How much was the pay of a Swiss mercenary compared to an ordinary labourer and a Landsknecht?

by AHistoryFanatic
SwissmenVS

Can't yet make an answer, but I'm going to the state archives this afternoon, I know I've seen at least informations on mercenary salary and laborer income for the beginning of the 19th, can't say for Landsknechten or other periods. I'll get back to you tonight!

SwissmenVS

Good evening! Sadly, while I did find information on the mercenary's salaries, I didn't find a lot of other informations to compare.

All the following data is from a report written in 1959 by someone who worked then at the archives, at the request of a local priest, who wanted to know more about the mercenary service. All salaries are per month, given in french francs, followed by an approximative ajustment to inflation in 2019 Swiss francs, based on the approximations made in 1959.

In 1803, following arrangements made with France a simple soldier earned 1.20 (50.- CHF), and a grenadier barely 5 cents more. In comparison, today, a soldier in the swiss army earns 5.- CHF a day.

A lieutenant 75.- to 93.75 (3140.- to 3923.- CHF)

A captain 135.- to 180.- (5653.- to 7537.- CHF)

The commandant de bataillon earned up to 270CHF (11 305.- CHF)

The recruters earned 16.- to 32.- (670.- to 1340.- CHF) per soldier definitely hired, so they were encouraged to hire as many as possible to fill the quotas per state. Many means were used by authorities to encourage mercenary service, as it was quite popular in states with few exploitable land like Valais (lots of space but very little viable for agriculture) and Fribourg (at the time still in a situation close to a city-state, so not much space for agriculture), as it was a mean for the authorities to get rid of unproductive labor and for young men to seek income when they just couldn't find any in their homeland.

As an example of active involvement of local authorities in mercenary recruitment, Fribourg temporarily authorized via decrees between 1805 and 1813 the recruiting officers to dance in the inns where they had their «office». Dancing was otherwise stricly forbidden except a few days a year, so it was an opportunity for the officers to meet the youth of Fribourg, apparently with success according to a decree.

Even at the time, it may not seem like much, but as soldiers, swiss mercenaries were fed and while they did see a lot of action (I found citations for Napoleon's russian campain) they also were used a lot for "guard duty" of prestigious buildings or people, notabely the king of France when they were slaughtered at the Palais des Tuileries.

According to the archivist who wrote the report, swiss mercenaries were very well paid compared to the rest of the french army, but I don't have any idea of the actual values.

Edit: according to Jean Tulard "Les français sous Napoléon", a skilled worker in Paris could earn up to 4 francs a month, but only half as much on the country. Still, as civilians, they weren't fed by the state and had to live day by day, as a pound of meat was about 0.5 francs. Since Switzerland was under strong french influence at that time, it's likely that swiss laborers had similar incomes, and the same divide between city and country.

Edit 2: I tried to find some informations on salaries paid by the state in Swtzerland at this period, but it is very blurry. Teachers in secondary schools in Fribourg (where I got access to the archives) got a raise of 93 francs (3800.- CHF) per year in 1812, but I found no mention of the previous salary, so I assumed it was about a 10% raise since it didn't move in almost 20 years. That would put the salary of a secondary school teaxher in the ballpark of 80 francs (3400.-) a month, which is very little nowadays but they were fed, and had lodgings provided by either the city or the church, which is no longer the case today.

Edit 3: Clarification, spelling, format