| Tango01 | 15 Mar 2018 12:21 p.m. PST |
… the Middle Ages do in peacetime? And how exactly did you become a soldier anyway?
Interesting thread here…
link
Amicalement
Armand |
GildasFacit  | 15 Mar 2018 2:10 p.m. PST |
Would you call a US marine a mercenary ? He IS a professional soldier though !!! I do wish that people would use the correct terminology for what they post. |
| JimSelzer | 15 Mar 2018 5:18 p.m. PST |
Start wars so they could work? |
 PaulCollins  | 15 Mar 2018 5:19 p.m. PST |
There were U.S. Marines fighting in the Middle Ages??? I am definitely behind on my reading! |
| Dn Jackson | 15 Mar 2018 10:10 p.m. PST |
"Would you call a US marine a mercenary ? He IS a professional soldier though !!! I do wish that people would use the correct terminology for what they post" Well….until relatively recently, yes, they would be called mercenaries. As a matter of fact at Harper's Ferry in 1860 when Israel Greene brought his Marines from Washington to put a stop to John Brown's raid, they joined the local militia in surrounding the fire house. Robert E. Lee offered the honor of assaulting the ersatz fort to the militia commander who replied, "No, your mercenaries can do it." |
| foxweasel | 16 Mar 2018 2:40 a.m. PST |
I do wish that people would use the correct terminology for what they post. Until the 17th century, and much later in some cases, most nations had a mistrust of large standing armies. So mercenaries were seen as ideal to fight in the many wars, these soldiers were known as "professionals" as fighting was their trade. |
| GildasFacit | 16 Mar 2018 3:19 a.m. PST |
No folks, WE call them mercenaries, they didn't back then. THAT is what I'm getting at. This is the usual view of bad history, looking at the past with the morals and assumptions of today. |
| Vigilant | 16 Mar 2018 5:29 a.m. PST |
They were formed from men with no alliegence to either of the parties in conflict. Thye were recruited by leaders to fight for a payment for a fixed period. Call them what you will, that is a mercenary. It is not bad history. When they were not employed many resorted to banditry, a major problem well recorded by 14th century sources. The weaknesses of some of the French kings in particular led to major problems with these groups of unemployed warriors. |
| gunnerphil | 16 Mar 2018 6:05 a.m. PST |
To get back to the question. Lots would have become bandits, some return home to live of their loot, others would find another war, like the English mercenaries in Italy. |
| jeeves | 25 Mar 2018 1:45 p.m. PST |
C'mon GildasFacit. The morals and assumptions of today are all we have, unless you have a time machine. |
