Garde du corps du roi

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Guard in uniform for duty on foot

The Garde du corps du roi (King's Bodyguard) was initially a light, later a heavy cavalry unit in the Guard ( Maison militaire du roi ) of the King of France . It existed until 1791.

history

A forerunner of the Garde du corps was the Garde écossaise , a company made up of Scottish soldiers, which was established by King Charles VII before 1423. The members of this guard were called Archers du corps du roi (Archers of the King). At that time the lightly armed riders were called archer, in contrast to the heavy riders of the Gens d'armes or the cuirassiers (cavaliers cuirassés). Louis XI. then added two more companies of French horsemen to this guard . On March 27, 1515, Francis I set up a fourth company. During this period, the French companies were nominally part of the Garde écossaise.

These four companies of the so-called Garde du corps from the 16th century onwards (the name Garde écossaise had been superseded over time), although they belonged to one corps, had no connection with one another. The Scottish company was always led by a member of the Scottish royal house of the Stuart family , the French companies by the Marshals of France (Maréchaux de France). In this century, the conversion from light riders to heavy cavalry (cavalerie lourde) took place.

In 1664 the companies of the Garde du corps were assigned a joint command staff by King Louis XIV . In the same year the high-ranking officers were also prohibited from selling the vacancies. The costs for the four companies this year amounted to the exorbitant sum of 80,000 livres for the time .

The Garde du corps was dissolved in 1791. A large number of the guardsmen then joined the troops of the counterrevolution loyal to the king ( army of emigrants ).

organization

Initially consisting of only 100 men per company , the workforce grew steadily, from 400 men under Franz I to 1,600 men under Louis XIV. His successor then reduced the number to 1,440 men in 1715, which eventually increased to 1,500 men ( including the management staff) leveled off. Admission requirements were aristocratic origins and a Roman Catholic denomination.

The decree of January 6, 1737 set the strength of the corps at 330 horsemen per company. The company in turn was divided into two "escadrons", each of which consisted of six "brigades". Each squadron had twelve brigadiers, twelve sous-brigadiers, six standard-bearers, six trumpeters and a timpanist.

uniform

The Gardes de corps wore different uniforms for indoor work on foot and for work on horseback. The office uniform was kept simple, instead of the cuirassier boots red stockings and buckled shoes were worn. The color of the skirt was blue, the vest and pants were red. The skirt here was cut like a tailcoat and not provided with braids. The guardsmen were armed with a sword and a musket. The blade of the sword was marked with the inscription "Vive le Roy".

Motto

Until the time of Louis XIV, the motto of this royal bodyguard was " Erit haec quoque cognita monstris "; in German after Alison Saunders: "She too will become known to the monsters " [" Elle sera pareillement connue aux monstres "].

According to Leslie Gilbert Pine, this motto, together with the associated coat of arms, is Louis XIII. to interpret which one shows a club with this ruler. The Latin “ haec ” ( this, this, this ) means, according to Pine, the very club that - like the two of Hercules - would already be known to the monsters, whereby the monsters here meant heresy and rebellion . Accordingly, the German translation results again: " She (the club) will also become known to the (two) monsters ".

Later under Louis XIV, the motto of the cavalry association was “ Nec pluribus impar ”, in English: “ Not inferior to several ”.

tasks

Together with the Cent-suisses , the Gardes du Corps guarded the king within the residences. At night they replaced the Garde de la porte and took over the keys and responsibility for the doors from them. A guard was always on the right hand of the sovereign when the king was traveling or on campaigns .

Within the Scottish Company (compagnie écossaise) 24 selected older and experienced guardsmen were given the title Gardes de la Manche . They constantly escorted the king. Of these Gardes de la Manche, a further six were designated as “Gardes ecossais”. This only occurred in the event of exceptional occurrences, e.g. B. the Corpus Christi procession or at a wedding in the royal family in action.

Privileges

The Garde du Corps took first place in the Guard Cavalry, ahead of the Gendarmes de la garde and the Chevau-légers de la garde.

Due to the exclusivity of the corps, access was only allowed to people of the nobility or financially well-off citizens. Applicants were required to be at least 5 feet / 4 inches tall. They were not allowed to have physical defects and had to belong to the Holy Roman Church. Officer's posts could only be filled by nobles. The rank of a guardsman in the Garde du corps corresponded to that of a lieutenant in the line cavalry, that of a brigadier to a captain of the line. Only members of the aristocracy were considered for promotions.

Quarter

The barracks of the Garde du corps du roi were in Versailles , on avenue de Sceaux, at the beginning of the rue de l'Orangerie.

Standards

  • 1st company

  • 2nd company

  • 3rd company

  • 4th company

See also

literature

  • Bernard Barbiche: Les Institutions de la monarchie française à l'époque moderne. XVIe - XVIIIe siècle. Presses Universitaires de France, Paris 1999, ISBN 2-13-048195-7 .
  • Gilbert Bodinier: Les Gardes du corps de Louis XVI. Étude institutionalnelle, sociale et politique, dictionnaire biographique. Éditions Mémoire & Documents et al., Versailles et al. 2005, ISBN 2-914611-35-8 .
  • Henri Bouchot: L'Épopée du costume militaire français. Aquarelles et dessins originaux de JOB. Société Française d'Éditions d'Art, Paris 1898.
  • Jean Chagniot: Maison militaire du roi. In: Lucien Bély (ed.): Dictionnaire de l'Ancien régime. Presses Universitaires de France, Paris 1996, ISBN 2-13-047731-3 .
  • Hervé Drévillon: L'Impôt you sang. Le métier des armes sous Louis XIV. Tallandier, Paris 2005, ISBN 2-8473-4247-8 .
  • Léon de Forges de Parny: Les Gardes du corps du roi. Devaye, Cannes 1972.
  • François Grouvel: Histoire des Gardes du Corps du Roi pendant la Période Révolutionnaire. FGC, Coudoux 1998.
  • Liliane Funcken , Fred Funcken : Le costume et les armes des soldats de tous les temps. Volume 1: The pharaoh à Louis XV. Casterman, Tournai 1966.
  • Liliane Funcken, Fred Funcken: L'uniforme et les armes des soldats de la Guerre en dentelles. Volume 1: France, maison du roi et infanterie sous Louis XV et Louis XVI, Grande-Bretagne et Prusse, infanterie, 1700 à 1800. Casterman, Paris 1975, ISBN 2-203-14315-0 .
  • David C. O'Brien: Traditional virtues, Feudal ties and Royal Guards: The Culture of Service in the Eighteen-Century "Maison Militaire du Roi". In: French History. Vol. 17, No. 1, ISSN  0269-1191 , pp. 19-47, doi : 10.1093 / fh / 17.1.19 .
  • Rigo [di: Albert Rigondaud]: Le Plumet. L'uniformes et les drapeaux de l'armée de l'Ancien régime et du 1er Empire. Paris 1971.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Not a major association in today's sense
  2. ↑ Alison Saunders: The Seventeenth-Century French Emblem. A Study in Diversity (= Travaux du grand siècle. Vol. 18). Droz, Geneva 2000, ISBN 2-600-00452-1 , p. 133, online in the Google book search.
  3. ^ Leslie Gilbert Pine: A Dictionary of Mottoes. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London / Boston 1983, ISBN 0-7100-9339-X , p. 65, online in the Google book search.

Web links

Commons : Uniforms of the Royal French Guard  - collection of images, videos and audio files