Medieval German or Flemish mercenaries

[flags_of_war]

They sound very interesting. Not suited for my figures i think but id maybe be interested in getting other figures to suit these guys.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Company_%28German%29

[Mad Doc Morris]

There were a lot of mercenary companies around, but usually shortlived and largely unknown to history. Effectively every captain in every army was a mercenary leader of sorts, as by the mid-14th Century onwards contracts between kings and captains merely stipulated the number of men they were to raise, who were usually professional soldiers, or 'new men of war' in search of adventure.

Like said, that appears to me less common in the Empire, at least its transalpine part. Since the 14th century every prince, bishop etc kept records of vassals he could and would call to arms. These were required to answer themselves or send someone else on their expense or, increasingly, provided just the money. Some wouldn't answer at all, of course. Therefore during the 15th century large parts of Germany became 'feud-ridden', as princes encouraged their nobles to harass an enemy instead of having to wage overly expensive full-scale wars themselves. Feuds were also easier to manage and to appease, and there was an incentive for a retainer to steal cattle from his obnoxious neighbour and call it 'good service'. In turn, battles were very rare, and in that event genuine mercenaries were brought in from distant parts of the Empire like Switzerland or Bohemia.

Of course, it all depends on the definition of what makes a man "at arms" a mercenary. Again, since the 14th century most feudal retainers around here were paid a small salary or they were granted privileges in return for their services. Yet that wasn't limited to military service but included fulfilling duties at court and such. Surely, every knight kept a few servants, some of them to follow him into battle, and every castle was garrisoned by – surprisingly few – armed men the owner(s) had to pay for. But were such men mercenaries or members of their master's household?

Sorry for the digression. Couldn't resist.

[Arlequín]

Fair points all and in typically Anglocentric fashion I used 'every' instead of 'in England, France and Burgundy'... Germany is indeed a different matter and an area I know very little about.

Mea culpa. 

[Mad Doc Morris]

Fair points all and in typically Anglocentric fashion I used 'every' instead of 'in England, France and Burgundy'... Germany is indeed a different matter and an area I know very little about.

Mea culpa. 

In turn I know very little if anything about English and French custom in that area. But since the TO wondered about Flemish/German mercenaries in particular… nerd alert.

[flags_of_war]

Well im going to do a Band of Germans lead by  Konrad von Landau. They will be the Grand Company the will be fighting my friends White company.

Thanks for the help guys. Im now doing all the reading that i can on this guy and see what others knights i can throw in with him for my Lion Rampant force.

[flags_of_war]

Some more names i found here.

http://listverse.com/2014/06/19/10-swashbuckling-mercenaries-who-ravaged-medieval-europe/

[NurgleHH]

Cheers mate. Given my love for your dear City is there any infamous Knights or Families that i could look at doing a Retinue for from Hamburg or did they stick mostly to the sea.

Men, we in Hamburg do not have these long tradiition in knighthood. We are all mercahnts only looking for gold and wealth. 
So, we had enough gold to look for southern mercenaries.
But I will look for more information about soldiers from Hamburg. A famous pirate was Klaus Störtebeker (a Vitalienbruder - Vitalienbrother). So the hanse needed some soldiers to catch the pirates. But this was 1360 to 1401.

[Arlequín]

... nerd alert.

Phew! I thought the alarm sounded for me again. 

Thanks for the help guys. Im now doing all the reading that i can on this guy and see what others knights i can throw in with him for my Lion Rampant force.

I'm sure 'help' is a polite way of saying 'thanks for not muddying the waters too much this time'.   

But hey! You got a starting point at least. 

[flags_of_war]

Phew! I thought the alarm sounded for me again. 
I'm sure 'help' is a polite way of saying 'thanks for not muddying the waters too much this time'.   

But hey! You got a starting point at least. 

Not at all mate. All i ever ask for is a point in the right direction. Before asking this is was stumped and never really had anything to aim for other than generic coloured Knights. Now i have a group with an actual name and some names of knights. With that im now enthused and i last night i based about 20 Claymore figures, base coated and first layer of Armour.

Konrad von Landau and his band of Bastards from Das Große Unternehmen (is that correct?). Ill do some Germans, Scots, Hungarians, English and Flemish looking for some plunder over Europe

[Captain Blood]

Not wishing to derail your enquiries too much, here are my (somewhat later and entirely fictional) Flemish mercenaries - in case they spark any ideas 

[flags_of_war]

I have them saved in my Painting inspiration folder already mate

[Mad Doc Morris]

Konrad von Landau and his band of Bastards from Das Große Unternehmen

German will only cause trouble, lots of inflexions and such. Great Company, Grande Compagnia or its contemporary name Magna Societas will do. (If you must: die Große Kompanie.)
And now that you're aiming for "German" condottieri, here's for a start a list of other famous names.

[flags_of_war]

German will only cause trouble, lots of inflexions and such. Great Company, Grande Compagnia or its contemporary name Magna Societas will do. (If you must: die Große Kompanie.)
And now that you're aiming for "German" condottieri, here's for a start a list of other famous names.

Ah Christ. For a guy who visits Hamburg once a year you think i should be able to understand German by now.

[Modhail]

Ah, but the difficulty is not in understanding German, it's in getting German to understand you! 
(No offence to my eastern neighbours, but the finesses of your Sprache are somewhat hard to get around for us non-natives...)