Criticism of mercenariness
Mules laden with recruiting monies passing the city gate of Chur. On the one hand, the mercenaries’ monies flowing into the Grisons were an important source of income for the people. On the other hand, this created dependencies: the Grisons’ political elites, constantly beholden to their European overlords of the time, were always criticized for this state of affairs.Image: e-codices
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An allegory of the reprehensible nature of mercenariness and the pension system around 1625. The Swiss mercenary is chained to a royal palace. Next to him is a bag full of money – the pay he received for selling his freedom.Image: Swiss national museum, LM-24998
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Recruiting new mercenaries in the guildhall, around 1521. Urs Graf (c. 1485‒1528) from Solothurn, copperplate engraver and glass painter, had himself been a mercenary. His paintings often critically depicted the lives of mercenaries. Shown here is a recruiting form for war service. Death already awaits.Image: Urs Graf. Museum of art, Basel, online collection, Inv. U.IX.17
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An allegory of the warrior turned beggar, around 1514‒1515. The Bernese painter Niklaus Manuel Deutsch, too, knew what mercenariness meant from his own experience. In his «allegory of the warrior turned beggar» he depicts the high risks ordinary soldiers faced in foreign services: to return home from abroad, impoverished and wounded.Image: Niklaus Manuel Deutsch. bpk / copper engraving cabinet, SMB / Jörg P. Anders
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Swiss Federal law from 30 September 1859 concerning the ban on recruiting for, and entering into, foreign armed Forces (in German).
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