Pierre du Terrail
Pierre du Terrail, Chevalier de Bayard (* around 1476 at Bayard Castle near Grenoble , † April 30, 1524 in Romagnano Sesia ) was a French general. His biography Le Loyal Serviteur that a year after his death by his former personal physician and secretary Symphorien Champier was written, was widely and contributed to its proverbial reputation as a "knight in shining armor", fr. Chevalier sans peur et sans reproche at .
Military career
Pierre du Terrail entered the service of Count Philippe de Bauge , later Duke of Savoy , and then of King Charles VIII of France . After a happy duel with the Burgundian knight Claude de Vaudrai employed by a company of gendarmes, he followed the king on his march against Naples in 1495 , fought in the battle of Fornuovo and was knighted for his bravery.
Under Louis XII. He penetrated Milan at the same time as the defeated enemies, was captured, but was immediately released by Ludovico Sforza , took part in the Battle of Novara and fought against the Spaniards in Naples in 1503. Bayard excelled in defending the bridge over the Garigliano against 200 horsemen. The defense of the city of Venoza brought him equal fame .
In 1507 Bayard fought against the Genoese and in 1509 in the Battle of Agnadello . When Ludwig XII. got into an argument with Pope Julius II , Bayard was sent to the aid of the Countess of Mirandola and the Duke of Ferrara. His plan to capture the Pope on a journey from San Felice to the besieged Mirandola failed; He rejected the request of a papal spy to poison Julius II.
Bayard was badly wounded when the Brescia camp was stormed in 1512. In 1513 in the unfortunate battle of Guinegate in Picardy , he was captured by the English, but released without a ransom by Emperor Maximilian and King Henry VIII .
Appointed Lieutenant General of the Dauphiné in 1514 , he accompanied Francis I of France to Italy in 1515 . He prepared the march over the Alps to Savigliano, took the papal general Prospero Colonna prisoner in Villafranca and fought so successfully in the battle of Marignano that the king sought and received the accolade from him, as the most worthy of the whole army. In 1521 Bayard defended Mézières against the army of Charles V; for this he received a company of 100 gendarmes from Franz I, an award that was otherwise only bestowed on princes of the royal house.
Death at the Sesia crossing
When in 1524 Bonnivet, sent to Italy by Francis I to recapture the Duchy of Milan, had to retreat, Bayard defended the crossing over the Sesia near Gattinara . He was shot in the side from an arquebus that shattered his spine. He died shortly afterwards. When the Connétable von Bourbon , who had defected from France, came up to him and complained about him, Bayard said: “You must pity not me, but you, who take up arms against the king and fatherland”.
Pierre du Terrail died on April 30, 1524 at the age of about 48.
Cervantes later gave his hero Don Quixote the nickname "Chevalier sans peur et sans reproche" .
literature
- Symphorien Champier: Les gestes ensembles la vie du preulx Chevalier Bayard . Imprimerie Nationale, Paris 1992, ISBN 2-11-081179-X (repr. Of the Paris 1525 edition)
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Terrail, Pierre you |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bayard, Pierre Du Terrail de; Knights without fear or blame; Chevalier sans peur et sans reproche |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French general |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1476 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bayard Castle near Grenoble |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 30, 1524 |
| Place of death | Romagnano Sesia |