Osprey,.Men-at-Arms.#094.The.Swiss.At.War.1300-1500.(1979).95Ed.OCR.8.1

MEN-AT-ARMS'·'SERIES~ 94I MILITARY THE 'SWISS AT WAR 1300-1500 . .. ...:.. DOUGLAS lVIILLER G A ElVIBLETON First published in Great Britain in 1979 by O sprey, an imprint of Reed Co nsumer Books Ltd . Xlichc lin House, 81 Fulharn Road, London S\\'3 6R B and Auckland, Melbourne, Singap ore and T oronto © Copyright 1979 Reed Intern ational Books Ltd. Reprinted 1981 , 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 199:) All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the ptllv ose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitt ed under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act, 1988, no part of this publication may be repro duced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electron ic, electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical. photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Enqui ries should be addressed to the Publi hers. ISB N 0 85045 3348 Filmset in Great Britain Printed in Hong Kong The author and artist wish to record their gratitude to the following for th eir generous assista nce : Eu gen Heer and Ian Ashdown of the Chateau de Grandson ; Frau Dr Rapp and Max A. Antonini of the Schweizerisches Landesmuseum, Zurich; Fraulein H . H urni of the Historisches Museum, Berne; A. V. B. Norman, Master of the Armouries, and Ian Eaves, ofH.M. Tower of London ; H elmu t 1 iekel, Curator of Arms and Armour, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. De Witt Bai ley for his advice ; Tony de Reuck for reference sources; Terence Wise for photographs; Martin Windrow for his patience; Dorothy Morris for photographic work; and Helen Bosshard for her invaluable translations an d frequ ent help. The author and artist accept responsibility for any errors of interpretation from the material studied during the course of research. If you would like to receive more inlo rmation about O sprey :-'Iilitary hooks, The O spr ey :\l esscllgcr is a regu la r newslette r wh ich co ntai ns a rtic les, IlC\\" title information and spec ial oile rs. T o join li·ee of chargc please wr ite to: O spr ey Military Messeng~r , PO Box 5, Rushden, Northants NNIO 6YX SOURCES J oh annes Hane, Militiirisches aus dem Allen Zurichkrieg, ZUrich , 1925. Historisches Museum, Berne, Die Burgunderbeute und Wake der burgundischen Hofkunst, Berne, 1969. H ans Rudolf Kurz, Schioeiz erschlachten, Bern e, 1977. Louis Muhlemann, Wappen und Fahnen der Schioeir, Lu cerne, 1977. Emmanuel von Rodt, Geschichte des Bemischen Kriegs- tuesens von der Grilndung der Stadt Bern bis r ur Staats- unioalrung von [798, Ed. t . Berne, 183 I. W . Schaufelberger, Der alte Scluoeir er und sein Krieg, Zurich, 1966. Charles Oman, The Art of War in the Middle Ages, London 1976, New York. Diebold Schilling, Chronicles of Berne, 1483- Schloss Lenzburg, Rittertum, Aargau, 1964- 1JltlYJdttctioll During the 14th and 15th centuries military tactics in Europe underwent a period of sus- ta ined transformation of which th e outcome was the rejuvenation of the footsoldier as the major tacti cal uni t. One nation a lone sta nds principally responsible for these developments-the Swiss Confede ra tion. The original Swiss were kno wn as Helvetii, or H elvetic Celts. They were subdued by the Romans, and thus became free-born ' subjects of the Roman Empire. Despite many i~vasions from east and west, th ey remainedfree until the 13th century, when their independence was threatened We have tried in this book to reconstruct as far as possible the costume and weapons of the lower ranks of the Swiss, and to outline, on the basis of illustra tive material , the armour of the wealthier Swiss. As will appear, there does not seem to have been a particular national costume style, an d armour d uring the 15th cen tury wa s considerab ly influ enced by German a nd I ta lian modes . Some of the Swiss nobles served abroad, a nd no doubt imported these fashions on their return. Due to the somewhat patch y sta te of inform- ation on costu me an d a rmo ur in Switzerland during the la te 14th and ea rly 15th cen turies, and the constrain ts of space in a book of this typ e, we have chosen to conce ntra te on the fascinating per iod from the middle to th e end of the 15th century, em bracing the Burgundian W ars and the rise of Sw iss mi litary m ight to its zenith. This has sti ll presen ted us with agonizing problems of selection: the ma teri al from th e marvellous Swiss chronicles of the peri od , and th e very large number of surviving banners, would alone fill a larger book than this. * * * The Swiss at IlliroIJoO-1500 by th e ambitious H absburg dyn asty of Austria. In 129 I , three comm unities on the shores of Lak e Lucerne - Uri , Schwyz a nd Unterwalden -e- known as th e W aldstdue or 'Fores t Cantons' , formed an a llia nce against th e Au strian aggressor. This so-called 'Everlast ing Leagu e' gave birth to the Swiss Confederation-the Schioeir erische Eidgenossenschaft , which was forged together eve n more firml y in 1315 after the battle of M orgarten. ,T he Treaty a t Rii tli in 129 I m ade first mention of th e word Eitgenoze (lite ra lly 'sworn com ra de') a nd marks the actual birth of th e Swiss Con- fed er ation. In the course of the lon g str ugg le to assert thei r indep enden ce th e Waldsratte wer e to be joined by other ca n tons and com m u nities, so that by the beginning of th e r Gth ce ntury th e Confed er ation had thirteen members. During the struggle for Swiss indep enden ce, the 'New Romans' (as they were later to be termed by M ach iavell i) we re to become the most powerful a nd feared military force in Europe. For centuries th e mounted kni ghts, as Oman sta tes, 'had ridden roughshod over the popu- lations of Europe' . It was in th e Swiss halberdier and later the pikem an that the mounted men-at- a rms were to meet their match in the 14th and 15th centuries. This book tr aces these tacti cal d evelopments and outlines the organization, weapons and costume of the Swiss during this period. O'gOllizotioll One of the major factors contributing towards th e military effectiven ess of the Swiss was the ability of the Confederation to put a great number of men swiftly into th e field. This was gre~tly facilitated by the introduction of conscription around the middle of the 15th century, so that THE SWISS AT WAR 1300-1500 X FRANCHE COMTE Grandson . Map of Switzerland showing the Thirteen Cantons 1315. The heavy outline marks the Forest Cantons (Waldstiitte); t he uninterrupted lines are the boundaries of the respective cantons , while the dotted line marks subject territories and Allies . o, SWABIA TYROL 20, t 40, miles during th e existence of th e Eight Cantons some 54,000 men could be put in to th e field. Gen erally the numbers to be conscrip ted were determined by the ca n tona l and local co unc ils of elde rs. Basicall y th ere were three ca tego ries of sold ie r : th e Ausrug, the Landwehr, a nd th e Landsturm, The Auszug was .the elite corps a nd com prised th e younger , usuall y unm arried men aged between eighteen a nd thirty. The Landwehr was formed from tho se old er men who would be prep ared to leave home if the need a rose . The Landsturm was the equiva len t of the levee en masse. ,and was re- sorted to only in tim es of general emergency, for which a special system of com m unica tion was developed. Each soldier was obliged to buy his own armour and weapons, although if they were damaged the canton or community was responsible for the repairs. In the cities, the guilds and in ' the out- lying commun ities, the local coU'ncils were ob liged 4 to finance th eir own con tingents. Each soldier was obliged to ca rry four to six days' supply of food with him to the muster. This system pro- vided for great military indep enden ce, and onl y in exce p tiona l cases were m ercen aries recruited to supp lemen t can tona l forces. Ea ch roll call, or A1annschaftsrodel, usually set ou t in detail how many men were to be con- scripted from th e city in question and how many from the outlyin g comm unities ; which weapons they were to carry; and who was to be placed in command of th e particu lar contingent. Each guild, for example, was obliged to select those men who were to serve in th e Au szu g. The Banner-the cantonal or supreme Con- federate sta ndard (and by derivation , the name of the major organizational unit)-was the rally- ing point for each con tingen t or army, and was carried at th e side of the oberster Feldhauptmann or commander. Thi_s officer was usually appointed by th e can tona l cou nc ilor by a co u nc il of war consisting of the va rious o fficers of each co n tingent an d th e men. Each Feldhauptrna nn kept his own staff of a scribe, a field su rgeo n, a cook, a n execu tioner and a r'Veibel, whose task it was to enfo rce di sci pl ine. Ben eath the Feldhauptrnann the most im portant ra nk was th a t of th e Venner or ensign , who bo re the sta nda rd during battle a nd othe rwise kept it a t home. On th e march the standard was usually carr ied by a bearer who was design ated a sec tion of bodygu ards under th e command of a Bannerhauptmann, The ZUrich Bannertoache co nsisted of twe n ty-six bodyguards, two men from th e Co ns tafel co n tingen t and two chos en from each of the twel ve rem aining guilds A h elm (Kiibelhelrn} and coat of plates (Spa IIgellharnisch} a s worn by men-at-arms in the second half of the 14th ccneury. The hebm consists of five riveted plates, and was worn over a bascinet and mail avenrail, Later it was rele- gated to the jousting field. The 'coat of plates' was in wide- s p r ea d use during this period, and was often worn under a surcoat or covered by fabric. The plates were riveted to a of th e city . Aro und th e ca n tona l banner wo u ld be gro upe d th e va rious Fiihnleiu of th e parti cular g uilds or co m m u nities list ed in th e ro ll ca ll. In th e case ofa co nfedera te as op posed to a can to na l form ation the represented cantona l banners would be gro u ped a ro u nd th e Sw iss standard . The Fahn- lein -which lit erall y means 'a sma ll flag ' - was the tacti cal sub unit a nd usu ally numbered be- tw een 50 a nd 15 0 men. It was not uncommon for th ere to be Selliitz enfii/mlein co ns isting excl u- sively of handgunners and cross bowrne n and placed under the com mand o f a Schiiteenhaupt- mann. Each Ftihnl ein had a specia l guard of two m en a ttache d to it. A further ta cti cal unit was leather undercoat and overlapped. Several s e t s of such plate armour have been found at Visby in Gotland. German effigies of the 14th century show a great variety of fabric- covered armour, studded and suggesting all manner of plates, padding and s t r ip s of metal protecting body and limbs, often covered by a loose and s orrierbmes padded surcoat. (Schweizerisches La.ndcs rrrusorrrrr, Ziirich) 5 the Rolle or section. This usuall y consisted of ten men . Eac h ca n tona l bann er had its own compleme nt of musician s- a fifer, drummer and ba gpiper. The musicians were usuall y in the pay of the ca nto na l com mander. Some ca ntons were dis- tinguished by their grea t wa r horns or Harst- horner (such as Lu cerne, U ri and Unterwalden ). At the muster , each canto n and contingent would swear an oa th on th e Banner and the a rticles of wa r were read ou t to the men. The I The oldest surviving Swiss halberd dates from Morgarten, but it was in fact the battle of Sempach which transformed infantry tactics. The early form of the halberd consisted of a 1.8m-Iong ashen staff with a type of elongated hatchet held onto the staff by two eyes. In some cases a slightly curved hooked bill was held by a separate eye. Thts proved useful both for parrying a blow and unseating a mounted man-at-arms. The priInitive or Sernpach halberd, as it is known, evolved from this, and is distinguished by two iron protrusions added at front and back to the socket and riveted to the shaft to strengthen the weapon and increa se its effect. The early models are characterized by an almost axe-like appearance and short point. The round shape of the shaft was soon replaced by a polygonal cross-section for a better grip. The later 'Ber"ese' type of halberd, which evolved during the 15th century, is characterized by a much more compact head with a single hook forged into the back of the blade, as above. A halberd weighed between 2'5kg and 3.okg. (Chateau de Grandson) i' basic military ord ina nce of the Swiss was laid down in th e Covenant of Sempach 1393. Apart from esta blishing military co-o rd ina tion and in terdependen ce between the ca n tons (each canton was to see to the training of its men, fo r example) it set out a detail ed code to ensure discipline both within and between the con- tingents, and to contro l the rank and fi le in plunder and booty-sharing. The election of the officers was a lso ca rr ied out a t the mu ster. Usua lly supreme comma nd was given to the officer in com mand of the canton whi ch had ca lled the va rious con tingen ts to- ge ther. The officers of each subco ntinge nt were usually elected by th e respecti ve community council of elde rs. In some ·cases the cantons prefer red to ac t indep endently with the result tha t in some engageme nts-e.g. Morat-there was no supreme commande r. T he qu estion of command was thu s han dled in a democratic manner, with councils of wa r consisting of the officers of each continge n t assem bling before each battle to co-ord ina te tac tics. I t is for this reason that the peri od in qu estion produced no great Swiss military commander ; only a t Laupen could the Confede ra tes be said to have had an overall leader in Rudolph von Erl ach. After these preliminaries a nd the election of the officers, the a rmy would be drawn up in the usual three units of the Vorhut, Geioalthut and Nachhut. This procedure must have been very orderly and precise. A special officer known as the Ordnungsmacher was appoin ted to dress the ranks. The muster-rolls not only listed the names of th e men in each contingen t ; th ey a lso set down whi ch weapons they were to bring, and the position ea ch subcontingen t was to take in relation to the cantonal or confederate banner. The detailed manner in which this was carried out can be illustrated in the . following example from roll list number 1748, setting out how many crossbowmen the Constafel guild was obliged to send against Schwyz during the Old ZUrich Wars in 1442-43: Constafel Guild Johannes Swend: Hauptmann Jacob Benn · } shall guard th e Pentelly Hagnower Constafel standard Swegler an Ottenbach-shall take command of the following crossbowmen: Tombstone of Walter von Hohenklingen, killed at the battle I of Sempach, 1386. This is a fine example of a typical late .. 14th century knight. Note the padded aventail worn over I the mail, the dagger suspended horizontally across the groin, and the buckles on the inside leg fastening the leg armour. Note also the lance rest .on the right-hand side of the breast plate. (Schweizerischcs Landesmuseum, Zurich) Erhart Thyg Ulrich Moser Rudy Baldinger Hans Sidenfaden Cunrat am Wasen Sigmund Graff " Rudy Imbach Werder Heine \Veibel .U ly Gelter Hans.Zeller Winamt Zoller In addition the list instructs Hans Swend as Hauptmann to take three ranks (,(}leten) and deploy them to the left hand side of the Banner. ulctics 011d C01JZpaigllS Swiss infantry tactics underwent a considerable transformation during the wars of independence. Broadly speaking, their development can be divided into two periods: the period from Mor- garten (1315) to Arbedo (1422); and from the battle of St Jacob-en-Birs (1444) to the Swabian "Val's (1499) and beyond into the Italian Wars of the first quarter of the rSth century. The early development of Swiss tactics is characterized by the employment of somewhat primitive yet deadly effective ploys , beginning with the classic encounter at Morgarten. Morgarten 1315 Schwyz was one of the first of the Forest Can tons to assert its independence against the Habsburgs, and precipitated hostilities by plundering a pro- tected monastery at Einsiedeln in 1315. Facing a combined Austrian force of some 9,000 men, including 2,000 mounted knights under Leopold I, Schwyz withdrew behind an intricate system of earthworks and palisades. Leopold, aware of these defensive systems, chose to focus his advance at their weakest point, which was through the pass at Morgarten. Schwyz, completely cut off, could muster only 1,300 men, including some 300 auxiliaries from Uri and a small contingent of approximately 100 men from Unterwalden. The Austrian army approached the pass in a long column with the knights in the van. Having reached the narrow defile, the Austrian column found the way forward blocked. Forced to pro- ceed sharply to the left and along a narrow track, the column soon encountered a further obstacle at the hamlet of Schafstetten, where asmall group of Schwyzer stubbornly attempted to hold back the Austrian .van. By haIting its advance, the Schwyzer had succeeded in the first .stage of their tactical ploy, for the column now started " to concertina into an immobile mass. A chosen 7 group of Schwyzer were now sent down the wooded slope from the main force above, wi th the task of cutting off the Austrian van from the columns of foot by blocking the track with tree- trunks and debris. Almost a t once the Swiss commenced th eir charge down through the woods, showering the confined Austrians with a hail of stones and followin g up the im petus with their halberds and axes. The result was tota l panic. The Austrians were driven in to the marshes to their rear and cut down. Some 2,000 Austrians, mainly knights, met th eir death. The losses of the Schw yzer were minimal. Morgarten demonstrated above anyth ing else the lack of respect which the Forest Can tons had for the mounted knight, and for the notion that battles had to be fought out as a form of tourna- ment en masse. Surprise, coupled with the skilfu l use of the terrain, were the main tactical factors in the success of the Forest Cantons. H owever, this could not a lways be guaran teed, as at Laupen for example. Laupen 1339 The battle of Laupen was the outcome of the war between Berne and a feudal a lliance of Fribourg, Burgundy and a number of related duchies. Bern e, anxious to establish a bulwark between herself and her aggressors opened hosti li ties by occupying the fortress and city of Laupen. In 1339, a r z.ooo-strong army of Fribourg and Burgundian contingents laid siege to th e city. Berne, pressed to despatch a relief force, called for the assistance of the Forest Cantons, who sen t 450 men. A further 450 men joined from Sim- mental and Haslital, and even Solothurn, which also stood under threat, despatched eighteen mounted knights. These contingents brought the Bernese force up to 6,500; for the first time the Swiss were to be recognized by the white cross which each man had sewn to his clothing. At Bramberg, a village to th e eas t of Laupen, the Swiss drew up into two columns, wit h the Forest Cantons facing the mounted Burgundi an knights on the Swiss left flank, and the Bernese contingent opposing the allied Fribourg foot. When battle commenced, the Forest Can tons soon found themselves hard-pr essed by the Bur- gundian knights while the Bernese faced the 8 This photograph s h ows a reconstruction helxnet and ere t of a Bas le knight - Ritter von Madeln. (Schweizerisches LandesxnuseUUl, ZUrich) oncoming Fribourg foot. Shortly before these two columns clashed Berne ordered her 'enfants perdus' to advance to within throwing distance and shower the enemy column with stones. This tactical ploy was intended to shake the format ion of the enemy, who would then feel the weight of the. Bernese hal berdiers and swordsmen. How- ever, the sigh t of the retreati ng stone throwers