Free Companies: The Age of Mercenary Companies

Renaissance Italy was marked by both continuous warfare and economic growth. Against this backdrop arose the Condotta, the contract system of hiring mercenaries, which was arguably the most distinct characteristic of the period. Initially, soldiers hired themselves out to the highest bidder as “free lances,” the lance being the smallest unit of army organization at the time. This is the origin of the modern term “freelancer.” However, these soldiers soon formed entire mercenary companies led by elected leaders, such as John Hawkwood, who were seen as first among equals. The powerful and wealthy Italian cities, enriched by their monopoly on maritime trade with the East, could easily hire these companies, but they soon learned that doing so often brought more problems than they had bargained for. Known as Free Companies or Great Companies, these mercenary groups saw themselves as independent, self-governing adventurers always on the lookout for the most lucrative offer. A rich Italian city, they soon realized, was a worthwhile target to plunder. It was not long until they would become the bane of Italy. In this video, we investigate the phenomenon of Free Companies and how they were eventually replaced by the arguably more famous mercenary captains, the condottieri.
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"The White Company" by Arthur Conan Doyle: amzn.to/445P89t
"Mercenaries and Their Masters" by Michael Mallett amzn.to/3vR5XZ1
"The Great Companies" by Kenneth Fowler: amzn.to/3JhbZFl
Some must read mlitary history books:
Ambrose, S. E., Band of Brothers: E Company, 2001. amzn.to/438ltvZ
Baime, A. J., The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman, 2017. amzn.to/3TcDGUj
Beard, M., Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World, 2023. amzn.to/49L2olR
Bevoor, A., Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943, 1999. amzn.to/4a4rqwe
Beevor, A., The Second World War, 2013. amzn.to/3wNFITu
Brennan, P+D., Gettysburg in Color, 2022. amzn.to/48LGldG
Clausewitz, C., On War, 2010. amzn.to/3Vblf5
Kaushik, R., A Global History of Pre-Modern Warfare: 10,000 BCE-1500 CE, 2021. amzn.to/49Mtqt7
McPherson, J., Battle Cry of Freedom, The Civil War Era, 2021. amzn.to/3TseYAW
Tsu, S., The Art of War, 2007, amzn.to/3TuknHA
Sledge. E. B., With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa, 2008. amzn.to/439olIK
Pomerantsev, P., How to Win an Information War, 2024. amzn.to/3Ts0YqQ
Bibliography:
Caferro, W., Articles, Warfare and Economy in Renaissance Italy, 1350-1450, In: The Journal of Interdisciplinary History vol. 39 (2008) p. 167-210.
Caferro, William P., Hawkwood: Florentine Hero and Faithful Englishman, in: The Hundred Years War. Different vistas p. 295-328.
Caferro, William P., "The fox and the lion": the White Company and the Hundred Years War in Italy, In: The Hundred Years War. A wider focus, 2005 p. 179-210.
Caferro, William P., Slaying the hydra-headed beast: Italy and the companies of adventure in the fourteenth century, In: Crusaders, condottieri and cannon, 2003, p. 285-304.
Fowler, K., Medieval Mercenaries, 2001.
Mallet, M., Mercenaries and their Master. Warfare in Renaissance Italy, 1974.
Mallet, M. s. v. Mercenaries in: Maurice Keen, Medieval Warfare. A history, 1999, pp. 209-229.
Savy, N. s. v. Great Company, in Clifford J. Rogers, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, 2010.
Knödler, J., s. v. Brabancons in Clifford J. Rogers, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, 2010.
#history #documentary #education

[@SandRhomanHistory]

The Novel "The White Company" by Arthur Conan Doyle: amzn.to/445P89t The best overview of the topic: "Mercenaries and Their Masters" by Michael Mallett: amzn.to/3vR5XZ1 A good start if you want to investigate the topic more in depth: "The Great Companies" by Kenneth Fowler: amzn.to/3JhbZFl If you want to check out our patreon page, click here: www.patreon.com/sandrhomanhistory

[@Ace-cr9qt]

I love your videos. Can you do a video on the Varangian guard?

[@Cahirable]

The second volume of Sumption's series on the Hundred Years' War also has some great bits of information about the routiers before and after they formed into the Great Companies, including a couple of sketches of the ordinary routier, drawn from legal cases prior to their execution.

[@diegotapia2830]

dude in 2012 i did my university thesis about the same theme, "how the XV century italian states regulated their mercenaries" or something like that; and, well we pretty much used the same sources, hell, i was able to get an scan of an actual condotta from the library of milan. also if you can check this book "Renaissance Characters" by eugenio garin, in that book michael mallet wrote a great essay about the topic.

[@planescaped]

Hiring an army to protect you only for them to realize you're completely defenseless without them, and them basically taking over, is such a pro gamer move.

[@genericpersonx333]

Basically What happened to Rome's Republic. They replaced the legions of citizens who paid for themselves with state-financed armies whose generals slowly came to realize they could own the State with judicious use of those armies through their voting and fighting power.

[@flarvin8945]

@@genericpersonx333i believe those armies weren't state-financed, but mostly financed by the generals themselves. Which is why the legions were loyal to their general over Rome.

[@flazzorb]

​@@flarvin8945_Sorta,_ to my understanding legions were afforded by taxes, however these taxes were paid to the general who was charged with maintaining the legion.

[@xo-1320]

Funny enough this also happened to the Muslim World. Turns out having Slave Armies is a terrible idea when the slaves realize "wait a minute we are the fucking army".

[@flarvin8945]

@@flazzorb yes, for the most part soldiers received a base pay from taxes, throughout Rome's republic. But it was usually barely enough to cover expenses. So Roman generals would promise bonuses to secure loyal. The bonuses could be from the generals' personal wealth or from the state, like land. Either way, it was the general that was responsible for securing these bonuses, not the state. And the general who the troops were loyal to. The legions became just another way for the elites of Rome's republic to obtain power, through personal wealth and influence.

[@robertusaugustus2003]

The age of the condottieri is criminally underused in fiction, imagine a band of brothers style miniseries following these multinational companies in the late-14th/early-15th century

[@Cahirable]

Hard to pitch a series about guys as cruel and awful as the condottieri, unless they're Italians fighting the English/Germans/French, and then you lose the non-Italian audiences. Seriously, you have no idea how fucked they were. Even the Italians, used to pretty nasty warfare, were horrified by the actions of the Great Companies who came over the Alps in the 1360s.

[@stephensedlon8414]

I'd definitely watch it!

[@robbypodobinski824]

100000% ​@@Cahirable

[@RickJaeger]

If they can make movies about pirates, they can make them about condottieri. It will probably involve a lot of typical Hollywood changes, though. Still, people will watch cruel and awful people doing cruel and awful things on TV, as long as you can pitch it as "salacious" or "gritty."

[@reichtanglevictor1694]

Best company, even with the -5% army professionalism

[@GAarcher]

*the great Basileus Ludius Guideos has been know for his extensive employement of such tatics and precise resource allocation, such as the founding of the Commandeos Codex and the thesis of Combateo Widthus*

[@SeverusFelix]

For some reason a whole bunch of Free Companies got hired in 1444

[@Mold-E]

It has been historically documented that it was due to preparations of 'The great Decing' on the 12 of December of the same year. Which many nations across Europe declared various wars against neighbouring countries.

[@lordInquisitor]

The art has gotten particularly GORGEOUS

[@LarsOfTheMohicans]

The Golden Age Arc, explained via history.

[@michaelmcnally9737]

- These cool dudes need their own videos - aww man - and that's why we're going to make them - HELL YEAH!

[@memesforcomrade7666]

as an EU4 player I owe many successful campaigns to the free company

[@GAarcher]

*You did not mention but the great Basileus Ludius Guideos has been know for his extensive employement of such tatics and precise resource allocation, such as the founding of the Commandeos Codex and the thesis of Combateo Widthus*

[@2serveand2protect]

Strange phenomenon that some of these "condottieri" who were (in general) often despised, thought as "foreign barbarians" and feared in Italy, at the end became sentimentally attached to the very same city-states they were fighting sometimes against and sometimes for. John Hawkwood for instance wasn't always a soldier - he was also Richard the 2nd's official envoy to the Papal Court. By serving the Italian cities he became a multi-millionaire - Hawkwood however went further. He had a big political influence in the Italian Peninsula, would arbitrate many treaties, and was given many riches, lands and titles - especially from the State of Florence. He was entombed in Santa Maria del Fiore (the biggest & most famous florentine church). There's still a very famous "fresco" depicting him in the very same Church, although his body was sent back to England upon the request of Richard the IInd. What's WEIRD is that him and men like him DEVASTATED the whole countryside and were famous for their ruthlessnes and cruelty - and yet ! - they were welcomed and even revered.

[@cemilkerimli5530]

Okay then, we learned about free company. But how about grand company and independent army? How much development we need to get them?

[@user-gt2yf5tr8j]

Did you not see the video. He covers that in the second half

[@kekwsrequiem2517]

​@@user-gt2yf5tr8jhes talking about eu4 mechanics my guy

[@winzyl9546]

Watch the full vid

[@Avent00]

But what about Free city Company?

[@uelibinde]

what abou real companies?

[@darkmasterchief227]

I love learning about mercenaries, especially these medieval to late/post Renaissance bands of warriors of fortune.

[@Barwasser]

Ah yes... the Free Companies. 4000 men strong and hired by almost every nation on 11th of November 1444 and thrown into combat after only one month until they ran out of manpower.

[@WanderingCoyoteXVII]

Used primarily to manage sieges so the state doesnt waste its own precious manpower.

[@nathanirick7806]

I want to see you, and the horse you rode in on, again!

[@AHappyCub]

or higher than 4000 men depending on the size of the state

[@mastrey]

This is a Euiv reference

[@samsonsoturian6013]

The "Great Companies" reminds me of the second Norse Siege of Paris. Unlike the previous attack many decades before, these men had no leader and the mob formed around a small company of Norse intending on a quick punitive raid on Paris. The mayor of Paris came out to negotiate and asked "Who is your King." The reply was "We are all Kings." Same behavior, different era.

[@RIlianP]

Some of the later mercenary corps like the Black Army of Hungary show how mercenary work evolved in the early modern period, from "free companies" to "great companies" to "state sponsored mercenary companies" as more and more rulers preferred to hire mercenaries initially as a supplement and later entirely incorporate them as a state armies. It was one of the greatest, if not the greatest mercenary force to ever existed, and one of the largest, as it grew to around 28 000 people. The early modern period, is not the most famous periods in history, however it was the golden age of the mercenaries, even more so than the late medieval and the period, the Swiss mercenaries, Landsknechts, Stratioti, Gallowglass, and others flourished during that period, especially during the Thirty Year war. Other notable mercenary leaders, besides the aforementioned were Gottfried "Götz" von Berlichingen aka Götz of the Iron Hand, Peter Hagendorf, Georg von Frundsberg, Giuseppe Garibaldi and many more, hell even René Descartes served as mercenary at one point.

[@kmystak]

Your art is getting better and better! Excellent!

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@krimzonkamikaze8524]

​@@SandRhomanHistory you draw all this?

[@Denasgurman]

Routier in french, means Roadman, it comes from Route = Road We still use those words today, a "routier" is a truck driver nowaday.

[@Goblinsharkhundredsofthem]

Did y'all commission some new art? Looks rad.

[@c.andrew3944]

Smoothbrains discuss tactics. Bigbrains discuss logistics. I appreciate your attention to describing the pages and 'backup horses' in cavalry, especially!

[@WoutBr]

Fun fact: the Belgian national anthem is called "de Brabançonne" Brabançonne is also another name for the region (and modern provinces) Brabant in Belgium en Netherlands

[@jobe5514]

Tsardoms: Total War mod for Medieval 2 Total War. Download it, install it, play one of the Italian City-States and enjoy.

[@maguimnobbao1433]

Florença um dos melhores rolê plays com a família Médice

[@mueezadam8438]

I love your animated characters, it’s what caught my eye initially to your siege series

[@Jawshuah]

free company = the backbone of my EU4 campaigns.

[@yegorkhorushko479]

Yeeeess, more videos on proto-Rennaissance and Renaissance, please! ❤ I'll be waiting for stories about great companies and condottieros, too. Thank you very much 😊

[@clintmoor422]

really cool video. It's refreshing to see you cover topics that have not been done to death! maybe think about covering things about the 18th and 19th centuries too?

[@akedus44]

By god, I was doing research on Mercenary Free Companies for a project I was working on an hour ago and then this video drops. Get out of my mind, Rhoman.

[@AndreaFasani]

I don't know if there's an english version of "Knights, mercenaries and cannons" by Marco Scardigli, but if you like to know more about most of the wars and military changes in Italy from 1300 to 1527 it's a great book!

[@mitch7235]

I really like the new art style you’re using for this video!😁❤️!

[@SandRhomanHistory]

I'm glad you like it!

[@petrapetrakoliou8979]

No. Route means road in French and in Latin. Even today. Hence "Routiers", those who stand on the road.

[@thibs2837]

Absolutely, btw in France we still call "routiers" the truckers who work daily on the route (road)

[@TimotheBougon]

Great video, thank you kindly! Looking forward to the next installments of the serie :D

[@lolliedeman]

I really enjoyed this videa! Quite uniwue material you got here, instead of hearing and seeing the same things over and over again. Great Job!~looking forward to the next video's about the indiividual companies!

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Awesome, thank you!

[@TRLHistory]

Not as famous as the English or Germans, but people from the Balkans also served frequently in the Italian mercenary companies. After Louis the Great briefly conquered Naples in the 1340s, Hungarian mercenaries were to serve in Italy in the next century. Folk hero Toldi Miklos and the famous general John Hunyadi were two most well known figures who spent at least a few years campaigning in Italy.

[@r.anthony8685]

Also the stradioti (Albanians, Greeks)

[@townazier]

Looking forward to the three companies' videos!

[@IsaacRaiCastillo]

Free Companies, spreading the "goodness" (sarcasm) of the Hundred Years' War throughout Europe, as if it were a religion (the best example of mercenarianism in the Middle Ages, for me). XD It was an excellent topic, and it makes for more videos (as you mentioned when listing the best-known examples of Free Companies); but for me, in the case of the Catalans, what really deserves more attention is not so much the Company of Robert de Flor, but the history of the unity that made up the majority of his company and that was fundamental for the Kingdom of Aragon expanded into the Mediterranean (even conquering the city of Athens, as you mentioned), I am referring to the Almogávares. Their history is very interesting and the campaigns they carried out in the Iberian Peninsula, Sardinia, Sicily and Southern Italy were also impressive; They were able to defeat cavalry only using javelins, short swords and crossbows, and their war cry was "Desperta Ferro!" (Awaken iron) while they caused sparks by striking flints with their weapons. His most famous battle was the one that ended in the conquest of the Duchy of Athens, the Battle of the Cephisus River on March 16, 1311, and his passage through Greece is known to this day as "The Catalan Fury."

[@JohnDoe-ug3su]

Thank you. I have been asking this theme to many historical channels

[@iseeyou5061]

2:00 The crossbow guy move his head! I see the animation is getting updated.

[@christianweibrecht6555]

mercenaries, a great way to ensure rich people have total power

[@Fawnkay]

The illuatrative art is gorgeous in this episode. Congratulations! Thank you very much for your work.

[@mancroft]

Excellent. Thank you. Lovely artwork.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@Cataphract1236]

Wow, i'm loving the new art.

[@Sharnoy1]

Notably this video is NOT sponsored by Manor Lords.

[@MBP1918]

The Condotterei were rather distinguished as one of the most interesting mercenary groups in the Renaissance

[@memofromessex]

That was perhaps your best video yet. You were clear amd I learnt more than I thought I would

[@CollegeHistorian]

The story telling, the animations in this channel are amazing. A true inspiration to small history youtubers like myself

[@vertigq5126]

This was great, I never knew Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about the mercenaries! Thanks for discussing the size and infantry-cavalry tactics, too. Awesome video

[@lonewanderer4207]

Shout out to Battle Brothers and Wartales

[@pendantblade6361]

I too play Battle Brothers.

[@ArkhonXIX]

What a great game and a sleeper for most

[@80xlulz]

They did the usual PR stunt: renaming their brand

[@Arcadius-ss3zp]

Love your work. Keep going. Just curious, what will the next video's topic be about?

[@Mrkabrat]

I do hope the Navarrese Company gets its own video, however small it may be

[@medievalist8441]

I hope you make a series on those mercenary companies cause they sure do have complex histories

[@sagashistoriquesafricaines140]

You quoted Nicolas Savy. I love his work :)

[@wiktorberski9272]

Really well presented story from the past

[@piggypoo]

Band of the Hawk

[@guycalabrese4040]

Yes!!! You made my sunday!!!

[@davewilisner]

Hammervideo!!! Wie immer...mach wiiter so👍🏻

[@WissHH-]

Less than 1 min uploaded and aready made my day.

[@huantruonginh2946]

I smell Manor Lords…

[@PurpleWarlock]

Yay! Merc talk!

[@dembro27]

Free company: *not free, you gotta pay* 😡

[@vinz4066]

I was just watching your medival Videos and all of a sudden there is a new one. Nice.

[@christopheryoung2874]

Great video!

[@bigsarge2085]

Fascinating!

[@someoneunknown9947]

I really admire your content.

[@The88Cheat]

I can’t wait for the videos of the different great companies!!!

[@dubbyx8490]

Hurrah for Mercenaries!

[@sebastienhardinger4149]

Awesome video

[@crazyviking24]

Free Companies seldom come cheap.

[@TantheTaxman]

great video!

[@philjohnson1744]

Fantastic

[@not-a-theist8251]

Interesting topic!

[@silentone11111111]

Interesting vid 😀

[@megalonoobiacinc4863]

11:12 Hawkwood!! Btw the intro music reminds me of Xenosaga, Abel's Ark :d

[@JorjiCostava-]

Is this video Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2?

[@apudieboer3654]

Yeah this is actually the game

[@Pwnicus187]

​@@apudieboer3654I love the new art style 😅

[@welcometonebalia]

Thank you.

[@robbypodobinski824]

God what a time to b alive

[@openclassusa3534]

EXCELLENT VIDEO!!

[@staraskolamedvea9173]

what was a pay per lance? how much money was needed to hire 100 mercenaries?

[@houtenhekje8375]

I think this depends on alot of factor but i'd guess anywhere from 0.5 shilling to 2 shillings could be "average"

[@mydogbullwinkle]

​@houtenhekje8375 😂 yea, but it better be a short battle.

[@christianmorris5292]

Lmao, are you looking to hire?

[@justonethrowaway]

just wanted to say thank you guys so much for making these truly incredible videos. you really do make my days better, and help me calm down when i can’t even get out of bed from my anxiety of the everyday. once im in a better place financially i will be making a donation, lord knows this channel has been invaluable to me

[@GBERTS]

awesome

[@54032Zepol]

More content!

[@Fatherofheroesandheroines]

Mercenaries have been around for centuries. However the Free Companies were far and away different.

[@oversipelio983]

great!

[@nealmaxwell790]

Would love to learn about Scottish mercenaries

[@user-wd2ds6vb7b]

Thanks⚔️👍

[@GAarcher]

*You did not mention but the great Basileus Ludius Guideos has been know for his extensive employement of such tatics and precise resource allocation, such as the founding of the Commandeos Codex and the thesis of Combateo Widthus*

[@EpikBerm]

Yoo the graphics are UPGRADING this is so sweet

[@MM22966]

Another factor probably at work toward the gradual regularization of the whole business is that when soldiers get older, they start looking for a place to retire and settle down. Whether that is a gift a land and a regular commission from a kingdom or city-state, or the coupe of an employer and the enthroning of a mercenary captain (i.e. the Sfrorza dukes of Milan). A modern example is "Mad Mike" Hoare and Bob Denard of the African brushfire wars. Both attempted or succeed in taking over small countries in their later years.

[@roelantverhoeven371]

brabanconnes reffered to the duchy of Brabant in modern day belgium and netherlands (capital brussels, largest city antwerp in the middle ages)

[@pglanville]

This reminds me of events in Game of Thrones.

[@aB-of1nz]

Glory to the Great Catalan company , only comparable to the 10.000 Anabasis

[@nicholasmaximus3412]

Henry's come to visit

[@krzysztofzmij9340]

I know it's not necessarily in the context of this video, but what program are you using in your siege maps?

[@jeremiahsafford1389]

4:07 What is that heraldry?

[@bloodybagal]

if this subject interests you, I recommend reading the Chivalry series by Christian Cameron!

[@qboxer]

Fantastic suggestion. It’s one of my favourite book series; the characters are tremendously compelling and he understands the mindset of the era.

[@sarahsidney1988]

Cool video

[@Walgriff]

Yes

[@owenbunny4023]

Battle brothers

[@trapaneezus]

Watching this before Manor Lords comes out

[@noone4700]

I love the story of the White Company, keeping the legend of traveling Germanic warriors alive well into the 14-15th century