Life in Military Camps: Necessities, Luxuries & Companionship | Soldiers' Lives

A soldiers’ life in the pike and shot age was rough, but some parts of it were more hospitable than others. After recruitment a new soldier had a long and hard march ahead of him before reaching the field of battle. Many men did not even make it to the end of the march, let alone the end of battle. But there was a proverbial carrot on a stick that kept them going: camp life with its many opportunities and even luxuries. Camp life changed throughout the early modern period both locally and over time, but in this video, we paint a picture of how camp life could have looked like in the first half of the 16th century. We mainly make reference to the Landsknechts, German mercenaries, and the Spanish army. Without any further ado, this is how modern historiography portrays a soldier’s life in an early modern field camp.
Patreon (thank you): / sandrhomanhistory
Paypal (thank you): paypal.me/SandRhomanhistory
Twitter: / sandrhoman
Bibliography:
Baumann, Reinhard, Landsknechte, Ihre Geschichte und Kultur vom späten Mittelalter bis zum Dreissigjährigen Krieg, München 1994.
Fiedler, Siegfried, Kriegswesen und Kriegführung im Zeitalter der Landsknechte (Heerwesen der Neuzeit, Abt. 1, Bd. 2) Koblenz 1985.
Fiedler, Siegfried, Landsknechte. Waffe und Waffengebrauch (Heerwesen der Neuzeit, Abt. 1, Bd. 1) Koblenz 1984.
Showalter, D., Astore, W. J., Soldier’s Lives through History. The Early Modern World, 2007.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Quick public update regarding ad integrations: a few people (not very many tbh) have voiced their annoyance about spnsored content, so we want to address this here. In many ways we understand that position, after all we watch KZbin content ourselves and ad integrations can be annoying. However, it's another story from the creator perspective. So quick answer: what every KZbinr ever said is pretty much true. With our amount of clicks you won't earn enough to make a living just by KZbin ads. Long answer: Even including sponsorings, we currently earn about half of what we would get if we would just work in a standard office job - but work much much more hours (including university and other jobs there's pretty much no week in which we don't work 7 days, normally more than 9 hours a day). This includes the earnings from our German channel btw. All in all, we think integrations are kinda good for everybody because we can only deliver quality content for the long term (both in terms of research and visual presentation) if we earn enough money. Sponsorings / Patreon guarantees that we still earn enough money in months in which the algorithm doesn't give us any love. And lastly, part of our problem is that Switzerland is an expensive place to live. Regarding what we recommend our policy is (and has been) that we recommend products that we actually think are valuable to our viewers. That can be stuff we like, things we assume might interest a minor portion of the viewership, or that might have significant overlap with the military history niche. What everybody seems to forget when discussing this topics is that if you limit yourself to only one or two products, you will have a diminishing return from recommending it, which will lead the brand to think you're not an ideal partner anymore. In the end you will have to recommend a variety of products to remain a desired partner. TL;DR: we don't make enough money without sponsorings, so don't expect anything to change regarding ads. To everybody who supported us, comments, likes and all that stuff: our most cordial thanks, it's so gratifying to see that many of you think highly of our content. Cheers, Sandro & Roman

[@gabrielvanhauten4169]

Never listen to haters, rule on youtube. All the channels like armchair are way way way worse

[@giovannifontana1433]

You are fantastic guys keep going. A big Hug from Italy

[@sauerkraut2804]

No worries. Add as much ads as you like if the quality stays the same. Your videos are amazing.

[@swordsmen8856]

Dude your content is worth the sponsors and adds. Please keep going

[@ignoranceisstrenght1984]

Its ok, i skip them anyway.

[@strakhovandrri]

Man, graphics are getting better and better.

[@DanielWW2]

*_A soldiers life, in the pike and shot era, was rough._* Immediately a poor soldier gets obliterated by multiple lightning strikes while his fellow soldiers just watch without caring. 😅

[@bskorupk]

"What do you mean the H.R.E. Isn't Roman? Only Zeus could Strike our men down!"

[@SomeCrusader]

Eh, Heinrich was kind of a dick anyways.

[@b1laxson]

And that was just the start of training!

[@antisocialmunky]

An ancestor of Mehdi from Electroboom.

[@TheManofthecross]

heh poor sob. :(

[@kristjan9941]

I actually love that you're basically the only youtuber that does pike and shot era videos! Keep it up!

[@Jackson-th3th]

This might be my favourite history channel, equal to invicta which us classic. I like kings and generals but the amount of historian info and texts from the epoque you guys put into ur vidoes are giving it much more merit value. Thank u for your work!

[@SandRhomanHistory]

thanks man, appreciate the comment!

[@phyrr2]

Sand is very good at giving a more detailed "on the level" glimpse on the day to day. Makes the subjects human as opposed to "just history".

[@ghostrider.49]

@Jo "You can literally read all about an event they're covering on a wikipedia page" Can't you do that about any even remotely famous historical event covered by any history channel out there? You can read on wikipedia about the siege of Vienna, army of Gustavus Adolphus and the tercio, all topics which sandrhoman himself went over. You can read about any battle in history on wikipedia in general, does that make say, historia civilis or historymarche bad? It doesn't, and K&G whatever you might think of them do their research, I can remember at least 5 occasions at the top of my head where they quoted famous historians they are using as their sources. One thing is to say you don't think fancy K&G, but you are hating on them outright for no reason.

[@aminatandour589]

also, not to mention, whilst wikipedia is far more accurate than what teachers make it out to be, it is still not a very good source on topics which are very divisive and controversial, and normally it will just end up going for whichever is the most widely accepted answer, not exactly what is closest to the reality. This is by the very nature of the site being able to be edited by anyone, being that it will usually go with the answer most accepted, even if outdated or wrong, unfortunately.@@ghostrider.49

[@sarahsidney1988]

Love the topics on soldiers' lives. Keep up the good work!

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Will do!

[@maxvanhuffelen5230]

@@SandRhomanHistory great! I try to write realistic campaigns and settings for roleplaying games so your videos are hugely useful as well as educational and entertaining.

[@Fronzel41]

Yes, material on life outside of battle is valuable context. Soldiers' unwillingness to dig and build like ancient Roman legions is obviously very important to how an army would conduct a siege.

[@Pentagathusosaurus]

I've never really been interested in the early modern period until I found your channel. Really enjoying this series

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Nice to hear, we hope to convince more people of the period's awesomeness!

[@Artur_M.]

8:13 Is that the origin of the phrase "son of a gun"? Great video BTW.

[@baddoopey]

No, that’s a navy expression. See Wikipedia.

[@baddoopey]

@Erre Waser, it means born in between the guns.

[@Artur_M.]

@@baddoopey Yeah, it appears it came from the Royal Navy, although, judging from this video it already existed earlier, in a slightly different meaning. Fun fact: speaking of weird, gunnery-related etymologies, in Polish there is a word 'flejtuch', which colloquially means an untidy, dirty person but originally meant the piece of cloth used as a wadding for muzzleloaders. It comes from a German phrase 'fliegen Tuch', literally 'flaying cloth', as the wadding was flaying out of the barrel with the bullet/canon ball. :)

[@thealleys]

I love the Pike and Shot period. This channel is great.

[@duckquacker2114]

I love the juxtaposition of it being "hard times in the camp" with a jovial chef carrying a large pot of food with an affectionate cat. I would love to see more of this series. And all of your other topics, too. Thank you for this channel!

[@justincarrasco3680]

I’m loving this series on soldiers’ lives. Looking forward to more!

[@SandRhomanHistory]

there will be more! probably in the middle of September.

[@MiguelSantos-lu8uj]

Just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the fact that this content is FREE. The amount of effort and quality in these vídeos are surreal. People shouldn’t be complaining about the ads, fr. Instead we should thank the team thats behind this awsome channel for bringing to us entretainment and also knowledge.

[@Almirante1741]

Thank you for talking about this era 💪🏻

[@philRminiatures]

Another fascinating subject, illustrations, animations and explanations are just amazing...Congrats once again, a wonderful 'camp life' video... 😍😍👍👍👍

[@SandRhomanHistory]

thanks man!

[@scene2much]

Good to see how Camp Life/Community broadened the experience of Soldiers. Adds some meaning to instances where the baggage trains, camps were plundered or overrun.

[@NoName-lo9ym]

Love it - more please. Pike drill, halberd drill, ranks, logistics, orders, supply, pay - you name it I want to hear about it

[@SandRhomanHistory]

We're discussing the drill and training text right now actually :P (well in 2 minutes when Roman is home).

[@NoName-lo9ym]

@@SandRhomanHistory Bjorn Ruther has a HEMA channel in his name and has just done a video on pike drill. It's very enlightening and may be useful

[@carlos.daniel.santmaria5477]

The level of detail and the quality of the information, is like no other in KZbin. Also, the art style and ilustracions are like a small window into the past. The expirience when whatching this videos is trully outstanding.

[@bo_392]

2:05 bare thighs, colorful stripes, crotch cups... these were the hardest dudes around!

[@gon4455]

What wierd fashion isn't it, wonder who designed and marketed this crap for it to become popular trendy.

[@McFisticuffs]

@@gon4455 The Holy Roman Empire, along with most of Europe at the time, had sumptuary laws that dictated (or at least, tried to dictate) what people could and couldn't wear based on their social class. Emperor Maximilian I granted the Landsknechts exemptions from these sumptuary laws because their lives were "brutish and short." It was a way to flaunt their independence and special status, like showing up to an office meeting wearing booty shorts and a 420 shirt.

[@Coconut_man0125]

Pre-industrial men fashion were incredibly feminine by today's standard

[@johnnotrealname8168]

I love this. I really wanted to know about the day to day and mundane aspects of life in history.

[@arnoldcolter]

I am very appreciative that you are such a reliable uploader on a era of history that is not extensively covered.

[@Cheesarion]

I watch this channel quite regulary, but i need to say that this is one of my most favourite videos as of yet. Nothing against the staggering sieges, those are interesting stories that are always fascinating to listen to. But as a roleplayer and larper, i enjoy to learn how life back then really was. Under this circumstance, this most recent video or e.g. the video about powdermills are just what i could wish for. Thank you for the awesome presentation and preparation!

[@hawkticus_history_corner]

Im glad you guys are doing this series. I love all the military stuff, but the odd minutiae of the time is what gives it its own flavor, and knowing how they lived and why it was like that is how we find out about it. Plus, you're like the only ones who do the Early Modern period, and I'm very happy you're good at it.

[@Shiekism]

This is such a well researched channel, I love the amount of citations

[@clintmoor422]

Pretty stocked for this one after you last upload.

[@fitzwaren]

WHERE ARE THE WONKY MOVEMENT !? We want the return of the cardboard cut out awkwardly moving ! That shit was hilarious !

[@Ryan-wx8of]

Please do more of this series! I've been looking for this type and depth of information since I was a kid, no other source I've found has presented it so well or so thoroughly.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

More to come :)

[@PalleRasmussen]

Well... I mean... Books? There are many.

[@napoleonibonaparte7198]

I’m assuming Roman camps were better in standards than the camps past their collapse…

[@ivanlagayacrus1891]

Ehhhhh, more organized, less random brawls because discipline mattered more than ferocity, but otherwise pretty similar

[@shanewoody4232]

Depends the swedes were very discipline during the 30 years war like the dude said there were many countries in the 16th and 17th century

[@ivanlagayacrus1891]

@@shanewoody4232 yeah, always dangerous to over generalize

[@wiseSYW]

well landsknechts are mercenaries. a state sponsored army should have standarized equipment and training

[@shanewoody4232]

@@wiseSYW yeah but the standard varied between countries as well and generally it wasn't until during and after the 30 years war and English civil war when countries started to issue standareized uniforms and equipment

[@michaelj132]

It is a great series. I am beginning to be fascinated by this period. I am currently reading 'The Army of Flanders and the Spanish Road 1567-1659' by Geoffrey Parker. Please keep up the great work!

[@thequeenofswords7230]

So, hey. Being a 'Woman of the Night' myself, I really appreciated the depth you went into on the subject of women's role in camp life. Love watching these videos, either way but it's interesting to hear about how varied socially acceptable roles can be and how a synoptic understanding of the period could be misleading. Also, I've been researching Joan of Arc lately and would love to see some depth on the battles she was involved in, though I am certain she wouldn't approve of my lifestyle. My understanding is she didn't actually fight, though was often in the thick of combat, I'd love to hear an unbiased take on what her involvement was. Thanks for the fascinating explorations of the minutia of early modern warfare, I love to bore my friends with them.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

I would love to cover Joan of Arc at some point (some good sieges there as well :P ) If we cover her story, it will be way off though, for now. Generally, I think it will be a very difficult subject though; already in the time of her life she was glorified by some and hated by others. The writing about her will prove difficult for sure. If you want to know more about women of the night in the early modern period then read about a woman called "Entgen aus Euskirchen". Well, you need to read it in German I think, I just checked and there is nothing on her in English I think. We will cover her story at some point (Roman is reading about her at the moment); it's one of the few cases that we know some details about a woman in that period (where she comes from, what she did, how she ended up in various baggage trains, when and with whom she traveled (another woman who introduced her to earn her money commercially from time to time. She made quite the journey as well, very interesting case.

[@thequeenofswords7230]

Well, I do have quite a lot of Apocalypse yet to do but I'm not sure I'll be able to squeeze another language onto my plate.. but then I keep saying that and finding new letters I like writing. Either way, I'll be looking forward to both and see if I can find some coins drenched in sin to help the process.

[@rafapalinski143]

I often participate in historical reeactment events of this period (especially 17th century) and our camp life is so far from this real look. Of course, for us it's entertainment, we can meet, sit about the fire, sing and drink a lot of alcohol. And a lot of women made this all things which made these women from the history - they cook, repair clothes etc. Of course they don't sell sex, but few women I know made a table that one of their tent is a camp borthel (not real, only for better historical view of camp). But there are sometimes moments when you really can feel as people in 16th/17th century - when came rain or storm which can be danger and you have only this what you have in the tent.

[@phyrr2]

There are a lot of top history channels on YT with a lot of content. But this one is quite unique in content and delivery which is not only insightful but very refreshing. Never mediocre, always top notch and always gives perspective on the rank-and-file. For that, a suggest Sand video is a clicked video.

[@CCCW]

Those images always remind me of looking through history books as a kid, so good

[@robertzillman1738]

Details about everyday life are just as interesting as the great battles and generals.

[@weirdsciencethe2nd205]

That arqubus the dudes holding is actually spot on for the period

[@rc59191]

Had family in the Landsknechts so thank you for this I'm a nerd for all things Landsknechts.

[@ZenexTheZealous]

Has anyone else been inventing names for reappearing art assets? Like say, calling a particular image of a soldier 'Thomas' or 'Jeff' This sort of game within the video leads to some fun for me personally, it's silly and I love it :P

[@hedgehog3180]

Oh we should definitely give them all nicknames.

[@Wolf93]

I love more mundane aspects of history, so a similar series of videos would be very much welcomed. Regarding the ads, I myself have no trouble with the sponsorships, I know academic life is though (and living in Switzerland doesn't help) and this is a very niche content to live off ads. If I could I would happily donate to Patreon, the quality of your videos, and the time you must spend doing the rearch, is worth it.

[@reybladen3068]

You're pike and shot videos are the best

[@ralambosontiavina7372]

Excellent work as always !

[@bigsarge2085]

Absolutely explore these subjects further, a fantastic, informative series!

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Thanks! we have a few more already in the end stages if production! There will be a surprise collaboration video first though.

[@PakBallandSami]

soldier: i wonder what's for dinner i'm soooo hungry cloud: you shall not live

[@kenchesnut4425]

Just found this channel..really like the content ..insight..and unbiased narrative..Love the animation..MUCH LUV FROM N.AUGUSTA S.C

[@coolbeans8682]

Good episode on an interesting topic! Please keep 'em coming! What did typical rules/laws look like in such camp? What were the punishments like?

[@addisondeluna1787]

I really enjoyed this deep look at day to day life thank you

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Thanks, we're glad that people enjoy it!

[@georgecastriota1312]

Can you perhaps make a video on the Stradioti mercenaries one day? They were a significant factor in the evolution of cavalry during the early modern period and are very underrepresented.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

we talk quite a bit about them in our „small war“ video!

[@Buorgenhaeren]

Comment for algorithm your content is amazing

[@garydmcgath]

Thanks for flashing the book Landsknechte on the screen. I've just ordered it. (Ja, ich kann Deutsch lesen.)

[@philjohnson1744]

I always love the art style you use. Great Channel!

[@FablesD20]

Fantastic educational video

[@davec.8406]

My favorite History Channel. Great content and especially my strong interest in the 30yrs war and shot and pike warfare

[@hedgehog3180]

I love all of these videos that are more about general society and stuff rather than battle and wars. It's great to really get a sense of what life was like in this period.

[@eldorados_lost_searcher]

Keep up the great work!

[@snapdragon6601]

I really like the animated pictures shown during narration. Keep up the good work! 👍

[@carlklein3346]

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing!

[@OldieBugger]

Interesting topics. More of this kind, please.

[@FirstoftheAbyss92]

This was highly interesting, my compliments.

[@True_black_swordsman]

Aaaa summer vacation and a good historical video. Thnx dudde!!

[@Bluebull308]

Subscribed because of stunning graphics

[@blakelowrey9620]

Thanks for this quality documentary 🙏

[@1425363878]

This was one of the most informative and interesting videos you ever made. I like the battle videos but I like learning about the general life and things related to it much, much more.

[@benm5913]

Just adding my love for pike and shot era. Never give it up please!

[@craigleewhite6317]

Yes please. Get busy sending more to listen to with the story pictures too! It's great! From Craig.

[@cretucristian7935]

Always are welcome the videos about life of ordinary soldiers. Maybe you could transform this into a series throughout different periods in history...

[@Yacovo]

Thanks for the video.

[@hundun5604]

This serie is awesome!

[@bc7138]

Great video. Will you be making a video about billeting? It was a practice that a lot of civilians during the Early Modern period hated, but I am curious about the specifics.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Maybe yeah, Showalter writes a bit about it but besides that we haven't seen much to read (we haven't look that hard yet tbh). From Showalter's text it seems it became popular later on in the period, so we'll have to see whether we find artwork and literature on it but yeah we definitely thought about it. Probably the video would cover the relation between soldiers and civilians.

[@bc7138]

@@SandRhomanHistory Thanks for the reply. I thought it was a feature of the later Pike & Shot era. From what I understand it was very common during the English Civil War but I'm unsure how widespread it would've been on the continent at roughly the same time.

[@alexdetrojan4534]

Where is the Reisläufer paymaster...sign me up! Another great video.

[@KorKhan89]

Love it! This channel deserves so much more attention!

[@garydmcgath]

Once again, just what I needed for my research.

[@basfinnis]

Great graphics and excellent information. Thanks

[@shawnbeckett1370]

Awesome as always

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@DSolymanH]

SandRhoman, I am sorry I had to stop being a patreon but I am going back to school for my master's and PhD (hopefully). I still love your content. Keep creating.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

No problem man! Best of luck at Uni!

[@RossHbn]

A great video. Thanks.

[@jeremycdurant]

This was great. Thanks

[@augustbutler9096]

Always love to hear about landsknechts

[@pythonBlender7]

The organization and logistics of the Pax Romana era legions seem absolutely magical compared to early modern europe

[@yackk9474]

Would definitely love to see more videos of this series, a very interesting topic that very few channels cover.

[@sheetmusicpianofied8153]

One more amazing video on soldiers life I am loving it .want more and more pike and shot era videos

[@mufalonami2282]

Yes, more episodes...

[@strangerakari2836]

Yeah, i wold love to know more about everyday stuff of that era, such thing are too often overlooked or completely forgotten from common knowledge.

[@nikbear]

Excellent series, hope to see much more of the same, really fascinating. The graphics are brilliant and add a real charm and character to the history ⚔👍

We also enjoy this kind of videos, extremely so! Thank you for your work: i’m always looking forward to your next work! Here is a small offering to the algorithm, mayst it be known thou deserve it!

[@jenqming1714]

Yes please do produced more about the daily life of a soldier, haven't seen much vidton this topic which I find interesting and thank you

[@darrylw5851]

Excellent work as always, please continue with this subject.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Thanks, will do!

[@ronaldsellers3717]

Yes, more camp life and all other aspects of warfare of this era; very interesting.

[@DANRP303]

Please continue more videos like this, very interesting

[@LarryCroft111]

This series is awesome and the channel is quality. I bet you ran a gauntlet to make all of this happen!

[@AndreaFasani]

Great video! Looking to see more stuff about day to day life

[@not-a-theist8251]

Yes more of this series please

[@seandahl8441]

Yes keep the series going. I love it

[@adamlombard3771]

Please make more videos about life as a soldier. Super cool :)

[@dougmartin2007]

I do want more of this series.

[@facundobinelli7564]

Keep these videos coming, please!

[@SandRhomanHistory]

We will definitely do that; thanks for the comment!

[@riks081]

Another great video, thanks!

[@Verdunveteran]

I'd love to see more vieos on this topic! Great stuff!

[@SandRhomanHistory]

More to come!

[@alexanderdavid8441]

great content, keep it coming!

[@clevermcgenericname891]

Great video, would love to watch more like it!

[@simoneriksson8329]

Yes I would really like more episodes in this series! :)

[@Gothmetalhead13]

This was good, keep it up!

[@al_wombat]

Great! Tiny hint: Plural is Landsknechte!