelsöldner seems often to have been used for the pikes in the first rank or who cover the flanks of the formation ofc like you said heavily armoured. However despite them often not being listed as Doppelsöldner the halberds and greatswords were still paid the double pay.
The forlorn hope seems to be a romanticised from what i found in older history books. Reality it seems was that they were simply scouts and skirmisher at the same time that should find out the weaknesses of the enemies Formation. Sometimes they were sent in to distract the cannons so that the enemy would need to send in soldiers to protect their cannons making them useless. Its mentioned that this wasn't so dangerous since they were loosely running toward them and the cannons were inaccurate. This was also done later on.
Another job would be that after the clash of the pikes they would support them from the flanks.
Regarding the beating away the pikes. What you have mentioned with the halberds is also supported by Lavater. He also mentioned big clubs for that purpose and puts them on the flanks to each side. I do think that a great sword could pull it off too since its implied that technically any weapon was able to cut pikes at least.
Apparently it also seems greatswords were used for many specialised jobs since they were used in a lot of positions during the 16 and early 17th century not only guarding banners but most writers are frustratingly unclear about the details.
And i agree so much on the Meister des langen Schwertes. My research indicates that it was mostly veteran soldiers or more importantly know how to use them. The source for Meister des langen Schwertes seems to come from one of the older german books. My guess is that since its required someone experienced or trained that they simply put it equal to having the Letter of the Marxbrüder.
just my thoughts on that as someone who is really interested in that topic.
Very good video, as always I appreciate your work. I can confirm many things you mention as I had the chance to consult sources and books in order to fill information about two-handed swords in my book. A lot of this conclusions can come directly from Reinhard Baumann's book 'Landsknechte' which I have in Italian translation from the 90s and I guess you probably had the chance to read. I would also add that among others, the probable main task of Doppelsoldners armed with halberds or two-handed swords was to defend the flags, ususally not on the front but on the rear of formations. A lot of written sources and artworks witness this reality. I would like to note also that differences in payment were part of Italian and Spanish armies too, according to different roles or tasks of the soldiers. The term Doppelsodner passed the idea that it was something specifically German, but it just happened to have a German specific word to name something widespread. I am also glad to note that someone else had doubts and wondered about the famous Marxbruder certification which I also encounter and no one was able to point a source for that claim. In my opinion just bullshit coming who knows from.
@Virtual Fechtschule
Yep and after the armour type shown in van Gheyns pictures the dutch armour was favoured. With shorter tassets and better formed breast plate. Richer Soldiers often had "buffcoat" armour although the term is somewhat misleading.
But indeed Pikemen and short arms would still have quite a lot of armour for that time.
Some lists are bit clearer and describe men with greatswords and arm armour or full infantry harnesses. Musketeers often had almost no armour or at least not a harness.
Quite interesting but sadly this topic hasnt gotten as much attention it deserves from researchers.
@Superrobotmonkey Hyperteamforcego No worries, I would largely agree here! :D I think there's still plenty of armour around 1600 in use, but we definitely see a shift away from armour on the extremities, and more to quite heavy cuirasses. The increasing prevalence of firearms seems to have been the main reason. Looking at van Gheyn and Adam van Breen, we still see most pikemen in a cuirass though, so it definitely didn't go away. Improvements in firearms did mean that eventually there was no more point in wearing armou, but we'd then be talking about the late 1600's I think.
@Tobithedobi You mean around 1600 and the thirty years war? Some did still wore armour like the pikemen and often men with short arms sometimes musketeers too. Often also depended on the availiability and money. There is a drafting list where all Greatswords had at least arm armour sometimes a full harness included.
And the cavalry or Reiters had it too.
Why they disappear from depictions is hard to say. Often its simply too much work, or the armour is hidden underneath the clothing, or the painter wanted to make something clear that wouldnt be clear with armour.
But armour was often worn if availiable drafting lists do tell us that. There were also alternative types of body protection such as buff coats, chainmail etc.
Then again the ratio of muskets increased a lot and you could pretty much hire anyone with a musket to fullfill this job but they wouldnt have money for armour and it would be uncomfortable to wear(you need to aim , hold the musket against the shoulder etc) so they would be depicted without since many of the muskets didnt have armour.
Edit: Whoops thought you asked on the other comment so i answered.
You and Virtual Fechtschule seem to be very knowledgeable about the topic maybe you can answer that question where did all the armor in later depictions about landknechts go when a short time before were all wearing armor?
From my interest in that topic i found that they did put them often in the second or third rank after the pikes. Kirchof i think states you could put some at the rear if you want to.
Most however seem to put them close to the front near the "blood banner" to support the pikemen or replace them if they cant use their pikes anymore. Sometimes on the flanks too or the wings as Dillich suggests.
Do you have any sources for the rear placement?
Simply interested because i couldn't find much aside from Kirchof iirc.
In case of "Bad War" situation, highly skilled squad could be sent to crack enemy line at weaker point using trained coordinated tactics, or to block enemy breakthrough before it turns into total rout. Also, someone had to react on enemy cavalry attacks at flanks or back.
Theoretically, you'd have the centre of the square with such a squad, but it would mostly be greatswordsmen and halbardiers interspersed through the front lines that would seize upon the situation. As for cavalry flanking, at first this was generally prevented by using favourable terrain, but with increasing numbers of shooters on the flanks, pike blocks would generally be able to repel cavalry quite easily.
After seeing that cat steal theat guilder, I can REALLY appreciate the term "Katzbalger".
Wie so oft auf diesem Channel: ein wirklich gutes Vid - immer weiter so! Danke für den gut recherchierten, gut transportierten Content. :)
Danke Schön!
One additional role/purpose I've heard about for Doppelsöldner was as a guard for the company's standard, which tended to go to those with halberds or greatswords in particular. This would've been both a prestigious as well as a practical role. They'd generally be located around the standard near the centre of the formation where they'd, well, guard the standard. But in addition to that, from there they could also serve as a quick and impactful tactical reserve for when things devolved into a bad war, or if an opening presented itself in the enemy formation.
I believe my ancestor Adam Näf served in that role during the second war of Kappel. He used a great sword to prevent the Catholic forces from capturing the standard
That's a good addition, thanks! It kinda fell by the wayside for this video, but now that you mention it, it does illustrate that better equipment and special jobs are often correlated. :)
Excellent video. Being a fan of dark ages history, I have a little theory that both daneaxes and greatswords fill a very similar role on the battlefield. both are more anti flesh weapons than anti armour, both around the same size, both used by specifically trained, skilled career soldiers. Makes sense to me that they are bodyguarding or area controlling weapons in both a civilian and battlefield context, and excellent weapons in a press where neither side is backing down and resort to their shorter weapons. Interestingly in depictions of great axes they seem to be used against the lightly armoured horses a lot like in the bayeux tapestry, i wonder is there any parallel to that with greatswords in this period?
@Virtual Fechtschule my "battle" experience is mainly drawn from various larp events, so it has its limitations. But ive followed some of the principles from the various montante manuals and its a very imposing weapon to face off against, (even when made of foam!). 3 people with dane axes can hold a large area by intimidation alone using large fluid circular swings, where it might take 5 or 6 regularly armed fighters otherwise. especially if they are facing off against people with shorter weapons.
I've also found that putting them in the 2nd or 3rd rank is much more useful than in the front, where they are vulnerable to spears etc. That way if a large push is made by the other side and it ends up with a press in the front ranks they are at the perfect range to deal out some devastating blows to the attackers. This seems to be matched in some depictions of greatswords and halberds i've seen within pike blocks, where they are situated further back in the formation, almost as insurance in case of "bad war"
That's a really fun idea actually. For the 16tg century you have halberds to compare them to as well of course, but I think this still makes a lot of sense. Have you ever tried developing that fighting style for Dane axe?
Excellent informative video, earned yourself a new sub!
Thank you!
A lot of your images are showing a mix of Reislauffer and Landsknecht (the former much more likely to carry longswords as sidearms)
Very well done. I would agree with all your points.
The myth of the dopple cutting pikes has always bothered me
Yeah, same. That kinda kindled the idea of this video. :P And thanks! I appreciate the comment! :)
I actually wouldn't say he was a doppelsoldner, sorta lightly armoured for the job. But then they may have cared less for their lives than I do idk
Edit: oh that's actually armour on his chest and arms, looked like a poorly cut vest and bare arms on my garbage tier mobile >
Interesting video, thank you for all of the sources.
Also where did you get your awesome sword that frequently gets the spotlight?
@Virtual Fechtschule nah I mean the sidearm. The one with the messer hilt and S-shaped guard which you hold during the intro.
The Greatsword? It's a Regenyei spadone type 3, with a custom grip.
How interesting! Thanks for uploading!
Thanks!
Is there any information available on the art shown at about six minutes in? I'd really appreciate any information about it.
Forlorn Hopes were not usually 'suicide squads', they were not meant to fight to the death, but typically to make contact. They did not engage pike squares. The forlorn hope was often mostly comprised of shooters, the halberdiers and two-hand swordsmen were there to protect the shooters. They were also used to attack other forlorn hopes and small formations, or for example to both attack or protect banners.
No, I'm not just referring to later 16th Century battles, as Forlorn Hopes pre-date the Landsknechts by at least a century. My only point here is to try to correct the notion that the forlorn hope was disposable. I think this is an oversimplification which has knock-on effects in understanding war in this period, and specifically the Landsknechts (and the idea of doppelsoldner). Only in some very specific cases were the Forlorn Hope ever used this way. It was always a riskier job to go out in the smaller formations (of which there were at least two distinct types- shooters and battlers), but it was not normally a suicide mission. They played an important role as a kind of sensory organ to the larger formations (vorhut, gewalthut, nachhut) in Central and North European armies of this period. This was part of the Swiss strategy which was copied to create the Landsknecht companies, but was also in wide use by many polities throughout Central Europe back into the 14th Century at least.
True, but you are talking about later 16th century battles I think. There's some rather pervasive myths about Doppelsöldner with greatswords performing such attacks in battles during the Italian Wars (despite lack of evidence), so that's the myth I'm addressing here. :)
In Medieval Germany the Sinti people where often hired as mecernarys and get bettet paid as the normal soldiers.
It makes absolute sence that the soldiers with great Sword where used when the Pike formations break up because then you have many people without a shield, you can simple cut in a vertical manner or thrust forward and you have the advantage of the longer weapon because the pikemen mostly cary a shorter sword for this Situation
Indeed! I shudder to think what havoc a greatswordsman could wreak when most opponents were down to their side-arms!
Any chance you’d do a video on the Marxbrüder fencing guild? Especially the Meister certification?
Well, I find that interesting too, but I currently have very little research into it. I would have to chase some books down and generally learn all I can about it before I can do a video. I will in due time, but it might take a while. :)
You forgot to mention one of the, apparently, main ways to become a doppelsoldner. Bring a bunch of friends and cheat to win double 🤣
Yeah, that's a big one! XD
Excellent info, thanks. One correction though, 'trabanten' doesn't mean 'bodyguard' in German. Rather it means 'Satellites' which they used as a nickname for bodyguards in the period. (Just a nit-pick). A little bit like saying, 'Ich rieche ein mause.' (I smell a mouse) to warn the unit that they could smell matchcord burning in the woods so there was an ambush waiting ahead. Keep up the good work.
@Rob Mancebo Of course football is like war when you see videos from derby matches..so it metaphorically fits the word
@Virtual Fechtschule Absolutely a 'nit-pick'. People now days are exposed to so little German, I'd just hate to see someone get excited and use a colloquial word from the 15-1600s and embarrass themselves in front of someone who's taken a German class. It might put them to questioning your work (Which is excellent and great fun. 👍) A quick warning would head-off such misunderstandings for followers & students. Old language use can be a pain. I noted that-- according to a translator, 20 years ago-- schlactenbummlerin had changed from the 1500s pillaging 'battle loiterers' to 'sports fans', and now it comes up as 'battle lover'. Anyway, keep up the good work, Rob
A bit of a nitpick indeed, but thanks regardless. :D I like how the word relates to modern Dutch trawanten. :)
Is there a battle simulator that pits a Landsknecht against a Swiss Pikeman or Spanish Conquistador? How would that go?
Good question. No accurate battle simulators that I know off, but there are a whole lot of real world battles where Swiss, Germans and Spanish faced off and most of these happened during the Italian wars. Initially the Swiss tended to dominate, but the Landsknechte and Spanish started having more succes after 1515 through a combination of better entrenching tactics and a higher number of firearms in their ranks. :)
as far as I know "übler Krieg" bad war means that you do not take anyone alive. It happend a lot when Landsknechte and Eidgenossen met on Battlefield like the Swiss war
Do you think they were paid in fabric because of their fashion or had such crazy fashion because of their pay in fabric?
That's an interesting question. I think Tuchgeld was nothing new, as that happened everywhere way before the 1500's. Likewise paying in goods was not uncommon elsewhere. I think the outrageous style of Landsknechte had more to do with identity. They saw themselves as apart from society, where so in many legal aspects and at some point even built an identity as some sort of fourth estate (with its own customs, privileges and dress).
Okay, there's bunches of really insightful comments here now. Thanks for that! I'll sit down and respond properly somewhere this weekend! :)
instant like to that mustache
Slightly off topic question. Where did you get your tall boots from for your landsknecht kit?
A tie at the top and larger calves. That's the only way, especially if they're wool
They are not tall boots, but rather homemade wool stockings. I should still mess around with figuring out how to keep them up for longer periods of time though. :P
Well-trained kitten ❤️
Ask the Connaught Rangers about how profitable a Forlorn Hope could be!
Fencing individuals is different to fighting in a battle in formation.
This is an obviously true statement, but I'm very curious about the grey area in the middle. Many of these soldiers would have fencing experience, so to what extent are they able to adapt their skill to battlefield fighting. I'm currently working on a project to find out about that.
Very interesting indeed!
Thanks!
8:29 i guess, they could have had proof it to the Sergeant, or over the time, ...?
We should not forget, that back than (and to be honest up to 18th - 19th hundreds), to climb up in ranks, in the Military, was way easier as it is nowadays.
Well, given that in most of these military formations, corruption was rife, I'm sure everyone knew, but nobody reported it. Just a guess though, I would have to look into it more at some point.
6:17 well, hmm depends ... but sure not running in front of the first line/charging forward especially not in a pike only formation, why, you break als your own ones pike, if than, in a kind of shield formation
He isn't a Doppelsoldner, he lacks the missile barrage launcher.
Let's see how many understand that reference.
I see he is NOT afraid to take an arrow to the knee...
No sir, most definitely not! ;P
Awwww, kitty wants to be a mercenary.
Would a well skilled cook aswell as soldier gain dubble salt? Imagen a soldier that can also do katering jobs back at basecamp.
This would be interesting. I haven't read anything about it, but it would make a lot of sense. Generally speaking though, Knechte would either make their own food or be dependent on camp followers, so skilled cooks would generally be found on officer's staff I suspect.
Was there ever such thing as a trebelsoldner?
Not as such. But the Sold was just a basic unit to calculate wages with. Certain officers recieved four times sold, others eight times. I do get a feeling it was mostly even number multiplications of the Sold though. :)
The more i think about it, the more paying in fabric seems stupid. A doppelsoldner would partake in a battle, win, and then sell it to who? With luck, it was a normal field battle leaving the towns and citites relativly okay. Meaning that then you would have competition of everyone selling fabrick. Or you are in a siege or besieging, the siege ends, and who on earth will sell their gold desperatly needed for food in change of fabric? These men must have starved allot
They certainly didn't like it when they weren't payed in cash. And we also find loads of complaints about starving or freezing on campaign, so that definitely was a problem for Landsknechte.
Excellent video
The idea of using great swords when the pike formations broke-up and mixed is the most reliable. "Suicide squads" and "pike cutters" does not seem true. If anybody doubts - try to chop at least a wooden handle from a shovel in your country house. You would be surprised how hard is it. It`s almost completely impossible in battle.
Chopping stationary sticks that don't bend with you is still kinda possible,.I have done it and have seen it done. But pikes woble and move with cuts, so it's not very likely to be an effective way to deal with pikes. After all, the best way to deal with a pike block was having more arquebuses than the enemy. :P
One line of thinking that is useful in debates like these is thus: 1) doppelsoldner means you get double pay, 2) there are several ways to get that double pay (e.g. equipment, special role, veterancy, possibly being a fencing master), 3) the pay increase doesn't stack. That means there will be significant overlap - you do want your bodyguards to be well-armored and skilled fencing masters if at all possible. Conversely, if you have someone who is a fencing master fallen on hard times, you may well pay him double because you anticipate he will use a good chunk of that cash to get himself better equipment.
In the end, your ideal situation is to have a doppelsoldner who is in a specialized battlefield role, while being a fencing master, while having a good set of armor and weapons - but in a pinch, one of those will do. This is more than just semantics because it can explain a lot of special cases - if you have a muster and not enough people show up with good equipment, you will have some doppelsoldners who you think are just solid lads in specialized roles. If you have a lot of people with good gear, then you will be asking for certificates (or maybe even testing them yourself) to select which ones will get the double pay - which will probably mean a lot of people with that good gear will get up and leave for a different company.
This is the renaissance we're talking about - while it isn't as much of a wild chaos as the medieval period, we are still very, very far from formally defined roles and regulation equipment.
Funny, how less changed during a siege or a urban warfare (ok ok, now we have tanks ...)
There might be several reasons to pay people more money like today.
- important skills and certification (e.g. Meisterbrief)
- task with high risk which nobody want to do volutarly e.g. lost hope formation
- pay for ressources e.g. reimburst employees for using their private car, computer etc. for the company instead of gaining it from the employer for their work task
Pretty much. I like the analogy with today. :)
3:18 that is one of the main if not that reason, why there wore such wide and fancy clothes (beside many others of course)
Imagine a mercenary today in modern military gear: plate carrier, ballistic helmet, tactical boots & the whole load out, but instead of BDUs, hes wearing Louis Vuitton or Gucci.
Might very well be. It's in a way carrying your wealth on your person right? :)
why would they charge pike formations with not leg and feet protactions? sounds like a suicide mission
That's pretty much the point I'm making. It makes no sense, but there's still plenty of people who believe this story.
The Scottish & Irish Gallowglass were renowned for making such fearless & desperate charges at heavy cavalry formations & pike squares, using their outstanding & powerful swordfighting skills to chop away with great dexterity & fierceness. Their ferocity was unmatched! The Landsknechtes would hire them out on the Continent for just such services that entailed making forlorn hope attacks into opposing pike squares &/or fighting to the death while making these furious rearguard action holdouts. The Gallowglass were essentially Gaelic Doppelsoldners ☘️☘️☘️
Happy😊 navratri🙏 hindu new year💛
Not paying mercenaries is very risky business...... Even on recent times. Mercenaries would go on the rampage or change sides if upsat about pay.
Yep. This is a pretty well documented occurrence in Habsburg armies. It might have cost them the Low Countries in 1576 as well...
Are those wire meshes on their faces at 6:33 fencing masks?
I thought so at first, but then I saw them on other people in different contexts as well within the same book (Freydal), so I'm guessing it's just part of the costume.
Doppelsöldner with battle swords or halbards where never waiseted to hack a gap into pike formations from the front. That did not work, because you could not break 5m long ash lances with a sword or a halbard from the front. And there is absolutely no evidence in all recordings of the 16.th. and 17.th cent. as well. Experianced and well equipped Doppelsöldner with long swords or halbards where allways and "only" Trabanten /bodyguards of the flaggs and the officers in the center. Lost formations, young cocky teenagers with swords, with shields and daggers, with javelins where waisted to disturb pike formations from the flanks. The movie Alatriste shows this nicely. Long swords against pikes is just another myth.
Agreed. That myth is pretty busted if you ask me.
Doesn't sound financially intelligent to pay double for a highly skilled warrior only to risk his life on the frontline where expected casualties would be the most high. I'm speaking from the point of view of an economically conscious individual of course and from what I've been reading and studying about the middle-ages and renaissance is Europeans were quite economically conscious themselves; they didn't even waste smoke when preparing for meals. In fact, like many cultures, wastefulness was taboo in medieval European culture and in an environment where resources were scarce and limited it makes sense to focus on efficiency and practicality. What doesn't make sense is a suicide squad, even if they were prisoners, volunteering their service in exchange for the possibilty of freedom it would still be considered a waste of resources.
@Virtual Fechtschule Thats a good point. As long as the gains outweighs the cost, it would be considered an acceptable sacrifice.
Yeah, I would agree to some extent. The suicide squad thing would make some sense if the alternative would mean way higher casualties. And we have some accounts of it happening, but there's only one that I could actually verify and that involved Swiss mercenaries rather than Landsknechte and they charged cannons and not a pike formation. The use of your best troops in the front line would make a bit more sense if they're fully armoured, meaning that their staying alive would protect the rest of the formation and then lead to fewer casualties overall. :)
THANKS a lot for the Source-Quotations.
6:38 also shields, Armed? Sword, ...
To some extent. They were used in some places, notably in Spanish and later also Dutch formations. It does require pretty big targe like shields though. Anything smaller doesn't really stand a chance. The nice thing about pikes is their reach, and there's a whole treasure trove of pictures depicting actual pike-group tactics. There's a lot to discover there. :)
3:42 that must be a newer drawing, because of the spelling (Al(l?) Mein Gelt Verspielt = Lost my Money through gambling)
@Søren Strandby WOWE cool, i didn´t knew that
It is a print of a woodcut by the Swiss artist and one-time mercenary Urs Graf dated ca. 1519.
Halberds were on average slightly shorter than Zweihanders
@Virtual Fechtschule I don't think I can post links but the arma has sample of average two hander length of 5ft 7in.
I'm not sure about that. Do have any research into that, or is just a general observation?
💯
Miauw!
Mieuw!
Age of empires III
Indeed! :D
+