A brief examination of warfare by medieval urban militias in Central and Northern Europe

During the medieval and Early Modern period, the Free cities ofCentral and Northern Europe fielded militias which collectively played animportant role in European warfare. The specific military role of the burgher isnot well known outside of the realm of academic specialists in the Englishspeaking world. In order to highlight this to my fellow layperson, I have chosena selection of significant historical events with a special focus on Lombardy,Flanders, Silesia, Bohemia and Poland, in which urban militias played animportant role. The intention is to allow us to review the effectiveness, tacticsand strategic impact of urban militias and their possible relationship to themartial arts of pre-industrial Europe.