Cadets de Gascogne

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The Cadets de Gascogne ( French for "Gascogner Cadets ") are now generally understood to be a volunteer company of the Gardes françaises that served in the Franco-Spanish War (1635-1659) . Through authors such as Edmond Rostand and Alexandre Dumas the Elder , she gained lasting literary fame.

In a broader sense, a Gascon cadet was already understood as a scion of the impoverished petty aristocracy of the French southwest in France in the sixteenth century, who possessed nothing but an excessive self-esteem bordering on arrogance and dogged ambition. As a quickly irritable soldier of fortune ( Officier de fortune ) he tried to make a career at court and even more so in the army. The proverbial uncivilized "gascogner manner" ( manière gasconne ) was both ridiculed and feared by the rest of the French.

history

The company has been Spanish-French erected war probably at the beginning of and essentially consisted of posthumous sons of Gascon gentry, but it belonged to her and nobles in other regions of France at. The cadets served as volunteers without pay, but were able to learn the craft of war and hope to receive a paid post in the regular army when the opportunity arises. In fact, especially in times of war, they formed a personnel reservoir for the army, which, with the help of volunteers, replenished regiments that had been thrown out by death or disability, especially the lower officer posts. A similar practice was common in the other armies of Europe until the 18th century.

It is, however, questionable whether the company was officially dubbed Cadets de Gascogne . In various, also contemporary sources, the troop is referred to as the company of Monsieur de Carbon Castel-Jaloux, who was their captain as an officer of the Régiment des Gardes françaises . This was in line with the custom of the time, often naming units after their owners and not after a region (it was not until January 1, 1791 that the regiments were numbered instead). One of the few exceptions were more or less independent guard formations, such as the Garde écossaise (Scottish Guard) or the Cent-suisses (Hundred Swiss).

The troupe already enjoyed a legendary reputation during their lifetime. The Casgogner cadets were seen as daredevils without discipline, ruffians and women heroes. Corresponding representations and literary exaggerations can be found in the drama Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand and the novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas the Elder .

Known members

Well-known members of the unit were:

Extract from Cyrano de Bergerac

Cyrano von Bergerac - Chapter 4, Act Two, Appearance Seven:

These are the Gascon cadets;
Your captain is Castel-Jaloux.
They fight and lie and bet;
These are the Gascon cadets!
They stick together like burdock
And love and be angry in no time.
These are the Gascon cadets;
Your captain is Castel-Jaloux.
They flee from soft beds
And don't collect any money in the chest;
They don't straighten their hair;
They flee from soft beds
And stuff in their toilets
The holes and cracks don't close.
They flee from soft beds
And don't collect any money in the chest.
If devils had their opponents
Your heart does not fall into your shoes';
They would chain themselves to fame
If the devil had their opponents!
And it is necessary to fight, to save
Then come along ...
If devils had their opponents
Your heart doesn't fall into your shoes'.
These are the Gascon cadets;
You disturb the husband's peace!
You blondes and also you brunettes,
These are the Gascon cadets!
Helps you in secret places
Not long your brittle behavior!
These are the Gascon cadets;
They disturb the husband's peace.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Véronique Lacarde: Les cadets de Gascogne. Une histoire turbulente , Sud Ouest Editions, 2005, ISBN 978-2-87901-639-9
  2. ↑ cf. Frédéric Lachèvre: Les oeuvres libertines de Cyrano de Bergerac , parisien (1619-1655), Paris 1921, vol. 1, pp. XXXI
  3. ↑ cf. Henry Le Bret: Préface de l'Histoire comique par Monsieur de Cyrano Bergerac, contenant les Estats et empires de la Lune, Paris 1657, p. 21
  4. ↑ https://www.projekt-gutenberg.org/rostand/cyrano/chap02.html