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Crossbowman Mercenary Companies
In the 14th century, Western European mercenary crossbowmen served under contract, mostly from Italian city-states, Catalonia, and the Rhineland, hir…
Timeline
- 1360–1363Genoa · LiguriaCrossbow makers and crossbowmen in Genoa and elsewhere formed rentable fighting bands, with written contracts specifying terms of service, daily pay, and injury compensation, becoming a sought-after source of ranged infantry for Western European states.
- 1364–1367Normandy · NormandyThe French crown hired Genoese and Provençal crossbowmen and incorporated them into field armies, using shield walls to cover reloading and exchanging fire with English longbowmen on open terrain, compensating for France's shortage of native ranged infantry.
- 1368–1369Strasbourg · AlsaceCrossbowmen's guilds and free companies from Rhine cities moved to Burgundian and eastern French battlefields, bringing improved steel crossbows and multi-rank reloading tactics, further standardizing the Western European crossbowman mercenary model.
Sources
- Mercenaries and Paid Men: The Mercenary Identity in the Middle Ages — Adrian R. Bell and Anne Curry (2011)
- The Crossbow: Medieval and Modern, Military and Sporting — Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey (2007)