Stratioti

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The stratioti or stradioti (Greek: στρατιώτες, Italian: stradioti or stradiotti), were Balkan mercenaries who formed military cavalry units of the Venetian Republic, the Kingdom of Naples and other Italian powers in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Venetians used them first in their campaigns against the Ottomans and, from c. 1475, as frontier troops in Friuli: starting from that period they began to replace most entirely the ethnic Italian light cavalry in the Serenissima army. Impressed by the unorthodox tactics of the Stradioti, other European powers (such as France and Spain) quickly began to hire mercenaries from the same region.

The Italian term stradioti is either a loan from the Greek word στρατιώται ('soldiers'), or derives from the Italian word strada ('street'), meaning 'wayfarer' (Pappas, n.d.). Stradioti were mercenaries and received wages only as long as their military services were needed (Hoerder 2002). They were recruited in Greece, Albania, Dalmatia and later Cyprus (Nicolle 1989). Most of them were Greek-Albanians (Arvanites, especially from Peloponnesus), mixed with ethnic Greeks and other Balkan ethnicities (the latters mostly Croatians). Among their leaders there were also members of some old Byzantine Greek noble families such as the Palaiologi and Comneni (Nicol 2002, Pappas).

They were pioneers of light cavalry tactics during this era. They employed hit-and-run tactics, ambushes, feigned retreats and other complex manuevers. In some ways, these tactics echoed those of the Ottoman Sipahis and Akinci. The Stradioti were famous for being rambunctious, rowdy and sometimes disloyal, but their abilities far outweighed any offense to European sensibilities.

They had some notable successes also against French heavy cavalry during the Italian Wars (Nicolle 1989). They used spears called Assegai, as well as swords, maces, crossbows and daggers. They traditionally dressed in a mixture of Ottoman, Byzantine and European garb: the armor was initially a simply mail hauberk, but became heavier as years passed.

By the 16th century, the Stradioti were no longer widely used.

[edit] Sources

• Nicholas C. J. Pappas, "Stradioti: Balkan mercenaries in fifteenth and sixteenth century Italy". Online article
• Κ. Ν. Sathas, Documents inédits relatifs à l' histoire de la Grèce au Moyen Âge, publiés sous les auspices de la Chambre des députés de Grèce. Tom. VI: Jacomo Barbarigo, Dispacci della guerra di Peloponneso (1465-6), Paris, 1880-90, σ. 1-116.
• R. Lopez, Il principio della guerra veneto-turca nel 1463. "Archivio Veneto", 5 serie, 15 (1934), σ. 47-131.
• Αντ. Χ. Χατζή, Οι Ραούλ, Ράλ, Ράλαι 1080-1800. Ιστορική Μονογραφία, Μόναχο, 1909, σ. 48-50
• Αντ. Γ. Μομφερράτου, Σιγισμούνδος Πανδόλφος Μαλατέστας. Πόλεμος Ενετών και Τούρκων εν Πελοποννήσω κατά 1463-6. Αθήνα, 1914.
• David Nicolle, The Venetian Empire, 1200-1670, 1989 ISBN 0-85045-899-4
• (Greek) "Εξεγέρσεις Ελλήνων και Αλβανών στην Πελοπόννησο", Τα Νέα, August 10, 2000, p. N16.
• (Greek) "Ήπειρος - Αλβανία: Το κίνημα του Κωνσταντίνου Αριανίτη", Τα Νέα, August 12, 2000, p. N54.
• Donald M. Nicol, The Immortal Emperor: The Life and Legend of Constantine Palaiologos, Last Emperor of the Romans, 2002 ISBN 0-521-46717-9
• Dirk Hoerder, Cultures in Contact, 2002
• Nasa Patapiou "Η κάθοδος των ελληνοαλβανών Stratioti στην Κύπρο (16αι)" ('The migration of the Greek-Albanian Stratioti to Cyprus, 16th century'). Επετηρίδα του Κέντρου Επιστημονικών Ερευνών 24 (1998) 161-209.
• Diana Gilliland Wright, Bartolomeo Minio: Venetian administration in 15th-Century Nauplion. Doctoral dissertation, The Catholic University of America, Washington DC, 1999. p.64-68 et passim Online chapter