Employment of foreign mercenary troops in the French royal armies, 1415-1470

Abstract

In the early years of the fifteenth century, the impact of English invasion, civil war and military defeat forced the French monarchy to seek military assistance from its allies abroad. Large numbers of men from this source served in French armies throughout the century, and this thesis sets out to examine this rather neglected phenomenon. The first part is a chronological survey of the history of this involvement, which can be divided into three phases. In the first, large foreign armies operated as separate units alongside the French and were involved in the major battles of the period such as Bauge, Cravant and Verneuil. After the siege of Orleans, these arm~es broke up into a host of smaller companies without any close central organisation and only under very limited royal control. After the reforms of 1445, the system of Compagnies d'Ordonnance restored this and tied the soldiers into the royal patronage network, giving the king a theorexical monopoly of organised military force. In the second half, various themes are studied in more detail; the close involvement of French diplomacy with matters of recruitment, the or~g~ns of the soldiers and the potential rewards and problems which service of the French crown might bring them. It then studies the alternatives to royal serv~ce, the problems of discipline and the political dangers which these posed. A re-examination of the actual effects of the 1445 reforms leads into an attempt to comprehend the realities of the life of soldier and captain on a day to day basis, concluding with an e~~ination of the relationship between the soldiers and the native French population. The thesis concludes that the role of foreign troops in sustaining the Valois dynasty was considerable and their experiences illuminate the realities of military service in the later middle ages.