I've been wondering lately about the idea of the "adventurer" as we've come to know it in pop culture. Someone who leads a life of wandering in search of riches/fame/excitement seems like a reasonable thing to have existed at some point, but I don't have any knowledge of an era or locale where that would have actually happened. Does anyone here know if this "adventurer" trope ever had a basis in fact?
Without wanting to discourage further answers, you may want to check out:
/u/Rittermeister in In games and books there are always "adventurers" who do odd jobs and explore for a living. Did something like this ever actually exist in medieval times?.
/u/restricteddata in Did 'brave adventurers' actually exist during the middle ages, or is it just a videogame trope?
/u/AncientHistory in Was "adventurer" (in the Dungeons and Dragons sense) ever an actual profession in medieval Europe?