Arnaud de Cervole

Arnaud de Cervole (* 1300 ; † 1366 ), known as "the archpriest", was one of the most notorious French brigands during the Hundred Years' War .

Life

Cervole was born near Périgord around 1300 as the son of a nobleman. He received his designation as "archpriest" because of an ecclesiastical fief that he owned in Verlines.

During the Hundred Years' War between France and England, Cervole fought in the Battle of Poitiers in 1356 , in which the English won one of the most important victories of the war. Cervole was captured like King John II and was set free with a ransom.

In the anarchy after Poitiers, in which state violence was powerless, many nobles seized the opportunity to roam the country to rob and loot. Cervole was one of the most famous of these "brigands". In 1357 he was together with a nobleman of Provence, Raimond des Baux, captain of the company "Societá dell Acquisito", which soon 2000 men joined. His troops grew so strong that Cervole and his troops dared to visit Avignon , the seat of Pope Innocent VI , in 1358 . to besiege. Innocent was so afraid of Cervole that he was invited to the papal palace and "greeted with a courtesy", "as if he were the son of the King of France". Eventually the Pope and his cardinals paid Cervole a sum of 40,000 écus . After handing over the money, Cervole left his troops with the money, making the angry knights even more dangerous.

When King John II returned to France in 1362 after his imprisonment in England, he decided to bring order to his country and to destroy the brigands. To do this, he hired the most notorious brigand, Arnaud de Cervole, and provided him with an army of two hundred knights and four hundred archers. However, the incompetent Count of Tancarville was placed at his side, who ruled against Cervole's advice and was soon taken prisoner with his knights. After this brief interlude as the king's servant, Cervole began again with raids. In 1364 he occupied Burgundy and demanded a sum of 2500 gold francs . The young Duke Philip treated the brigand with great respect, called him advisor and friend and gave him a castle and several nobles as security until he could raise the money. He then plundered again in the south, in Champagne and Lorraine , where he was murdered by his own soldiers in 1366 .

literature

• Barbara Tuchman : The Distant Mirror. The dramatic 14th century. Hamburg 2006/07, pp. 205, 245, 271.

Web links

• Arnaud de Cervoles short biography on kriegsreisen.de