Renaissance Armies

>>2901158
bump for interest

>>2901158
The answer is: depends on, it's complicated, try to read some history books.

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>>2901158
If you would push the age a bit earlier, the catalan company would answer lots of them about mercs. If you have some free times read about them, it's a pretty fun train wreck about the ERE, including Kebab removing, backstabing, atrocities and lots of combats.
The first question is not always, republics tended to hire more mercs while monarchies tended to use, specially earlier, lots of feudal troops than would figth x days each year for free.
Bigger countries didn't field larger armies ever, but of course was pretty common for them to have more men.
Levies it's a last resource thing, you don't want the peasants and free men than are the backbone of your economy to die if you can hire some mooks. Mostly tough it was a mix dependigng of the zone, in Spain in general it was common to use the local troops for anything, in some city states in Italy to hire mercs for example.
Of course they did, different culture and only cared for money. So they were better for body guards because they were isolated and you got they loyalty as long as you paid them enough, like the ERE emperors did with they varangian guard.
They were recruited from all over, but determined zones produced more renowed mercs than other, like the Brabançons from Brabant, Aragones from Aragon, Bascoli from the Basque country, Genouse Crossbowmen, Stradiots from the balkans etc

>Did local mercenaries behave differently than foreign ones?
Well if they are locals, they aren't mercenaries aren't they ?

>Did monarchies usually field a higher percentage of men than republics?
Yes.
>Did larger countries always have a larger armies?
Yes.
>How likely was a country to use mercenaries over levies?
Depended on the conflict.
>Did local mercenaries behave differently than foreign ones?
Yes.
>Did countries hire mercenaries from all over europe or where they usually from only one area.
All over Europe.
>If mercenaries found themselves stronger than the country they were hired for would they be more inclined to plunder or rather take over the government?
Yes, mercenaries have always historically derived much of their wealth from the wealth of the countryside, even when at a disadvantage.

>>2901158
>Could I get some information on the relative size of armies from countries between the 1400-1793.
No, thats an individual thing, also your time frame is to long.

>Did monarchies usually field a higher percentage of men than republics?
mercenaries? Yes, normally they did, a good example is France who hired entire Swiss armies as their infantry.

>Did larger countries always have a larger armies?
Not necessarily, but the ability to support troops in the field is usually more developed with bigger countries.

>How likely was a country to use mercenaries over levies?
It was a standard procedure.

>Did local mercenaries behave differently than foreign ones?
yes, the have patricular interests and local loyalties, mercers just serve their lord.

>Did countries hire mercenaries from all over europe or where they usually from only one area.
From all over Europe, but Switzerland had a special status as they built up a mercenary industry. Scots and Flanders also had prominent mercenaries.

>If mercenaries found themselves stronger than the country they were hired for would they be more inclined to plunder or rather take over the government?
Installing a puppet and rule the country through him was an option.

>>2902225
Levies weren't really a thing generally. Especially during the Hundred Years War, where OP's starting date is, the vast majority of soldiers were professionals of some sort.

Also, nobles preferred not to use levies as it a) took tax payers away from work and b) might give peasants some training at arms. Monarchs were also against levies as it reduced the capacity of nobles to create private armies they could rebel with.

Otherwise, as s>>2902216 says, mercenaries start to form the backbone of the standing armies: e.g. mercenaries were a scourge across France during the Hundred Years War between the periods of major fighting. The French monarchs basically told them that they could either become a permanent standing military bound to the monarchy itself or the King would destroy them.

I don't think local mercenaries really acted anyway different to foreign ones. HTe idea of a nation state barely existed at this point. soldier from Ile de France down in Toulouse would ahve been as foreign as a soldier form Bohemia.

>>2902238
>I don't think local mercenaries really acted anyway different to foreign ones. HTe idea of a nation state barely existed at this point. soldier from Ile de France down in Toulouse would ahve been as foreign as a soldier form Bohemia.
There you are wrong, local soldiers where often problematic as they had ties to local lords and had an agenda of their own. One of the mainr easons to hire mercenaries from abroad, especially Switzerland was that they don't meddle in your politics, but just kill whatever you point your finger at.

>>2902099
books such as????


One last question, did mercs really stick around to siege castles? Was it free money to them or was it rather deadly endeavor?

>>2903365
They did as they did get paid for them. The fear in seiges wasn't necessarily storming a castle as that was kind of rare, the main problem was disease.

If you had to storm a castle and you did survive, the rewards were enormous, basically everything you could carry before the commander said stop.

>>2903365
>books such as????
Depends on, what interests you? Italian Condottieri? French Gens d'armes? Swiss Reisläufer? German Landsknecht?

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>>2901158
The Swiss had WMD's back in the day. No one could counter such a weapon

>>2903365
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