The Gardes du Corps du Roi () was a cavalry unit of the maison militaire du roi de France.
History Foundation The oldest unit in the Garde du Corps was the Company of Scottish Archers, later just the 1st Scottish Company or Garde Écossaise, formed in 1419 from Scots that fought for the French during Hundred Years' War. This unit was created at an uncertain date between 1423 and 1448. Subsequently, two further French companies were raised. A final company was established on 17 March 1515. Each of the four companies initially numbered less than a hundred men.
Active service In the Battle of Fornovo during the Italian Wars the Garde du Corps saved King Charles VIII from being captured by enemy forces. Later in the Italian Wars they failed to save Francis I from being captured in the Battle of Pavia.
The last time the Garde du Corps campaigned was during the War of the Austrian Succession because it only went on campaign when the king was present. The last battle in which the Garde du Corps was present was Lauffeld on 1 July 1747.
Composition and military quality In contrast to other units of the royal household such as the French Guards and the Swiss Guards, the Garde du Corps was an exclusively aristocratic corps. Even the rank and file were drawn from families with appropriate social backgrounds. As such they were noted for their courtly manners but less so for their professionalism and military skills. Individual courtier guardsmen stationed at Versailles were not subject to regular training beyond ceremonial drill, and extended periods of leave from duty were common.Jacques Godechot, page 85 "The Taking of the Bastille", Faber and Faber Ltd 1970 A critical report, dated 1775, concluded that the Garde du Corps and other "distinguished units with their own privileges are always very expensive - fight less than line troops, are usually badly disciplined and badly trained, and are always very embarrassing on campaign". Officers of the Garde du Corps resented having to wear uniforms (perceived as a form of servant's livery) when on duty at Versailles and eventually won the concession of appearing in civilian court dress with their military belts and swords, except when on parade.
Revolution and Restoration The Garde du Corps featured conspicuously in several incidents in the opening stages of the French Revolution. On 1 October 1789 the officers of the Garde hosted a banquet to welcome their colleagues of the Régiment de Flandre (Flanders Regiment); a line infantry regiment of the Royal Army, which had been brought to Versailles to replace the disbanded Gardes Francais (French Guards). The latter regiment had joined in the attack on the Bastille six weeks before. The banquet was reported in Paris as a royalist provocation and an angry crowd of thousands marched on Versailles. During the night of 5 October about 500 members of the crowd broke into the palace, killing two of the Gardes du Corps on duty. Other Gardes du Corps held the doors to the royal apartments until grenadiers of the National Guard – mostly former Gardes Francais – restored order. The Garde du Corps narrowly escaped massacre and, disarmed, was obliged to accompany the Royal Family to Paris. Most of this aristocratic regiment then dispersed to their estates or into exile.
The Garde du Corps was formally dissolved in 1791 along with all of the Maison du Roi, except for the ill-fated Swiss Guards. After the abdication of Napoleon I in April 1814 and the Bourbon Restoration, Louis XVIII recreated the Garde du Corps with the rest of the Maison du Roi. These units disappeared during Napoleon's return, at the start of the Hundred Days.
After Waterloo and the return of the Bourbons the Garde du Corps was recreated again, almost the only unit of the old Maison du Roi to be given a further chance after the disappointing performance of these expensive and militarily obsolete regiments in 1815. The Garde du Corps was however reorganised, reduced in numbers to about 1,500 and integrated more closely with the regular army. The reconstituted Garde du Corps served the returned Bourbons loyally until being finally abolished, along with all Guard units, by Louis-Philippe I in 1830 after the July Revolution.
Motto The original motto of the Garde du Corps was Erit haec quoque cognita monstris (They will be recognized, them also, with their brilliant deeds), but during the reign of Louis XIV it changed to Nec pluribus impar (No unequal match for many (suns)), which also was Louis XIV's personal motto.
The swords of the guardsmen were inscribed with Vive le Roi (Long live the King).
Organization The number of guardsmen increased between the reign of Francis I and that of Louis XIV from 400 to 1,600 men. In the eighteenth century, the numbers eventually stabilized at around 1,500 men.
In 1737, each company had 320 men, organized into two squadrons and six brigades.
1st Scottish Company (Garde Écossaise)
Despite the name, by the 16th century the company had ceased to be purely Scottish. Little by little the Scottish Company became Scottish in name only.
Captains/Chefs de corps: 1440 : Robert Patilloch 1449 : Mathieu d'Harcourt, Lord of Rugny 1455 : Claude de Châteauneuf, Garde-du-Corps of Charles VII of France 1456 : Michel de Beauvilliers, seigneur de La Ferte-Hubert, du Lude et de Thoury 1462 : William Stuyers 1466 : Thomas Stuyers 1471 : Geffrey Coowran 1473 : Robert Coningham 1480 : Jean Coningham 1495-1508 : Bernard Stewart (1452-1508), Duke of Aubigny 1508-1512 : John Stewart ( † 1512), seigneur d'Henrichemont 1512 : Robert Stewart (1570-1544), Duke of Aubigny, Maréchal de France (1515) 1514-1544 : Jean Stuart ( † 1551), sieur de Vézinnes et de Fontaine 1544 : Jacques I de Montgomery (vers 1485–1560), seigneur de Lorges 1557 : Gabriel I de Montgommery (vers 1530–1574), seigneur de Lorges 1559 : Jacques II de Montgommery ( † 1562), seigneur de Lorges 1562-1563 : Jean I d'O (vers 1510-vers 1578), seigneur de Maillebois 1563-1569 : Jean de Losse, écuyer, seigneur de BannesBulletin de la Société historique et archéologique du Périgord, Tome 17, p. 134 1569-1599 : Joachim de Châteauvieux (1545-1615), Governor of the Bastille 1599-1605 : Jean-Paul d'Esparbès de Lussan ( † 1616), seigneur de La Serre, chevalier du Saint-Esprit 1605-1611 : Antoine Arnaud de Pardaillan de Gondrin (1562-1624), marquis de Montespan, chevalier du Saint-Esprit 1611-1612 : Philibert de Nerestang ( † 1620), marquis de Nerestang 1612-1616 : Charles d'Estournel, seigneur de Blainville 1616-1623 : Charles de La Vieuville (1583-1653), marquis de de La Vieuville 1623-1642 : Guillaume de Simiane ( † 1642), marquis de Gordes (février 1615), chevalier du Saint-Esprit; 1642-1642 : François de Simiane (vers 1622–1680), marquis de Gordes 1642-1651 : François de Rochechouart (1611-1696), comte de Limoges (1661), marquis de Chandenier 1651 : Anne de Noailles (1620-1678), Duke of Noailles 1678 : Anne Jules de Noailles (1650-1708), comte d'Ayen, Duke of Noailles, Maréchal de France (1693) 1707 : Adrien Maurice de Noailles (1678-1766), Duke of Noailles, Maréchal de France (1734) 1731 : Louis de Noailles (1713-1793), Duke of Ayen, Duke of Noailles, Maréchal de France (1775) 1758-1791 : Jean-Paul de Noailles (1739-1824), Duke of Ayen, Duke of Noailles 1814-1825 : Joseph Anne Maximilien de Croÿ d'Havré (1744-1839) 1825-1830 : Emmanuel Marie Maximilien de Croÿ-Solre (1768-1848)
2nd Company (1st French Company)
Louis XI, by edict of 4 September 1474, had instituted for the custody of his person a company of 100 French men-at-arms, under the command of Hector de Galard. This troop was for a long time known under the nickname of gentilshommes au bec de corbin, because they carried a balanced ax on its handle by a bent tip.
Each of these gentlemen was to maintain at his own expense two archers. By letters patent given at Rouen on 10 June 1475, the King exempted these gentlemen from the maintenance of the archers; he took them in his pay and formed a special company, which he entrusted to Jean Blosset, Lord of Plessis-Pate. This company of archers was called la petite garde du roi, to distinguish it from the 1st Company (Scottish Guard) which was officially designated under the title of Cent lances des gentilshommes de l’hôtel du Roy, ordered for the guard his person, that is, his escort.
The petite garde served on foot and horseback.
It is this petite garde, transformed by Francis I in the company of 100 men-at-arms, which became in 1515, the 1st French Company of the Garde-du-Corps. This company distinguished itself from others, from the reign of Louis XIV, by the blue color of its banners and shoulder straps.
The company held quarters at Coulommiers and served at Versailles the quarter of April.
Captains/Chefs de corps: 1474 : Hector de Galard de Brassac (1415-1475), chambellan de Louis XI 1475 : Jean Blosset du Plessis-Pâté († avant 1500), baron de Torcy 1477 : Hervé de Chalnay 1482 : Jacques de Silly (1450-1503), seigneur de Launay et de Vaulx, chambellan de Charles VIII, bailli et capitaine de Caen, grand maître de l'artillerie de France 1482 : Jacques Ier de Crussol, vicomte d'Uzès 1524 : Louis II Mitte de Miolans de Chevrières († 1529), seigneur de Chevrières, sénéchal du Bourbonnais (1525), et bailli de Gévaudan (1528) 1530 : Antoine de Raffin, seigneur de Puycalvary, de Beaucaire et d'Azay-le-Rideau, Governor of Cherbourg, Marmande and La Sauvetat 1551 : Louis de Talaru, seigneur de Chalmazel 1570 : Eustache de Conflans, vicomte d'Ouchy (vers 1526–1574), Governor of Saint-Quentin, chevalier du Saint-Esprit, distinguished at Surprise of Meaux and Battle of Saint-Denis (1567) 1574 : Nicolas d'Angennes (1533-1611), marquis de Rambouillet, vidame du Mans, chevalier du Saint-Esprit 1580 : Jean d'O, sieur de Manou, chevalier du Saint-Esprit 1595 : Louis de L'Hôpital († 1611), marquis de Vitry, chevalier du Saint-Esprit 1611 : Nicolas de L'Hospital, marquis de Vitry 1617 : François de L'Hospital, marquis du Hallier 1631 : Charles de Lévis-Charlus (1600-1662), marquis de Château-Renault 1634 : Louis de Béthune (1605-1681), Duke of Chârost (1672), maréchal de camp, lieutenant-général des ville et citadelle de Calais, chevalier du Saint-Esprit 1648 : René du Plessis de Jarzé, marquis de Jarzé (1613-1676), le Beau Jarzé 1649 : Louis de Béthune (1605-1681), Duke of Chârost 1663 : Louis Armand de Béthune-Chârost (1640-1717), Duke of Chârost, chevalier du Saint-Esprit. 1672 : Jacques Henri de Durfort de Duras (1652-1704), Duke of Duras, Maréchal de France, chevalier du Saint-Esprit 1704 : Louis-François de Boufflers (1644-1711), Duke of Boufflers 1711 : Armand I de Béthune-Chârost (1663-1747), Duke of Chârost, baron d'Ancenis 1747 : Paul François de Béthune-Chârost (1682-1759), Duke of Chârost 1756 : Gaston Pierre de Lévis (1699-1757), Duke of Mirepoix 1757 : Charles Juste de Beauvau, Prince of Craon (1720-1793), prince de Beauvau 1784 : Philippe Louis de Noailles (1752-1819), prince de Poix, Duke of Mouchy 1790 : Charles-Anne des Escotais (1772-1822), comte des Escotais
3rd Company (2nd French Company)
Louis XI, satisfied with the services of his petits gardes of the 1st French Company, created in 1479 a second similar company, and gave the command to Claude de La Chatre.
It became, like the previous one, a company of bodyguards at the beginning of the reign of Francis I.
Captains/Chefs de corps: 1479 : Claude de La Châtre de Nançay, seigneur de Nançay 1490 : Abel de La Châtre 1499 : Gabriel de La Châtre, baron de La Maisonfort, seigneur de Nançay 1529 : Joachim de La Châtre, baron de La Maisonfort 1549 : François, seigneur de La Ferté, gentilhomme ordinaire de la Chambre du Roi ???? : Gaspard de La Châtre (vers 1539–1576), seigneur de Nançay 1580 : Charles de Balsac, seigneur de Clermont (vers 1565–1610), baron d’Entragues