Rise of the Swiss Warriors and Mercenaries

[Music] in modern times the nation-state of Switzerland has the reputation of being a peaceful nation neutral in all conflicts since at least the Napoleonic Wars however the Swiss of the past were anything but peaceful welcome to our first of two videos on the Swiss rights law for mercenaries arguably the first soldiers of early modern war thank you to expressvpn for sponsoring this video protecting our privacy online is easier than ever with expressvpn with just one click all of your data going in and out of our phones and computers is encrypted and protected from the peering eyes of large corporations internet service providers and government without a VPN internet service providers in the u.s. can legally sell our data to ad companies expressvpn also protects us from hackers on unencrypted Wi-Fi networks who want to steal our private information like passwords financial details or even our emails this protection comes in handy when traveling and we need to access our YouTube account while on sketchy public Wi-Fi to find out how you can get three months free of the number one rated VPN provider visit expressvpn comm slash kings and Generals the original inhabitants of modern switzerland were the infamous celtic Helvetii tribe eventually subdued by Julius Caesar and the Romans beginning in the first century BC becoming Freeborn citizens of the Empire like so many others around the Mediterranean world despite suffering many invasions after the fall of the Western Empire the inhabitants of the lands which would later become known as Switzerland remained free and independent until the late 13th century such autonomy was primarily a function of geography even today when picturing Switzerland in our minds we get the impression of a naturally beautiful land spotted with forested hills valleys and mountain ranges and this influenced the region's political structures the many Valley communities of modern-day Switzerland / treacherous mountain ranges as they were were often just left to run their own affairs despite being technically subjects of the Holy Roman Emperor they enjoyed a status of Imperial immediacy which granted them a degree of autonomy the oligarchic nature of these communities at the local level which came to be known as Canton's was contrasted by a sense of autonomy at the regional national and international level they were used to enjoying and defending their own collective way of life the relatively hostile landscape provided the baseline for potential combat readiness among the population even among young boys the threat of hostile wildlife such as wolves and bears complemented by the possible menace presented by aggressive neighbors made martial skill and self-defence necessary 1291 was a crucial year in swiss history and to the development of its population in too formidable troops three small Canton's on the shore of lake lucerne early feasts and interval Dhin collectively known as the vault Stata or forest Canton's formed an alliance known as the Schweitzer Risha the Swiss Confederation but what prompted such autonomous and often feuding local communities into making this alliance increasing domestic prosperity in the Swiss lands during the 13th century was primarily due to posturing of horses and cattle leading to a sharp increase in production of dairy products the increasing size of economic structures was naturally beneficial to the inhabitants of valleys and cities alike while the development of transportation infrastructure in the Gotthard mountain pass beginning in the twelve 20's facilitated more efficient commercial activity with the Low Countries and Italy the region's prosperity painted an obvious target on the back of the Canton's late in the 13th century the Austrian Habsburg started coveting the control of the increasing traffic between two halves of the Holy Roman Empire in 1291 Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf the first encroached on the Confederations independence by seizing the crucial city of Luzerne and this led to the creation of this alliance Swiss infantry tactics underwent a substantial transformation during the wars for freedom and independence which began in the late 1200 and went on for centuries after however the development can be divided into two main stages the first period ranging from 1315 to 14 22 and then the second from 1444 to 1499 and beyond first we'll go through the initial stage characterized by the employment of simple yet deadly tactics to gain victory one of the first occasions where such tactics were used was at the pass of more Garten in 1315 fils was one of the first vaults tatah to assert its autonomy against the Habsburgs by plundering a protected monastery a tansy down an act which naturally prompted a military response they faced an Austrian army of around 9,000 troops including 2,000 of the finest and noblest mounted Knights of the Empire commanded by Holy Roman Emperor Leopold the first it's worth noting that at this time in military history the mounted night was the elite of feudal society and be planned in a cram of medieval armies this highly trained well equipped fighting man would crush their Swiss peasant opponents with ease or so it was thought realizing that this relatively large Austrian force at least by medieval standards vastly outnumbered their own modest 1,300 men visas population retreated behind a sophisticated system of earthworks and Palisades Leopold the first was aware of this and chose to advance at its weakest point through the pass at more Garten as the Austrian army approached the past in a long column its vanguard of knights found the route to be blocked by enemy defences detouring around this they then engaged a small group of enemies stubbornly blocking their line of march at the hamlet of shafts Teton when this stubborn group managed to block the Austrians it's turned a mobile army into a static exposed mass of men one group of Swiss was used to split the nicely Vanguard from their infantry comrades by blocking the narrow paths with debris while another charged out of the woods and engaged the enemy Knights a shower of stones was used as a makeshift missile weapon before the ferocious acts and halberd wielding Swiss infantry charge and cut the Austrians to pieces after driving them into the marshes behind 2000 invading troops met their deaths at more Garten most of them nights this battle struck fear into the mounted Nobles of Europe and showed that the Swiss lacked any respect for them or for the Gentile viewpoint that battles had to be fought like a tournament with ethics and etiquette it was the benefits of a surprise attack combined with the skillful use of the terrain which resulted in Swiss success at more Garten however favorable terrain wasn't the only situation in which men of the Canton's were skilled fighters as shown at loud burning 1339 when another Swiss Force defeated its enemy on an open field as the 14th century wore on the initial signatories of the Confederacy were joined by other Canton's such as Lucerne Zurich zhuge and burn at the same time ambitious Austrian Duke Leopold the third precipitated hostilities by attempting to expand his domain into Switzerland resulting in the beginning of war in late 1385 when the two armies met northeast of same Park on July 9th 1386 the two main Austrian columns were confronted by a Swiss vanguard advancing rapidly seeking to gain its terrain advantage neither force had time to deploy effectively in this rushed situation but the Austrian Knights were forced to dismount due to the unsuitability of the land for a cavalry attack shortly before midday the lightly armored Confederate halberdiers clashed with the dismounted large bearing Knights of Leopold in a wedge formation it's point angled to the right flank despite the better equipped Austrians infecting significant casualties at first the dogged Swiss did not flinch and reconfigured their formation showing the grit which would eventually be so valued in the Swiss it is reported that one soldier known as vinkle read bravely threw himself at the Lance's of Knights opposing him jumping on the points and snapping their shafts in the process with their Pike shell broken fee dismounted Austrian Knights were no match for the lethal Swiss halberdiers who quickly pored through the breach and began their unstoppable charge the enemy was cut to pieces and even fresh JUCO reinforcements couldn't break the Confederate push within two hours the battle had turned and around 1,800 Austrians were dead on the field along with a meager two hundred Swiss it was now clear that the almost unarmored Halberdier could hold his own against the great night a landmark moment in Swiss military tactics came in 1422 at the Battle of Abbado territorial disputes between some of the Canton's and the Duchy of Milan led to yet another war over the city of bellinzona 2,500 Confederate soldiers marched on the city and a massive sixteen thousand strong Milanese army including 5000 cavalry marched to stop them On June 30th the condottieri commander the Sunni tucumán Yola launched a surprise attack on a Swiss camp near bellinzona and it's Confederates denizens rallied into a square formation and managed to repel repeated assaults from the Milanese cavalry attacks upon which they dismounted nevertheless they took heavy losses and a subsequent general assault managed to gradually drive the Swiss bank after doggedly suffering and dishing out damage for a long time the Swiss simply turned cut their way through the enemy ranks and with in good order having suffered 500 dead in addition to showing remarkable discipline in that the Canton troops didn't just route our Bedok also marked a crucial moment because it forced the Swiss to get rid of the halberd as their primary weapon to be replaced by the long hike shortly after the battle a council held at lucerne issued instructions to increase the proportion of pikemen in canton contingents this seemingly mundane decision would eventually revolutionize military thinking and practice because of the weapons unique characteristics due to the massive length of the pike it could not be utilized individually to any great effect at all much like this IRISA wielding Falangists of philip ii and alexander the great they were greater than the sum of their parts and had to be employed on mass in a phalanx the proper simultaneous handling of the pike would require a massive amount of training in order to move and fight as one with only highly competent drilled troops able to effectively perform necessary maneuvers the first four ranks of Swiss pikemen would level their weapons to a 90 degree angle creating an impenetrable wall of iron heads while the fifth rank and Beyond would hold their weapons upright ready to fill any gaps when necessary the weapons length meant that it was necessary for each rank to hold the weapon differently from 1st to 4th the front rank would kneel down with their weapon held low the second stooped with the weapons but anchored under their right foot while the 3rd held it at waist level and the 4th at head height forming a multi-layered spiny shield from head to toe this classic pike phalanx could stop any cavalry charge in its tracks as the horses would either refuse to charge at the Pikes or be skewered instantly and rendered useless if they did moreover the forest of Pike's held upright from the 5th rank and behind gave the Swiss pike blocks considerable protection against enemy arrows or other projectiles which might fall on them from above this was due to the sheer volume of shafts which was present in such a small space in short this formation was a macedonian phallanx redeveloped for the medieval age as unbreakable on the defense as a swiss pike block was simply stopping enemy attacks didn't content the often belligerent soldiers of this land they also quickly mastered the handling of a pike in an offensive manner as well becoming capable of launching attacks which developed a devastating and inexorable momentum when on the advance the pike was held horizontally at chest level the right arm placed to the back and the left arm forward with the weapon itself angled slightly downwards a heroic stand by a small Confederate reconnaissance force at Soldier korban beers in 1444 was the first major occasion on which the pike was tested after its adoption when the Hundred Years War stalled in 1444 with the Treaty of tour the piece left Frances King Shalva 7th with a large mercenary army composed mainly of army acts he subsequently allied with Habsburg Emperor Friedrich the third and sent 40,000 men into Confederate territories 1,200 Swiss were sent as a reconnaissance force to the fortress of fans Berg where they were joined by 300 vassal reinforcements on August 25th that night the Armagnac army sent scouts to observe the Swiss camp to their surprise it was all too clear that the Confederates were making no attempt at all to conceal themselves at daybreak the Swiss advance down a valley and skirmished a few times with the French cavalry progressing throughout the day to the base river by now the fighting spirit and hunger for battle amongst the rank-and-file was getting out of control and they wanted to press on when their commander suggested a tactical retreat in the face of overwhelming numbers there was an uproar in the Swiss ranks they wanted to fight the officers unable to persuade their men to with drawer gave the order to cross the river after fording the Pierce River the Swiss were almost immediately faced with the entire forty thousand strong French mercenary army though the situation was grim it's possible that retreat was an option even at this point but the Swiss dismissed any thought of it they would fight three parallel squares were formed with each comprised of 500 men over 25% of the Swiss troops were equipped with the pike at this battle and their subsequent charge into the enemy lines produced a deadlock which lasted for four hours this was a phenomenal achievement all by itself the Confederates were massively outnumbered but their bravery and tactics were nevertheless grinding the enemy to a halt after five hours of battle and a failed relief attempt by reinforcing battle troops the Swiss squares began to weaken inflicting massive casualties the entire time as they withdrew to the hospital of st. Jacob after stubborn swiss resistance inside the walls and a final storming of the defensible facility brutal hand-to-hand combat began in which the Swiss Army fought to the last man it is said that every single Confederate was killed but they took with them a massive toll of 4,000 enemies this battle is viewed in Swiss history as their form of a lie becoming both a shining example of both Swiss courage and in discipline it was clear however that a more systematic approach to tactics and battle formations was needed by the mid 15th century Confederate battle formations commonly consisted of three columns vivre or hood or vanguard the gevalt - or center and the nock hood or rear these three contingents had no set size and depended entirely on the situation at terrain of any specific battle the vanguard was usually the largest or second largest unit with the vast majority of crossbowmen and hand interspersed between the core of pikemen it was this contingent which came into contact first but it also carried out reconnaissance and engineering work the center was almost always the largest unit in any Swiss formation and it was here that the Confederate banner would be found encircled by a group of bodyguards almost exclusively using the halberd as a weapon this core of halberdiers was surrounded by a wall of pikemen which formed the rest of the center the rear was the smallest group most of the time and had the role of either supporting the center or detaching to the flanks and advancing on the sides of an enemy formation in a battle situation the three contingents advanced in Epsilon the Vanguard marched to attack a predetermined point in the enemy line while the center would advance parallel but slightly behind and to the left or right the rear would follow the center in a similar manner but it would also often stop as a strategic reserve before any choice was made to commit it with the establishment of the Swiss as a formidable and organized fighting force possessing an increasingly fearsome reputation will leave them in our next video on the Swiss we will conclude their development in the Burgundian Wars outline how they began mercenary service and how they eventually declined in prominence our mini series on the Swiss mercenaries will be concluded in the coming months so make sure you are subscribed to our channel and have pressed the bell button we would like to express our gratitude to our patreon supporters and channel members who make the creation of our videos possible now you can also support us by buying our merchandise by the link in the description this is the kings and Generals channel and we'll catch you on the next one

Channel: Kings and Generals

Views: 484,626

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Keywords: swiss mercenaries, pike and shot, military history, european history, swiss pikemen, swiss pike square, middle ages, medieval warfare, pike square, kings and generals, history channel, full documentary, history documentary, animated historical documentary, decisive battles, history lesson, documentary film, ancient rome, ancient history, world history, roman empire, king and generals, animated documentary, cantons, holy roman empire, italian wars, pope, vatican, guard

Id: 3zGxv_oNFQY

Length: 19min 2sec (1142 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 26 2019