Mercenaries

MERCENARIES

Mercenaries 15 Min Read

Battle of Halmyros, a battle between the lightly armed but battle-hardened Almogavars of the infamous Catalan Company and the French Knights of the Duchy of Athens.  By Darren Tan Scots in Swedish Thirty Years’ War service. Swiss mercenaries and landsknechte engaged in a push of pike (engraving by Hans Holbein the Younger, early 16th century) Unlike the case of privateering,…

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Mercenaries 17 Min Read

Saxon England: the first English mercenaries

Breton Light Cavalry The Saxons had conquered England from the Romano-British in the fifth and sixth centuries, effectively eliminating them as a factor in language, religion and government, leaving behind only the semi-mythical stories of King Arthur to commemorate the long and bitter struggle. The Saxons in their turn fell…

Mercenaries 5 Min Read

Wagner Group Mercenaries

A photo of Wagner Group mercenaries at an unidentified location. (Photo from the Security Service of Ukraine). Key. W: where the Wagner Group operates or has operated; blue: where the ICRUFTM has been ratified; light green: where the OAU CEM has been ratified; dark green: where the ICRUFTM and the…

Mercenaries 22 Min Read

The Long-Haired kings

Artwork by Robbie McSweeney (DeviantArt) The first medieval mercenaries were very probably the Merovingians, in about the year 752. Later, the Duke of Naples is said to have hired Saracen (Muslim) mercenaries in southern Italy in 832. Beginning in 988, the Varangian Guard of the Byzantine Empire was one of…

The Battle of Tannenberg 1410 Part I

Background Two conflicts formed the bookends, so to say, of the fourteenth century in Prussia. The first, which began in the first decade of the century, was the order’s acquisition of West Prussia, originally known as Pomerellia. This was a vital territory in several senses: its eastern border was the…

The Battle of Tannenberg 1410 Part II

The Invasion of Prussia The strategies of the two commanders contrasted greatly. The grand master divided his forces in the traditional manner between East and West Prussia, awaiting invasions at widely scattered points and relying on his scouts to determine the greatest threats, his intention being to concentrate his forces…

The Battle of Tannenberg 1410 Part III

What the grand master did not understand was the need to remain calm and rational. When scouts reported to him that the invaders had gone as far as Gilgenberg and had burned the city, inflicting indescribable outrages on the citizens, Jungingen’s temper flared. No more positional warfare – he would…

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The Long-Haired kings

Artwork by Robbie McSweeney (DeviantArt) The first medieval mercenaries were very probably the Merovingians, in…

The Battle of Tannenberg 1410 Part I

Background Two conflicts formed the bookends, so to say, of the fourteenth century in Prussia.…