Were "adventurers" ever a real thing?

by Baileyjrob

Kind of like what you'd see in a fantasy or RPG story. People who go around, adventuring and fighting and generally just solving problems for money.

Obviously it's not like in a video game or something, I highly doubt people went around fighting monsters and saving the world, but were there actually people who made a living by going around and solving various problems rather than, say, sticking to a specific trade?

Searocksandtrees

Hi, not discouraging others from answering here, but to get you started, check out these threads

Poulposaurus

As a follow up question, the answer I have read seem to be focusing on medieval western europe. Were things differents in the byzantine empire?