Grandes Compagnies

As Grandes Compagnies groups of mercenaries called, during the Hundred Years War , in peacetime or during ceasefires, so after their release by their employer, France crossed, plundered or lived on ransom payments. They were also commonly referred to as routiers .

Especially during the reigns of Kings John II (1350–1364) and Charles V (1364–1380), the Grandes Compagnies were an enormous burden for the population. They consisted of soldiers of foreign nationalities, mainly Germans under English command who have favourited King Edward III of England . after the Peace of Brétigny (1360) had dismissed. Their activities led to defensive reactions by the population, which were also successful at times; on the other hand, it came with meetings with regular troops ( Battle of Brignais 1362) also to victories of the companies.

The Connétable Bertrand du Guesclin was commissioned in 1365 to lead the companies to Spain in order to free France from them. Here they fought for Heinrich von Trastamara against his brother Peter the Cruel († 1369).

Well-known leaders of the Routiers were:

• Arnaud de Cervole , called l'Archiprêtre (the archpriest).
• Bétucat d'Albret
• Bernard de la Salle
• Hugh Calveley
• Robert Knolles
• John Creswell

Well-known companies were:

• The Tard-Venus , after the Treaty of Brétigny (May 8, 1360) demobilized mercenaries who lived under the command of Petit Meschin and Seguin de Badefol , mainly in Burgundy and Languedoc . In 1362 they devastated the county of La Marche des Jacques de Bourbon , who had campaigned against them (see Battle of Brignais ).
• The Compagnie blanche , which was also formed after the Treaty of Brétigny. She was under the command of John Hawkwood .
• Later came the Écorcheurs , the mercenaries dismissed after the Treaty of Arras (1435) and the end of the civil war of the Armagnacs and Bourguignons , whose activities led to the formation of the French orderly companies in 1445 , the first standing army that brought some of the mercenaries a permanent commitment .
• Such mercenary bands did not only appear in France. Non-French examples are the Catalan Company , the Almogàvers , who were in the service of Aragón .

See also

• Roger de Flor
• Berenguer d'Entença
• Bernat de Rocafort
• Battle of Brignais

Web links

• Lettre du roi contre les routiers en pays de Languedoc, 1413 ( Memento from June 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive )