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Routiers
Routiers () were mercenary soldiers of the Middle Ages. Their particular distinction from other paid soldiers of the time was that they were organised into bands (''rutta'' or ''routes''). The term is first used in the 12th century but is particularly associated with free companies who terrorised the French countryside during the Hundred Years' War. Routiers of the 12th and 13th centuries Although paid soldiers were known before the 12th century, the phenomenon of distinct bands ( German ''Rotten'', French ''routes'') of mercenary soldiers, often mainly footsoldiers (spearmen, slingers, javelineers, archers and crossbowmen), appears to date from the mid 12th century. Exactly what distinguishes these mercenaries from simple paid soldiers is disputed by scholars but common elements include fighting for profit (as opposed to other reasons such as fealty or faith), a "foreignness" of coming from a different geographical area to that in which they were fighting, and that as membe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mercenary
A mercenary is a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather than for political interests. Beginning in the 20th century, mercenaries have increasingly come to be seen as less entitled to protection by rules of war than non-mercenaries. The Geneva Conventions declare that mercenaries are not recognized as legitimate combatants and do not have to be granted the same legal protections as captured service personnel of the armed forces. In practice, whether or not a person is a mercenary may be a matter of degree, as financial and political interests may overlap. International and national laws of war Protocol Additional GC 1977 (APGC77) is a 1977 amendment protocol to the Geneva Conventions. Article 47 of the protocol provides the most widely accepted international definition of a mercenary, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free Companies
A free company (sometimes called a great company or, in French, ''grande compagnie'') was an army of mercenaries between the 12th and 14th centuries recruited by private employers during wars. They acted independently of any government, and were thus "free". They regularly made a living by plunder when they were not employed; in France they were called ''routiers'' and ''écorcheurs'' and operated outside the highly structured law of arms. The term "free company" is most often applied to those companies of soldiers which formed after the Peace of Brétigny during the Hundred Years' War and were active mainly in France, but it has been applied to other companies, such as the Catalan Company and companies that operated elsewhere, such as in Italy and the Holy Roman Empire. The free companies, or companies of adventure, have been cited as a factor as strong as plague or famine in the reduction of Siena from a glorious rival of Florence to a second-rate power during the later 14th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brabançons
The Brabançons or Brabanters () were ''routiers'' (mercenary troops) originally from the Duchy of Brabant active between 1166 and 1214. Origins Brabant was a part of the Holy Roman Empire. The social origins of the Brabançons are uncertain. Some were the younger sons of the knightly class who had received formal military training. Others were drawn from the lower classes and had little or no such training. There were some women in their ranks. They mostly fought as infantry, possessing few horses. They were feared because of their ruthlessness, but probably had less of a tactical impact than the ''routiers'' of the later Middle Ages. Despite their name, the Brabançons came to be drawn from all across northern Europe. Walter Map in his '' De nugis curialium'' written about 1180 described the origins of the Brabançons thus: A new and particularly noxious sect of heretics arose. The fighters of these ''rotten'' were protected from head to foot by a leather jerkin, and were armed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy of Aquitaine and was triggered by English claims to the French throne, a claim to the French throne made by Edward III of England. The war grew into a broader military, economic, and political struggle involving factions from across Western Europe, fuelled by emerging nationalism on both sides. The periodisation of the war typically charts it as taking place over 116 years. However, it was an intermittent conflict which was frequently interrupted by external factors, such as the Black Death, and several years of truces. The Hundred Years' War was a significant conflict in the Middle Ages. During the war, five generations of kings from two rival Dynasty, dynasties fought for the throne of France, then the wealthiest and most populous kingd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English Channel
The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busiest Sea lane, shipping area in the world. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to at its narrowest in the Strait of Dover."English Channel". ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'', 2004. It is the smallest of the shallow seas around the continental shelf of Europe, covering an area of some . The Channel aided the United Kingdom in becoming a naval superpower, serving as a natural defence against invasions, such as in the Napoleonic Wars and in the World War II, Second World War. The northern, English coast of the Channel is more populous than the southern, French coast. The major languages spoken in this region are English language, English and French language, French. Names Roman historiography, Roman sources as (or , ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albigensian Crusade
The Albigensian Crusade (), also known as the Cathar Crusade (1209–1229), was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, what is now southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted primarily by the French crown and promptly took on a political aspect. It resulted in the significant reduction of practicing Cathars and a realignment of the County of Toulouse with the French crown. The distinct regional culture of Languedoc was also diminished. The Cathars originated from an anti-materialist reform movement within the Bogomil churches of the Balkans calling for what they saw as a return to the Christian message of perfection, poverty and preaching, combined with a rejection of the physical. The reforms were a reaction against the often perceived scandalous and dissolute lifestyles of the Catholic clergy. Their theology, Gnostic in many ways, was basically dualistic cosmology, dualist. Several of their practices, especially ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Of Valois
The Capetian House of Valois ( , also , ) was a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. They succeeded the House of Capet (or "Direct Capetians") to the List of French monarchs, French throne, and were the royal house of France from 1328 to 1589. Junior members of the family founded cadet branches in House of Valois#Dukes of Orléans, Orléans, House of Valois-Anjou, Anjou, House of Valois-Burgundy, Burgundy, and Counts and dukes of Alençon, Alençon. The Valois descended from Charles, Count of Valois (1270–1325), the second surviving son of King Philip III of France (reigned 1270–1285). Their title to the throne was based on a precedent in 1316 (later retroactively attributed to the Merovingian dynasty, Merovingian Salic law) which excluded females (Joan II of Navarre), as well as male descendants through the wikt:distaff side#English, distaff side (Edward III of England), from the succession to the French throne. After holding the throne for several centuries the Valois ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Death
The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. The disease is caused by the Bacteria, bacterium ''Yersinia pestis'' and spread by Flea, fleas and through the air. One of the most significant events in European history, the Black Death had far-reaching population, economic, and cultural impacts. It was the beginning of the second plague pandemic. The plague created religious, social and economic upheavals, with profound effects on the course of European history. The origin of the Black Death is disputed. Genetic analysis suggests ''Yersinia pestis'' bacteria evolved approximately 7,000 years ago, at the beginning of the Neolithic, with flea-mediated strains emerging around 3,800 years ago during the late Bronze Age. The immediate territorial origins of the Black Death and its outbreak ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calais
Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,625 (2020). and it is reflected in the city's name in the local Picard language, ''Calés''. Other archaic names for the city are Portuguese ''Calêsio'' and German ''Kalen''. ''Kales'', the city's historic name in Dutch and West Flemish (once spoken in the area) was retained until more recently in the name for the Strait of Dover, ''Nauw van Kales'', and is still used in Dutch sources wishing to emphasise former linguistic ties to the area. Though the modern French spelling of ''Calais'' gradually supplanted other variants in English, the pronunciation () persisted and survives in other towns named for the European city including Calais, Maine, and Calais, Vermont, in the United States. In " De Gustibus" (1855), Robert Browning r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poitiers
Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 90,240. Its conurbation had 134,397 inhabitants in 2021 and is the municipal center of an urban area of 281,789 inhabitants. It is a city of art and history, still known popularly as "Ville aux cent clochers" (literal translation: "City of hundred bell towers"). With more than 30,000 students, Poitiers has been a major university town since the creation of its University of Poitiers, university in 1431, having hosted world-renowned figures and thinkers such as René Descartes, Joachim du Bellay and François Rabelais, among others. The plaza of the town is picturesque; its streets including predominantly preserved historical architecture and half-timbered houses, especially religious edifices, commonly from the Romanesque architecture, Roma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), known as the Black Prince, was the eldest son and heir apparent of King Edward III of England. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II, succeeded to the throne instead. Edward nevertheless earned distinction as one of the most successful English commanders during the Hundred Years' War, being regarded by his English contemporaries as a model of chivalry and one of the greatest knights of his age. Edward was made Duke of Cornwall, the first English dukedom, in 1337. He was guardian of the kingdom in his father's absence in 1338, 1340, and 1342. He was created Prince of Wales in 1343 and knighted by his father at La Hougue in 1346. In 1346, Prince Edward commanded the vanguard at the Battle of Crécy, his father intentionally leaving him to win the battle. He took part in Edward III's 1349 Calais expedition. In 1355, he was appointed the king's lieutenant in Gascony and ordered to lead an army into Aquitaine on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Château De Lusignan
The Château de Lusignan (in Lusignan, Vienne ''département'', France), of which hardly any traces remain, was the ancestral seat of the House of Lusignan, Poitevin Marcher Lords, who distinguished themselves in the First Crusade and became the royal family of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Kingdom of Cyprus and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. Built in the 10th century, it reached its peak four centuries later, decayed and was finally dismantled in the 18th century. Castle, town nucleus, prison Construction of the castle, which eventually counted among the largest to be built in France, started during the second half of the 10th century under Hugh II of Lusignan (d. 967). This castle was dismantled during the 12th and then rebuilt in the 13th and again at the end of the 14th century. Lusignan was constructed in the region of Poitou, occupying a natural strongpoint, a narrow promontory that overlooked steep valleys on either side. It was already so impressive in the 12th centu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
