Course:History 344 Nasty Families/Warfare/Mercenaries

Throughout the 17th century the role of mercenaries and other foreign soldiers came to a zenith, effecting not only the mainland, but England as well The preference of mercenaries came in the highly drilled discipline, being pre-equipped, and general war time experience. While these were all advantages, with them came a series of disadvantages, some of which became prominent under puritan forces through the course of the Civil War.

Wars of religion had created many mercenary cores in Europe, predominantly in France, Germany, and the Low Lands. Cores from these countries traditionally had represented dominant religious sects but in practice religion became a less a concern. The result of this was an influx of Ottoman mercenaries, who came with a new armory that was diverse by contrast to their European neighbors

The size of Mercenary forces varied greatly, from tens of men to fully fledged armies. This resulted in anything from forces large enough to protect estates, to full scale war(2). Many elite groups became known at this time, such as the elite Catholic Wild Geese from Ireland. While religion may not have been a deciding factor for mercenary procurement, it was something that resulted in much pain for Parliamentary/Puritan forces of the English Civil war, as well as the Anglican Church to a lesser degree.

During the course of the Civil War musketeers hired by Cromwell took a Catholic sympathy, and were often found looting from Anglican churches and were known for raping Anglican and Puritan women wherever they had been put up. These actions ended in the dismissal of many of the mercenary battalions under Cromwell, and slowed his conquest. This was a show of how the Mercenary forces had contributed to a speedier victory and the relative weakness of the army during this time as a conscript core.

It should also be noted that during this time as much as 20% of the Scottish male population were abroad as mercenaries, not pleased with the results of the English Civil War and what little it had done for their country. The Scots became involved with many armed groups around Europe.

Mercenaries would form the core of Charles II army with weapons coming from Spain and France. They came to form the core of the post-protectorate army.