Who wants to save his life, Doesn't take a saint of a cross.
I'm ready to die in battle
In the battle for the Lord Christ.
To all those whose consciences are unclean, Who is hiding in their own land
The gates of heaven are closed
And we are met by God in paradise.
(Friedrich von Hausen. Translation by V. Mikushevich.)
For us, the Holy Roman Empire is always Germany. And if Germany, then they are Germans. And since the Germans, then the crusaders, and the crusaders - we know this even from the movie "Alexander Nevsky", and they were engaged only in the fact that they fought with Novgorod and Pskov. In fact, this is a very simplified interpretation of the historical situation. First of all, because this empire was never united either on ethnic or social grounds. Faith, faith was the same for all, and it was only this faith that unified this state association for the time being. And in the XII-XIII centuries. it included four states at once: the kingdom of Germany, the kingdom of Bohemia and Moravia, the kingdom of Burgundy, or Arles, and the kingdom of Italy, including the Papal States. It was created in 962 by the German king Otto I the Great, but from the very beginning it was a decentralized state formation, and even the emperor's power in it was not hereditary, but elective! True, by 1134 there were three kingdoms in the Holy Roman Empire: Germany, Italy and Burgundy. Only from 1135, the kingdom of Bohemia also entered it, the legal status of which was, however, regulated only in 1212).
Seven electors are elected emperor Henry VII of Luxembourg. From left to right: Archbishops of Cologne, Mainz and Trier, Dukes of Palatinate and Saxony, Margrave of Brandenburg, King of Bohemia. (Drawing on parchment from 1341; today in the State Main Federal State Archives in Koblenz, Germany).
Germany itself arose out of the kingdom of Louis the German, created by the Carolingian treaties at Verdun (843) and Mersen (870). It consisted of present-day western Germany, the Netherlands, eastern Belgium, Luxembourg, and much of northeastern France. On the eastern border, by 1100, the Marks or Marches of the Billungs, the Nordmark and Thuringia in eastern Germany, and the March of Austria entered the Empire. In the south, the Kingdom of Germany included eastern Switzerland, much of present-day Austria, and most of Slovenia.
Image of Emperor Frederick II from his book "De arte venandi cum avibus" ("On the art of hunting with birds"), late 13th century. (Vatican Library, Rome). Perhaps the most enlightened and unusual monarch in Europe of his time. He denied the divinity of the stigmata on the palms, because he believed that Christ could not be nailed to the cross in this way, but should have driven nails into the wrists!
These borders remained largely unchanged for many years, with the exception of the annexation of Pomerania, Polish Silesia and, temporarily, some of the Baltic regions, which were ruled by the Teutonic knights in the 13th century. However, already from the middle of the XII century, the importance of the Emperor's power as king of Germany sharply decreased, and local separatism, on the contrary, strengthened. This, in turn, had profound political and military implications. Therefore, we, for example, will have to separate Italy into a separate region and consider what in its lands was related to chivalry, separately from the processes in the northern territories.
German knights 1200 Fig. Graham Turner.
First of all, a feature of the "German armed forces" of the Middle Ages, or rather the studied time, was the presence in them of large, but often poorly trained and insufficiently armed infantry contingents, which was no longer either in England or in France. That is, the peasantry in a number of German lands played a certain role on the battlefields for a long time, and many of these peasant warriors were serfs, but at the same time served in the cavalry. As the power of the emperor-king weakened, the feudal elite were reluctant to fulfill their military obligations. Let's just say - even less willingly than the feudal elite of France and England. Therefore, just as in England and France, all this time there was a process of increasing the role of mercenaries, and mercenarism itself began to play an important role at the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries. Many mercenaries of the Empire were supplied by Brabant, the Netherlands, neighboring Flanders and, of course, Genoa, which supplied contingents of crossbowmen. Moreover, most of these "military people" belonged to the infantry. Infantrymen, armed with spears, hook lances and other types of stabbing and cutting polearms of the infantry, were used with great efficiency even at the beginning of the 13th century. Moreover, the appearance of plate armor among the horsemen among the German knights, perhaps, was a partial response to the threat from such infantry, especially from crossbowmen.
Knights and foot soldiers of the Holy Roman Empire 1216 -1226 Rice. Graham Turner.
That is, surprisingly, the "rural militias" in Germany existed much longer than in the same neighboring France, although the continued role of the infantry should be associated primarily with the growth of German cities, which became the main sources of people and money in the Empire. The city militias soon became much better armed, as indicated by the increased effectiveness of the same Flemish city militias that successfully fought the French royal forces in the 14th century (three victories and three defeats out of six major battles between 1302 and 1382). In addition, the early use of artillery in Germany was directly associated with cities such as Metz, Aachen, Deventer, Soest, Frankfurt am Main and Cologne, as well as cities in neighboring French Flanders. All the earliest references point to the use of firearms in the Rhineland and the Meuse. The only exception is Styria in the extreme southeast of the German kingdom. Although there are even earlier, but very vague references to the receipt of firearms across the border of Italy, although she, of course, all this time was within the Empire.
Miniature from the manuscript "Genealogy of the Kings of England before Edward I 1275-1300" (Bodleian Library, Oxford) This illustration draws attention to the variety of armor and weapons involved in equestrian combat, as well as various fighting techniques. Only cash surcoats, chair saddles and horse blankets are the same for everyone, although not everyone has the latter.
That is, the social development of various regions of Germany was directly reflected in the development of military affairs in them. For example, since its western regions were highly urbanized, urban militias and mercenary detachments recruited by magistrates became important in them. The regions where agriculture developed had the traditional feudal structure of the "army" - the feudal cavalry and the accompanying servants, and small contingents of peasants most suitable for military service. In the Swiss mountains, on the Frisian islands, in the swamps of Dietmarschen or among the eastern settlements on the Weser, the militia also continued to play a major role. But here the main reason was their social and economic isolation. The appearance of mounted crossbowmen in some parts of southern Germany may have been associated with the influence of Eastern Europe, Hungary or the Balkans, since it was from there that horsemen came here who knew how to fight not only with purely knightly weapons, but also shoot from a bow directly from a horse.
Impressive warrior of the early XIV century. in an "iron hat", shields-greaves and with a cleaver-felchen (falsechion) in his hand. Miniature from the manuscript “Abridged Divine Stories), 1300 -1310, Amiens, France. (Pierpont Morgan Museum and Library, New York)
As for Bohemia and Moravia, both of these areas at the beginning of the 11th century were under the rule of Poland, but then became part of the Holy Roman Empire. Both of these regions never played a leading role in the fate of the empire, although they regularly supplied contingents of soldiers to its monarchs.
Similar protection for the head from 1300 to 1350. were worn by many warriors of Western Europe. Historical Bible, 1300-1350 (National Library of France, Paris)
Bohemia was under strong, almost overwhelming, German military influence throughout the Middle Ages. Moreover, this was especially evident in relation to its cavalry elite, who used equestrian and horse armor, very similar to the German ones. However, in general, the armament of the knightly cavalry of the Bohemian feudal lords was always more old-fashioned compared to what was observed in the neighboring German provinces until the XIV century. Interestingly, the bow in these lands was not as popular as the crossbow, and firearms also came to the Czech Republic with some delay. In any case, it is not mentioned in any of the documents that have survived to our time until the beginning of the 15th century, even if the artifacts preserved in Czech museums date back to the 14th century.
A very indicative technique for kushin a spear. The Psalter of Queen Mary, 1310-1320 (British Library, London)
The Kingdom of Arles, also known as the Kingdom of Burgundy, was created in the 10th century from Burgundy and Provence, which, in turn, were the result of the Treaty of Verdun signed in 843. By the end of the 11th century, the kingdom of what is now western Switzerland, France east of the Rhone and Sons, and several areas west of these rivers, had become part of the Empire. During the 13th and first half of the 14th centuries, most of the southern part of the kingdom was gradually absorbed by France. And Burgundy did not seem to have any distinctive military features, except for retaining a mass of peasant infantry in the Swiss mountains. As for the feudal nobility, it was under strong French, German and Italian influence.
"The assassination of Thomas Aquinas". Miniature from Luttrell's Psalter, 1320-1340 (British Library, London)
As in other western parts of the Empire, as well as in Italy, the feudal troops here had to receive payment if they were sent outside their own domains. As elsewhere, here more and more relied on mercenaries, and the same crossbowmen, for example, were recruited in Italy, and the infantry in Spain. Mounted crossbowmen, introduced in the 13th century, are believed to have been paid professionals. At the same time, the presence of crossbows was not recorded among the Swiss until the beginning of the 13th century. But then this weapon became very popular among the inhabitants of almost all Swiss cantons.
"Knights of the Holy Roman Empire on the march." Illustration from "Li Fet de Romain" ("Epistle to the Romans"), Italy, Naples. 1324-133 biennium (National Library of France, Paris)
The mountain peasantry of modern Switzerland, living in the German duchy of Swabia and in the north of the Burgundian kingdom, later produced some of the most effective and famous crossbowmen of the late Middle Ages. Many Swiss served as mercenaries in northern Italy as early as the 13th century, where they became familiar with the most advanced infantry tactics of the time. And then they surprised the whole of Europe, first by successfully defending their mountainous homeland from knightly cavalry, and then turning into the most effective mercenary infantry of the 14th century. Moreover, it is interesting that at the beginning of the XIV century they relied primarily on halberds, and only in the middle or at the end of the XIV century they supplemented them with long spears.
References:
1. Nicolle, D. Arms and Armor of the Crusading Era, 1050-1350. UK. L.: Greenhill Books. Vol.1.
2. Oakeshott, E. The Archeology of Weapons. Arms and Armor from Prehistory to the Age of Chivalry. L.: The Boydell Press, 1999.
3. Edge, D., Paddock, J. M. Arms and armor of the medieval knight. An illustrated history of Weaponry in middle ages. Avenel, New Jersey, 1996.
4. Benjamin, A. German Knighthood 1050-1300. (Oxford University Press Academic Monograph Reprints), 1999.
5. Gravet, C. German Medieval Armies 1000-1300. London: Osprey (Men-at-Arms # 310), 1997.
6. Verbruggen, J. F. The Art of Warfare in Western Europe during the Middle Ages from the Eight Century to 1340. Amsterdam - N. Y. Oxford, 1977.
