Swiss mercenaries (Reisläufer) were notable for their service in foreign armies, especially the armies of the Kings of France, throughout the Early Modern period of European history, from the Later Middle Ages into the Age of the European Enlightenment. Their service as mercenaries was at its peak during the Renaissance, when their proven battlefield capabilities made them sought-after mercenary troops. There followed a period of decline, as technological and organizational advances counteracted the Swiss' advantages. Switzerland's military isolationism largely put an end to organized mercenary activity; the principal remnant of the practice is the Swiss Guard at the Vatican.
In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 5, Swiss mercenaries are called "Switzers" (Switzer is actually what the Swiss were called in English until the 19th century, hence Switzerland).
Ascendancy
During the Late Middle Ages, mercenary forces grew in importance in Europe, as veterans from the Hundred Years War and other conflicts came to see soldiering as a profession rather than a temporary activity, and commanders sought long-term professionals rather than temporary feudal levies to fight their wars. Swiss mercenaries (Reisläufer) were valued throughout Late Medieval Europe for the power of their determined mass attack in deep columns with the pike and halberd. Hiring them was made even more attractive because entire ready-made Swiss mercenary contingents could be obtained by simply contracting with their local governments, the various Swisscantons—the cantons had a form of militia system in which the soldiers were bound to serve and were trained and equipped to do so. Some Swiss also hired themselves out individually or in small bands.
The exhibition also shows how Swiss mercenaries were recruited to suppress uprisings in colonial possessions, and later how geologists took part in oil exploration.
It includes 18th-century cotton cloth used by Swiss traders as currency to buy enslaved people, sacks for loading goods such as cotton and cocoa onto ships, and a uniform jacket from a Swiss mercenary ...
For the longest time, it was used to describe a medical condition that was seen in Swiss mercenaries abroad and it involved home sickness, a pronounced longing for their home showing up in the form of deep sadness and distress ...Catch every big hit,.
He was born into a military family and became a professional soldier and mercenary ... They sought experienced solders and mercenaries from Europe ... Simeon Ecuyer, a Swiss mercenary employed by the British.
It was first diagnosed among 17th-centurySwiss mercenaries and referred to “a kind of pathological patriotic love, an intense and dangerous homesickness” ... ....
It was first diagnosed among 17th-centurySwiss mercenaries and referred to “a kind of pathological patriotic love, an intense and dangerous homesickness”.
Her story begins in 1688, when the physician Andreas Hofer coined the term ‘nostalgia’ to diagnose the craving for home that prostrated and sometimes killed Swiss mercenaries. This very physical disorder was an inverse form of altitude sickness ... .
The Swiss agency conducted influence operations and reputation-smearing campaigns through fake articles and manipulation of some media outlets, as the Swiss agency possesses a network of mercenary journalists.
Russia has already said it won’t attend the meeting ...Swiss neutrality, which can be traced back to medieval cantons hiring out mercenaries to warring European states, was enshrined at the Treaty of Paris in 1815, after the defeat of Napoleon ... .
John Brewer’s entertaining social history paints a rather different picture ... The largest single group, Brewer discovers, was the military; Swiss mercenaries keeping the peace for the Bourbon rulers of Naples were fond of a strenuous outing ... Volcanic ... .
> ... W ... ... Yes, they did ... It was hardly even comparable to that of the Swiss going to fight in Bosnia during the weekends, in the 1990s, or the French mercenaries who are going to fight in Ukraine today ... They were essentially made up of foreign mercenaries.
In 2017, I spoke with a music historian to understand the trend of flute rap ... It is possibly the oldest musical device in the world . Neanderthals and 15th-centurySwiss mercenaries and 1970s heavy-metal bands found use for it ... Most important ... .
However, the Kremlin’s assault on Ukraine and Hamas’ attack on Israel are exposing the contradictions of Swiss neutrality, which can be traced back to medieval cantons hiring out mercenaries to warring European states, without taking sides.
However, the Kremlin’s assault on Ukraine and Hamas’ attack on Israel are exposing the contradictions of Swiss neutrality, which can be traced back to medieval cantons hiring out mercenaries to warring European states, without taking sides.
The Lawton Constitution
15 Oct 2023
The Lawton Constitution
15 Oct 2023