Fähnlein

The Fähnlein, called fänika in Swedish, was an infantry unit roughly equivalent to a company or battalion that was used in parts of Europe during the Middle Ages. Wikipedia notes that its size varied: a Fähnlein could originally include as many as 1,000 soldiers, though numbers were generally nearer 500. The unit was divided into sections called Rotten, singular Rotte, of between 6 and 12 men each. Because the size ranged so widely, the article gives its modern equivalent only loosely, as either a company or a battalion, and treats it as an infantry grouping rather than a unit of fixed strength. The article also records the Swedish form of the name, fänika.