Article letter
From the 15th to the 18th century, an article letter was understood by the mercenaries and soldiers to be the written collection of articles about their duties and rights. They were originally written by the colonels and later by the respective sovereigns .
While the first article letters contained only the rules for the campaign (field order), they became more and more detailed over time and contained articles on general discipline , obedience , the code of honor , the rights of mercenaries and on the limitation of their participation and Self-administration within a mercenary regiment . All recruits had to swear by the article letter .
In detail, the respective article letters differed from each other, but basically described the contractual obligation between the mercenary / soldier and his paylord and the duty to obey all orders - without exception and for all ranks.
swell
Web links
- Meyers Konversationslexikon : Keyword Landsknechte
- Johann Christian Lünig : Corpus iuris militaris of salvation. Rom. Reichs. Leipzig 1732, p. 748 , urn : nbn: de: bvb: 12-bsb10496595-7
- see. Peter Blickle: Der Bauernjörg: General in the Peasants' War. CH Beck, Munich 2015, Bibliography, Part 5 The war against divine law - Upper Swabia , footnote 23
literature
- Hans Delbrück: History of the Art of War. Part 3/4: The Middle Ages. The Modern Age. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-937872-42-1