Black Riders | Most Sought-After Mercenaries in Europe

[@SandRhomanHistory]

These videos take us an immense amount of time to research, review, double-check and animate. If you think this work is valuable then please do consider supporting us on Patreon. My job at the university as a teaching assistant has come to an end (you can only do the job for 4 years). So a lot of my income is now reliant on KZbin. Also please let us know whether you would like to see more videos on warfare or more videos like the series on sieges where we do more story telling. Edit: Link www.patreon.com/sandrhomanhistory

[@bloodgoa139]

I personally prefer videos on warfare and its history, but I really like how you provided many examples of actual battles in this video.

[@justme6094]

Wenn i mol mit de Usbildig fertig han gitz mol en Batze.

[@guspeniche]

Just joined your patreon! Love the videos! Sweden-Poland sounds like a great topic! Best of luck with KZbin!

[@ScottStratton]

SandRhoman History both are quite interesting. Thank you so much for your scholarly approach to history. It makes such a difference and rest assured it is appreciated. If you are ever looking for a topic I can not recommend more highly the Great Siege of Malta 1565. Off to check out your Patrein page!

[@SandRhomanHistory]

@@guspeniche thank you! we appreciate it a lot!

[@anderskorsback4104]

Knights are countered by crossbowmen and longbowmen, which are countered by even more heavily armoured knights, which are countered by pikemen, which are countered by caracoling pistol cavalry, which are countered by musketeers. Which in turn mean there is less pike around than before, which means shock cavalry makes a comeback. Or, in gamer terms, the metagame shifted and the game balanced itself.

[@obamayomama8291]

Now we have infantry using rockets against heavily armored shock cavalry (tanks)

[@thenoblepoptart]

The caracole was never effective

[@anderskorsback4104]

@@thenoblepoptart for cavalry trying to fight pikemen, I figure caracoling is better than anything else.

[@thenoblepoptart]

@@anderskorsback4104 better by such an insignificant margin as to be essentially a farce. Tickling a wall with a feather is technically better than trying to smash it down by ramming your head against it repeatedly.

[@TaRAAASHBAGS]

Artillery had entered the chat

[@philRminiatures]

A pleasure to paint this cavalry in miniatures...and a pleasure to look at this gorgeous video!

[@user-xq4st9ie7r]

Oh where do you get yours? At the moment I'm all into 40k miniatures but I'm way too interested in history.

[@BoopSnoot]

This is where the expression "Around Blacks Never Relax" came from.

[@mxkinist]

@@BoopSnoot bruh

[@TitusCastiglione1503]

@@user-xq4st9ie7rseconded; I’d like to buy them

[@SirGeorgeofWorcestershire]

​@@BoopSnoot Based

[@galacticbananastopmotions7292]

The OG drive by shooting. Honestly Cavalry covered in black armor just riding right in front of, and sticking a pistol in your face is equally terrifying and badass.

[@johnkiezulas7439]

Also, Black Riders sounds like something out of a fantasy book or video game.

[@faramund9865]

Well keep in mind, you too probably had a gun in your hands with better accuracy than theirs. Or you were a pikeman and were being paid to stand there and die.

[@ericgodoleshi383]

Black Riders are what the Nazghul are called in Lord of the Rings

[@mastercheif878]

Except when you have a mass of bigger guns to blow them to hell before they’re even close

[@MySammykins]

Tyrese give them a volley

[@shorunqualtec2070]

"à horse armed with pistols" Now that must be truly terrifying.

[@belisarian6429]

@Alvi Syahri Nn much more terrifying would be classic horse with gun in his mouth and crazy look in his eyes like you just stole his last sugar cube.

[@monsiercochrane77]

@@belisarian6429 seems like the cart titan.

[@xdeser2949]

*neighhhhh* translation: eat lead

[@Mrkabrat]

Enemy soldier; Can we expect mercy if we surrender? Horse with a gun; Neigh

[@demilung]

Dog says "woof" Cow says "moo" Horse says: "bang"

[@kinglouiev9530]

I don’t know why most people don’t like the idea of a Knight or a Samurai with a gun. I think it’s awesome how they had adapted to changing tactics.

[@sandvichbros1659]

People think that these warriors embrace tradition and that why they don't like that idea. But, since they are true warriors they had adapted to the new styles of warfare to stay relevant. Samurai use guns even more than European during their invasion of Korea and the Knight of Malta use a lots of guns and canons to fought off the Ottoman invasion of the island.

[@olliefoxx7165]

@@sandvichbros1659 The Japanese/Korean war of that era is a fascinating subject that gets little coverage. It's well worth going down the rabbit hole if one gets the opportunity.

[@SIGNOR-G]

@@olliefoxx7165 isnt that the war that ruined Hideyoshi?

[@sengokusanada2690]

@@SIGNOR-G yeah. which he actually wanted to attack china, but korea wouldn't let Japan safe passage. so Japan attacked korea.

[@SIGNOR-G]

@@sengokusanada2690 was Korea under China influence or was it independent?

[@pendantblade6361]

God the art is amazing.Really adds to the experience.

[@seribelz]

Lol and I just listen to it while cleaning

[@brendymcc7788]

It really is ryt enough

[@jwhurwitz7667]

The art is pure SOUL. Hope it never fundamentally changes.

[@seribelz]

@@VanNguyen-hp1yz wird erledigt!

[@toootdooot710]

@@seribelz bring the war

[@Jakalbow]

Instantly remembered these guys from Age of Empires III.

[@mariushunger8755]

Weren't that cuirassiers?

[@sohamdas7314]

Yaaaaaa boi

[@HammadiLobbongel]

@@mariushunger8755 no they were only for France, the black riders were mercenaries for evryone

[@DeRegelaar]

Jup 😄

[@syntax2004]

Mamluks cav HP are INSANE

[@demilembias2527]

this period of warfare is so interesting, in stereotypical depictions there tends to be knights with swords and lances on horses on the "medieval" side, and then armies of infantry with muskets and cloth uniforms supported by artillery on the "modern" side, without much consideration paid to the centuries of warfare that happened in between. but the idea of heavily armored melee battles of the nobility slowly becoming less cost effective, and giving way to mercenaries with ranged weapons is so fascinating. Black-Armored mercenaries with wheelock pistols on horses in particular is an awesome image.

[@memofromessex]

I really love your animation style, it's so much more appealing than the highly polished computing generated style, and slightly goofy (but in a good way). Thanks 👍👍👍

[@casioak1683]

Yeah I love this kind of art direction too. More realistic. And the animation looks goofy but I like it, because it looks like "wayang" (Indonesian shadow puppet play)

[@clintmoor422]

Your videos have so much scholarly depth. I'm amazed again and again. Also they look so nice. Overall, very well done.Please continue giving us more of this.

[@szymoncurzydo4207]

"direct assault with the lance and sword became increasingly suicidal" Polish winged hussars : Hold my Piwo

[@nguyenanthinh4364]

Funnily enough, pistol armed heavy cavalry eventually went back to shock tactics similar to medieval knights and became surprisingly effective. The difference is heavy cav can no longer steamroll like before but require coordinated effort of every unit on battlefield

[@TheThingInMySink]

@@nguyenanthinh4364 The caracole was the main problem, it just didn't work very well, not only do you need a wide open field for such a maneuver, but if it's in any way interrupted it becomes a complete mess, it can work but you need specific circumstances for it to work so it's not a tactic you can always rely on.

[@phunkracy]

As video established, the reason for abandoning the lances was mostly economics and logistics. Poland had a huge class of wealthy nobles and culture of horsemanship and chivalry, but at the same time, huge territory that required a highly mobile force. And artillery was anything but mobile.

[@szymoncurzydo4207]

@@phunkracy yassss, most people overlook economical reasons of efectivenes of heavy cavalry in Commonwealth

[@muharremrevani3895]

@@nguyenanthinh4364 the thing was pistols used in point blank were incredibly effective. even lancers needed them to be effective, polish hussars carried a few pistols each soldier

[@ieuanhunt552]

From the description of the Black riders I am reminded how much I love using Outriders as the Empire in Total War Warhamner.

[@asasas9146]

@28geam k30l Instead of having them just as support, i tried a "Mongol Army" made out of Outriders and Knights. Since they can only shot if they are not moving, i had to disable the pursuit mode for them, wich turned micromanagement into a nightmare, a real, real nightmare. Other than that, i think that they fare really well, except when there is enemy cavalry, wich can wipe out my outriders thanks to the aforementioned micro problems. And that the enemy works with hitpoints in this game didnt help too, a battle against chaos ends with 3 different lines of outriders, all of them on the opposite side of the map, causing further hellish micromanagement. A good thing is that if you run out of ammo you could just retreat and defeat them in the second battle, something not may units could do.

[@KingInBlack69]

Same!

[@olliefoxx7165]

This is one of the best history channels out there. Top notch animation, top notch research, top notch writing and top notch narration. His accent is a pleasant nuance to the subject matter. Well 👍✌️

[@Bzuhl]

I've heard of a fashion at some point where noblemen wore blackened armour to look like a famous band of mercenaries, I guess those were the guys.

[@dancingteeth3804]

This one was perfect... just as alweys. Perhaps, it's out of your interests, but I would be glad if you make a video or two about ottoman tactics and anti-ottoman tactics including the innovation of Prince Eugene of Savoy.

[@florianpierredumont4775]

< Come on, men ! We are a heavy company of pikemen and arquebusiers, what could possibly go wrong ? > [ *Sabaton plays : When the Black Riders arrived* ] < Ach...

[@kvnrthr1589]

Great video. Would be interested in understanding why the Winged Hussars could succeed with lance where others had failed, and the exact nature of Swedish cavalry compared to contemporaries

[@SandRhomanHistory]

that's going to be the next topic (most likely 2 weeks, maybe 4, the script is already finished and I'm animating it as I write this).

[@NoName-cp4ct]

They had wings duh

[@ArtilleryAffictionado1648]

I think its because lancers still worked. Period. The only thing they were shit against were highly trained pikeman, which by the time of the "deluge" (swedish invasion of poland) were way less prevalent because they were REALLY useless against musketeers. So sweden was running around with loads of musketeers and less pikeman than the armies of the 1500's. Lancer cavalry was used up until the napoleonic era. Napoleon had regiments of lancers which are well documented. They had no armour and were fast enough to avoid most infantry manouvers. What killed lancers and melee cavalry forever was the invention of the revolver, and rifles that could reload really damn fast. In the pseudo-historical movie The Last Samurai you can get a grip of how cavalry became useless. The firepower of foot divisions became too big. And so the most beautiful and fascinating form of warfare finally retired, after a 6,800 year long run. Fun fact: in 1800 there were 6 billion people less but 400 million more horses than today.

[@jokuhunaify]

As far as i understand it others did not fail but heavy noble lancers got too expensive in the long run. And one could argue that the winged hussars were elite medium cavalry.

[@FM9k]

@@ArtilleryAffictionado1648 Not quite retired, just mostly. The 2001 battle of Mazar-i-Sharif opened with a combined technical-and-cavalry charge by US and Northern Alliance forces against Taliban fortifications. One doesn't normally picture cavalry action against rocket barrages and backed by airstrikes, but it happened. (Your main point is still taken - this is a historical anomaly. I, however, must defend the romance of the horse soldier.)

[@carlklein3346]

Kuerassier was the name of a light tank made by Steyr in Austria in the 1970's. It carried the then standard 105 mm tank gun, paired with a double drum quick loading system and very (for that time) advanced gun stabilization . Top speed on pavement was 43 mph.

[@Limubi1]

A fascinating period of history, and this video really helps to illuminate an important innovation in cavalry tactics that helped keep the unit relevant all the way into the 19th Century. Thank you for your work!

[@chrisball3778]

If you had to pick a moment when the armoured knight was finally rendered obsolete in Western Europe, you couldn't do much better than the Battle of Coutras in 1587. Henri IV's army, with it's light, firearm-equipped cavalry went head-to-head with a similar-sized Catholic force led by the Duke of Joyeuse, spearheaded by an elite force of heavy lancers, arrayed in a thin formation to maximise the number of lances presented to the enemy. The Protestant horse ploughed straight through their line and rolled up the back, shooting them to pieces and driving them off in a one-sided rout. The Duke of Joyeuse attempted to surrender, but he was notorious for refusing quarter to captured Protestants and he was shot through the head.

[@pepeepupoo]

This excites me so much. I just found your channel today and im binging everything you've made. I play a stupid map game that has sucked more time out of me than i care to admit, and these little history nuggets give me so much joy as i learn about new things

[@allu3853]

Cant wait to get a video about the Hakkapeliittas! Thank you SandRhoman for these videos!

[@barbarne]

Loved this, I much prefer these generalised discussions about warfare in general over your videos about a single battle or conflict. But either is fine since I watch all of them anyway :) Looking forward to hearing more about Gustav II Adolf in the future!

[@joaocoelho1029]

The caracole really looks like mongol and turkik mounted archer tactics.

[@martig1000]

Or ancient Parthian tactics.

[@Eviligniter]

Its a very tipical way of fighting for any mounted cavalry, in Spain we called it torna-fuga (swing and escape) or caracola (caracole),only than in the peninsula it was jenerally used with javelins, the Numidians did it, the Cantabrian did it, the Zinetes did it, and the Jinetes did it, then the Dragoons etc.

[@phillip_iv_planetking6354]

It's literally a Cantabrian circle just wider and with pistols.

[@howdoyouturnthison7827]

I was about write same comment but bow is more effective. Composite bow faster and has longer effective range.

[@tae-whankim9821]

@@howdoyouturnthison7827 Only difference is bow takes a long training time especially on horseback compared to the pistol, but yes the composite bow Calvary would've been far more effective.

[@TechnologicZb]

A video on the Winged Hussars would be a blessing from you!!!

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Well I have good news ;) It's going to be the next upload, well ... maybe there is one other video before the hussar video, I don't know what to upload first.

[@darioalberto1128]

I appreciate that you wrote the sources. Thank you! The black riders and their fast attacks reminded me of Giovanni de Medici and his black bands.

[@faramund9865]

Wow, thanks for mentioning Cruso. I did not know about this manual! I'm so excited to explore it!

[@brokenbridge6316]

I loved how informative this video was. I sure hope you talk about the Winged Hussars soon. I think they are quite intriguing to know more about. Great job. Great video.

[@TheThingInMySink]

The practice of giving heavy cavalry ranged weapons continued for a long time after the heavily armoured early 17th century cuirassier was but a distant memory, the Prussians for instance equipped all of their cuirassiers with carbines and they probably used some pistols too, and the carabinier was a new type of flexible (usually) heavy cavalry with the ability to utilize ranged weapons which appeared in the 18th century, probably as somewhat of a continuation of the harquebusier.

[@mackenziebenedict8403]

dragoon’s?

[@mariushunger8755]

The caracole - one of the deadliest snails in history...

[@philjohnson1744]

What a comprehensive vid. Thanks

[@Velkan1396]

I'm going to share my current view on the evolution of cavalry in the modern era, since this is what I'm gonna specialize on. It doesn't seem that (for most of the XVI century) the new forms of cavalry, like the pistoliers and harquebussiers (lighter lancers were always there) replaced the men at arms, but rather supported them. The Lancers were capable of breaking into pikes since quite early on (I can think of Bouvines, Marignano as concrete examples, and the burgundian an Italian wars are full of examples of the cavalrg breaking into, but not routing the pikemen, when outnumbered) there are not only techniques to defeat the pike in detail, but sources of them managing to break in, since again quite early. It is a good reminder also that the armor that nobles got, was usually of higher quality of the mass produced ones, and bullet tested. With the adoption of the firearm, and the support of new forms of cavalry charges were much viable, the battle of Mühlberg(1547) being a great example, where the whole protestant army was routed by a mixed cavalry charge, and the battle of Dreux(1562) where 900 men at arms, 800 ritters and 200 argolets charged charged into a Swiss pike formation of 5000, breaching it, and and making all the way into the banners. The French already doubted on the efficiency of the caracole and emphasized shock value over it (François de la Noe "Discours Politiques et Militaires 1588) as a better way of breaking other cavalry and of reinforcing the lancers. If you check the Ritterkunst of Wallhausen, you can see that still in the 1620s they had corps of Lancers which were expected of charging into other horsemen, musketeers and pikemen, and appreciate the presence of pistols on their horses, the book of Vecellio Cesare also has protrays of the modern men at arms in late XVI century.

[@lukatomas9465]

I think that you meant the Protestant army at Muhlberg rather than the French.

[@Velkan1396]

@@lukatomas9465 oof, I mixed stuff in my head. But thanks for the correction

[@patriciusvunkempen102]

very educated and great answer much better than anything Geoffrey parker ever wrote , because parker rather ridicules the sources instead of contectualising and interpreting them, while parker also can't differentiate between a Schlachtschwert/battlesword/montante and a broadsword

[@patriciusvunkempen102]

btw i love how your model shows a moar evolutionlike development of cavalry, while i have the feeling many more renown historians always try to contruct the immagine of a revolutionary change in their theses.

[@Velkan1396]

@@patriciusvunkempen102 thanks for your kind words, I always was very reluctant to believe that cavalry followed such an evolution, but "my" model is not original, search for Àlex Claramunt and Arne Koets's work. That's a very good starting point to go into the right direction.

[@Ghonosyphlaids]

Phenomenal as always, may the algorithm favour you soon. Heading over to Patreon now

[@kvnrthr1589]

Also, another possibly interesting topic would be the Ottoman cavalry. Had they abandoned horse archery by this time? If not, how did their horse archers perform against the cavalry of their enemies? I can't really find anything on the details of their cavalry tactics.

[@wojciechm.5737]

Ottomans didn't abandon horse archery it was still in use. Also try to search for informations about Polish-Tatar wars and battles in XVI-XVII century. Tatars used classic nomad tactics, including half-moon formation and feign retreats. However light horse archers were vulnerable to musqet and artillery fire. In open battles, without the support from infantry and heavy infantry, they were easy prey to Polish combined arms, which included light cavalry of its own (including horse archers), heavy cavalry, infantry and artillery. Polish army had its own battle formations against the Tatars: heavy cavalry in the center, infantry and artillery on the flanks, light cavalry on the front. Light riders lured Tatars to the flanks where they were shelled by firearms and artillery and when they run to the center, to avoid fire, they were charged by heavy cavalry. During Battle of Berestechko Tatar cavalry failed miserably. Horse archers however remained dangerous opponent during smaller skirmishes which were very common during the campaign. Without your own light cavalry it was extremaly difficult to engage and defeat horse archers.

[@rudolfvonwolf6647]

Do a video about the WINGED HUSSARS!

[@SandRhomanHistory]

That's going to be the topic of the video in two weeks (max 4 weeks).

[@chainehistoire7616]

@@SandRhomanHistory Sack of Rome, Winged Hussards, ... is it a strategy to attract Sabaton's fans?

[@Artur_M.]

@@SandRhomanHistory Awesome! Although I'm a bit worried about the state of the sources available in English. As far as I know, nothing by Radosław Sikora was translated yet, although I think that there might be some newer publications in English that use his books among their sources. Sikora might be the best specialist on this subject right now. He has a rather unique background and perspective for a historian, although he's now a professional one with a PhD. he started writing about husaria as an engineer involved in the historical reenactment as a hobby.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

@@chainehistoire7616 Haha, not really. Although the next video on the hussars is basically a very long setup for the meme.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

@@Artur_M. We had to rely on Robert Frost's work quite a bit. He speaks Russian, Polish and Swedish though. His publications are quite new as well and he did study in Poland for some time. I think he's one of very few anglophone scholars who published extensively on the Hussars and the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth. About Sikora: some of his text are available in English online!

[@JohnVander70]

Thank you for covering this under discussed time period, the Wars of philosophyconstitution (I don't know how it effected the European political climate),dismissed a "dead old white men". It's depressing that so many people are ignorant about a events and ideas that shape how they live today.

[@youvadjaoude3266]

Thank you so much for your videos they are great i learn so much informations every time 😁

[@THEEck5000]

I’ve been binge watching these videos.

[@arishokqunari1290]

Very interestng video! Could you please make a video about the role of cavalry in the 18th and earl 19th century? They used less and less armor, sometimes abandoning it totally and then again re-equipping themselves with it while fighting against line infantry armed with bayonets

[@Isakkrogh]

Great video! I really like the level of research and the quality of the animations. I have a few notes though. The development of the 3/4 cuirassier armour is part of a general trend in armour development in the 16th century that sees the increasing thickness of the breastplate to stop the better and better firearms, which leads to the armour shrinking to keep it at a reasonable weight. The same construction as the mass produced armours can be found on high status armour, but usually made with better steel and better finish. Helmets tend to be made in one piece instead of the two piece construction of the mass produced armours etc. The decline of the lancer is partly due to the centralisation of power and the decline of the lower nobility, who had the leisure to train as heavy cavalry and the money to buy and train good horses. Johann Jacob von Wallhausen laments in his book on cavalry warfare that the superior lancer can not be deployed because of the poor quality of the horses available and the lack of skilled riders. The blackening of the armour is done with oil blackening, black paint or rubbing rawhide on the hot steel to create a black greasy layer burnt onto the surface, acid tends to create rust instead of preventing it. The lock time of wheellock pistols makes it very difficult to aim the shot from a moving horse, this is probably a big reason why the effective range of the pistols are so short. 1000 joules should have little problem wounding or killing someone at 20m, even through the usually very thin breastplates of the pikemen.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

hey there, neat comment. I wonder whether you have any book recommendations about the blackening armor bit. German scholars seem to agree on the acid explanation. Maybe it's just a Black Riders thing. Also: the 1000 joules is quite high. Austrian scholars have tested it in experiments and if memory serves right then the 1000 joules was the highest amount measured. cheers!

[@Isakkrogh]

@@SandRhomanHistory I am curious to know where that information comes from? The original armours I have looked at that still has the blackening seems to have an applied layer of black and not etched on the surface. The method of blackening with acid makes a more grey black which needs to be quickly neutralized and sealed with oil or wax to not have it rusting within minutes. Working as an armourer I have experience in using the oil burning technique which is well known and the standard method for blacksmiths to blacken pieces. It produces a finish very similar to what I have seen on originals and is very good at preventing rust, it can be left outside in the rain for years without rusting if done right. But there might be a recipe from the period that talks about blackening armour with acid that I don't know about and would be happy to learn new things. Yes, 1000 joules is a lot of energy, it is more than twice as much energy as a 1257lbs crossbow and the solid pine jousting lances we did impact tests with. It is also twice the energy of a modern 9mm pistol round, so it has plenty of damage potential. So the short effective range would not have much to do with the terminal ballistics, but with the ability to hit what you aim for. Even with lower quality gunpowder which at the time was very variable, the energy in the bullet would probably be the same or higher than a modern pistol cartridge.

[@williamchamberlain2263]

4:15 don't disregard the jackets - the deerskin won't turn a lance, but it's good to resist most cuts and low-velocity sword- or spear-thrusts

[@TheHungeringCold]

I feel like there's a Diablo 2 mod floating around somewhere that I need to get my hands on..

[@Widdowson2020]

What a fantastic video. Its so impressive that long lost details were presented so well. Great job at research. I wish I knew how videos like this were made. Where did artwork come from is it original?

[@xys7536]

Subscribed first video I ever saw. Great channel

[@benm5913]

Man, I just love your content.

[@electrominded8372]

Magnificent video, my hat's off to you, Sir.

[@laurenzreichelt4911]

I really hope this channel takes off, it is sooo well done

[@richardross1754]

I don’t know if I should comment on how interesting and informative your videos are or the unique way you present it with such creative animation with its own simple flair.

[@manulad2000]

SandRhoman History I think you should consider to add the Spanish Tercio at 5:30 . They were they truly one who implemented this tactics as part of the Italian wars against France.

[@jonathanrecinos5894]

The Tercios were bad asses

[@FubbleSmurf]

Ever thought about doing any videos about Eastern Europe during this period?

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Yes! I'm looking forward to get into Muscovy's history. And next week we will do a video on the Polish Hussars. However, eastern history is a little bit more complicated for us to do because many books are written in languages we do not understand. And translation tools only get you so far...

[@Somewhat-Evil]

The caracole seems to have been a return to the classical/early medieval mounted tactics used with javelins.

[@alexfrank1831]

Awesome Video! I had never hear of the Black riders before. Thanks for uploading.

[@kingstar0084]

Your channel is very interesting. Finally someome who doesn't make videos only about the World Wars 👍🏻

[@joeskys2362]

Amazing presentation, I think I just found a new favourite history channel to sub too!

[@slomonoaware]

The literal definition of "parry this you filthy casual"

[@albertmont3411]

Hey, any chance of a video of the evolution of the missile cavalry? From early caracoles at the Italians wars to modern Napoleonic dragoons?

[@mikitadou]

Afrocentrists would say that they were actually black

[@ilnigromante666]

Great video. Love to read and watch material about the reiters and cuirassiers. Will you approach contemporary non christian military systems where firearms figured heavily like the otomans and the mughals?

[@jokuhunaify]

Very nice video. I especially like the engagement with different historians!

[@jdavid50]

Excellent video. Thanks.

[@vanivanov9571]

Very good video, really appreciate the look into the caracole. I recommend adding subtitles, but if it's difficult then there's no need to worry. It's mostly the episodes with uncommon place names and many characters that need subtitles.

[@phineascampbell3103]

3:40 the guy on the right, he's saying, "let me tell you about a place it's fun to stay at, young man..."

[@Psionetics]

Very interesting! Great work

[@darthwalrus4740]

Great video! Always was interested in this type of cavalry. Also I just really like three quarter armor for some reason.

[@GanjaMasterBlaster]

I really love the three quarter armor too And the armet and Zischagge helmet as well With plumed variants

[@reza3624]

Really good quality video keep it up

[@robinhawkins335]

This video showed up on my home page and I'm glad it did. Currently not one thumbnail of this channel's video are among the recommended videos as this video plays. I think perhaps by having the word black in its title this video was chosen for recommendation by Bootube's algorhythmn. Regardless good video.

[@bench-xpre55]

Mount & Blade: With Fire & Sword has good Cuirassiers and Black Reititers. Also, the Swedish Reiters are OP, only countered by the Winged Hussars (Polish Commonwealth)

[@ScottStratton]

Just before this video popped up, I had started a Civ 6 game as Hungary whose special unit is the Black Army. Wondered where they came from and now I know!

[@AGS363]

NOOO, wrong kind of Black! The Black Army of Hungary were the professional troops of King Matthias Corvinusy, about a century earlier. (And do not confuse them with the Black Band either, these were just Landsknechte in french service).

[@ScottStratton]

AGS363 oh cool! Thanks for the clarification!

[@alexmag342]

Pike or not, those in the first ranks were pretty much dead or heavily wounded even if a Knight charge failed, they would defeat the knights but before the tercios it would be a costly victory for any pike formation

[@sarahsidney1988]

Great work! I'm learning something new with every video!

[@xornxenophon3652]

Fun fact: The "German Riders" are called "Spanish Riders" in German...

[@comradecosmonaut7746]

Yeah but i assume the reasons they're called german Reiters is because germany was full of mercenaries so where we took ot from the spaniardd others saw it used by german mercenaries and named it accordingly.

[@brittakriep2938]

A ,Spanischer Reiter' is not a soldier, that is a small, moveable obstacle, to close a narrow road, a gap in light fortifications, they are made by a long pole with an X - shaped ,foot' at both ends. Along the long pole and between the two X there had been once small pointer poles attached, today barbed wire.

[@barbagianny]

Of course caracol is a Spanish words... I belive they invented this tactics.. I am not sure about those black raiders..

[@Ariovistvs]

No they are not called "Spanische Reiter" in German. As @Britta Kriep already mentioned, a "spanish rider" refers to a certain type of barricade in German.

[@norcofreerider604]

Sie heißen Deutsche Reiter oder Schwartze Reiter.

[@AdamBechtol]

Am a fan of your videos, keep em up :p

[@andrewgavinet9595]

Really informative video and well produced too. Looking forward to more

[@v8zxw77]

We Wuz Mercenaries mang. Look at dey armor dey black. CraKKAs stealin history again smh🤦🤦

[@elvenfellow8596]

The guy at 2:42 looks like "oh dang why did I do this. Why oh why

[@theronin942]

This channel deserves to be bigger, just got my sub for excellent content 👌

[@salsheikh4508]

Glad I found your channel. Great Work

[@andypandyfineanddandy]

Love your work, you deserve all the subscribers you get

[@mr_newvegas4084]

Love your videos has great information

[@keeperofthefate]

Entire Europe: lancers are bad, we shouldn't do that anymore Poland: You what mate?!

[@MrKhoinguyen1990]

There is no Swiss pikemen in Poland. In fact, right when Swiss pikemen got replaced by mass musket, Western Europe started to use lance again.

[@keeperofthefate]

@@MrKhoinguyen1990 swiss pikemen and polish hussaria existed in completly different time frames. It's like comparing line regiments of napoleonic era to WWI infantary.

[@mordredoforkney6185]

Der Schwartzritter's are perhaps my favorite historical unit, so much that I base my LARP characters on them. Hoping to get some NERF flintlocks for ranged attacks, though mounted combat is hard to do in larp safely, unfortunately.

[@PoetofHateSpeech]

I'm waiting for the "we wuz kangz and shiet" crowd

[@sweaspurdoddd5466]

Was just looking for them

[@86godhand]

Germanic warriors have been sought out for the royalty of numerous nations even before the Roman republic

[@tdoran616]

True, I’m reminded of the Anglo-Saxons who became elite guards to the Sultan in Turkey

[@tdoran616]

True, I’m reminded of the Anglo-Saxons who became elite guards to the Sultan in Turkey

[@schatzo96]

As always a pleasure to watch these videos

[@josharchibald4637]

It's the point that the caracole would be used to soften the ranks and followed by a charge, that is most interesting to me.

[@lowrider81hd]

I breed horses who were used as knights horses way back in the Middle Ages, the Frisian horse. They are amazing.

[@KenDelloSandro7565]

Excellent!!! Great video!!!

[@scarecrow2097]

I could hear the Black Rider "Javol!" from Age of Empire 3 the moment I clicked the video.

[@janandreiyanoyan8825]

You deserve more subscribers

[@iandogburglarwarriorpriest7897]

So this is basically where GW got the idea of Pistoliers for Warhammer Fantasy. So cool.

[@wastelesslearning1245]

The quote about “long pistols” makes me think the black riders used the equivalent of sawed-off rifles instead our small arms pistol equivalent. In medieval times standardized mass production was minimal and most noblemen chose customized weapons. Factor in the pressure to want to commission as long of a ranged custom gun as posible while being compact enough to carry six on your person on horseback 🤔 people clearly saw caracole as effective for a reason and ordered more. I don’t buy for a second those range numbers. There are more then one bullet caliber now there were certainly more heavy caliber “pistols” back then. The evolutionary pressures demand it. “Long pistol” sawed off rifle. That’s just my theory.

[@theoddone887]

Incredible presentation

[@vunguyenxuanhoang7422]

On the Asia ,cavalry never have such problems because they tactic is more flexible and focus more on exploiting enemy weaknesses than directly charge . Cavalry expensive natural make them become elite force in most dynasty that didn’t come from steppe , directly charge is not allowed unless there is order from high ranking general. In general they will riding in circles around enemy formation and try to harassing it with javelin or arrow until it break . Then they will chased down fleeing enemies

[@peasant8246]

4:35 Kek, Diablo II inventory. Surprised to see it here.

[@musicusaddictus]

The picture of french cuirassiers at 3:13. those are cuirassiers of the second french empire and not the first. you can see it for example on the bottom bolting of the cuirass.

[@TheRomanRuler]

I just find it odd how during Napoleonic wars there were no armored lancers in European armies. They had cuirassiers, they had lancers, both were proven useful. Why not give cuirassiers lance or lancers cuirass? They would do that after the war but Napoleonic wars lasted 12 years and lances were not that expensive.

[@yaboyed5779]

This art really adds to the experience thx

[@amuslockhart519]

just found your channel, wonderful discovery!

[@charlesgatine7045]

For reference a 1000 joules is quite huge. 22 longrifle is rated at 250 joules. Maybe they talk of 10 to 20 m effective range because those pistols were mostly smooth bore thus really Un precise and random