Explanation: During the Hundred Years’ War between medieval England and France, the war was not… entirely regular in its tempo. That is to say, there would be periods of low and high activity. And as national armies were not really a major force of this period, much of the war was prosecuted either by militia, warrior nobility, or mercenaries. Militia return to their civilian careers in times of low-activity; warrior-nobles (and retinues) to their fiefs. But mercenaries? Mercenaries go where the work is, or seems likely to be… and if the war seems likely to flare up again soon, why not linger a while longer?
Of course, when lingering in an area, it becomes necessary to supply oneself… and the locals are rarely well-armed enough to refuse any ‘purchases’ you may wish to make, especially when their lords are off licking their wounds in preparation for the next period of campaigning against England/France…
Mercenaries were thus troublesome and destructive, but neither side was strong enough to do without them.
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Explanation: During the Hundred Years’ War between medieval England and France, the war was not… entirely regular in its tempo. That is to say, there would be periods of low and high activity. And as national armies were not really a major force of this period, much of the war was prosecuted either by militia, warrior nobility, or mercenaries. Militia return to their civilian careers in times of low-activity; warrior-nobles (and retinues) to their fiefs. But mercenaries? Mercenaries go where the work is, or seems likely to be… and if the war seems likely to flare up again soon, why not linger a while longer?
Of course, when lingering in an area, it becomes necessary to supply oneself… and the locals are rarely well-armed enough to refuse any ‘purchases’ you may wish to make, especially when their lords are off licking their wounds in preparation for the next period of campaigning against England/France…
Mercenaries were thus troublesome and destructive, but neither side was strong enough to do without them.