- Free company
A free company or free lance was a late medieval army of
mercenaries acting independently of any government, and thus "free". They were not called "free" because their services weregratis , rather they sold their services to the highest bidder. They regularly made a living byplunder when they were not employed. The term "free company" is most applied to those companies of soldiers which formed after thePeace of Brétigny during theHundred Year's War and were active mainly inFrance , but it has been applied to other companies, such as theCatalan Grand Company and companies that worked abroad, inItaly and theHoly Roman Empire . TheWhite Company ofJohn Hawkwood is probably the most famous free company, active in Italy in the latter half of the fourteenth century.References
*Carr, A. D. (1968/9), "Welshmen and the Hundred Years' War", "Welsh History Review"/"Cylchgrawn Hanes Cymru", 4, pp. 21–46.
*Severus, Alexander (1941), "The Fetish of Military Rank", "Military Affairs", 5, pp. 171–176.
*Showalter, Dennis E. (1993), "Caste, Skill, and Training: The Evolution of Cohesion in European Armies from the Middle Ages to the Sixteenth Century", "Journal of Military History ", 57(3), pp. 407–430.
*Rowe, B. J. H. (1932). "John Duke of Bedford and the Norman 'Brigands'." "The English Historical Review ", 47(188), pp. 583–600.
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