A mercenary is a person who takes part in an armed conflict who is not a national of a Party to the conflict and "is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a Party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar ranks and functions in the armed forces of that Party".
As a result of the assumption that a mercenary is essentially motivated by money, the term "mercenary" carries negative connotations. There is a blur in the distinction between a "mercenary" and a "foreign volunteer", when the primary motive of a soldier in a foreign army is uncertain. For instance the French Foreign Legion and the Gurkhas are not mercenaries under the laws of war, but some journalists do describe them as mercenaries.
The Medieval Latin word feudum is usually translated into the English language as fief. However, there is an alternative translation of this word that sheds more light on this concept. It is fee. Payment. In the feudal system the vassal receives land as payment for the military service he provides to his lord. In this sense, the vassal is really but a mercenary. The only difference is the form in which he receives payment for his services.
The argument of this paper will be that the mercenary system was from several different viewpoints a logical outgrowth of the feudal system. Politically, kings needed to overcome the limitations feudal warfare was placing on them. Economically, the rise of the money economy and commercialism was shifting all social relations, feudal and military relations included, from their traditional form onto a monetary basis. Militarily, advances in warfare were making the traditional army dominated by the heavy-armoured knight obsolete, with professional infantry becoming more important.
The mercenary phenomenon of the European Renaissance initially started with some early attempts by rulers to overcome “the familiar limitations of feudal levies: short service and organizational entropy.” The knight was obligated to serve his lord only forty days a year and this restriction presented an obstacle for offensive campaigns abroad. As early as the 12th century, the rulers in England responded by the creation of the institution of scutage – “cash payment given in lieu of actual military service due from the vassal to the lord” . This money could be used to hire mercenaries who were more flexible with place and duration of their service. Other European countries saw the appearance of equivalent systems at that time. The feudal army because of its limitations was largely a defensive army. The growing monarchies of Europe needed a solution that would make them capable of launching offensive military campaigns. The Hundred Years’ War in particular was an offensive war for England; it was “an overseas struggle in which the feudal levy could not be very effectively employed. This war came to be fought mainly by mercenaries.”
