In medieval and early modern

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, Pac ...

, the arrière-ban (Latin ''retrobannum'') was a general proclamation whereby the

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

(or duke) summoned to war all the

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerai ...

s of his vassals.. The term is a folk-etymological correction of

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intel ...

''herban'' (attested 1101), from Germanic ''here'' (army) and ''

ban Ban, or BAN, may refer to: Law * Ban (law), a decree that prohibits something, sometimes a form of censorship, being denied from entering or using the place/item ** Imperial ban (''Reichsacht''), a form of outlawry in the medieval Holy Roman ...

'' (proclamation); compare German '' Heerbann''. Although in theory, the arrière-ban depended on

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...

relations, in practice it amounted to a general levy on all able-bodied males in the kingdom. In theory, this included all men between the ages of 18 and 60 years, in practice such a wide-ranging levy was never carried out for fear of conjuring an ill-suited mob. Most arrière-ban's were in fact local in nature. Conscription could be commuted by a money payment, which became an important source of revenue for the crown. The

Duke of Normandy In the Middle Ages, the duke of Normandy was the ruler of the Duchy of Normandy in north-western France. The duchy arose out of a grant of land to the Viking leader Rollo by the French king Charles III in 911. In 924 and again in 933, Normand ...

retained the right of arrière-ban and used it routinely down to 1204. The distinction between the public obligation of freemen and the feudal obligation of the duke's vassals was maintained, but in practice the arrière-ban may have been used mainly to call up the better armed subtenants of his vassals., p. 311–312. Considered archaic and appropriate only in emergencies, the royal arrière-ban was re-instituted in France by Philip IV (1285–1314), who asserted his right to military service from the tenants and vassals of his vassals. The arrière-ban was proclaimed throughout the Kingdom of France on 30 April 1337, at the start of the

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 Plantagen ...

., p. 184 Thereafter, there were numerous summons, causing the practice to become ineffective and unpopular. After the disaster at Poitiers, the arrière-ban was not used for some decades as

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

introduced a more permanent fighting force. It reappeared after 1410. Its practice continued into the early modern period, notably during the

Thirty Year's War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...

. In 1636, when the Spanish approached Paris,

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crow ...

successfully gathered thousands of noblemen to defend the city by calling ban (of his vassals) and the arrière-ban (of all free men), allowing him to repel the Spanish.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arriere-ban Military history of France

See also

References