The German Lansknecht of the 16th Century, of ail the troops in history, must have the best claim to this title — for one hundred years they were the mercenaries par excellence,' serving in every European army and fighting in almost every campaign, from Eng-iand to Russia and from the Baltic to Tunisia.
The derivation of their name has been debated; the second half has the same derivation as the English ‘knight’, originally meaning ’fellow’, or soldier; by analogy with the Swedish ’Landsknektarna’ the whole would mean national or territorial soldiers. This was what the Emperor Maximilian intended the Lansknechts to be when he created them, in 1486, as part of a new standing army for the Holy Roman Empire, the ’Kaiserkyrisser’ (the other parts being gendarmes d’ordonnance and artillery).
The Lansknechts remained soldiers of the Empire, but they soon became mercenaries too, since the nobles of Germany were not only allowed to serve foreign rulers, but also to raise troops to take with them. In any case the Empire could not maintain a true standing army so that professional soldiers were bound to take service elsewhere.
Lansknechts were not supposed to fight against the Empire, but many did: at Pavia (1525) the French had 8,000, known as the ‘Black Band’ (probably from the colour of their armour). Their leader, Georg Langen-mantel, issued a challenge to single combat (a common pre-battle practice among Lansknechts), but Georg of Frundsberg and Marr Sittich, leading the Emperor’s Lansknechts, shouted that they would not fight a ‘Traitor to the Fatherland’ and he was shot down. This seems to show a degree of patriotism, but the Germans were a very divided people, many princes opposed the Emperor, and later Lansknechts, though at first they had a bad reputation for mercenary tricks such as lightning strikes for double pay just before a critical battle, and always remained great looters, developed strong loyalties to their employers, especially the French (in the 1550s the French armies were more than half Lansknechts). As early as the Battle of Ravenna in 1512, the great Lansknecht leader Jacob Empser concealed the Emperor’s letter recalling the Lansknechts to Germany, so that he cou Id lead them into a last battle for France — and, as it turned out, go to his own death.
The raising of a Lansknecht regiment was the responsibility of its Colonel, who sent out Captains to raise their companies by beat of drum through the towns and villages of
Early 16th Century Lansknecht halberdier.
A pair of German wheel lock pistols of the later 16th Century. These are a rather expensive version of the type used by Reiters. Note bali butt, highiy suitable for bashing the enemy with! (Tower of London).
North Germany. In this densely populated area there was no lack of recruits — ‘If the Devil himself offered pay, they would swarm together like the flies in summer; it is enough to make you wonder till you died, where they all spent the winter’, wrote one chronicler. Colonels could thus be quite selective. All recruits had to provide their own weapons, clothing and armour, and students and sons of rich families often volunteered. When they assembled as a Regiment, the recruits were drawn up in two lines facing each other and recruits had to prove their fitness by jumping a ‘gate’ of three pikes or halberds, before the clerk registered their names in the roll.
All swore loyalty to the Emperor and obedience to his Articles of War (these, among other things, forbade demands for extra pay before an assault, and departure on looting expeditions without the Colonel’s permission).
Lansknecht companies were supposed to be 400 strong: Captain and Lieutenant were appointed by the Colonel, but lower officers or NCOS were elected by the men. In Charles V’s time the company was supposed to include 100 ’doppelsoeldner’ — experienced and well-armed soldiers who got extra pay and took the post of danger in battle. 50 of them were to be arquebusiers. A Company of them was divided into ’Rotten’ or files, of ten ordinary men or six doppelsoeldner.
Originally only 25 men in a company had arquebusses or crossbows, the rest having mainly pikes with some halberds and double-handed swords (favoured by officers and NCOs). In the 1520s one-eighth were shot, later probably more, including a gradually-increasing proportion of musketeers, but with recruits bringing their own arms there cannot have been much standardisation.
A Regiment had from ten to 18 companies, Lansknecht two-handed swordsman with mail cape and ‘pluderhosen’. Mid-16th Century print.
Or in larger engagements regiments were formed in groups of four, each group forming a solid block, often as deep as it was wide. Officers and better-armoured pikemen formed the front ranks; halberdiers and swordsmen were the middle ranks, ready to issue out and attack the enemy flanks if the formation was halted; at the rear were more pikes, the last rank being doppelsoeldner whose job was to discourage those in front from retreating! Arquebusiers skirmished on the flanks, in rear, and sometimes in front.
Before battle the Lansknechts would pray or sing a hymn, then throw dust over one shoulder for luck. A brief speech from the Commander, ’. ..We want, as God wills, to do our duty today and get rich. . .’, then the close-packed square moved forward to sound of fife and drum, the latter a sort of ’pas de charge’ of five beats, giving rise to the Lansknecht’s rhythmic chant; ’Hut — Dich — Baur Ich KommI’ (Look — Out — Here I Come!’).
They used shorter pikes than their bitter enemies the Swiss, and held them nearer the butt-end, sloping up instead of down. In defence they would form an ’Igel’ (Hedgehog); either a circle or a square, surrounded by pikes, the front rank kneeling, with the light troops in the centre. There was often also a ’Blood Flag’ or ’Suicide Squad’ with its own captains and standards, whose
Lansknecht arquebusier.
Men were usually chosen by dice (should appeal to wargamersi). They led the attack and were intended to hack the first hole in the enemy line with their ’two-handers’.
The most savage battles of the Lansknechts were against the Swiss — usually they lost but at Bicocca, under the great Georg Frunsberg, helped to defeat the Swiss charge. Authorities of the period classed them as inferior to the Swiss, equal to the Spanish, and superior to all other closefighting infantry.
In the ’Evil War’, as, for example, against the Swiss, the Lansknechts took no prisoners, but in the ’Good War’ which became commoner in the later 16th Century they not only spared prisoners, but when two forces faced each other and one was hopelessly outnumbered, the smaller would automatically surrender, thus saving unnecessary bloodshed!
World History
