10 Medieval Mercenaries Deadlier Than Entire Armies

#MedievalHistory #MilitaryHistory #HistoryDocumentary Did you know the most feared soldiers of the Middle Ages weren't knights fighting for honour, but professional killers who served whoever paid the most — and that one English mercenary grew so rich and powerful terrorizing Italy that Florence painted a fresco of him inside its own cathedral? Or that a single Hungarian standing army of hired soldiers was so effective it barely lost a major battle in thirty years, then collapsed almost overnight the moment the king who paid them died? Long before nations kept professional armies, the wars of medieval Europe were fought by mercenaries — free companies, condottieri, gallowglass, and the pike-wielding Swiss who sold their violence to the highest bidder. Some were disciplined soldiers who changed the art of war forever. Others were little more than organised bandits who bled whole regions white between contracts. This is a countdown of the 10 most dangerous mercenaries and mercenary companies of the medieval world, ranked by how deadly they truly were: who they fought for, what they did to earn their reputations, and why some of them were feared more than the kings who hired them. ⏱ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 — No. 10 Mercadier And The Brabançons 3:49 — No. 9 The Gallowglass 7:19 — No. 8 Werner von Urslingen 10:53 — No. 7 Fra Moriale 14:47 — No. 6 Arnaud de Cervole 18:29 — No. 5 Rodrigo de Villandrando 22:29 — No. 4 The Catalan Company 27:29 — No. 3 John Hawkwood 32:02 — No. 2 The Swiss Reisläufer 37:42 — No. 1 Black Army of Hungary 🔔 Subscribe for more forgotten history and the medieval warriors who never made it into your school textbook. Which of these companies do you think was truly the deadliest? Drop your pick in the comments — and tell us where you're watching from. #Mercenaries #Condottieri #MedievalWarfare #JohnHawkwood #HundredYearsWar #Knights #HistoryFacts