How To Become A Mercenary (Landsknecht)

The Landsknechte, also rendered as Landsknechts or Lansquenets, were Germanic 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 renowned for their use of Zweihänder and arquebus.
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[@historyofeverythingpodcast]

Also is my pronunciation here good? No. Is it ok? Also no. I blitzed through this thing and it makes me fear the podcast tomorrow

[@kaikalter]

The K is not supposed to be silent. At least not in dutch, it's the same in german.

[@nokwar5925]

Google translate has a good soundfile for Knecht. And for Lands go for 'lance' and replace the apple A with the sound of the arm A.

[@halmycroft194]

The pronunciation 'land-shnecht' with the silent 'k' does however have the advantage of sounding a tiny bit like the German word for snail ('schnecke'), which is also a slang term for an attractive woman - more or less equivalent to calling a woman a 'chick' in English. Given that landsknechts have a reputation for dressing sumptuously there's something a little satisfying in that. Ultimately, if memory serves, the '-knecht' element translates as something akin to 'servant'. It's therefore not a million miles from the way that the term 'karl' or 'ceorl' developed from meaning a 'free servant' (as opposed to enslaved/enthralled person), then to 'huskarl' or 'household servant' as a euphemism for a professional soldier as part of the household of a lord. The idea of military 'service' seems to me to be quite deep-rooted in linguistic terms.

[@2845205]

Try combining the synonym you use for a rooster then you have the K part. Next the N has to be the ne from ney this should pronunciate it more properly 😅 Should enter that my state of mind is pretty high now😂

[@robin4862]

And I had hoped to never hear that pronounciation again after stopping to play Conquerors Blade xD

[@Anergyne]

If you're still wondering 'why am I making this video', I have to say that as an aspiring fantasy author, videos like this are invaluable in helping me give my world a sense of authenticity.

[@tylorfox783]

Same here. I’m working on a series where the main character joins a mercenary band designed to be JUST LIKE the Landsknecht, and this has given me so much usable information.

[@carlonduty7270]

@@tylorfox783 Sounds interesting, what is the series called?

[@tylorfox783]

@@carlonduty7270 It doesn’t have an official title yet, but its working title is Blackfall

[@naif4129]

@@tylorfox783will wait for it

[@DF12612]

so how it's going sir @@tylorfox783 ?

[@benalor1973]

In highschool I had done a presentation for my history classes about the Pike, the start, the golden age, and later uses in more modern wars. I mention this because one thing I found and had included in it was the fact that the Swiss mercenaries during this time had gone undefeated for 50 years. It's been a few years since I did that presentation but it could be an interesting topic.

[@Mzerron]

This is exactly what I've wondered on at least five occasions. What is strange is that it's happened five times.

[@whitegold2960]

If you had a nickel for every time that happened you would have 5 Nickels Which isn’t much but it’s weird that it happened five times

[@DiamondNugget.]

Some of them look like jesters with armor on Absolutely glorious outfits

[@rustomkanishka]

Are the wild colours to help stand out on the smoke filled battlefield or just to show off that one could afford coloured clothes?

[@nokwar5925]

@@rustomkanishka It was supposed to look imposing. Like the crotch bulge a "Look at me I'm so imposing" to demoralize your opponents and getting attention.

[@Menaceblue3]

Reminds me of family guy in which Peter Griffin was with USA soldiers in a vietnamese jungle in a clown suit.

[@spinecho609]

@@rustomkanishka its not to show off they could afford colour, everyone had colour. *the slashes* and big sleeves are to show off that they are so rich they can buy large amounts of wool, just to ruin it cutting holes in it

[@kendodisciple]

Londz-ke-nesht is how I was taught to pronounce it. Full disclosure, I don't speak German fluently, but this is how I was told by an actual German woman who was also a history student.

[@dunkelschlange]

Actually pretty close.

[@Dreagostini]

If I might offer some advise for some improvements. Educational purpose and so on :D Take for example the word knight. But imagine a c, like in "carbon". Try to focus on the c, which sound it makes and how you create the sound. Make the sound and try to say "knight" how you would usualy pronounce it right after the c sound. Maybe tinker a bit with just the hard c and the n and how you can create the n sound right after you created the hard c sound. Hope it might help you :)

[@Ayyuna_chan]

for an American this isn't too bad.

[@nokwar5925]

@@dunkelschlange What? No it's not?! The A in Lands in German is the A in arm not like the A in apple and not an o at all. Z can be used but for the english speaker it might be easier to replace the A-sound in 'lance' and be pretty close without worrying about unusual consonant combinations. The K is not voiced. It's just air moving right into the n sound. And a ch in German (that is not at the start of a word [don't ask me why I think it's dumb ch is ch and not a k or a sch]) is never, ever substituted by sh (for that we have sch) but I can't give you an example in english because the sound is not used as far as I know (aside from some dialects with gaelic influences I think) And for those who know how to read it here it is in phontic writing ˈlantsknɛçtˈ. Google translate has a very good version saved for Knecht but, while it knows the definition of Landsknecht it can't translate it and the pronunciation is atrocious.

[@darthplagueis13]

Few things I'd change: The a in Landsknecht is pronounced like the u in hunt or fund. It's not really ke-necht, it's just important to realize that there is no silent k in german and that the fact that there's an n after it really doesn't matter. Maybe if you just imagine a C in its place, like Cnecht? Ch isn't really pronounced like sh, though it may sometimes sound like it if someone is either speech impaired, drunk or talking in certain regional dialects. It's technically supposed to be pronounced back in the throat, like an h, but like, with a somewhat different consistency, if that makes sense. One advice I once heard from a phonetics teacher is to look at the word "tuna" and how it differs from how you'd pronounce it if it were spelled toona instead. There's basically a slight shushing noise between the T and the actual vowel and that shushing sound is pretty close to what a german ch sounds like. It helps to think of it as a "dry" sound, as opposed to s and sh-sounds, which feel more wet.

[@blindoutlaw]

He skipped the most important part…. The codpiece

[@rainfang1992]

The clown at the end....and it dangles...

[@JLo83]

It's covered in the podcast episode out today 😂😂😂

[@matthewstromberg8272]

Dude you are one of my favorite KZbinrs. You and your family never fail to get me to laugh too. If you ever need environmental engineering info for one of your vids let me know! Almost done my my PhD!

[@jordansmith4040]

In regards to the sack of the Vatican, this was post reformation. Most of the Landschnekt would have considered themselves Lutheran, and considered the pope to be an apostate. There would have been no reason for them to see the Vatican as "The Church" in any real way.

[@rustomkanishka]

Wasn't the pope with his mercenary boys? Unless I'm wrong the papal guard fought to the last man, right?

[@marcmonnerat4850]

Yes, but the sack of Rome was so brutal it shocked all eyewitnesses and writers of the time.

[@jordansmith4040]

@marcmonnerat4850 quite a few messed up things are done under the guise of religion. Their true understanding of Christian morality was likely skewed, as we find even today a similar problem amongst people who can read and access information on a level never before imaginable. Whenever a city is sacked, the result is almost always the same tragedy.

[@baseupp12]

Hey steven when I finish my time machine and go to the 16th century this video will help me start my mercenary company

[@historyofeverythingpodcast]

Perfect do it

[@baseupp12]

@historyofeverythingpodcast Alt history question how effective would a small mercenary company of 1000 men with modern hunting rifles, some Assault rifles and standard handguns in the 16th century

[@Boundless-Boredom]

@@baseupp12 depends on the amount of ammunition you have

[@glenquagmire4340]

More content please. I broke my hand and can't work. I've watched everything on your channel. It's great. Keeps my mind distracted from the pain. Keep it up.

[@ianmacdiarmid1249]

Talk about the Gallowglass mercenaries

[@mbryson2899]

Have you seen "Flesh + Blood" with Rutger Hauer? It's set a tad earlier, but it's one of my favorite depictions of a mercenary troupe.

[@anon2034]

Flesh and Blood, The Profession of Arms and Alatriste the only movies that I know from that era. Do you know any others?

[@Dugong-cb7lw]

Thanks for this, I absolutely needed this

[@NotScoutie]

This is super useful for me, because I want to make large mercenary groups for my books. Thank you for these vids!

[@taylorsims7080]

Good work Stak, love the random "no reason" videos like this. Is there any way you can do one over the medieval arms race(armor v.s. weapons)?

[@Qry1456]

Fascinating topic. I love it

[@danieljackson4577]

I would like to hear about how firearms transformed japanese medieval warfare and what happened after they began importing firearms from the west.

[@gideoncornfield4732]

I am writing a book where the main character joins in a mercenary fantasy army this will help thanks!!

[@soulbreakerthelastmanalive]

14 Guilders was about 1 2/5th troy ounces thus about 2800 worth of gold. A modern solder cost about 17k worth of equipment. But a single Guilder was the monthly wage so more like a poor man's wage a year thus it is more akin of around 18k for equipment. Thus yes a mercenary was a expensive job to get into.

[@danielkellermann5095]

I'm researching Landsknechts for a DnD character, great vid, many thanks!

[@luisalonso7349]

I LOOOVE it when KZbinrs get random thoughts and make videos about said thought because they end up being some of the most enjoyable videos I have ever seen!

[@tylermierholtz9424]

Man, I love your videos. You cover such a variety of subjects. You should do a video on when the Austrians marched out to meet the Oatmens. But inst3ad of fighting the Oatmens, they instead got into a fight over booze and had to withdraw because of the casualties they inflicted on themselves

[@thegrandcommissar2622]

I want to see the history of military jokes/soldier marking as in WW2 the soldiers of the USA would mark some places with the infamous Kill Roy. It would be a fun and interesting video/podcast

[@goed1adit]

That codpiece 5:40 is outrageous.

[@cristianmartin3706]

I love this short videos

[@historyofeverythingpodcast]

Thank you friend

[@kquinn2282]

speaking of old school - there was a clash at the Indian/China border that was fought with melee weaponry. Considering what China and Indian history consider weapons, it would have looked lke a Kurosawa film

[@blackpowderkun]

Real-life Bunraku film

[@felipesantana2438]

Hey bud great video as always! Here's a history question for you. When did bows become obsolete? I know you've said that bows were used alongside crossbows for a long time but were there still bowmen during like... The late 1500s? The 1600s? Also i guess in this case i mean specifically in Europe since there were a lot of civilizations in Asia, Africa, and especially America, that hadn't figured out mass produced guns yet.

[@user-zs2fi3ll4b]

Hell yeah, found out recently my family's Ancestry is majority Swiss. We knew of Irish, German, and Native Cherokee. But learning more about the Swiss after learning that might be another direct Ancestry is extremely interesting.

[@Abraxium]

Very cool subject! Some fun trivia, the very copper mine which would later prove very useful for the Swedish empire would hire labourers and specifically soldiers to keep the order/ensure nobody stole. Such hired soldiers were referred to as bergsknektar (bergsknekt for singular). This was important as mines were the valid targets for raiding hostile armies or bandits. Swedish criminals/outlaws could have their sentences converted to hard labour in the mines, even death sentence could be turned into a lifetime sentence of hard labour. Whether or not the soldiers themselves were there as punishment is uncertain. Anyway, some of these soldiers were not locals, but rather just German-speaking landsknechts waiting for another war. The rope used in the mine shafts were made from the skin of oxen, this of course rendered a lot of meat just laying about. So, the Germans with their expertise of medwurst concocted the today famous Falukorv from this meat, readily preserved. The sources are roughly from 1830's so take this account with more salt than a barrel of surströmming. No, Hermann, don't sticken your landsknechtkorv in das fäbodmädchen

[@matthewmatt5639]

For the algorithm!! Luv you're stuff tho :D

[@KazanmaTheSilverWind]

0:16 that's literally the plot twist of the first Etrian Odyssey game... which has a swordsman class called Landsknecht in US

[@bigchungus4336]

would be interested to see a longer explanation about why their pay decreased over time

[@paulspunkt959]

Hi, German here✌🏿 You pronounce the beginning pretty well - the „Land“-part Land- Then a sharp s sound, like in the word „sound“ You could also pronounce it as the other writing „Lanzknecht“, (like.. pike-slave) - for english speakers its more pronounced like „lantzknecht“. In German the „ds“ or the „z“ is pretty sharp and we tend to pronounce it more like a „TZ“-sound And then the „kn“ in „knecht“ is pronounced like „can“ without the A - if you know what i mean.. And the end „echt“ in „knecht“ is more like e - cat hiss - t. So a „ch“ sound in german is like „j“ in spanisch, i can‘t think of an english word with that sound Put your tongue on the top of your throat, the peak of the tongue a bit down & leave a small gap between tongue and throat - breathe out through it. Now you can pronounce „ch“ :) Sound complicated, but you get used to it quickly :D

[@isimiel3405]

a word to my fellow mercs: Never take contracts from capellans

[@saboogly]

I didn't know 25% of this it helps with my world building lol so thanks

[@Champion_14]

Just in time, i might be playing a landsknecht type fighter in a dnd campaign starting tomorrow depending on what my other friends pick

[@Altorin]

that codpiece at the end wtf lol

[@garthgourdon643]

4:24 Often. The answer is often. Quite a common method of keeping half payed soldiers of fortune relatively satisfied until their final pay comes in; both back then and now.

[@svon1]

5 Bucks whenever there were great casualties after a battle the whole "has to be noble and own gear part" became more of a guideline, than actual rules

[@xxTerraPrimexx]

Who needs this information? The nerds such as myself that run DnD games (or other ttrpgs) 😀

[@Z020852]

"Nth sons of nobles": Imagine being so far down the birth order you even have to fight without a horse unlike your elder brother. These guys I can understand if they write books like "Spare" - I mean the guy who actually wrote it was at least still in a cooler army helicopter than his brother's coast guard helicopter.

[@noe_cortez]

Hola señor your videos are awesome

[@historyofeverythingpodcast]

Thank you friend

[@HeartTheBacon]

fun fact....The Landsknechte had an officer in charge of the looting called Brandmeister (Burnmaster) since the act was called brandschatzen (burn looting). Brandschatzen in used in the german language to this day as a phrase where in english one would say "rape and pillage" or similar. that definitly should highlight maybe not how often it happend but definitely how devestating it was when it did

[@gabrielrussell5531]

They actually didn't fight that often. They'd generally try and intimidate their enemies through numbers.

[@phillipallen3259]

I worked for a company once that had trouble paying me on time. I quit after that happened a couple times. I would have made my point better if I had looted and burned on my way home.

[@alexgregg5312]

Invents a time machine so that I can put this newly acquired info to practical use

[@GoetzimRegen]

You have to read "Wallenstein" from Schiller and "die abenteuer des simplicissimus" to better understand the "Landsknecht"

[@sharpw9761]

2:30 The more things change the more they stay same 😂

[@notgabbyb]

i will need this information 😂

[@LBCB94025]

My history specialty is from 1200 back, and from 1700 forward.. so i dont really know that much about the Renaissance.. im into Ancient history most.... I like bronze and iron ages.... And stone/wood age! 🧐🤔🤨🤷🏼😆👍🏻😁👍🏻

[@svenneff]

That mention of dying poor from going to university hit too close to home!😅

[@guywithdacap4713]

Oh boy, those juicy Juicy lunchsnacks!!!

[@SweetMattieG]

As a worldbuilder, this is valuable information.

[@dominicadrean2160]

I've always wanted to be a mercenary honestly it's a good career for a long time in human history you can make extremely good money and live a good life and who doesn't love the thrill of battle sounds so much fun much better than the modern job

[@joelb8653]

All but the getting dead part.

[@rustomkanishka]

I'm surprised there are no racists in the comment section missing "Rhodesia"

[@mbryson2899]

​@@rustomkanishka FWIW, I got "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" stuck in my head.

[@rustomkanishka]

@@mbryson2899 i have no idea what that is. Also, the Rhodesia types who swarm these comment sections usually gloss over the part where they lost.

[@mbryson2899]

@@rustomkanishka It's a song by Warren Zevon about European mercenaries in Africa.

[@grimcreeper5830]

*Unser Liebe Fraue Echoes in my head* Yes

[@Deridus]

No step on Lanz-snek.

[@herbertgearing1702]

I don't know, I've always wanted to be a mercenary but I'm too violent and greedy. Wait what?

[@LBCB94025]

I was a defense contractor.. (Iraq Afghanistan and Sudan*).. i dont like to think of myself as a mercenary....

[@ethangonzalez8904]

That guy had a phallus on his costume, was that a real thing back in the day and if so, how common was it?

[@josephwilliams7114]

I would really like to see you cover what PPCLI did in the Madek pocket

[@nickvanachthoven7252]

4:09 to be fair, half of the landsknechts present were protestants.

[@scarletsilveriron]

Have you heard of Etrian Odyssey ?

[@cesarioacosta5890]

If I remember correctly they also had to be able to walk straight under like a limbo stick. If I recall correctly this was to prove they had no physical defects.

[@XFizzlepop-Berrytwist]

I could see even regular people failing that. XD

[@anaryl]

Now that Charles has seized the Kaiserreich, we can now all live out our dreams of swinging zweihanders across Europe.

[@alannatherson7721]

"Who's going to need this information". Me a want a be fantasy and science fiction writer: You have no idea.

[@JLo83]

Yo, these guys raised their Drip settings to maximum IRL 😂😂😂

[@GodGuy8]

Just be adopted by mercenaries like gutts

[@DDD_Tinker]

So a mercenary is basically a Knight with a Chaotic-Neutral alignment

[@forickgrimaldus8301]

I mean Knights tend to be that themselves IRL and a lot of them became leaders or members of these Mercs or Adopted their fighting style like in the Case of the Hospitaliers and the Knights of Malta.

[@minkinomics3002]

More like a burgher or militiaman with a true neutral alignment.

[@unknowncommenter6698]

Wagner PMC (also Blackwater aka Academy) would like to know your location... oh wait it's only about 16th century

[@Greideren]

Oh don't you worry, I'm sure this will be plenty useful if any of us ends up being Isekaid.

[@FlyerBowman]

Speaking of mercenaries, what do you know of the Jomsviking?

[@doppelkammertoaster]

See it this way, I will use that information to improve my world-building and also my tabletop-stuff. Because, if there is ever a downfall of society, then I am probably one of the first ones to die. Also, short German lesson. As you teach me so much, maybe I can teach you something back: The word Landsknecht is a so called compound-noun, it is build from two existing nouns and a so called 'Fugen-s' is added between, to.. for whatever reason. (I am teaching this professionally mind you) So, the pronunciation is a bit more close to the British way of saying 'land' (just flatter). 'Knecht' here has the 'ch', which in German is not a k sound. It is, to say it easy, a 'soft-ch' (German has two kinds, both written ch). It is identical to the air-sound you have in 'cute', right after the k in the beginning and the u after. That air, is this 'ch' here. So, Land + s (soft s, no sh) - Knecht. If you ever need to say this word again. Or use the Wiktionary or Forvo to listen to someone saying it.

[@yaboiara]

Do you know about the Greek phrase "Hippocleides doesn't care"?

[@trygveblacktiger597]

Okay so your pronounce of Landsknecht gave me a migrane. Also Dopplesoldner wasnt paid to just stand around with a great sword. Most where pikes and had the armor to stand towards the front of the pike formation. You know the most dangerous area. So they get paid double due to both they showed up in alot of armor and that they where most likely going to die.

[@FlatRangeOperator]

Landschnecks

[@domenigo97]

In 1527 the Pope hasn't been captured by the German and Spanish troops. The swiss guard was able to evacuate him to the castel Sant'Angelo.

[@stefmach6948]

Funny point: He’s saying „LandShneks“ which translates to „land snails“ lol It’s pronounced Lance-Knecht (think knight but pronounce the K as well)😅

[@KwikWon01]

So apparently a master craftsman would earn about 450 gilders a year Or about 55kpa in modern usd So you'd need about 3k of modern money to join. About on par with the French foreign legion

[@vicnedel02]

The ironic thing you mentioned with the pope, it gets worse. They were supposed to protect women, but I think they didn't consider the women and nuns in Rome to be women because they treated them extremely poorly.

[@nikolajpopovs3844]

You guys are not doing long episodes no more ?

[@funkyfemsel2112]

❤❤❤

[@gc6096]

👍

[@jayhoustonhynd81]

Gonna join blackwater with this information.

[@Rainbowsthemoose]

I honestly just comment to feed the algorithm

[@Shaso-xv3tw]

Ew, don’t mind me laughing in Reisläufer in the corner

[@rexromana]

They burnt down the Vatican? OG black metal there 🤘

[@jamesmattila-hine1133]

Sacking of Rome

[@mattiOTX]

Tbh even now days trying to be a soldier for hire you gotta buy your own shit still. besides you dont trust your equipment to anyone but yourself since its your life on the line.

[@Luna_Christine]

Have you done any videos on Nanking?

[@mnk9073]

Landsknechte are basically what happens if you take a Swiss Gewalthaufen and teach them to be innovative instead of stubbornly traditionalist... Seriously, the Swiss lost all relevancy because they categorically refused to incorporate guns or firearms in any meaningful way and got cut to shreds by enemy fire time and time again.

[@Ayyuna_chan]

i am severely disappointed. he didn't pronounce it "Landskneckt" like a proper American.

[@katier9725]

It's still not really that close to the actual German pronounciation though, so eh. Could be better, could be worse.

[@potatolord2196]

Instructions unclear, currently sacking Rome

[@thestellarator815]

These guys sound like the vikings

[@dorkatarmsetcetera9468]

the people who want to know this = HEMA folks like me, boyo. would love if there was an accompanying vid about the Marxburder/Brotherhood of St Mark

[@keeganmars4500]

Why they all so limp wristed when re enacting this?

[@ryushogun9890]

If I'm not mistaken this is a progressive radical dude.

[@Bearded_Zer0]

Or you are an author and can use this as inspiration...

[@jy5422]

So was it about the same for other mercenaries? The needed money to make money….

[@42moosejaw89]

In modern terms that would be Wagner or your local equivalent

[@fliedlice6985]

And they say rich people don't do any fighting