Quote:
Originally Posted by afc wimbledon
It was normal for an army after a siege to be given license to sack a city for a certain length of time, a day or 2, during that time the soldiers got to do what ever the hell they wanted, rape theft murder, it was basically how they paid the troops, otherwise a besieging army would just drift away.
Armies lived by scavenging off the land while moving, a siege removed that ability, so a commander needed something as a payoff for the troops to stick around, a few days of sacking was the payoff
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Basically a city seige would go one of two ways in history.
If the city basically surrendered and vowed not to resist the knight(s) at the head of that army would offer complete protection of that city.
If the city didn't surrender and battle started, even if the city surrendered after the fact, the knight was not under the same obligation to protect that city and its occupants and the city was at the mercy of that knight and his interpretation of honor. And you are correct most soldiers were paid via the benefits of sacking a city, and the army which usually didn't have a logistical line would resupply at the expense of the town or city which would usually starve after the occupying army left.
People misunderstand what honor actually meant back then, but usually concepts of mercy and civility didn't play into the honor code.