Byzantine Pythium - hype/brainstorming thread

[BigDaddy]

Originally Posted by Squirrelloid

Part of this is a shift in meaning of the term. The swiss mercenary companies wouldn't fight against the King of France and his armies, as a rule, because he was such a frequent user of swiss pike companies - indeed, some of them were in permanent french employ.

By the standards of the middle ages, anyone who fought for money was a mercenary. I assure you the swiss guard gets payed, and I assure you there is continuous history from the swiss mercenaries of the middle ages to the swiss guard in the vatican today. They are certainly derived from a mercenary company, and are arguably still technically mercenary. (What else would you call foreign nationals who perform military service for pay?)

They are Catholic men who are serving the Pontiff, their earthly king.