Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
🎥 Watch 300+ exclusive videos on ✔ youtube ► youtube.com/channel/UCMmaBzfCCwZ2KqaBJjkj0fw/join and ✔ Patreon ► patreon.com/kingsandgenerals
Kings and Generals animated historical documentary series on the history of medieval period and the Holy Roman Empire continues with a video on the Army of the HRE in the Late Middle Ages. In 1475, Charles the Bold’s Burgundian army was besieging Neuss when Emperor Frederick III summoned a relief force of roughly 30,000 men. But the Holy Roman Empire had no permanent standing army. So who actually answered the call, and how did this famously fragmented Reich mobilize for war? This medieval military history documentary reconstructs the forces behind the Siege of Neuss. Follow armored nobles and their retainers, urban militias organized by guilds and city wards, armed rural communities, and mercenaries drawn from every rank. Muster rolls and contemporary accounts reveal what knights, burghers, craftsmen, peasants, gunners, crossbowmen, wagoners, and servants brought on campaign, how they trained, and who paid the enormous cost. The evidence overturns familiar myths about defenseless peasants, helpless townspeople, and a dysfunctional Holy Roman Empire. Citizens faced armor inspections, villages stored communal weapons, and city militias could fight effectively, although discipline sometimes collapsed in spectacular fashion. By examining military obligations, equipment, wealth, status, and local organization, this video shows how late medieval Germany turned society itself into an army. The relief of Neuss was more than a campaign against Burgundy: it was a rare demonstration that the Empire’s decentralized system could unite when the Reich was threatened.
Rise of the Habsburgs: youtu.be/op4sAomApBE
Why Was the Habsburg Empire Divided?: youtu.be/XPNv0iewEFE
How Imperial Cities Rose Through War and Alliances: youtu.be/zOXBONBc1Cg
Charlemagne’s Grandsons Lost Everything - Birth of France: youtu.be/cUsVWY0QfUE
How the Popes Survived the Fall of the Western Roman Empire: youtu.be/aN58kj_oxIc
How Clovis Changed Europe by becoming Christian: youtu.be/sQ728X06zhs
Early History of the Franks: youtu.be/iE4qiwz7_78
How Charlemagne Used Propaganda to Shape the Narrative: youtu.be/2m_JUevVzqg
Charlemagne's Army - youtu.be/PX5W6pA47yw
Charlemagne’s Bloody War Against the Saxons - Verden Massacre: youtu.be/Rea-6g1v_Jk
What Everyone Gets Wrong About Feudalism: youtu.be/WFlIKK8uBOo
Why Was Italy so Fragmented in the Middle Ages?: youtu.be/L9m5kifZjhU
Why Was Germany so Fragmented in the Middle Ages: youtu.be/EiB8sMHxGqM
Who is the Heir of Rome?: youtu.be/PHtaKsG2O-U
The video was made by Sebastiao Reis, while the script was written by Erik Wascheck, the video was narrated by Liam Taylor
✔ Merch store ► teespring.com/stores/kingsandgenerals
✔ Patreon ► patreon.com/KingsandGenerals
✔ Podcast ► kingsandgenerals.net/podcast
✔ PayPal ► paypal.me/kingsandgenerals
✔ Twitter ► twitter.com/KingsGenerals
✔ Facebook ► facebook.com/KingsGenerals
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Production Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound: epidemicsound.com
Sources: docs.google.com/document/d/12WQ2WnapQlU_mJAG38l2bBABVVjMjX1-RatR8HLWOYQ/edit?usp=sharing
00:00:00 - How the Empire Raised 30,000 Men
00:01:35 - Nobles, Knights, and the Cost of War
00:04:11 - Citizen Soldiers and Chaotic City Militias
00:10:28 - Armed Peasants: The Myth Collapses
00:14:22 - Who Became a Medieval Mercenary?
00:16:12 - Why the Imperial System Worked
#documentary #Holyromanempire #middleages
🎥 Watch 300+ exclusive videos on ✔ youtube ► youtube.com/channel/UCMmaBzfCCwZ2KqaBJjkj0fw/join and ✔ Patreon ► patreon.com/kingsandgenerals
Kings and Generals animated historical documentary series on the history of medieval period and the Holy Roman Empire continues with a video on the Army of the HRE in the Late Middle Ages. In 1475, Charles the Bold’s Burgundian army was besieging Neuss when Emperor Frederick III summoned a relief force of roughly 30,000 men. But the Holy Roman Empire had no permanent standing army. So who actually answered the call, and how did this famously fragmented Reich mobilize for war? This medieval military history documentary reconstructs the forces behind the Siege of Neuss. Follow armored nobles and their retainers, urban militias organized by guilds and city wards, armed rural communities, and mercenaries drawn from every rank. Muster rolls and contemporary accounts reveal what knights, burghers, craftsmen, peasants, gunners, crossbowmen, wagoners, and servants brought on campaign, how they trained, and who paid the enormous cost. The evidence overturns familiar myths about defenseless peasants, helpless townspeople, and a dysfunctional Holy Roman Empire. Citizens faced armor inspections, villages stored communal weapons, and city militias could fight effectively, although discipline sometimes collapsed in spectacular fashion. By examining military obligations, equipment, wealth, status, and local organization, this video shows how late medieval Germany turned society itself into an army. The relief of Neuss was more than a campaign against Burgundy: it was a rare demonstration that the Empire’s decentralized system could unite when the Reich was threatened.
Rise of the Habsburgs: youtu.be/op4sAomApBE
Why Was the Habsburg Empire Divided?: youtu.be/XPNv0iewEFE
How Imperial Cities Rose Through War and Alliances: youtu.be/zOXBONBc1Cg
Charlemagne’s Grandsons Lost Everything - Birth of France: youtu.be/cUsVWY0QfUE
How the Popes Survived the Fall of the Western Roman Empire: youtu.be/aN58kj_oxIc
How Clovis Changed Europe by becoming Christian: youtu.be/sQ728X06zhs
Early History of the Franks: youtu.be/iE4qiwz7_78
How Charlemagne Used Propaganda to Shape the Narrative: youtu.be/2m_JUevVzqg
Charlemagne's Army - youtu.be/PX5W6pA47yw
Charlemagne’s Bloody War Against the Saxons - Verden Massacre: youtu.be/Rea-6g1v_Jk
What Everyone Gets Wrong About Feudalism: youtu.be/WFlIKK8uBOo
Why Was Italy so Fragmented in the Middle Ages?: youtu.be/L9m5kifZjhU
Why Was Germany so Fragmented in the Middle Ages: youtu.be/EiB8sMHxGqM
Who is the Heir of Rome?: youtu.be/PHtaKsG2O-U
The video was made by Sebastiao Reis, while the script was written by Erik Wascheck, the video was narrated by Liam Taylor
✔ Merch store ► teespring.com/stores/kingsandgenerals
✔ Patreon ► patreon.com/KingsandGenerals
✔ Podcast ► kingsandgenerals.net/podcast
✔ PayPal ► paypal.me/kingsandgenerals
✔ Twitter ► twitter.com/KingsGenerals
✔ Facebook ► facebook.com/KingsGenerals
✔ Instagram ►instagram.com/Kings_Generals
Production Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound: epidemicsound.com
Sources: docs.google.com/document/d/12WQ2WnapQlU_mJAG38l2bBABVVjMjX1-RatR8HLWOYQ/edit?usp=sharing
00:00:00 - How the Empire Raised 30,000 Men
00:01:35 - Nobles, Knights, and the Cost of War
00:04:11 - Citizen Soldiers and Chaotic City Militias
00:10:28 - Armed Peasants: The Myth Collapses
00:14:22 - Who Became a Medieval Mercenary?
00:16:12 - Why the Imperial System Worked
#documentary #Holyromanempire #middleages
