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Maison Militaire du Roi de France

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Gendarmes de la Garde (Historical reenactment)
Gendarmes de la Garde (Historical reenactment)

The maison militaire du roi de France, in English the military household of the king of France, was the military part of the French royal household or Maison du Roi under the Ancien Régime. The term only appeared in 1671, though such a gathering of units pre-dates this. Like the rest of the royal household, the military household was under the authority of the Secretary of State for the Maison du Roi. Still, it depended on the ordinaire des guerres (controlled by the Secretary of State for War) for its budget. Under Louis XIV, these two officers of state were given joint command of the military household.

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Maison du Roi

Maison du Roi

The Maison du Roi was the royal household of the King of France. It comprised the military, domestic, and religious entourage of the French royal family during the Ancien Régime and Bourbon Restoration.

Ancien Régime

Ancien Régime

The Ancien Régime, also known as the Old Regime, was the political and social system of the Kingdom of France from the Late Middle Ages until 1789 and the French Revolution, which abolished the feudal system of the French nobility (1790) and hereditary monarchy (1792). The Valois dynasty ruled during the Ancien Régime up until 1589 and was then replaced by the Bourbon dynasty. The term is occasionally used to refer to the similar feudal systems of the time elsewhere in Europe such as that of Switzerland.

Secretary of State of the Maison du Roi

Secretary of State of the Maison du Roi

The Secretary of State of the Maison du Roi was the secretary of state in France during the Ancien Régime and Bourbon Restoration in charge of the Département de la Maison du Roi. The exact composition of the ministry and the secretary's duties changed several times over the Early Modern period, but in general, the Département de la Maison du Roi oversaw four main areas: the "Maison du Roi", the "Bâtiments du Roi", the General Affairs of the Clergy, Affairs of the RPR, and the administration of the capital city of Paris and the provinces. The post later reappeared as the Minister for the Maison du Roi.

Secretary of State for War (France)

Secretary of State for War (France)

The Secretary of State for War, later Secretary of State, Minister for War, was one of the four or five specialized secretaries of state in France during the Ancien Régime. The position was responsible for the Army, for the Marshalcy and for overseeing French border provinces. In 1791, during the French Revolution, the Secretary of State for War became titled Minister of War.

Composition

The household was akin to the British Household Division in that it comprised a number of both cavalry and infantry units, serving as the sovereign's personal guard as well as elite troops during war. Recruitment to some of its units was limited to gentlemen, like the gardes du corps and Mousquetaires de la Garde. The rank and file of other regiments, such as the French Guards, comprised commoners. However, commoners couldn't rise to officer rank in units of the military household. On the field of battle, the "Maison du Roi" fought around the king and the "porte-cornette blanche" (the king's white standard), although the corps also fought in the king's absence. Until the 17th century's second half, the "Maison du Roi" had — along with the "Cavalerie d'ordonnance", the six "Vieux" and the six "Petits-Vieux" — made up the permanent army of the Kingdom of France.

Corps

French Guards circa 1750Swiss Guards circa 1750
French Guards circa 1750
French Guards circa 1750Swiss Guards circa 1750
Swiss Guards circa 1750

Over the years, the Maison du Roi included the following corps:

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Household Division

Household Division

The Household Division forms a part of the British Army's London District, and is made up of five regiments of foot guards and two Household Cavalry regiments. The division is responsible for performing public duties and state ceremonies in London and Windsor. Such functions include the State Opening of Parliament, Trooping the Colour, and mounting the King's Guard.

Cavalry

Cavalry

Historically, cavalry are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry in the roles of reconnaissance, screening, and skirmishing in many armies, or as heavy cavalry for decisive shock attacks in other armies. An individual soldier in the cavalry is known by a number of designations depending on era and tactics, such as cavalryman, horseman, trooper, cataphract, knight, drabant, hussar, uhlan, mamluk, cuirassier, lancer, dragoon, or horse archer. The designation of cavalry was not usually given to any military forces that used other animals for mounts, such as camels or elephants. Infantry who moved on horseback, but dismounted to fight on foot, were known in the early 17th to the early 18th century as dragoons, a class of mounted infantry which in most armies later evolved into standard cavalry while retaining their historic designation.

Infantry

Infantry

Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry, mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine infantry.

Kingdom of France

Kingdom of France

The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe since the High Middle Ages. It was also an early colonial power, with possessions around the world.

Light cavalry

Light cavalry

Light cavalry comprised lightly armed and armored cavalry troops mounted on fast horses, as opposed to heavy cavalry, where the mounted riders were heavily armored. The purpose of light cavalry was primarily raiding, reconnaissance, screening, skirmishing, patrolling and tactical communications. Prior to the early 17th century they were usually armed with swords, spears, javelins, or bows, and later on with sabres, pistols, shotguns, or carbines.

Musketeers of the Guard

Musketeers of the Guard

The Musketeers of the Guard or King's Musketeers had the full name - Musketeers of the military household of the King of France. They were an elite fighting company of the military branch of the Maison du Roi, the Royal Household of the French monarchy.

History

Uniforms of the Musketeers of the Guard from 1660 to 1814
Uniforms of the Musketeers of the Guard from 1660 to 1814

Far from being simply a ceremonial corps, the "Maison du Roi" participated in all the major military campaigns of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Under Francis I

The oldest of the regiments of the Maison du Roi was the Garde Écossaise, formed in 1440, and traced its ultimate origins to the Scots forces brought to France in 1419 by John Stewart, Earl of Buchan, to fight against the English in the Hundred Years' War.

Buchan's original company was divided in two, one part becoming the 1st (or Scottish) Company of the Life Guards (Gardes du Corps), the other becoming the senior company of Gendarmes. A second and third, both French, companies of Life Guards were formed by Louis XI in 1474 and 1479 respectively. Finally, the fourth company, again French, was raised by Francis I in 1516. These companies existed until the French Revolution when they were disbanded.

In 1567, during the Surprise of Meaux, the royal family escaped capture by Prince de Condé's Protestant troops through the intervention of the Cent-Suisses.

Francis I - Louis XIII

During the final period of the French Wars of Religion, Henry IV wished to provide guards for christening of the Dauphin (later Louis XIII). Therefore, he created a new company of 200 men-at-arms, which formed half of the Dauphin's guards. In 1611, this company became the Gendarmes de la Garde. This company was paired with another company of heavy cavalry. These chevau-légers (light cavalry) were only light compared to the Gendarmes, who wore more armour. This company dated to 1570 and became part of the Dauphin's guard and then of the Maison du Roi.

The next companies of the Maison du Roi, and by far the most famous, were the Musketeers, the guardsmen who appear in Dumas senior's The Three Musketeers. The first company, formed in 1622, represents the Musketeers in which D'Artagnan and his friends served. The second company, not taken into the Maison du Roi until 1663, was previously the Cardinal Mazarin's guards. Perhaps, this way, some of Cardinal Richelieu's guards eventually became King's Musketeers.

Louis XIV - apogee

Unlike the previous companies, officered by powerful nobles and with many nobles in their ranks, the final company of the Maison du Roi was created as an elite force, formed by taking one grenadier from each infantry regiment and making him a mounted grenadier. The resulting picked men who would become the Grenadiers à cheval were interviewed by Louis XIV. Those colonels who in the Sun King's opinion had not sent the best of their men were reprimanded and ordered to send more suitable replacements. The company was completed in 1676. The military household played a vital role in the Battle of Oudenarde of 1708, saving the French army from probable destruction.

18th century - decline

The regiments of the Maison du Roi did not see significant active service after the Seven Years' War of 1756-1763. For economic reasons, several of these expensive units were disbanded during a financial crisis in 1787. These included the gardes de la prevote, the gardes de la porte, the gendarmes de la Garde, and the chevau-legers de la Garde. The Mousquetaires de la Garde had already been dissolved on 1 January 1776. The Garde du Corps (Body Guard), the Gardes françaises and the Gardes suisses remained in service. The first was retained because of its close ties to the Royal Court, the French and Swiss Guards because they comprised the largest, and historically most effective, infantry components of the Maison du Roi.

At the French Revolution's outbreak in July 1789, the French Guards defected from the Monarchy and joined in the attack on the Bastille. The Body Guard was formally disbanded in 1791, although this aristocratic body had already dispersed when the Royal Family had been forced to leave Versailles in October 1789. This left the Swiss Guard as the last remaining unit of the old Maison du Roi, although a short-lived Garde Constitutionelle du Roi was raised on 16 March 1792.

On 10 August 1792, most of the 900 Swiss Guards defending the Tuileries were massacred when revolutionary forces stormed the palace. With the overthrow of the Monarchy, the Maison militaire du Roi ceased to exist.

Restoration

Following the First Restoration of 1814, the Bourbon Monarchy attempted to recreate the Maison militaire du Roi, even re-establishing the mostly-ceremonial units that Louis XVI had disbanded in 1787. In part, this was to provide military roles for emigre royalist officers who had returned to France or their sons. However, there was not sufficient time to raise a new Swiss Guard before Napoleon's return from Elba in March 1815, although the future Charles X acknowledged that the regiment's past services warranted this being done. The Maison militaire disintegrated during the flight of Louis XVIII to Belgium and only 450 men remained with him to cross the frontier. After the Second Restoration, no serious attempt was made to again restore the Maison militaire du Roi and it was (with the exception of a re-organised Body Guard) replaced with an entirely new Royal Guard of division size, which lasted till 1830.[1]


The 1816-30 Royal Guard consisted of:

- twelve infantry regiments of which two were Swiss and the remainder French;[2]

- one Cent-Suisses company carried over from the Military Household of 1814;[3]

- eight cavalry regiments;[4]

- one Garde du Corps de Monsieur squadron;[5]

- two artillery regiments (foot and mounted) made up of 8 batteries.[6]

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John Stewart, Earl of Buchan

John Stewart, Earl of Buchan

John Stewart, Earl of Buchan was a Scottish nobleman and soldier who fought alongside Scotland's French allies during the Hundred Years War. In 1419 he was sent to France by his father the Duke of Albany, Regent of Scotland, with an army of 6,000 men. Stewart led the combined Franco-Scottish army at the Battle of Baugé on 21 March 1421, where he comprehensively defeated the English forces, proving that the English could at last be beaten. However, two years later, Stewart was defeated and captured by Thomas Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury at the Battle of Cravant in 1423. After the battle he was exchanged, and after his release in 1424 he was appointed Constable of France making him the effective Commander-in-Chief of the French army. On 17 August 1424 Buchan was killed at the disastrous Battle of Verneuil, along with most of the Scottish troops in France.

Earl of Buchan

Earl of Buchan

The Mormaer or Earl of Buchan was originally the provincial ruler of the medieval province of Buchan. Buchan was the first Mormaerdom in the High Medieval Kingdom of the Scots to pass into the hands of a non-Scottish family in the male line. The earldom had three lines in its history, not counting passings from female heirs to sons. Today, it is held by the Erskine family as a peerage. The current holder is Harry Erskine, 18th Earl of Buchan.

England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea area of the Atlantic Ocean to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

Hundred Years' War

Hundred Years' War

The Hundred Years' War 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.

Louis XI

Louis XI

Louis XI, called "Louis the Prudent", was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII.

Francis I of France

Francis I of France

Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis XII, who died without a son.

French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considered fundamental principles of liberal democracy, while the values and institutions it created remain central to French political discourse.

French Wars of Religion

French Wars of Religion

The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholics and Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estimates, between two and four million people died from violence, famine or diseases which were directly caused by the conflict; additionally, the conflict severely damaged the power of the French monarchy. The fighting ended in 1598 when Henry of Navarre, who had converted to Catholicism in 1593, was proclaimed Henry IV of France and issued the Edict of Nantes, which granted substantial rights and freedoms to the Huguenots. However, Catholics continued to have a hostile opinion of Protestants in general and of Henry, and his assassination in 1610 triggered a fresh round of Huguenot rebellions in the 1620s.

Henry IV of France

Henry IV of France

Henry IV, also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch of France from the House of Bourbon, a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. He was assassinated in 1610 by François Ravaillac, a Catholic zealot, and was succeeded by his son Louis XIII.

Infant baptism

Infant baptism

Infant baptism is the practice of baptising infants or young children. Infant baptism is also called christening by some faith traditions.

Dauphin of France

Dauphin of France

Dauphin of France, originally Dauphin of Viennois, was the title given to the heir apparent to the throne of France from 1350 to 1791, and from 1824 to 1830. The word dauphin is French for dolphin and was the hereditary title of the ruler of the Dauphiné of Viennois. While early heirs were granted these lands to rule, eventually only the title was granted.

Alexandre Dumas

Alexandre Dumas

Alexandre Dumas, also known as Alexandre Dumas père, was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the most widely read French authors. Many of his historical novels of adventure were originally published as serials, including The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After and The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later. His novels have been adapted since the early twentieth century into nearly 200 films.

Source: "Maison Militaire du Roi de France", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, February 16th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maison_Militaire_du_Roi_de_France.

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Bibliography
  • (in French) Barbiche, Bernard, Les Institutions de la monarchie française à l'époque moderne, Paris, PUF, 1999.
  • (in French) Chagniot, Jean, "Maison militaire du roi", Dictionnaire de l'Ancien Régime, Lucien Bély dir., Paris, PUF, 1996.
  • (in French) Drévillon, Hervé, L'Impôt du sang, Paris, Tallandier, 2005.
References
  1. ^ Funcken, Liliane et Fred. L' Uniforme et les Armes des Soldats du XIX Siecle 1. pp. 24–36. ISBN 2-203-14324-X.
  2. ^ Funcken, Liliane et Fred. L' Uniforme et les Armes des Soldats du XIX Siecle 1. p. 26. ISBN 2-203-14324-X.
  3. ^ Funcken, Liliane et Fred. L' Uniforme et les Armes des Soldats du XIX Siecle 1. p. 14. ISBN 2-203-14324-X.
  4. ^ Funcken, Liliane et Fred. L' Uniforme et les Armes des Soldats du XIX Siecle 1. p. 26. ISBN 2-203-14324-X.
  5. ^ Funcken, Liliane et Fred. L' Uniforme et les Armes des Soldats du XIX Siecle 1. p. 22. ISBN 2-203-14324-X.
  6. ^ Funcken, Liliane et Fred. L' Uniforme et les Armes des Soldats du XIX Siecle 1. p. 26. ISBN 2-203-14324-X.

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