ghostwolf Posted August 2, 2011 Report Share Posted August 2, 2011 I'm working on a setting that is flavored heavily with Italian Renaissance. Looking for a name for a document that would be issued by the crown to give permission to a mercenary commander to legally form a mercenary unit. All I've got so far is Writ of Merces which is based on the middle english word for mercenary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowsoul Posted August 2, 2011 Report Share Posted August 2, 2011 Re: official permits and such The nautical term would be a Letter of Marque, which acknowledges that the bearer is a privateer rather than a pirate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kraven Kor Posted August 2, 2011 Report Share Posted August 2, 2011 Re: official permits and such Writ of Conscripcion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted August 2, 2011 Report Share Posted August 2, 2011 Re: official permits and such A synonym for "mercenary" is condottiere; during the Renaissance it referred specifically to a leader of mercenary soldiers. It's derived from the Italian word condotto for "mercenary," from the Latin conductus meaning "hired." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhd Posted August 2, 2011 Report Share Posted August 2, 2011 Re: official permits and such In German that would be a Bestallungsbrief. Not sure about the etymology ("brief" is letter, "stall" is stable, so possibly it's a letter saying that the lord is adding you to his "stable" of retainers). If I remember correctly, when you're accredited as a physician or pharmacist by the state, that's still called a "Bestallung". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawnmower Boy Posted August 3, 2011 Report Share Posted August 3, 2011 Re: official permits and such If I weren't so groggy from working a swing shift, I might remember. But it is pretty much just a commission. Regiments were nominally raised this way right into the eighteenth century, with a sovereign commissioning a colonel-proprietor to raise a regiment for military service. The word "regiment" even comes from the commission, which delegates the royal right to regulate or exercise authority. (Hence Italian "esercito.") Condottiere is cognate to "conductor," in the same sense as "entrepeneur." The colonels undertake to raise an army. Bestallungsbrief has a pretty wide usage in German, but in my period and area, it's more common to find borrowings from Latin or Italian. The artillery, however, does not normally work that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted August 3, 2011 Report Share Posted August 3, 2011 Re: official permits and such A synonym for "mercenary" is condottiere; during the Renaissance it referred specifically to a leader of mercenary soldiers. It's derived from the Italian word condotto for "mercenary' date='" from the Latin [i']conductus[/i] meaning "hired." Slight correction here - "condotto" meant "to lead" (via Italian "condurre" from the latin root "conducere" - also meaning to lead or guide). As you can see from the form, "Conductus" is a noun, and actually means a type of sacred medieval processional music The Italian word "condottiero" meant a mercenary - it came after the word condotto, not the other way round. Originally condottiero meant a mercenary captain or leader, because he had a contract to lead - a contratto di condotto. After a while, though it just meant any mercenary soldier. So there's the word the OP wants - a contract to lead or contratto di condotto. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted August 3, 2011 Report Share Posted August 3, 2011 Re: official permits and such Thanks, Mark -- my only reference was my thesaurus and dictionary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted August 3, 2011 Report Share Posted August 3, 2011 Re: official permits and such In German that would be a Bestallungsbrief. Not sure about the etymology ("brief" is letter, "stall" is stable, so possibly it's a letter saying that the lord is adding you to his "stable" of retainers). If I remember correctly, when you're accredited as a physician or pharmacist by the state, that's still called a "Bestallung". Another correction In this case "Bestall" is the old form of "bestell" as in "bestellen" (from old west scandinavian "Bestil" meaning an order or command) . So Bestallungsbrief means "Letter of Command/Letter of Orders" or in good English "Letters of Commission" - exactly what an English gentleman tasked with raising a troop would have gotten. Note: in English English "Commission" used to mean primarily a task, so a "Commissioned Officer" was one who had a specific task - for example, raising a company of troops, being responsible for defence of a specific area, etc. These days, a commissioned officer is simply an officer. It's funny, but I hadn't though until now how close the the various European names for this sort of thing were. Not surprising, when you think about it, but still. Cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghostwolf Posted August 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2011 Re: official permits and such Holy heck, you guys are awesome! Thank you!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.