Re: Polish medieval terminology

Josh wrote:
>Quoth Mike Ellis:
>
> >> 2. What on Earth is a "landsknecht?"
> >
> > I don't know anything about Polish, but that word looks German. So I
>looked
> > it up in a German dictionary. I got "farmhand". Does that make sense?
>Might
> > be a borrowed German word.
>
>I'm sure it *is* borrowed from German, but "farmhard" doesn't quite work
>with the context--the text goes "Our department store received four hundred
>hauberks, the 16th century model, used in their time by landsknechts." I
>wonder if it's a term for one of the feudal levels? Eastern European
>history
>specialists, help! :)
I'm certainly not an Eastern European history specialist, but a
_Landsknecht_ is a kind of soldier. A late-mediaeval to early-modern German
mercenary heavy infantryman. I guess the German bit is optional, but you
only seem to hear of German _Landsknechte_.

_Knecht_ by itself can apparently mean "farmhand".

                                           Andreas

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