To this end, they were often associated with underhandedness and untrustworthiness, and a lot of it was usually justified. It was to such an extent that even the merchant classes and guilds distanced themselves from them, as well as the academia. A lot of people had worked very hard to be as successful as they were through legitimate means, and the last thing they wanted was to be associated with these would-be robber barons. If you were a freeman, you were more than likely under the thumb of one of these guys depending on what city you decided to settle down in. But hey, at least you don't have to be automatically conscripted when war came! That was something right? That was provided you weren't in debt to anyone who decided it'd be swell to make a bit of money coercing you into a mercenary band, and then renting you out to some hapless lord who had no reason to suspect you were anything but another sell sword. You did, after all, have a family to think about.