Sample place

A sample space is a space for screening and subsequent recruitment of mercenaries or mercenaries in the 16th and 17th centuries. An army entrepreneur set up such a place - usually near a town - to which potential mercenaries from the area who were recruited by advertisers with a handicap were sent. If they were found fit, the men were registered in flags and sent to their place of work. Army entrepreneurs often had a contract with sovereigns or colonels after they had to deliver a certain number of mercenaries.

The establishment of these places was mostly very unpopular in the neighboring cities, as the men to be examined often led to excessive alcohol consumption, fights and sometimes robbery and theft. It was also feared that many young men would become arrogant and rebellious as a result of the hand money paid out in advance.

Up until the Thirty Years' War there were often more men than needed because there were enough potential mercenaries in the urban and rural lower classes. The living conditions were so difficult for many that going to the flags often seemed worthwhile or was the only option. Only in the course of the war were so many fighters needed that advertising became more and more difficult. Incidents of fraudulent or forced advertising also increased.

As a place name is Musterplatz today in Bolzano in use.

literature

• Peter Burschel : Mercenaries in northwest Germany in the 16th and 17th centuries. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1994, ISBN 3-525-35650-1 .
• Reinhard Baumann: The mercenary system in the 16th century using the Bavarian and southern German example . Munich 1978.