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Landsknecht with a Zweihänder. Just like the Reisläufer, Landsknecht formations consisted of men trained and armed with pikes, halberds, and swords. [11] 300 men of a Fähnlein would be armed with a pike, [27] though a Landsknecht 's pike was generally shorter than a Reisläufer 's at about 4.2 meters (14 ft). [28]
For landsknechts in general, the usual arrangement was that one Fähnlein, the standard unit, had 400 men, of whom 300 were pikemen (75%), 50 were arquebusiers (12.5%), and 50 were halberdiers or two-handed swordsmen (12.5%). Arquebusiers, halberdiers, and swordsmen all received double pay compared to pikemen. [10]
The full Landsknecht contingent of Francis I. army in 1515 was initially 17,000 men strong, composed of 12,000 pikemen, 2,000 arquebusiers, 2,000 two-handed swordsmen, and 1,000 halberdiers. Landsknecht contingents are organized in companies or Fähnlein of up to 500, with actual numbers often being lower than the nominal full strength.
Articles related to Landsknechts, German mercenaries used in pike and shot formations during the early modern period.Consisting predominantly of pikemen and supporting foot soldiers, their front line was formed by Doppelsöldner ("double-pay men") renowned for their use of Zweihänder and arquebus.
A modern recreation of a mid-17th century company of pikemen. By that period, pikemen would primarily defend their unit's musketeers from enemy cavalry.. A pike is a long thrusting spear formerly used in European warfare from the Late Middle Ages [1] and most of the early modern period, and wielded by foot soldiers deployed in pike square formation, until it was largely replaced by bayonet ...
The Landsknecht often assumed the multi-coloured and striped clothing of the Swiss. The Swiss were not flattered by the imitation, and the two bodies of mercenaries immediately became bitter rivals over employment and on the battlefield, where they were often opposed during the major European conflict of the early sixteenth century, the Italian ...
The push of pike still played a role in the English civil war; two-thirds of the infantry consisted of pikemen at the start of the war, declining to one-third as the war progressed and the matchlock gained dominance. [6] Pikemen often cut down the lengths of their pikes in order to make them more manageable. [7]
The Spanish force under the command of Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba (El Gran Capitán) comprising around 9,000 men, including 2,000 Landsknecht pikemen, 1,000 arquebusiers and 20 cannons, defeated the French force of 9,000 men, mainly gendarme heavy cavalry and Swiss mercenary pikemen, with about 40 cannons, led by Louis d'Armagnac, Duke of ...