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Routiers (French: [ʁutje]) were mercenary soldiers of the Middle Ages. Their particular distinction from other paid soldiers of the time was that they were organised into bands (rutta or routes). [1] The term is first used in the 12th century but is particularly associated with free companies who terrorised the French countryside during the ...
Free company. French troops being attacked by the Tard-Venus free company during the 1362 Battle of Brignais. A free company (sometimes called a great company or, in French, grande compagnie) was an army of mercenaries between the 12th and 14th centuries recruited by private employers during wars. They acted independently of any government, and ...
Lance fournie. The lance fournie (French: "equipped lance") was a medieval equivalent to the modern army squad that would have accompanied and supported a man-at-arms (a heavily armoured horseman popularly known as a "knight") in battle. These units formed companies under a captain either as mercenary bands or in the retinue of wealthy nobles ...
The White Company (Italian: Compagnia Bianca del Falco) was a 14th-century English mercenary Free company (Italian: Compagnia di ventura), led from its arrival in Italy in 1361 to 1363 by the German Albert Sterz and later by the Englishman John Hawkwood. Although the White Company is the name by which it is popularly known, it was initially ...
The social origins of the Brabançons are uncertain. Some were the younger sons of the knightly class who had received formal military training. Others were drawn from the lower classes and had little or no such training. There were some women in their ranks. They mostly fought as infantry, possessing few horses.
The military-service terms and conditions were stipulated in a condotta (contract) between the city-state and the soldiers (officer and enlisted man), thus, the "contracted" leader, the mercenary captain commanding, was titled the "Condottiere". From the eleventh to the thirteenth century, European soldiers led by professional officers fought ...
The main armament of the Genoese crossbowmen was the crossbow, made in Genoa by the Balistrai Corporation. As well, the mercenaries were equipped with a dagger, a light metal helmet, a gorget, a hauberk and a large shield, called a pavese , which was used while reloading the crossbow. The usual team consisted of a crossbowman and two assistants ...
Mercadier (died 10 April 1200) was a famous Occitan warrior of the 12th century, and the leader of a group of mercenaries in the service of Richard I, King of England. In 1183 he appears as a leader of Brabançon mercenaries in Southern France. He entered King Richard's service in 1184, attacking and laying waste to lands of Aimar V of Limoges.