landesknechte

Updated: May 25, 2025

Maximilian's first Reichstag in 1495 caused to be issued an Imperial edict suppressing the right of private warfare claimed and exercised by the whole noble class from the princes of the empire down to the meanest knight. Maximilian also organized a standing army of mercenary troops, called Landesknechte.

Ernest Belfort Bax - German Culture Past and Present