In most games, bandits are nameless NPCs to be slaughtered by the player. In Medieval Europe, who would have been these bandits?

by TanktopSamurai
jschooltiger

Not discouraging further answers, but you may be interested in this older post about medieval banditry by u/sunagainstgold.

friedeggbanjo73

In the UK two pilgrimages to St Davids in Wales was considered to be the equivalent to one pilgrimage to Rome as the route was considered to be so hazardous.

Bandits could have literally been anyone. Although few men were 'freemen' and most would have been tied to a lord's manor. So an archetypal bandit would probably have been either a former soldier now out of work or someone who'd done a bunk from his lord's service (you could gain your freedom if you lived 'free' for a year and a day in a city like London)

One has to remember that by law every man had to practice with the longbow, which means there was a very well trained and well armed citizenry. There would also have been a fair number of former soldiers that could have either formerly campaigned in France or gone on a crusade to the middle east or northern Europe.