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THE SWISS WAY OF WAR: A STUDY ON THE TRANSMISSION AND CONTINUITY OF CLASSICAL AND MILITARY IDEAS AND PRACTICE IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE

Becker, Katherine A.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1244264028

Abstract Details

2009, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, History.
The transmission of military ideas across time and the problems arising from tracing diffusion were examined. A major theme was investigating the similarities between Greco-Roman military formations and traditions (eighth century B.C. to 400 A.D.) and those of the medieval Swiss (1315-1544). Only six possibilities could explain the similarities. Stimulus Diffusion was examined as an explanation. This theory suggested that military ideas spread, by word of mouth. It was determined that, in the Swiss case, stimulus diffusion was not a factor, since inherent in the definition of stimulus diffusion is the requirement of an originality (“ideational germ”) on the part of the diffusing society. The evidence suggested the opposite, that the use of pike formations in Italy, Scotland, Flanders, and elsewhere in Europe, had an earlier origin. In order to determine what this earlier origin had been, Hanson’s theory of a “Continuous European Tradition,” with Greco-Roman roots, of fighting in organized columns was explored with the Swiss as a test case. Contact between the Helvetii and Alemanii, along with other Germanic tribes with ties to ancient “Switzerland,” and the ancient Greeks and Romans was established. However, it was determined that a “continuous tradition” of fighting in the classical Greco-Roman style was unlikely due to medieval Feudalism. The possibility the Swiss may have created formations in the fifteenth to sixteenth centuries using Greco-Roman military treatises was viable. Similarities between the Swiss long-pike formations (1474-1550) and those described by Asklepiodotus (second century B.C.) were persuasive. Yet, since Swiss long-pike columns were developed in the fifteenth century, and Asklepiodotus appeared in Switzerland in the seventeenth century, alternative pathways had to be considered. The notion that Swiss formations were the result of an egalitarian society was also considered. The ratification of oaths for perpetual support coupled with egalitarian laws, even as more oligarchic cantons joined the original Confederacy of the Forest Cantons, gave the Swiss militias an egalitarian and secular nature. However, the best explanation was battlefield experience. At Laupen (1339) the Swiss, under the leadership of the knight, Erlach, changed their tactics. Heavy losses taken by Swiss halberdiers at Sempach (1386) led officials to push for a decrease in the number of halberds and increase in the number of pikes. A further reorganization of the Swiss formation resulted from a defeat at Arbedo in 1422. Here, dismounted knights created an infantry formation of lances, out-distancing the shorter Swiss halberds and short-pikes. As a result the Confederates reorganized their militias into long-pike formations. By 1474 the standard length of the Swiss pike was eighteen feet long with a ten inch steel head (similar to Hellenistic sarissas). In conclusion: 1) Archeological and literary evidence suggests early Switzerland arose out of, and carried on, Roman culture in some form. 2) Elites sometimes had knowledge of classical texts whose lessons occasionally filtered down to the battlefield. 3) Despite a rich popular military tradition with classical roots, and direct literary inheritance of classical military practice, Swiss formations evolved out of battlefield experience of the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries.
Geoffrey Parker (Committee Chair)
John F. Guilmartin, Jr. (Committee Co-Chair)
Nathan Rosenstein (Committee Member)
400 p.
Military History
Swiss History; Military History; Pike Columns; Dissemination; Classical Knowledge

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Citations

  • Becker, K. A. (2009). THE SWISS WAY OF WAR: A STUDY ON THE TRANSMISSION AND CONTINUITY OF CLASSICAL AND MILITARY IDEAS AND PRACTICE IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1244264028

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Becker, Katherine. THE SWISS WAY OF WAR: A STUDY ON THE TRANSMISSION AND CONTINUITY OF CLASSICAL AND MILITARY IDEAS AND PRACTICE IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE. 2009. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1244264028.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Becker, Katherine. "THE SWISS WAY OF WAR: A STUDY ON THE TRANSMISSION AND CONTINUITY OF CLASSICAL AND MILITARY IDEAS AND PRACTICE IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1244264028

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.