Écorcheurs
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Écorcheurs
The ''écorcheurs'' (, "flayers") were armed bands who desolated France in the reign of Charles VII, stripping their victims of everything, often to their very clothes. They were mercenaries without employment since the Treaty of Arras which ended disputes between the Armagnacs and Burgundians in 1435. Rodrigo de Villandrando was known as the "Emperor of Pillagers" (''empereur des brigands'') and "L'Écorcheur" (the flayer). History From the mid-14th century the French royal forces, whether voluntary or ''semoncées'', had become institutionalized. The permanence of conflicts during the Hundred Years War (1337-1453) had created career soldiers, paid by the king or nobles. These were not mercenaries, as their vassals and clientelistic ties remained parallel to their economic interest in war. During times of peace or truce, these unemployed warriors gathered in bands and lived on pillage and ransoms. In the 14th century, after the Peace of Brétigny-Calais (1360), large armies of ...
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Routiers
Routiers () were mercenary soldiers of the Middle Ages. Their particular distinction from other paid soldiers of the time was that they were organised into bands (''rutta'' or ''routes''). The term is first used in the 12th century but is particularly associated with free companies who terrorised the French countryside during the Hundred Years' War. Routiers of the 12th and 13th centuries Although paid soldiers were known before the 12th century, the phenomenon of distinct bands (German Language, German ''Rotten'', French Language, French ''routes'') of mercenary soldiers, often mainly footsoldiers (spearmen, slingers, javelineers, archers and crossbowmen), appears to date from the mid 12th century. Exactly what distinguishes these mercenaries from simple paid soldiers is disputed by scholars but common elements include fighting for profit (as opposed to other reasons such as fealty or faith), a "foreignness" of coming from a different geographical area to that in which they we ...
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France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its Metropolitan France, metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. Due to its several coastal territories, France has the largest exclusive economic zone in the world. France borders Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Andorra, and Spain in continental Europe, as well as the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Netherlands, Suriname, and Brazil in the Americas via its overseas territories in French Guiana and Saint Martin (island), ...
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Charles VII Of France
Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461), called the Victorious (french: le Victorieux) or the Well-Served (), was King of France from 1422 to his death in 1461. In the midst of the Hundred Years' War, Charles VII inherited the throne of France under desperate circumstances. Forces of the Kingdom of England and the duke of Burgundy occupied Guyenne and northern France, including Paris, the most populous city, and Reims, the city in which French kings were traditionally crowned. In addition, his father, Charles VI, had disinherited him in 1420 and recognized Henry V of England and his heirs as the legitimate successors to the French crown. At the same time, a civil war raged in France between the Armagnacs (supporters of the House of Valois) and the Burgundian party (supporters of the House of Valois-Burgundy, which was allied to the English). With his court removed to Bourges, south of the Loire River, Charles was disparagingly called the "King of Bourges", because the ...
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Mercenary
A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather than for political interests. Beginning in the 20th century, mercenaries have increasingly come to be seen as less entitled to protections by rules of war than non-mercenaries. The Geneva Conventions declare that mercenaries are not recognized as legitimate combatants and do not have to be granted the same legal protections as captured service personnel of the armed forces. In practice, whether or not a person is a mercenary may be a matter of degree, as financial and political interests may overlap. Modern mercenary organizations are generally referred to as private military companies or PMCs. Laws of war Protocol Additional GC 1977 (APGC77) is a 1 ...
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Congress Of Arras
The Congress of Arras was a diplomatic congregation established at Arras in the summer of 1435 during the Hundred Years' War, between representatives of England, France, and Burgundy. It was the first negotiation since the Treaty of Troyes and replaced the 15 year agreement between Burgundy and England that would have seen the dynasty of Henry V inherit the French crown. Toward the close of the Hundred Years' War, both the Congress and the subsequent Treaty of Arras represented diplomatic failures for England and major successes for France and led to the expulsion of the English from France. Congregation English negotiators entered the congress believing it was a peace negotiation between England and France only. They proposed an extended truce and a marriage between adolescent King Henry VI of England and a daughter of French king Charles VII of France. The English were unwilling to renounce their claim to the crown of France. This position prevented meaningful negotiation. ...
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Armagnacs
The Armagnac faction was prominent in French politics and warfare during the Hundred Years' War. It was allied with the supporters of Charles, Duke of Orléans against John the Fearless after Charles' father Louis of Orléans was killed on a Paris street on the orders of the Duke of Burgundy on 23 November 1407. The Armagnac Faction took its name from Charles' father-in-law, Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac (1360–1418), who guided the young Duke during his teens and provided much of the financing and some of the seasoned Gascon troops that besieged Paris before their defeat at Saint-Cloud. Origins In 1407, Louis of Orléans was assassinated on the order of John the Fearless. Fearing Burgundian ambitions, the dukes of Berry, Brittany, and Orléans, and the counts of Alençon, Clermont, and Armagnac, formed a league against the duke of Burgundy in 1410. Charles of Orléans, son of the murdered Louis, married Bonne d'Armagnac, daughter of Bernard VII, count of Armagnac. In co ...
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Burgundian (party)
The Burgundian party was a political allegiance against France that formed during the latter half of the Hundred Years' War. The term "Burgundians" refers to the supporters of the Duke of Burgundy, John the Fearless, that formed after the assassination of Louis I, Duke of Orléans. Their opposition to the Armagnac party, the supporters of Charles, Duke of Orléans, led to a civil war in the early 15th century, itself part of the larger Hundred Years' War. Geography The Duke of Burgundy had inherited a large number of lands scattered from what is now the border of Switzerland up to the North Sea. The Duchy of Burgundy had been granted as an appanage to Philip the Bold in the 14th century, and this was followed by other territories inherited by Philip and his heirs during the late 14th and 15th centuries, including the County of Burgundy (the Franche-Comté), Flanders, Artois and many other domains in what are now Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and northeastern France. Pr ...
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Rodrigo De Villandrando
Rodrigo de Villandrando (died c. 1457) was a Spanish routier from Castile and mercenary military leader in Gascony during the final phase of the Hundred Years' War. He was famous for his pillaging and was consequently known as the Emperor of Pillagers (''empereur des brigands'') or L'Écorcheur (the flayer). Originally from Biscay, he was the son of Pedro de Villandrando and Agnes de Corral. He became count of Ribaldo and Valladolid. Around 1410 he arrived in France and was admitted into the company of Amaury de Séverac. He rose to become captain of the routiers, veritable mercenaries in the pay of the seneschal or various other powerful lords and even bishops. When his protector Amaury died in 1427, he entered the service of Charles VII of France. In 1428 he was joined by Juan Salazar, who became his lieutenant. In his early career he is known to have pillaged Treignac, Meymac, and Tulle. On 11 June 1430 he participated in the Battle of Anthon with around 400 men armed ...
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Hundred Years War
The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagenet and the French royal House of Valois. Over time, the war grew into a broader power struggle involving factions from across Western Europe, fuelled by emerging nationalism on both sides. The Hundred Years' War was one of the most significant conflicts of the Middle Ages. For 116 years, interrupted by several truces, five generations of kings from two rival dynasties fought for the throne of the dominant kingdom in Western Europe. The war's effect on European history was lasting. Both sides produced innovations in military technology and tactics, including professional standing armies and artillery, that permanently changed warfare in Europe; chivalry, which had reached its height during the conflict, subsequently declined. Stronger na ...
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Peace Of Brétigny
Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. Throughout history, leaders have used peacemaking and diplomacy to establish a type of behavioral restraint that has resulted in the establishment of regional peace or economic growth through various forms of agreements or peace treaties. Such behavioral restraint has often resulted in the reduced conflict, greater economic interactivity, and consequently substantial prosperity. "Psychological peace" (such as peaceful thinking and emotions) is perhaps less well defined, yet often a necessary precursor to establishing "behavioural peace." Peaceful behaviour sometimes results from a "peaceful inner disposition." Some have expressed the belief that peace can be initiated with a certain quality of inner tranquility that does not depend upo ...
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White Company
The White Company ( it, Compagnia Bianca del Falco) was a 14th-century English mercenary Company of Adventure ( it, Compagnia di ventura), led from its arrival in Italy in 1361 to 1363 by the German Albert Sterz and later by the Englishman John Hawkwood. Although the White Company is the name by which it is popularly known, it was initially called the Great Company of English and Germans and would later often be referred to as the English Company (Italian: ''Compagnia degli Inglesi'', Latin: ''Societas Angliciis''). Origins of the name No medieval source explains the company's name. The traditional view is that it is a reference to the brightly polished armour of the men-at-arms. However, William Caferro has suggested that it was because the company originally wore white surcoats. This view might be supported by the fact that mercenaries led by Arnaud de Cervole in France at this time were known as ''bandes blanches.'' Makeup of the company Despite it being commonly referred to ...
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