Magnus Kompanie Aufgebot Hesse 1471-1499

eing a Living History group based in the land of Hesse, of the Holy Roman Empire during the 1470s.

Our group specializes in bringing history to life as our members accurately recreate life in the Holy Roman Empire during the 1470s.  From military impressions to their families and suppliers who followed in the wake of the soldiers on the march. 

The Hauptmann (Captain) and his Anhängerin (Bodyguards).

The Hauptmann is the one man to which the entire endeavor hinges upon. He is the undisputed leader of the force as well as administrator, law-maker and enforcer.

Note the AhlSpieß (needle spears) carried by the bodyguards. These bodyguards NEVER left their leader and are referred to as satellites.

Supplies are loaded into "hay-wagons" of a type used for several decades and continued in use in Germany and Germanic immigrants in other countries including Britain and America into the 1900's. The vertical slanted poles or planks were often reinforced with woven branches or heavy planks of wood so that they may be used in the wagon-fort defensive formation.

This image is in detail below. This is the quintessential image of an Imperial Germanic army on the march. Soldiers are clumped together into squads by similar weaponry. Each squad-type supports the other. Artillery crews support the rest of the army an longer ranges, while pole arms support the vulnerable artillery troops at close ranges.

Every person had an important role to play in the army, whether they were a combatant or not. Here we can see the 'huren', or camp-followers, ladies of the camp. By the 1480's law was passed that no man shall have more than one woman accompanying him on campaign and cannot claim him as hers unless married; this was in an effort to stop fighting in the camp over the single women. However, it was extremely common for entire families to follow the husband to war.

The woman of Germanic armies were often-times permitted to, if not put in charge of, looting. They followed in the wake of the advancing army and pillaged the enemy. Commonly, laws were passed to restrict looting of areas not under direct attack. Women being in charge of looting, coupled with laws that measure the amount of loot to be shared by the whole of the camp, were an effort to keep the soldiers fighting instead of stopping to loot.

 

Trosszug (Support- baggage train)

Note that the driver or drivers of a team of horses sits astride the lead horse, not atop a seat on the vehicle.

This wagon is covered in presumably canvas.

   

 

Artillerie (Artillery)

Artillery encompassed any ranged missile weapon. this included bow, crossbow and firearm. Note the mixed ranged weaponry, crossbow among the common handekanone "hand-cannon". This tactic allows the faster rate of fire from the crossbows to supplement the slower to load, but harder hitting hand-cannon.

While other countries moved to the arquebuss, also known as harquebuse, from Old French, alteration of Middle Dutch hakebus, or hackbut. The bulk of Germanic conscripts were still using the easily maintained hand-cannon.

cannon of all shape and size became an expensive, yet sought-after tool. The pintle-mounted cannon in the wagon is smaller, but more maneuverable. this type of wagon was the main arrchetype of the wagon-forts' primary line of defense. the tiangular holes at the sides are for firearms to protrude through and fire from behind the wagons' protection, much like a miniature castle-wall.

The cannon in the back has its casons (ammo box) mounted above the trundle (axels). Also often was to have the cason as a single chest that is mounted over the touch-hole to protect it on the march from debris and rain.
 

Yes, it's a tank. For all intents and purposes this curious and possibly unique carriage is possibly the very first "tank" or armoured personnel carrier in history. It boasts protective troop compartment with gun-slats to fire firearms through, as well as a cannon sprouting from the front.

What protective or armored properties the construction consisted of is unknown. Being that the frame pivots in the center, the side-walls must be pliable. Perhapse they used heavily oiled or doused leathers, as was common roofing material for battering ram parties centuries before?

Note the front gun is mounted on a swivel point. Many cannon of the era were not mussle-loaded, but rather constructed much lke coopery of between 3 and 7 individual iron cylanders held end-to-end by iron hoops. This allows the rear cylander to be removed and the cannon to be loaded much like a breech-loaded weapon.

 

 

Truppen (Troops)

avantgardistisch, or Vandgarde. By 1480 the term became vanguard. These troops, set about the front of the army, were in a very loose formation of squads with plenty of room to maneuver in case of an attack. The reason for having the supply train in the front is to deploy the use of the 'wagon fort', adapted from the Hussite's in the 1440's.

You can see the Wachemeister, or Captain of the Guard (not to be confused with the Hauptmann) in the foreground with his symbolic switch and stylish falchion slung from his hip. He leads the deployment of the camp and its defenses.

 

Halberdiers escort the main section of the wagon-train. the wagon drivers drive thier horses with a whip on an extention, rather than with spurs or a baton to the flank.

Note the two different styles of wagon. The canon-wagons at the outside, with the supply wagon, reinforced with woven thrush, interior.

support personnel such as engineers (the man in blue with the tree-felling axe) and cooks (in red riging atop the rear supply wagon) are formed at the end of the baggage-train line.

Note the scavenging dogs and the man in the upper-right corner. While he drinks from his canteen, a woman give strict instruction. Women during this era were masters of the house and it is likely they were also a force to be reckoned with in teh camp!

Originating from 1475 or 85 the term reregard, or rereguarde meaning the rear guard in our case is actually the bulk force of the army.

Swiss troops 1470. The excellence of their skill with the halberd and then the pike gained the Swiss confederacy freedom from Imperial domination some years before. The Empire has since sent its troops to be trained by the Swiss in their expert tactics.