Gendarmerie de France

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Gendarme of the Compagnie de Berry

The Gendarmerie de France (also Gendarmerie d'ordonnance ) were a cavalry unit of the French army of the Ancien Régime . Its origins go back to the late Middle Ages and it was dissolved shortly before the French Revolution. Although subordinated to the Maison militaire du roi de France , it was not part of it. The term gendarmerie comes from gens d'armes (armed noblemen) and originally had nothing to do with police tasks , but was only used for the national gendarmerie after the dissolution of the association .

history

The gendarmerie followed the tradition of the gens d'armes , the armored horsemen of the 15th and 16th centuries. These were summarized in the "Compagnies d'ordonnances" (Ordonnanzkompanien) set up in 1442 and already differed in their designation from the rest of the cavalry, which was called "Cavalerie légère" (Light Cavalry).

In the original Compagnies d'ordonnance, the Gendarmes and the Archers were combined. The latter were not armored and served as support for the more immobile gendarmes.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the distinction between heavy and light cavalry gradually disappeared in France. Nonetheless, the organization of the troops was preserved. The Gendarmerie de France was first officially mentioned in 1665.

The Gendarmerie de France was organized in companies and not in regiments like the other light cavalry. The companies were not subordinate to the Colonel général de la cavalerie. As successors to the Archers d'ordonnance, they were correctly counted among the light cavalry, even if their tasks differed not insignificantly. Although the Gendarmerie de France was never part of the Royal Guard ( Maison militaire du roi ), it was still a privileged corps, similar to the Gardes françaises in the infantry. One of these privileges was that a company was always assigned to guard the Princes of the Blood or their spouses. This earned them the nickname Gendarmerie du roi et des princes (Gendarmerie of the king and princes). During campaigns , parades and excursions by the king, the companies had their place immediately behind the royal household troops (guard formations) and in front of the entire line cavalry. The ensign (porte-guidon - equivalent to the lieutenant) was recruited from the captains of the other regiments. (That is, the rank of ensign was higher than an ordinary cavalry captain.) Nobles, including those who were financially unable to set up their own unit, as well as older, ennobled former NCOs were accepted into the officer corps as officers. Ordinary riders and "bas-officiers" (NCOs) could not become officers. However, the ranks in the companies were for sale, which ensured that a certain elitist standard was maintained.

In the end, the strength of the corps and thus the number of companies depended on the favor of the king. Only the first four companies, the “Grande gendarmerie”, were permanent, the other four, the “Petite gendarmerie”, were available to the princes, which meant that they were disbanded if they were not needed (e.g. death of the person concerned) .

In 1720 the 33 companies of the Maréchaussée (a police force to maintain order on the streets) were organizationally integrated into the gendarmes. King Louis XV assigned the Petite gendarmerie as a guard to his father-in-law, King Stanislaus I. Leszczyński in Lunéville . From then on it was called "Gendarmerie de Lunéville"

On June 5, 1763 the Chevau-légers were disbanded and incorporated into the gendarmes. This resulted in 10 companies, divided into three brigades with a total of 1,500 riders.

Division of companies

On the day of its abolition, the Gendarmes de France consisted of eight companies:

  • Grande gendarmerie
    • Gendarmes écossais (Scottish Gendarmes)
    • Gendarmes anglais (English gendarmes)
    • Gendarmes bourguignons (Burgundian Gendarmes)
    • Gendarmes des Flandres (Flemish gendarmes)
  • Petite gendarmerie
    • Gendarmes de la Reine (Queen's Gendarmes), drawn up for Queen Marie-Thérèse
    • Gendarmes dauphins (gendarmes of the heir to the throne), established by Louis de France , known as the Grand Dauphin
    • Gendarmes de Berry (Gendarmes of Berry) set up by the Duc de Berry.
    • Gendarmes d'Artois (Gendarmes of Artois) set up by the Comte d'Artois, brother of Louis XVI. and later King Charles X.

In the years between 1787 and 1789 the corps was finally dissolved.

In 1791 the National Assembly abolished the Maréchaussée and replaced it with the Gendarmerie nationale . The name Gendarmerie was continued here, but the facility has nothing in common with the "Gendarmes de France" apart from the name - there is also no maintenance of tradition.

Acts of combat

Remarks

  1. ↑ On April 1, 1701, King Louis XIV authorized the Marquis de Gassion to buy the Compagnie des gendarmes de Berry from the Marquis de Virville at a price of 132,000 livres.

literature

  • Frédéric Magnin, “Mottin de la Balme, cavalier des deux mondes et de la liberté” L'Harmattan, Paris, 2005 ISBN 2-7475-9080-1
  • BENOIT “La gendarmerie Rouge” on GALLICA.
  • Liliane & Fred Funcken "L'uniforme et les arms des soldats de la guerre dentelle" Castermans SA Tournai 1975