Type of mercenary infantry in 16th-17th century Europe
For the card game sometimes called Landsknecht and reputedly played by the Landsknechte, see Lansquenet.
Landsknechte, etching by Daniel Hopfer, c. 1530
The Landsknechte (singular: Landsknecht, pronounced[ˈlantsknɛçt]), also rendered as Landsknechts or Lansquenets, were German 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 ("double-pay men") renowned for their use of Zweihänder and arquebus. They formed the bulk of the Holy Roman Empire's Imperial Army from the late 15th century to the early 17th century, fighting in the Habsburg-Valois wars, the Habsburg-Ottoman wars, and the European wars of religion.
Although prone to mutiny if unpaid and divided within their ranks between Catholics and Lutherans, the Landsknechte were well-armed and experienced warriors, recruitable in large numbers throughout Germany and Austria by the Holy Roman Emperor. This guaranteed both quantity and quality to the Imperial military for a century and a half. At their peak during the reign of Charles V of Habsburg, and under the leadership of notable captains such as Georg von Frundsberg and Nicholas of Salm, the Imperial Landsknechts obtained important successes such as the capture of the French King Francis I at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 and the resistance against the Ottoman Turks led by Suleiman the Magnificent at the Siege of Vienna in 1529, while also being responsible for the Sack of Rome in 1527.
The Landsknechte (singular: Landsknecht, pronounced [ˈlantsknɛçt]), also rendered as Landsknechts or Lansquenets, were German mercenaries used in pike...
battle of Elfsborg (Alvesborg) in 1502 is provided by Paul Dolnstein, a landsknecht mercenary who fought in the battle, who refers to the Swedes carrying...
played with cards, named after the French spelling of the German word Landsknecht ('servant of the land or country'), which refers to 15th- and 16th-century...
mercenaries were increasingly supplanted by imitators, chiefly the Landsknechts. Landsknechts were Germans (at first largely from Swabia) and became proficient...
nationally in Germany in the year 1941. The song refers to the Landsknecht movement. A Landsknecht is the name given to a mostly German mercenary of the late...
Fernández de Córdoba (El Gran Capitán) comprising 6,300 men, including 2,000 Landsknecht pikemen, 1,000 arquebusiers and 20 cannons, defeated the French force...
in more than five hundred years since the previous sack; in 1527, the Landsknechts of Emperor Charles V sacked the city, bringing an abrupt end to the golden...
heap), the word Haufen itself being a general term for a company of Landsknecht. In French such a band was known as les enfants perdus— "the lost children"...
weighing 0.8–1.5 kg (1.8–3.3 lb), it was the signature blade of the Landsknecht. The katzbalger is a side-arm, often used by pikemen, archers, and crossbowmen...
and directed their Landsknecht troops toward Frankenhausen.[page needed] The princes had great difficulties in recruiting Landsknecht mercenaries. Generally...
Frundsberg (24 September 1473 – 20 August 1528) was a German military and Landsknecht leader in the service of the Holy Roman Empire and Imperial House of...
The Tross was the camp follower contingent of the Landsknecht mercenary regiments which originated at the end of the fifteenth century, and were the dominant...
ISBN 0-85045-798-X Ffoulkes, Charles. The Armourer and his Craft. New York: Dover Publications, 1912. ISBN 0-486-25851-3 Jason Grimes, Landsknecht Pikeman Armour...
army often included numerous nationalities and languages. The normal Landsknecht regiment included one interpreter per 400 men, and interpreters were...
Wenzenbach on September 12, 1504 by the culverines and muskets of the landsknecht regiment of Georg von Frundsberg. Armoured car (military) Armoured personnel...
Leipzig. Miller, Douglas (1976). The Landsknechts. Great Britain: Osprey. ISBN 0850452589. Richards, John (2002). Landsknecht Soldier 1486–1560. Great Britain:...
against marauding landsknechts. In January 1525, Lannoy was reinforced by the arrival of Georg Frundsberg with 15,000 fresh landsknechts from Germany and...
Swiss mercenaries and German Landsknechts fighting for glory, fame and money at the Battle of Marignan (1515). The bulk of the Renaissance armies was composed...
contact. In one surviving letter, Boden refers to Heinrich Himmler as the "Landsknecht with the hard heart" but she was nevertheless impressed by his romantic...
Guebwiller, Buhl, and the Invasion of Germany. Asgaard PMC Freikorps Awards Landsknecht List of defunct Paramilitary Organizations List of Free Corps List of...
best medieval infantry force in Europe. With the French were German landsknechts, bitter rivals of the Swiss for fame and renown in war, and their late...
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