Robert Had Shame Enough To Blush. It Was Not The Same, He Complained. Ser Barristan Was A Knight Of The

Robert had shame enough to blush. “It was not the same,” he complained. “Ser Barristan was a knight of the Kingsguard.”

Gimli & Legolas sketch that went too far

In the immortal words of Kristy: “Get him, Sansa”

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For the second part, I feel like Italy (Italies?) with the serial numbers filled  off tend to fulfill that role in some fantasy universes (Styria in Abercrombie’s work, Tilea in WFB). Presumably that’s drawing inspiration from real-world Italy and the Condottiere, even if they tend to overplay some traits (like loyalty or lack thereof, or quality of equipment and training).

Apologies if this has been asked before, but a two-parter. Outside of say, Italy or early-modern Europe, how common were periods and places where the vast bulk of an army would be made up of mercenaries(all I could think of is maybe Carthage)? Secondly, where did the particular trope in fiction start to appear of rich and “decadent” merchant lords hiring vast armies of mercenaries, as well as any particular cultures it is attached to(unfair or otherwise)? As always, thank you for all the work!

This might be a better question for @warsofasoiaf, but mercenaries were fairly common in many different periods of history. After all, standing armies require a good deal of state capacity, volunteer militias require both a good deal of popular support and training to be effective, and feudalism risks fracturing political power, so outsourcing the fighting to professionals is a fairly straightforward solution. Obviously, the proportion of mercenaries would wax and wane depending on the degree of state capacity and other sociopolitical factors.

As for the trope, I have to say that I’m struggling a bit to recall to think of any examples from fiction. If you reply with some examples, it would help. 

Huginn, Muninn, what news do you bring?