The Landsknechts are professional soldiers, employed to recruit and train both local men and Dutch refugees to fight in the wars in the Low Countries - as Holland and Flanders are called. These German-speaking mercenaries and their women come from Bavaria, Tyrol, Swabia, and other parts of the Holy Roman Empire.
Their brightly colored clothing is "flashy" even by the standards of their own time. Sumptuary laws which keep the English from wearing clothing above their station do not apply to Landsknechts.
Their weapons are halberds, "beef tongues", and the two-handed sword called the zweihander, with which they are deadly. They are the most feared, most respected fighting men in Europe.
Guild of St. Michael
Renaissance Reenactment
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