Doppelsöldner
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Template:Lang ("double-mercenaries", "double-pay men",[1] from German doppel- meaning double, Söldner meaning mercenary) were Landsknechte in 16th-century Germany who volunteered to fight in the front line, taking on extra risk, in exchange for double payment. The stated ratio was that one Template:Lang in four would be a Template:Lang. The Template:Lang of each company were usually issued with ranged weapons, such as a crossbow or an arquebus, and arranged in the wings of a square, in front of the pikemen.[2]
Likewise, Template:Lang schooled in the use of the Zweihänder (two-hander), a two-handed sword, were entitled to double pay and thus qualified as Template:Lang.[3] The fencing guild of the Brotherhood of Saint Mark had the monopoly on the use of the Template:Lang after Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor granted it to them in 1487.
The Template:Lang was allegedly used by the Template:Lang to break through formations of pikemen, especially Swiss pikemen, by either being swung to break the ends of the pikes themselves or to knock them aside and attack the pikemen directly. The veracity of this tradition is disputed, but it dates back at least to the 17th century.
See also
References
Further reading
- Douglas Miller, John Richards: Landsknechte. 1486–1560. Siegler, Sankt Augustin 2004, Template:ISBN.
- Thomas Arnold: The Renaissance at War. Cassell, London 2002, Template:ISBN.
- Sebastian Franck: Chronica des gantzen Teutschen lands, aller Teütschen völcker herkom(m)en, Namen, Händeln, Guten vn(n) (unn) bösen Thaten [...]. Apiario, Bern 1539. (auch Germaniae chronicon. 1538)