Brigandage

is the life and practice of and. It is practiced by a, a person who usually lives in a and lives by pillage and robbery.

The word brigand entered English as brigant via French from Italian as early as 1400. Under the laws of war, soldiers acting on their own recognizance without operating in chain of command, are brigands, liable to be tried under civilian laws as common criminals. However, on occasions brigands are not mere malefactors, but may be the last resort of people subject to invasion.

Bad administration and suitable terrain encourage the development of brigands. Historical examples of brigands (often called so by their enemies) have existed in territories of France, Greece and the Balkans, India, Italy, Mexico and Spain, as well as certain regions of the United States.

Etymology
The English word brigant (also brigaunt) was introduced as early as 1400, via  brigand from Italian brigante "trooper, skirmisher, foot soldier". The Italian word is from a verb brigare "to brawl, fight" (whence also ).

For a bandito or bando a man declared by proclamation, see the article.

Laws of war
Towards the end of wars, irreconcilables may refuse to accept the loss of their cause, and may continue using irregular tactics. Upon capture by the victorious side, whether the capturing power has to recognize them as soldiers (who must be treated as ) or as brigands (who can be tried under civilian law as common criminals) depends on whether the detainees “respect the laws and customs of war” and whether they operate within a chain of command and are “not persons acting on their own responsibility”.

Resistance
In certain conditions the brigand has not been a mere malefactor. Brigandage may be, and not infrequently has been, the last resort of a people subject to invasion.

The Calabrians who fought for, and the  , which maintained the national resistance against the French from 1808 to 1814, were called brigands by their enemies. “It is you who are the thieves”, was the defense of the who was tried as a brigand by a   during the reign of  in.

In the, under , the brigands (called  by the  and hayduks or haydutzi by the ) had some claim to believe themselves the representatives of their people against oppressors. The only approach to an attempt to maintain order was the in order to repress the klephts. They were hence called armatoli. In fact the armatole tended to act more as allies than enemies of the klephts.

Causes
The conditions which favor the development of brigandage may be summed up as and to a lesser degree, terrain that permits easy escape from the incumbents.

The supplied a theatre for the . After the (1639–1651), policing the Scottish  tied up many English soldiers of the occupying. Their contemporaries in Ireland became known as. , Irish guerrillas of a later generation, fought for King after the  and on his defeat degenerated into brigands.

Terrain
The forests of gave cover to the outlaws, who were flatteringly portrayed in the ballads of. The dense and hills of  gave the Corsican brigand many advantages, just as the bush of  concealed the.

The, the mountains of , the of , were the homes of the Italian banditi, and the Spanish bandoleros (member of a gang) and salteadores  (raiders). The great haunts of brigands in Europe have been central and southern Italy and parts of Spain.

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