The poor and strange Greek Stratioti who was member of the Freifechter Guild
By George. E. Georgas, fencing coach, Pammachon Hellenic Martial
Art Instructor, and Research Scholar for the Meyer Freifechter Guild.
I thank my student and member of the Academy of Historical European
Martial Arts ‘Leontes’, Mr. Aggelos Pilidis for his translation from
Greek to English language
In previous articles I have proven with evidence taken both from
historical sources and from works of art that, during the Renaissance,
the Greek (and Albanian ) Stratioti were serving under European armies,
like those of the Most Serene Republic of Venice and the Holy Roman
Empire of the German Nation. These poor, strange soldiers were so
popular that they ended up having great impact on the martial arts of
their employers.
The coat of Arms of the Freifechter Guild
I was also under the suspicion that the Greek mercenaries that were
serving the German empire had come in contact with the German fighting
guilds and brotherhoods. I first had this thought reading the books of
the last Master of Arms that followed the teachings of Liechtenauer. He
mentioned that in his travels he had met and trained under some foreign,
exotic warriors. I am of course referring to the Master of Arms and
Freifechter Joachim Meyer.
St. Vitus was the patron saint of the Freifechter Guild (St. Vitus also honor from the Greek Orthodox Church)
I thought my supsicion could be true, since many Greek (Romioi)
mercenaries had been knighted. As knights, they had the right to bear a
longsword and use it in combat along with the rapier and of course the
sabers that were the standard weapon of the Stratioti. Examples of such
men are the brothers George and John Manesis.
My second suspicion was about the Freifechters. Long before they were
called that, the guild had another name for very short time: Saint
George’s Guild. Saint George wasn’t particularely popular among the
Germans, but he was an important figure in two kingdoms, those of the
English and the Eastern Roman Empire. But the latter was no more.
Sebastian Heußler Freifechter and mercenary
Despite that, the patron saint of the mercenary Greek (Romioi)
Stratioti was St. George, and that was where I started thinking that
Greek warriors were in contact with the guild. Of course, the English
could have also been in contact with the guild, but there are no
mentions of English knights and warriors serving under the German
Empire. To the contrary, there were German instructors teaching the
enemies of the English, the Scottish. On the other hand there’s a
plethora of Greek mercenaries serving under the German Empire.
Imaginary portrait of Freifechter nd Master of Arms Joachim Meyer
Of course, the fact that the Stratioti were in contact with or part of the guild was still an unproven hypothesis.
Later the guild changed its name to the Freifechter Guild and its
patron saint to St. Vitus, patron saint of scribes and calligraphers,
whose symbol is the quill. The quill became the Freifechters’ symbol,
and that is why they were also called Federfechters.
They also used to adorn their hats with a quill, to let others know they were part of the guild.
The
picture is a part of a fresco in the church of St. Antony of Padua. The
fresco made from Filippo Da Verona, 1510. We can se a siege of Padua in
13th century but the soldiers were dressed and armed as the armies of
1500. Among them , there are various exotic warriors. In the middle of
the picture we can see a Stratioti with a long red vestment wearing also
his black hat; he is speaking with a Janissary who wears on his head
the characteristic hat of Hatzi Bectas in a red color. Also we can see
other Greek Stratioti with the same vestments ridding horses and bearing
their lances with their characteristics small flags on them. The
battle of Fornovo (also of Taro) took place at 1495. The painting is
from uknown artist and it supposed that was made near 1500. We can see
beard Greek Stratioti with their long hats and their sabers fought
against French men at arms and knights.
Each guild and brotherhood of that time had a symbol, and that of the
mercenary Stratioti was their strange long hats. Indeed, their attire
is recorded in Spanish catalogues that describe the clothing of the
people of the then known world. Those hats were worn by soldiers, their
captains and even those of them that were knighted. The looting of treasure of the king of France, from a Greek Stratioti.Greek Stratioti armed with lances.Greek Stratioti fought against French knights. A
Stratioti (from his clothes we can see that he is an Captain) , he
wears cloths very similar with the national cloths of Greeks of 18th
century, he wears the typical hat of his mercenary unit.
So we come to understand that the Stratioti hat, their strange
attire, and the quill in hats of some, were a declaration of their
identity. The first were the strange, poor soldiers, and those who wore
quills were declaring themselves to be Freifechters or Federfechters and
were unique (in their time).
Mercenaries in the tavern, picture of Urs Graf, 1523. We can see a Greek Stratioti with his strange hat on his head.The
praying knight is from the painting of ‘Supplication’ deticated to St.
George of Greeks in Venice at 1546. The praying man is the Greek
Stratioti and knight Kominis Manesis. Look at his hat.
You can imagine my surprise when, in a painting, I noticed something
proved my theory, that there Greek (Romioi) mercenaries were members of
the Freifechter Guild. The 16th century painting is called Adoration of
the Magi, and is located at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. In it,
one can see a Greek Stratioti in the role of one of the magi. His black
hat is adorned by a feather. The
16th century painting is called Adoration of the Magi, and is located
at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. In it, one can see a Greek
Stratioti in the role of one of the magi. His black hat is adorned by a
feather.
But can something like that be proven from a painting?
Of course, if you think about the fact that many of the Freifechters
or Federfechters were mysticists, alchemists, some were wizards, others
were serving under the Church, others were calligraphers, and in many of
their books and paintings contained symbolisms that only insiders could
understand. In short, we have a 16th century painting in which the
artist was partly inspired by a Greek Stratioti, that was both a
Freifechter and a Christian, given his role as one of the three magi.
Bibliography
The Memoirs of Philip de Commines, Lord of Argenton: Containing
the Histories of Louis XI and Chales VIII, Kings of France, and of
Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, μετ. του Anrew R. Scoble, τόμος 2, εκδ. 1856, σελ. 216.
Der Weiß-Kunig: eine Erzählung von den Thaten Kaiser Maximilian
des Ersten, herausgegeben aus dem Manuscripte der kaiserl. königl.
Hofbibliothek von Marx Treitzsaurwein auf dessen Angeben zsgetragen,
nebst d. von Hannsen Burgmair dazu verfertigten Holzschnitten, Βιέννη 1775.
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