Personal bodygards to the French monarchy
Bodyguardsmen of
Louis XVI
The
Scottish Guards
(
French
:
Gardes Ecossaises
) was a bodyguard unit founded in 1418 by the
Valois
Charles VII of France
, to be personal bodyguards to the French monarchy. They were assimilated into the
Maison du Roi
and later formed the first company of the
Garde du Corps du Roi
(Royal Bodyguard).
In 1450, King
James II
sent a company of 24 noble Scots under the command of Patrick de Spens, son of his custodian. This company took the name of
archiers du corps
or
gardes de la manche
. On 31 August 1490, this company, these of Patry Folcart, Thomas Haliday, and a part of the company of Robin Petitloch, became the first company of
archiers de la garde du roi
under the command of Guillaume Stuier (Stuart). At the beginning
la compagnie ecossaise des gardes du corps du roi
included 100
gardes du corps
(25 bodyguards and 75
archiers
). Each bodyguard had four men-at-arms under his command, (a squire, an archer, a
cranequinier
and a servant), one of them acquired the name of
premier homme d'armes du royaume de France
. They were finally disbanded in 1830 at the abdication of
Charles X
.
History
[
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]
Charles VII of France
depicted as a
magus
and surrounded by his Scottish guards (left)
Overview
[
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]
After 1295, and the agreements that would become known as the
Auld Alliance
, there is documentary evidence of French soldiery in Scotland or Scottish soldiery in France.
From the outset of the
Hundred Years War
, there were Scottish companies officially fighting for
Philip VI of France
. At the
Battle of Poitiers
in 1356, the
1st Earl of Douglas
and the future
3rd Earl of Douglas
fought for
John II of France
; the future 3rd Earl was captured along with many Scottish knights, as was the French king himself. In the 1360s, Scotsmen were to be found in the army of
Bertrand du Guesclin
. In the early 15th century France was split into
Armagnac
-
Burgundian
civil strife following
Charles VI
's descent into madness.
Henry V of England
saw his opportunity, allied himself with
John the Fearless
, and invaded France. The
Dauphin
despairingly sought allies, and found them amongst the Scots and the
Castilians
.
La Grande Armee Ecossaise
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]
In 1418,
Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany
, appointed his son,
John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Buchan
,
Chamberlain of Scotland
, to command the Scottish expeditionary force, the largest army that medieval Scotland had ever sent abroad. 7000-8000 men arrived at
La Rochelle
in October 1419 and made their way to
Tours
to greet the Dauphin. The first thing the future
Charles VII
did was to shower munificence upon the Scottish nobles. Buchan received
Chatillon-sur-Indre
, the
Earl of Wigtoun
received
Dun-le-Roi
,
Sir John Stewart of Darnley
received
Concressault
, and
Aubigny
, and Thomas Seton the castle of
Langeais
. The Scottish leaders were persuaded to return to Scotland to recruit more troops. The Scottish leadership returned in 1420 with another 4000-5000 reinforcements. While their leaders were at home the Dauphin assigned the Scottish contingent throughout his armies and garrisons and picked a number, roughly one hundred of the best warriors, to be his personal body guard. The Scotsmen fought with distinction throughout France with a notable win at the
Battle of Bauge
in 1421, where the
Duke of Clarence
was said to have been felled by Buchan's Mace. The Scots faced a calamity at the
Battle of Verneuil
in 1424, when they lost 6000 men. Although saddened by the loss of so many of his loyal Scotsmen, Charles VII continued to honour the survivors. The Scots had a further setback at the
Battle of the Herrings
in 1429. The Scottish Army in France fragmented into free companies (a headache for the French state), and also into
Compagnies d'ordonnance
within the French Army.
The Royal Bodyguard
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Gardes Ecossaises from the time of
Louis XIII
. They wear the uniforms worn between the reigns of
Charles VIII
and
Louis XIV
.
Standard of the "Scottish company", the 1st company of the royal Garde du Corps
Uniform of the Scottish guards by 1757
The King kept about him his
Garde Ecossaise
. The Scottish Guards had likely protected him during the murder of
John the Fearless
at the bridge of
Montereau
, and rescued him from a fire in
Gascony
in 1442. Scottish Guards fell at the
Battle of Montlhery
defending their king,
Louis XI of France
, in 1465.
Later history
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The
Garde Ecossaise
survived until the end of the Bourbon monarchy as the senior or Scottish Company of the
Gardes du Corps
(Body Guards). There were four companies of Body Guards and a detachment of them accompanied the French King wherever he went, posted guards on his sleeping place and even escorted his food from kitchen to table.
[1]
During the reign of
Francis I
the
garde
were held up by blizzards near the
Simplon Pass
after a defeat at the
Battle of Pavia
in 1525. Some of the men reputedly settled there and their descendants became known as the "Lost
Clan
".
[2]
From the 16th century onwards, recruitment of the unit was primarily from Frenchmen and the Scottish element gradually died out. The name was retained as were certain words of command which had originated in
Scots
.
[3]
In 1632, the
Earl of Enzie
began to rebuild a Scottish regiment in France.
[4]
There is sometimes confusion as to which unit actually held the title of
Garde Ecossaise
, with several regiments in service often being conflated, especially those commanded by
Sir John Hepburn
,
James Campbell, 1st Earl of Irvine
(later commanded by
Sir Robert Moray
) and
Colonel James Douglas
.
[5]
As an example some works recording Scots in action have simply applied the
Garde Ecossaise
name, although referring to the
Regiment de Douglas
.
By the reign of
Louis XV
, the Scottish Company numbered 21 officers and 330 men in a mounted unit which last saw active service when they escorted Louis at the
Battle of Lauffeld
on 1 July 1747. On this and other occasions the Scottish Company carried
claymores
with steel basket guards instead of the swords of the other French heavy cavalry. They were distinguished from the other companies of the Body Guards by wearing white bandoleers garnished with silver lace.
[6]
The Scottish Company provided a special detachment of 24
Gardes de la Manche
(literally 'Guards of the Sleeve') who stood in close attendance to the king during court ceremonies. The name indicated that they stood so close to the monarch as to be brushed by his sleeve. The
Gardes de la Manche
were distinguished by a heavily embroidered white and gold cassock which they wore over the blue and red and silver uniform of the Body Guard.
[7]
Final disbandment
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All four companies of the Body Guard were formally disbanded in 1791, although the aristocratic personnel of the regiment had dispersed following the
closure of Versailles as a royal palace
in October 1789.
[8]
They were re-established at the time of the First
Bourbon Restoration
under an ordinance dated 25 May 1814. Until their final dissolution in 1830, the Senior Company retained the title of
les fiers Ecossais
('the proud Scots').
[9]
Notable Guardsmen
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]
Monsieur Bergier, an Officer of the Scottish Guards (18th century)
- Jean Stuart, earl Darnley
,
lord d'Aubigni and Concressault
, killed in 1429 at
Orleans
- Robert or Robin PetitLoch,
senechal des Lannes
(1419?1461)
- Christin Chamber knight (1425?1447)
- Patris Folcart (1449?1461)
- Patrick Neiven - Killed at
Orleans
in 1429
- Thomas Haliday(1449?1461)
- Patrick de Spens, Lord of
Bohapple
and Estignols,
ecuyer des ecuries du roi
(1450?1485)
- Guillaume Stuyers, Lord of Maulleon,
ecuyer des ecuries du roi
(1461?1464)
- Thomas Stuyers (1465?1472)
- Robert Coningham (1475?1478), Lord of
Cherveux
and Villeneuve.
- Jean de Coningham, bailly de Chartres,
conseiller et chambellan du roi
(1479?1492)
- Berault Stewart or Stuart, Lord of Aubigny
,
conseiller et chambellan du roi
, knight of the order of Saint-Michel (1492?1508)
- Godebert (Cordebert Chandeber(t)) Carre (Carr),
lord de St Quentin and Perrigny
, brother in law of B. Stuart, captain of Amboise (he sold this charge to Pierre de Rohan,
Marechal de Gie
in 1497) and participated in the wars in Italy (
Capitano de la Rocca of Milan
)
- Robert Stewart or Robert Stuart, Lord of Aubigny
,
marechal de France
in 1515, knight of the order of the King (1470?1543)
- Jacques de Motgommery,
lord de Lorges
, conseiller et chambellan du roi (1543?1556)
- Gabriel, comte de Montgomery
,
lord de Lorges
(1530?1574), who mortally injured King Henry II in a jousting accident.
- Jacques de Montgommery
, lord of Lorges, knight of the order of the King (1555?1561)
- Sir John Hepburn
- Sir Robert Moray
- Charles de La Vieuville
, Captain of the Guards, later
Superintendent of Finances
- Robert Sempill
, Ensign in the Guards
- Sir Donald Cameron
, Lord Lochiel, an exiled Jacobite chieftain, Knight of the Order of Saint-Michel (1746-1748)
- Antoine de l'Hoyer
, a Knight of the Order of St John and a Knight of the Order of St Louis, also a notable guitarist and composer (1768?1852)
The Garde Ecossaise in fiction
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See also
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References
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]
- ^
Rene Chartrand, page 14 Louis XIV's Army,
ISBN
0-85045-850-1
- ^
Keay and Keay (1994) p. 639
- ^
Liliane and Fred Funcken, page 14
L'Uniforme et les Armes des Soldats de la Guerre en Dentelle
,
ISBN
2-203-14315-0
- ^
David Stevenson, "Gordon, George, second marquess of Huntly (c. 1590?1649)",
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
,
Oxford University Press
, 2004; online edn, May 2006
accessed 19 Nov 2010
- ^
Steve Murdoch and Alexia Grosjean,
Alexander Leslie and the Scottish Generals of the Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648
(London, 2014), pp.65, 108, 154, 161, 172
- ^
Rene Chartrand, page 5 Louis XV's Army - Cavalry and Dragoons,
ISBN
1-85532-602-7
- ^
Rene Chartrand, page 6 Louis XV's Army - Cavalry and Dragoons,
ISBN
1-85532-602-7
- ^
Philip Mansel, page 129 "Pillars of Monarchy",
ISBN
0-7043-2424-5
- ^
Liliane and Fred Funcken, page 10
L'Uniforme et les Armes des Soldats du XIX Siecle
,
ISBN
2-203-14324-X
- ^
Ruaridh Britton,
'Aberdeen author unveils historical fiction novel with connections to north-east Scotland',
Aberdeen Live
, 9 June 2023
- Forbes-Leith, William,
The Scots Men-at-Arms and Life-Guards in France
, Edinburgh, 1882, 2 vols.
- Brown, Michael.
The Black Douglases, War and Lordship in Late Medieval Scotland
. Tuckwell,
East Linton
, 1998
- Keay, J. & Keay, J. (1994)
Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland
. London.
HarperCollins
.
ISBN
0-00-255082-2
- MacDougall, Norman.
An Antidote to the English-The Auld Alliance 1295-1560
. Tuckwell, East Linton, 2001
- Douglas, Robert
.
Baronage of Scotland
, Edinburgh, 1798, at
rootsweb.com
- http://pagesperso-orange.fr/jean-claude.colrat/ecossais.htm
(Scots with Joan of Arc, in French)