Scots Guards (France) and Scottish Guards (France): Difference between pages

The Scot's Guards or Garde Écossaise was an elite Scots military unit founded circa.1420 by Charles VII of France, to be personal Body-guards to the French Monarchy. They were assimilated into the Maison du Roi and later formed the first company of the Garde du Corps or Life Guards.

History

Overview

Scots warriors were believed to have fought for Charlemagne and later in the Armies of Charles the Simple in 882. It was not however, until 1295 and the agreements that would become known as theAuld Alliance, that there was much documentary evidence of French soldiery in Scotland or Scots soldiery in France. From the outset of the Hundred Years War, there were Scots companies officially fighting for Philip le Bel. At the Battle of Poiters, the 4th Earl of Douglas and the future 3rd Earl of Douglas fought for John II, where the future 3rd Earl was captured along with many Scots Knights, notwithstanding the French King himself. In the 1360's there are Scots to be found in the army of Bertrand du Guesclin. In the early 15th century France was split into Armagnac- Burgundian civil strife following the descent into madness of Charles V. Henry V saw his opportunity and allied himself with John the Fearless and invaded. The Dauphin despairingly sought allies, and found them amongst the Scots and the Castilians.

La Grande Armée Écossaise

In 1418 Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany appointed his son the Chamberlain of Scotland, John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Buchan to command the Scots expeditionary force, the largest army that medieval Scotland had ever sent abroad. 7000-8000 men arrived at La Rochelle in October 1419 and made their way to Tours to greet the Dauphin. The first things the future Charles VII did was to shower munificence upon the Scots nobles. Buchan received Châtillon-sur-Indre, the Earl of Wigtoun received Dun-le-Roi, Sir John Stewart of Darnley received Concressault, and Thomas Seton the castle of Langeais. The Scots leaders wer persuaded to return to Scotland to recruit more troops. The Scots leadership returned in 1320 with another 4000-5000 reinforements. While their leaders were at home the Dauphin assigned the Scots contingent throughout his armies and garrisons and picked a number roughly one hundred of the best warriors to be his personal body guard. The Scots fought with distinction throughout across France with a notable win at the Battle of Baugé in 1421, where the Duke of Clarence was said to have been felled by Buchan's Mace. However, the Scots faced a calamity at the Battle of Verneuil in 1424, when they lost 6000 men. Although saddened by the loss of so many of his loyal Scotsmen, Charles VII continued to honour the survivors. The Scots had a further setback at the Battle of the Herrings in 1429. The Scots Army in France fragmented into free companies, a headache for the French state, and Ordonnance companies within the French Army.

Life Guards

However the King kept about him his Garde Écossaise. The Scots Guards had likely protected him during the murder of John the Fearless at the bridge of Montereau, and rescued him from a fire in Gascony in 1442. There were Scots Guards who fell at the Battle of Montlhéry defending their King ,Louis XI of France in 1465.

References

Primary Sources

• Brown, Michael. The Black Douglases, War and Lordship in Late Medieval Scotland. Tuckwell, East Linton. 1998
• MacDougall, Norman. An Antidote to the English-The Auld Alliance 1295-1560. Tuckwell, East Linton. 2001

Secondary Sources