Afree company (sometimes called agreat company or, in French,grande compagnie) was an army ofmercenaries 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 byplunder when they were not employed; in France they were calledroutiers andécorcheurs and operated outside the highly structured law of arms.[1] The term "free company" is most often applied to those companies of soldiers which formed after thePeace of Brétigny during theHundred Years' War and were active mainly in France, but it has been applied to other companies, such as theCatalan Company and companies that operated elsewhere, such as in Italy[2] and theHoly Roman Empire.
The free companies, or companies of adventure, have been cited as a factor as strong asplague or famine in the reduction ofSiena from a glorious rival of Florence to a second-rate power during the later 14th century; Siena spent 291,379 florins between 1342 and 1399 buying off the free companies.[3] TheWhite Company ofJohn Hawkwood was active in Italy in the latter half of the 14th century.[4]
Mercenary groups first appeared in the 12th century, when they participated inthe Anarchy (a conflict of succession between KingStephen and EmpressMatilda between 1137 and 1153).
In the 1180s, similar groups were integrated into the armies of the King of France underPhilip II of France. These troops of seasoned mercenaries were organized and mobile, a valuable advantage during the battles of the time, and were important elements of the armies ofHenry II of England and his son,Richard I. KingJohn used them at the beginning of his reign, when he was richer and more powerful than the King of France. However, in 1204, he did not pay the mercenaries. Philip II of France used them to overcome thePlantagenets.
During theHundred Years War between England and France there were intermittent hostilities punctuated by periods of truce, when soldiers would be laid off en masse. In the absence of civilian skills and opportunities many, especially the foreign soldiers, formed armed bands known asbandes deroutiers orécorcheurs and made a living by pillaging the countryside of southern France until hostilities resumed. Similar events occurred in Spain and Germany. By the time of theTreaty of Brétigny (1360), which brought about a several years suspension of the Hundred Years War, the bands had grown in size to the point where they had evolved an internal structure and adopted romantic names. TheTards-Venus (late-comers), led bySeguin de Badefol, ravagedBurgundy andLanguedoc and even defeated the forces of the Kingdom of France at theBattle of Brignais in 1362.
TheCatalan Company, formed in Spain in the early 1300s, fought in theByzantine Empire before ending up in what is now Greece and theNavarrese Company, also formed in Spain, followed them there.
By 1356, free companies, men at arms, andbrigands had spread throughout the country from theSeine to theLoire engaging in unlawful activities. They had especially infested the roads fromParis toOrléans,Chartres,Vendôme, andMontargis.
Brigands were recruited from all nations, but mainly from troops dismissed from the army ofEdward III of England after the peace treaty of Brétigny. On October 24, 1360, after the Treaty of Calais ratified the ceasefire of 8 May, Edward III had ordered the evacuation of English troops from fortresses in many parts of France.
One of the main brigand leaders was aWelshman named Ruffin, who was enriched by robberies and became aknight[citation needed]. These bands of brigands occupied and ransomed towns such asSaint-Arnoult,Gallardon,Bonneval,Cloyes,Étampes,Châtres,Montlhéry, Pithiviers-en-Gatinais,Larchant,Milly-la-Forêt,Château-Landon, andMontargis. Meanwhile,Robert Knolles headed an Anglo-Navarrese band of brigands near the borders ofNormandy, where he earned 100,000écus.
Eventually the King of France sent hisconstable to escort these bands toSpain in order to rid France of them. There they could assistHenry of Trastamara in his ongoing feud with his half-brotherPeter of Castile. However, after placingHenry ofTrastamara on the throne ofCastile, the companies returned toFrance. One company plunderedVire in 1368[5] and another, conducted by John Cresswell and Folquin Lallemant, seizedChâteau-Gontier.
TheTard-Venus were mercenaries who had been demobilized after theTreaty of Brétigny of 8 May 1360. Under the orders ofSeguin de Badefol, they raged fromBurgundy toLanguedoc. In 1362, inBrignais, they defeatedJacques de Bourbon,Count of La Marche.
TheWhite Company (Compagnia Bianca) was also formed after the Treaty of Brétigny and was under the command ofJohn Hawkwood.
TheBretons and theEnglish inDauphiné were companies which operated from 1374 to 1411, and accompanied the Counts ofArmagnac,Turenne, andDuguesclin during their conflicts inProvence andItaly, which brought about theGreat Schism between thepopes of Avignon andRome. One of their achievements was taking the Château de Soyons in 1381, from which they were later dislodged by Bouville, governor of Dauphine and MarshalOlivier V de Clisson. Their leaders were Guilhem Camisard,Amaury de Sévérac (the Bastard of Bertusan) and John Broquiers.
TheÉcorcheurs were demobilized mercenaries who desolated France in the 15th century after theTreaty of Arras in 1435.
The structure of 12th-century Italy, where a patchwork of rich city states were in a state of perpetual dispute with their neighbours, provided an ideal base for the later and larger mercenary groups with their complements of cavalry, infantry and archers and complex internal structure. Predominantly made up of Italian and German troops, they included theGreat Company formed by the German knightWerner von Urslingen (1342), theCompagnia di San Giorgio formed by the Italian noblemanLodrisio Visconti in 1339, theWhite Company formed by Albert Sterz (1360) and theCompagnia della Stella of Anichino di Bongardo (Hannekin Baumgarten) (1364).
The companies made a good living by extortion (Siena paid the companies 37 times not to attack them) or by contracting to fight on behalf of one city state against another. They came to be known, in particular their leaders, ascondottieri, from the Italian word for contractor. On several occasions the companies were contracted by different states to fight each other.
By the mid-1400s, the power of the free companies had come to an end with the rise in centralised state power and military force.[6]
| Company | Founded | Leaders | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catalan Company | 1302 | Roger de Flor;Bernat de Rocafort | Disbanded, 1390 |
| Navarrese Company | c.1360 | Mahiot of Coquerel;Pedro de San Superano | Disbanded, c.1390? |
| Great Company | 1342 | Werner von Urslingen;Fra' Moriale;Konrad von Landau | Disbanded, 1363 |
| Compagnia di San Giorgio (I) | 1339 | Lodrisio Visconti | Disbanded, 1339 |
| Compagnia di San Giorgio (II) | 1365 | Ambrogio Visconti | Disbanded, 1374 |
| Compagnia di San Giorgio (III) | 1377 | Alberico da Barbiano | Italians only |
| White Company | c.1360 | Albert Sterz;John Hawkwood | Disbanded c.1390 |
| Company of the Hat | 1362 | Niccolò da Montefeltro | Disbanded, 1365 |
| Compagnia della Stella (I) | 1364 | Anichino di Bongardo;Albert Sterz | Disbanded, 1366 |
| Compagnia della Stella (II) | 1379 | Astorre I Manfredi | Disbanded, 1379 |
| Company of Bretons | c.1375 | Jean Malastroit[7] | |
| Company of the Hook | 1380 | Villanozzo of Brumfort;Alberico da Barbiano | |
| Company of the Rose | 1398 | Giovanni da Buscareto; Bartolomeo Gonzaga | Disbanded, 1410 |