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| Profilo di capitano antico, Leonardo Da Vinci |
Much like the assassin and the thief, the mercenary has come to play a large role in many Fantasy novels. I seem to remember that even Caramon, from the Dragonlance setting had been a "sell-sword" at some point in his career. Glen Cook's Black Company is all about a mercenary troop. GRRM has a fair number of mercs, though most of them don't seem to operate in the Seven Kingdoms. Rothfuss created the Adem, a culture that generates a fair number of high-priced swords-for-hire. My first real introduction to the mercenaries career was in Raphael Sabatini's Chivalry. SO, now that we've established their presence in genre fiction, where did they come from and who are they?
By definition, a mercenary is a professional soldier hired to serve in a foreign army. The Geneva Convention gets a little more detailed about technicalities, requiring that the soldier in question not be serving in a conflict where their county of origin is not a player (so the Blackwater guys in Iraq were not technically mercs while the US military was actively involved in the conflict), but that is a more modern point of view and not really on topic for this post. Further clarification of the definition suggest that a mercenary's primary motivation is money, as opposed to feudal obligation or national pride.
Mercenaries have been around since at least as long as we've been recording history. Before David became king of Israel, he served with the Philistines (after he killed Goliath). They were used by Egyptian Pharaohs, Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Genghis Khan, and so on down through history. During the Renaissance, Italian City-states regularly employed mercenaries in their wars. The Hessians were primarily German mercenaries employed by the Brits against their unruly American colonies. The Swiss Guard serve in the Vatican to this day, though in a rather different capacity than their illustrious forebears. All I'm trying to demonstrate here is that being a mercenary (sometimes referred to as the 2nd oldest profession), is not a new idea, nor is it restricted to a specific geography.
This occupation arose, quite simply, out of conflict. There are those men (or women) who discovered that they have a talent for violence. More than that though, conflicts might require foreign travel and being away from home for extended periods. Such massive disruptions in the life of any farmer or businessman could be ruinous. Beyond even that, the psychological toll that violent conflict could take on combatants is not a new thing. Those who went to war would rarely come home unchanged. Quite naturally, some decided to continue on in the profession. If their country or lord wasn't engaged in a conflict, they'd find someone who was.
War tends to provide quite the opportunity for financial advancement (assuming you don't get yourself killed) no matter what your original social standing. At the base level, you can go through the pockets of your fallen foes. To support an army on the march in enemy territory, soldiers would often have to "make use" of local supplies, pilfering food and materials. In some cases, theft and destruction were employed as a tactic by generals, to disrupt the tax-base of the local lord and demonstrate to his people that he wasn't very good at protecting them. Additionally, captured enemy combatants might be ransomed (depending on the local traditions of warfare) for quite a hefty sum, depending on who you nabbed. Finally, if you were involved in a war of conquest, fine service might be rewarded with a parcel of land all your own in the newly conquered territory. All of these seem like pretty enticing reasons for people who had very little other opportunity for advancement.
Mercenaries were not just pulled from the dregs of society. Entire clans, who perhaps had a tradition as fighters or raiders, might be hired to do someone else's dirty work. The Scottish gallowglass found service among the Irish clans. Celts served all over the Mediterranean in various conflicts. The Varangian Guard was a portion of the Byzantine Army who served as bodyguard to the Emperor and was primarily composed of Germanic and Anglo-Saxon people. As "soldier" became a profession, as opposed to a periodic occupation, it became a method of advancement for younger sons of the nobility (who had no interest in joining up with the church).
Employment of a mercenary (or mercenary company) can be a dangerous thing. Some were brought in as advisers and bodyguards to a lord, because they had no ties to the enemy. However, Machiavelli viewed this as a disadvantage because they could not be trusted to stay and fight if their lives were in significant jeopardy, since they had no personal stake in the conflict. Many are the examples of mercenaries being paid by the enemy to lay down their arms, or change sides in the middle of a conflict. There is a reason that "mercenary" has taken on a negative connotation.
There are many reasons why mercenaries have become so popular in Fantasy works. The primary reason is that of convenience: "I need a good excuse to have a guy who is really good with his sword who is available to go off on adventures." Second, within a company, you can mingle/showcase all levels of society in a setting that normally would not permit this. Third, mercenary organizations (yes, including pirates) tend to be essentially meritocracies (or even democracies) in a time or setting that does not usually favor this political form. Mercenaries are easily romanticized to represent the world-weary cast-offs that many of us sympathize with. They are just doing their job and trying to make their way in the world, just pay 'em promptly and don't get on their bad side.
What do you think? Why do we romanticize the mercenary? What makes this character type so appealing?
For an appropriate musical finish - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvTv-I2Y390
Reference
Wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercenary
Related Paper - http://www.ksk.edu.ee/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/KVUOA_Toimetised_15_2_Holmila.pdf
6 Famous Forces - http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/6-legendary-mercenary-armies-from-history
More Comprehansive - http://www.mercenary-wars.net/history-of-merc.html
Further Reading - http://www.soldiers-of-misfortune.com/
The Swiss Guard - http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/swiss_guard/swissguard/storia_en.htm
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