Swiss mercenaries were soldiers notable for their service in foreign armies, especially the armies of the Kings of France, throughout the Early Modern period of European history, from the Later Middle Ages into the Age of the European Enlightenment. The Luzerner Schilling (or Luzernerchronik, Lucerne chronicle) is an Illuminated manuscript of 1513, containing the Chronicle This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The early modern period is a term used by historians to refer to the period in Western '''Europe''' and its first colonies which spans the three centuries between The Late Middle Ages is a term used by historians to describe European history in the period of the 14th and 15th centuries (AD 1300–1499 The Age of Enlightenment or The Enlightenment is a term used to describe a phase in Western philosophy and cultural life centered upon the eighteenth century Their service as mercenaries was at its apogee during the Renaissance, when their proven battlefield capabilities made them the most sought-after mercenary troops in the world. A mercenary is a person who takes part in an armed conflict who is not a national or a party to the conflict and is "motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere
Ascendancy of Swiss Mercenaries
During the Late Middle Ages, mercenary forces grew in importance in Europe, as veterans from the Hundred Years War and other conflicts came to see soldiering as a profession rather than a temporary activity, and commanders sought long-term professionals rather than temporary feudal levies to fight their wars. The Hundred Years' War (Guerre de Cent Ans was a prolonged conflict lasting from 1337 to 1453 between two royal houses for the French throne vacant with the extinction of the senior Swiss mercenaries (Reisläufer) were valued throughout Late Medieval Europe for the power of their determined mass attack in deep columns with the pike and halberd. The Late Middle Ages is a term used by historians to describe European history in the period of the 14th and 15th centuries (AD 1300–1499 A pike is a Pole weapon, a very long thrusting Spear used two-handed and used extensively by Infantry both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as Hiring them was made even more attractive because entire ready-made Swiss mercenary contingents could be obtained by simply contracting with their local governments, the various Swiss cantons—the cantons had a form of militia system in which the soldiers were bound to serve and were trained and equipped to do so. The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland. The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the states of the Federal state of Switzerland. It should be noted, however, that the Swiss also hired themselves out individually or in small bands.
The warriors of the Swiss cantons had gradually developed a reputation throughout Europe as skilled soldiers, due to their successful defense of their liberties against their Austrian Habsburg overlords, starting as early as the late thirteenth century, including such remarkable upset victories over heavily-armoured knights as Morgarten and Laupen. On November 15 1315, the Swiss Confederation thoroughly defeated the soldiers of Duke Leopold I of Austria in an ambush near the Morgarten pass The Battle of Laupen ( of 1339 was fought between the Berne and its allies on one side and Habsburg together with Burgundian This was furthered by later successful campaigns of regional expansion (mainly into Italy). Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest By the fifteenth century they were greatly valued as mercenary soldiers, particularly following their series of notable victories in the Burgundian Wars in the latter part of the century. The Burgundian Wars were a conflict between the Dukes of Burgundy and the Kings of France, later involving the Old Swiss Confederacy, which would play a As a result, bands of men, sometime acting independently, other times under the banners of their cantons, marched off to foreign lands to fight in the causes of others, for pay. The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the states of the Federal state of Switzerland. The native term Reisläufer literally means "one who goes to war" and is derived from Middle High German Reise, meaning "military campaign. "
The Swiss, with their head-down attack in huge columns with the long pike, refusal to take prisoners, and consistent record of victory, were greatly feared and admired—for instance, Machiavelli addresses their system of combat at length in The Prince. Il Principe ( The Prince) is a political Treatise by the Florentine public servant and political theorist The Valois Kings of France, in fact, considered it a virtual impossibility to take the field of battle without Swiss pikeman as the infantry core of their armies. See also France in the Middle Ages, Early Modern France Unexpected inheritance The Capetian dynasty seemed secure both during and (Although often referred to as "pikemen," the Swiss mercenary units also contained halberdiers as well until several decades into the sixteenth century, as well as a small number of skirmishers armed with crossbows or crude firearms to precede the rapid advance of the attack column. )
The young men who went off to fight, and sometimes die, in foreign service had several incentives—limited economic options in the still largely-rural cantons; adventure; pride in the reputation of the Swiss as soldiers; and finally what military historian Sir Charles Oman describes as a pure love of combat and warfighting in and of itself, forged by two centuries of conflict. Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman ( January 12 1860 &ndash June 23 1946) was a British military historian of the early
The Swiss and the Landsknechts in the Great Italian Wars
Until roughly 1490, the Swiss had a virtual monopoly on pike-armed mercenary service. However, after that date, the Swiss mercenaries were increasingly supplemented by imitators, chiefly the Landsknechts. Landsknechts (singular Landsknecht, German plural Landsknechte, sometimes also in English publications were European most often German, Mercenary Landsknechts were Germans (at first largely from Swabia) and became proficient at Swiss tactics to produce a force that filled the ranks of European armies with mercenary regiments for decades. Swabia, Suabia, or Svebia ( German: Schwaben, Schwabenland or Ländle) is both a historic and linguistic Although the Landsknechts were never quite as redoubtable as the Swiss, they were much more readily available for hire, as after 1515 the Swiss pledged themselves to neutrality, other than regarding Swiss soldiers serving in the ranks of the Royal French army. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Landsknecht, however, would serve any paymaster, even, at times, enemies of the Holy Roman Emperor (and Landsknechts at times even fought each other on the battlefield, something the Swiss flatly refused to do in mercenary service). The Landsknecht assumed the bright, garish soldier's outfits of the Swiss, and in fact soon outdid the Swiss in the flamboyance of their military dress.
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 Great Italian Wars. Although the Swiss generally had a significant edge in a simple "push of pike", the resulting combat was nonetheless quite savage, and known to Italian onlookers as "bad war. The push of pike was a particular feature of late medieval and Early Modern warfare that occurred when two opposing columns of pikemen (often Swiss mercenaries " Period artists such as Hans Holbein attest to the fact that two such huge pike columns crashing into each other could result in a maelstrom of battle, and ghastly casualties on both sides.
Despite the competition from the Landsknechts, and imitation by other armies (most notably the Spanish, which adopted pike-handling as one element of its famed Tercios infantry formations), the Swiss fighting reputation reached its zenith between 1480-1525, and indeed the Battle of Novara, fought by Swiss mercenaries, is seen by some as the perfect Swiss battle. The Tercio (Also known as Tercio Español, literally " Spanish tercio " and from tercio meaning "one-third" The Battle of Novara was a Battle of the War of the League of Cambrai fought on June 6, 1513, near Novara, in Northern Even the close defeat at the terrible Battle of Marignano in 1515, the "Battle of Giants," was seen as a victory of sorts for Swiss arms due to the ferocity of the fighting and the good order of their withdrawal. The Battle of Marignano was a battle fought during the phase of the Italian Wars (1494&ndash1559 called the War of the League of Cambrai, that took place on
Nonetheless, the repulse at Marignano presaged the decline of the Swiss form of warfare -- eventually, the two-century run of Swiss victories ended in 1522 with complete disaster at the Battle of Bicocca when combined Spanish and Landsknecht forces decisively defeated them using fortifications and new technology. The Battle of Marignano was a battle fought during the phase of the Italian Wars (1494&ndash1559 called the War of the League of Cambrai, that took place on The Battle of Bicocca, sometimes known as the Battle of La Bicocca, was fought on April 27, 1522, during the Italian War of 1521–26. It can be argued that it was arrogance -- overconfidence in their own supposed invincibility -- which defeated the Swiss as much as the armed forces of their enemies, for at Bicocca, the Swiss mercenaries, serving the French king, attempted repeatedly to frontally storm an impregnable defensive position, only to be mown down by small-arms and artillery fire. Never had the Swiss suffered such awful casualties while being unable to inflict much damage upon their foe. Arrogance and overconfidence were at play here, but another consideration was economic -- many of the Swiss mercenaries were still farmers, and needed to return home from campaign quickly in order to work the fields. This meant they often rushed, unthinking, into ill-advised battles in the hopes they would crush the enemy of their employer, collect booty, get paid, and march home to work their fields.
So terrible was the blow at Bicocca that Swiss battlefield proficiency suffered severely for years to follow. Their performance three years later, in French service at the great battle of the age, the Battle of Pavia, was commented on by many contemporaries as remarkably mediocre, and the battle is often portrayed as the benchmark for the decline in the reputation of the Swiss.
Organization and tactics of early Swiss mercenary contingents
The early contingents of Swiss mercenary pikemen organized themselves rather differently than the cantonal forces. In the cantonal forces, their armies were usually divided into the Vorhut (vanguard), Gewalthut (center) and Nachhut (rearguard), generally of different sizes and often echeloned back with respect to each other. In mercenary contingents, although they could conceivably draw up in three similar columns if their force was of sufficient size, more often they simply drew up in one or two huge columns which deployed side by side, forming the center of the army in which they served. Likewise, their tactics were not very similar to those used by the Swiss cantons in their brilliant tactical victories of the Burgundian Wars and Swabian War, in which they relied on maneuver at least as much as the brute force of the attack columns. The Burgundian Wars were a conflict between the Dukes of Burgundy and the Kings of France, later involving the Old Swiss Confederacy, which would play a The Swabian War of 1499 ( Schwabenkrieg, also called Schweizerkrieg War" in Germany and Engadiner Krieg of the [[Engadin]"] in In mercenary service they became much less likely to resort to outmaneuvering the enemy and relied more on a straightforward steamroller assault.
Such deep pike columns could crush lesser infantry in close combat and were invulnerable to the effects of a cavalry charge, but they were vulnerable to firearms if they could be immobilized (as seen in the Battle of Marignano). The Battle of Marignano was a battle fought during the phase of the Italian Wars (1494&ndash1559 called the War of the League of Cambrai, that took place on The Swiss mercenaries did deploy crossbows, handguns and artillery of their own, however these always remained very subsidiary to the pike and halberd square. Despite the proven armour-penetration capability of firearms, they were also very inaccurate, slow-loading, and susceptible to damp conditions, and did not fit well with the fast-paced attack tactics used by the Swiss mercenary pike forces.
The Swiss remained primarily pikemen throughout the sixteenth century, but after that period they adopted similar infantry formations and tactics to other units in the armies in which they served. Accordingly, their tactics became less unique, and they took a normal place in the battle line amongst the other infantry units.
End of Military Ascendancy of Swiss Mercenary Pikemen
In the end, as proven at Marignano and Bicocca, the pike attack of the Swiss mercenaries proved to be too vulnerable to firearms wielded by Spanish and Landsknecht arquebusiers and the earthworks and artillery of the French. The Arquebus (sometimes spelled harquebus, harkbus or hackbut; from Dutch haakbus, meaning "hook gun" is These arquebusiers and heavy cannons scythed down the close-packed ranks of the Swiss squares in bloody heaps -- at least, as long as the Swiss attack could be bogged down by earthworks or cavalry charges, and the shooters were backed up by Spanish and/or Landsknecht pikemen to defend them if necessary from the Swiss in close combat.
Other stratagems could also take the Swiss pikemen at a disadvantage. For instance, the Spanish rodeleros, also known as Sword and Buckler Men, armed with steel rodelas and side-swords, often wearing a helmet and a breastplate, were much better armed and armoured for man-to-man close combat than the Swiss. Rodeleros ("shield bearers" also called espadachines ("swordsmen" colloquially known as "Sword and Buckler Men" were Accordingly, they could heavily defeat the Swiss if their pike column could be disorganized so that the Sword and Buckler Men could dash under the unwieldy pikes of the Swiss and stab the lightly-armoured, shieldless Swiss infantry. Landsknechts, using a formation similar to that of the Swiss, were defeated with terrible slaughter by the Spanish Sword and Buckler Men at the Battle of Ravenna. The Battle of Ravenna, fought on April 11, 1512, by forces of the Holy League and France, was a major battle of the War of the League It should be noted, however, that this required disorganization of the pike column, and Swiss pike columns which retained good formation were able to heavily defeat Spanish rodeleros formations in battles such as at the Battle of Seminara. The Battle of Seminara, part of the First Italian War, was fought in Calabria on June 28 1495 between a French garrison in recently-conquered southern Italy
Swiss Mercenaries after the Battle of Pavia
Despite the end of their supremacy circa 1525, the Swiss pike-armed mercenaries soon bounced back, and thereafter continued to be among the most capable close combat infantry in Europe throughout the sixteenth century, as demonstrated by their battlefield performances serving the King of France in the French Wars of Religion, particularly at the Battle of Dreux, where the block of Royal Swiss pikemen singlehandedly resisted virtually the entire Huguenot army, allowing the Catholic cavalry to eventually counterattack. The French Wars of Religion (1562 to 1598 between French Catholics and Protestants ( Huguenots involved both civil infighting The Battle of Dreux was fought on 19 December, 1562 between Catholics and Huguenots The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France (or French Calvinists) from the sixteenth to the eighteenth
Service in the French army
Swiss soldiers continued to serve as mercenaries with many nations from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. The most famous employer of these mercenaries was the French army, and the Swiss were an intrinsic, elite part of the French infantry forces. The famed Swiss Guard regiment, the most senior of the thirteen Swiss mercenary regiments in French service, was essentially identical to the French Guards in organization and equipment other than wearing a red uniform as opposed to the blue uniforms of the French Guards. Swiss Guards Swiss mercenary is the name given to those soldiers who have served as Bodyguards, ceremonial guards and palace guards at foreign European courts since The Swiss similarly adopted the musket in increasingly large numbers as the seventeenth century wore on, and abandoned the pike, their ancient trademark, altogether at around the same time as other troops in the French army, circa 1700.
The Swiss Guard, loyal to the last, was massacred in the French Revolution on August 10, 1792, dying to protect Louis XVI from the mob and assembled National Guardsmen although, ironically, the king had already fled the Tuileries Palace. The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an Louis XVI ( 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) Louis-Auguste de France, ruled as King of France and Navarre The Palais des Tuileries was a royal Palace in Paris. It stood on the right bank of the River Seine until 1871, when it was destroyed Napoleon's army also included Swiss troops, who fought well, and were allowed to keep their distinctive red uniforms (distinguishing them from the French troops, who wore blue), although this caused some confusion on the battlefield --it was the same color worn by Napoleon's enemies in the Spanish campaigns, the British infantry. Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. Red Coat or Redcoat is a term often used to refer to a Soldier of the historical British Army, because of the colour of the Military uniforms
Service in the Spanish Army
Another prime employer of Swiss mercenaries from the later 16th century on was Spain. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. After the Protestant Reformation, Switzerland was split along religious lines between Protestant and Catholic cantons. The Protestant Reformation was a reform movement in Europe that began in 1517 though its roots lie further back in time Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. Catholic is an Adjective derived from the Greek adjective '' / 'katholikos' meaning "whole" or "complete". Swiss mercenaries from the Catholic cantons were thereafter increasingly likely to be hired for service in the armies of the Spanish Habsburg superpower in the later sixteenth century. The first regularly embodied Swiss regiment in the Spanish army was that of Walter Roll of Uri (a Catholic canton) in 1574, for service in the Spanish Netherlands, and by the middle of the seventeenth century there were a dozen Swiss regiments fighting for the Spanish army. The Southern Netherlands (Zuidelijke Nederlanden Países Bajos del Sur Pays-Bas du sud were a part of the Low Countries controlled by Spain ( Spanish From the latter part of the seventeenth century these could be found serving in Spain itself or in its possessions, and fought against Portugal, against rebellions in Catalonia, in the War of the Spanish Succession, War of the Polish Succession, War of the Austrian Succession (in the fighting in Italy), and against Britain in the fighting associated with the American Revolution. In the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714 several European powers combined to stop French succession to the Spanish throne and what would likely have been a resulting The War of the Polish Succession ( 1733 - 1738) was sparked by a Polish Civil war over the succession to Augustus II, King of Poland The War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748 involved nearly all the powers of Europe In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" Their final role in Spanish service was against the French in the Peninsular War, in which the six Swiss regiments in the Spanish army mostly stayed loyal to the Spanish, and were eventually ground down by years of fighting. The Peninsular War or Spanish War of Independence pitted an alliance of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal against France The year 1823 finally saw the end of Swiss mercenary service with the Spanish army.
As in French service, the Swiss fighting in the ranks of the Spanish army generally followed its organization, tactics and dress.
Swiss Mercenaries in Modern Times
Since 1859, only one mercenary unit has been permitted under the Swiss constitution, certainly the most famous of all: the Vatican's Swiss Guard, which has been protecting the pope for the last five centuries, dressed in colorful uniforms reminiscent of the Swiss mercenary's heyday. The Federal Constitution of 18 April 1999 (Bundesverfassung der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft Constitution fédérale de la Confédération suisse Constituzione federale della Confederazione Swiss Guards Swiss mercenary is the name given to those soldiers who have served as Bodyguards, ceremonial guards and palace guards at foreign European courts since Despite it being prohibited, individual Swiss citizens carried on the tradition of foreign military service into the twentieth century, including participation in the Spanish Civil War, usually on the Republican side. The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict in Spain that started after an attempted Coup d'état committed by parts of the army against the government of The Second Spanish Republic was the system of government in Spain between April 14 1931, when King Alfonso XIII left the country
Notable Swiss mercenaries
- The artist Urs Graf
References
Books
- Fuhrer, H. Urs Graf (born 1485 in Solothurn, Switzerland; died after 1529 was a Swiss Renaissance painter and Printmaker (of R. , and Eyer, R. P. (eds. ), Schweizer in "Fremden Diensten", 2006. In German.
- Lienert, Meinrad, Schweizer Sagen und Heldengeschichten, 1915. In German.
- Miller, Douglas, The Swiss at War, 1979.
- Oman, Sir Charles, A History of the Art of War in the Sixteenth Century, 1937. Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman ( January 12 1860 &ndash June 23 1946) was a British military historian of the early
- Oman, Sir Charles, A History of the Art of War in the Middle Ages, rev. Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman ( January 12 1860 &ndash June 23 1946) was a British military historian of the early ed. 1960.
- Richards, John, Landsknecht Soldier 1486-1550, 2002.
- Schaufelberger, Walter, Der Alte Schweizer und Sein Krieg: Studien Zur Kriegführung Vornehmlich im 15. Jahrhundert, 1987 (in German).
- Taylor, Frederick Lewis, The Art of War in Italy, 1494-1529, 1921.
- Wood, James B. , The King's Army: Warfare, Soldiers and Society during the Wars of Religion in France, 1562-76, 1996.
Online
- Fremde Dienste/Service étranger in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland. The Historical Dictionary of Switzerland is an Encyclopedia on the History of Switzerland that aims to take into account the results of modern historical research
Films
- Schweizer im Spanischen Bürgerkrieg (The Swiss in the Spanish Civil War), Director Richard Dindo, 1974 (English-language release 1982). Richard Dindo (born 1944 in Zürich) is a Swiss documentary Film director. In Swiss German with English sub-titles. Swiss German ( Schweizerdeutsch, Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch, Schwizertitsch) is any of the Alemannic dialects spoken
External links
- 500 Jahre Schlacht bei Hard, 1999?, on the SFwV SSGA website. In German.
- Ancient Tactics Tested: Swiss Pike and Ancient Phalanx.
- 1499–1999, 1999, 500th anniversary of the Swabian War. In German.
See also
The Military history of Switzerland comprises centuries of armed actions and the role of the Swiss military in Conflicts and The Beresinalied, originally known as Unser Leben gleicht der Reise (the incipit is a Lied composed by Friedrich Wilke after The term nostalgia describes a longing for the past often in idealized form The military of Switzerland, officially known as the Swiss Armed Forces, is a unique institution somewhere between a Militia and a regular army.Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic