In medieval times, some mercenary warriors in Europe were not sworn-in to any lord or king. Warfaring lords could hire these medieval mercenary warriors for their services.

As they freely owned their own weapons (like lances), the term “free-lance” was used for them. Early mentions were in Sir Walter Scott’s novel Ivanhoe, published in 1820: “I offered Richard the service of my Free Lances, and he refused them...”.

With the development of trade and technology, the term freelancer nowadays is used for self-employed “business warriors”. The weapon arsenals of freelancers nowadays consist of computers, tablets, and smartphones.