The Worcester Fahnlein is part of the Worcester Household historical interpretation and living history group. This site is devoted to our interpretations of the flamboyant and much feared Landsknecht mercenaries from the early to mid 16th Centuries. We believe we are one of only a few groups in the UK portraying these soldiers and take pride in trying to present an accurate interpretation, along with well informed input from our highly experienced re-enactors.

But first...a bit about us.

The Worcester Household was originally established over 20 years ago as a medieval re-enactment society, based around the household of Sir John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester. Anyone who is interested can access the legacy site and read about our early years and some of the history of the Earl or Worcester here. Over the years our members have expanded the periods we represent and have been involved presenting high quality living history demonstration in a number of other periods, including Early Medieval, Napoleonic, Victorian, Edwardian, WW1 and WW2.

Now..back to the Landsknechts..........

Who were the Landsknechts?

The Landsknechts, literally Servants of the Land, were mercenary soldiers who were originally formed by the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian, in 1486. The Holy Roman Empire was a collective of a lot of European states, dating back to the first Emperor, Charlemagne, in 800. The boundaries moved but In the middle ages it comprised largely of Germany, Italy, Burgundy and Bohemia.

Created to counter the effect of the Reislaufer, Swiss based mercenaries who were proving extremely effective fighting the Burgundian and Italian wars of the late 1400's, Landsknechts adopted a similar style of flamboyant dress and military tactics. Fighting largely in large pike ranks, supported by gunners (arquebusiers) Officers with Halberds and Dopplesoldners wielding zweihanders, huge two handed swords to break through pike formations.

Lansknechts fought for one thing..money. There was an understanding that they didn't fight for France or against other Landsknechts but, aside from that, their motto was "No Money No Landsknechts!" There are even accounts of them quitting the battlefield or even changing sides as money ran out or more was offered.

Why dress like that?

At the time there were sumptuary laws that defined how people were allowed to dress, according to their status in society. Dressing as the Landsknechts did was outrageously offensive and way above their station in life. However, Maximillian is quoted as saying "Their lives are short and hard, leave them be", effectively exempting them from these laws. As a result they dressed increasingly flamboyantly. It had the additional advantage the they could be seen immediately on the battlefield and, in a period where armies were largely made up of conscripted and non professional soldiers, seeing the splash of colour entering the battlefield must have struck fear into the ordinary figthing men. As they knew highly trained professional soldiers, with the latest weaponry were opposing them.

What about the women?

Since Landsknechts travelled from one mercenary employment to another, they had no fixed homes. So their women, children and a whole host of logistical support would move with them. The women and children played a pivotal role, preparing defences, loading weapons in sieges, handling finances etc. This large baggage train was known as The Tross and a Fahnlein of 4000-5000 troops would likely have almost as many in the Tross.