Routiers
Routiers were mercenary soldiers of the Middle Ages. Their particular distinction from other paid soldiers of the time was that they were organised into bands. The term is first used in the 12th century but is particularly associated with free companies who terrorised the French countryside during the Hundred Years' War.
Routiers of the 12th and 13th centuries
Although paid soldiers were known before the 12th century, the phenomenon of distinct bands of mercenary soldiers, often mainly footsoldiers, appears to date from the mid 12th century. Exactly what distinguishes these mercenaries from simple paid soldiers is disputed by scholars but common elements include fighting for profit, a "foreignness" of coming from a different geographical area to that in which they were fighting, and that as members of a rutta, a company of soldiers hired for specific campaigns, routiers moved from contract to contract. Numerous different terms were used for these troops, some geographical and other nicknames.Mercenary bands were mainly seen in France, Aquitaine and Occitania but also Normandy, England and the lands of the Holy Roman Emperor. They were noted for their lawlessness, with many complaints from the church about their depredations, leading to an explicit condemnation by the Third Lateran Council in 1179. Mercenary bands continued to be used but by the early 13th century they began to decline. While useful, they became increasingly unpopular. In England, not only was their brutality condemned, but the rise of mercenary leaders of lowly origins to high office caused friction within the nobility. King John's use of mercenaries in his civil wars led to condemnation and banishment of mercenaries in Magna Carta in 1215. Mercenary bands also fell from favour in France in the early 13th century, the end of the Albigensian Crusade and the beginning of a long period of domestic peace removing the context in which the routiers flourished.
Routiers in the Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War, which lasted from 1337 to 1453, was the backdrop to their pillaging. The Hundred Years' War was fought between two royal families over control of the French throne: the Plantagenets from England, and the House of Valois from France. The War, which is divided into three stages – the Edwardian War, the Caroline War, and the Lancastrian War – saw the development of new tactics and weaponry that revolutionised warfare during that time period.By 1348 the Black Death was tearing through Europe, England was bankrupt, and Edward was invading mainland France. In 1347 Edward besieged the city of Calais on the English Channel. Capturing Calais was a major strategic victory, which allowed the English to permanently keep troops in France. King Edward's son, the Black Prince, led a large band of routiers, captured the French King John II, and soon the French government began to fall apart.
Origins
The routiers' history can be traced back to a few years after the start of the Hundred Years' War, to Brittany in the early 1340s. No revenue was being generated from the revenues of the Duchy of Brittany for the English army, which meant that the army's soldiers had to live off the land. This "living off the land": began as simple freebooting, but quickly transformed into patis, or "ransoms of the country". A village near a garrison would usually be ransacked for any supplies. Subsequently, the village would be forced to pay the respective garrison for future protection.This system soon caused much instability in the region for a few reasons. The patis system did not generate any revenue for the English cause but it made small fortunes for individual captains. These captains, whose income depended on controlling an area, rather than wages from the Duchy, were hard to control. While in theory, the King's Lieutenant could rely on his garrisons in time of war, they were scarcely enthusiastic combatants. Furthermore, garrisons that were stationed in fringe territories were subject to boredom, which was relieved by random brutality. That state, coupled with the fact that they were surrounded by hostile inhabitants, caused a lot of animosity between the peasants and soldiers, which in a few instances led to skirmishes and made the task of governing the Duchy harder.
The problem was not confined to Brittany. Château de Lusignan was a fortress near Poitiers captured by the Earl of Lancaster in September 1346. When the Earl withdrew from the area he left a garrison under the command of Bertrand de Montferrand. Many of his troops were men with questionable pasts: criminals and misfits. Despite a truce between 1346 and 1350, the garrison laid waste to over fifty parishes, ten monasteries, and destroyed towns and castles throughout southern Poitou. In May 1347, a French force was sent to recapture the fortress but was ambushed by the garrison and forced to retreat.