Maison militaire du roi de France

159:. 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 25: 177: 82: 192: 314: 464:

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

586:, 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 and a small ceremonial Swiss unit) replaced with an entirely new Royal Guard of division size, which lasted till 1830. 473:. 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 523:

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.

427:(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. 113:. 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 828: 838: 570:

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

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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

535:. The Body Guard was formally disbanded in 1791, although this aristocratic body had already dispersed when the royal family had been forced to leave 114: 325:

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

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were massacred when revolutionary forces stormed the palace. With the overthrow of the monarchy, the Maison militaire du Roi ceased to exist.

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of 1756–1763. For economic reasons, several of these expensive units were disbanded during a financial crisis in 1787. These included the

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of 1814, the Bourbon monarchy attempted to recreate the Maison militaire du Roi, even re-establishing the mostly-ceremonial units that

419:). 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 567: 806: 781: 756: 731: 706: 681: 68: 578:

acknowledged that the regiment's past services warranted this being done. The Maison militaire disintegrated during the flight of

608:- two artillery regiments (foot and mounted) made up of 8 batteries, artillery being absent from the original Maison militaire. 364:), the other becoming the senior company of Gendarmes. A second and third, both French, companies of Life Guards were formed by 583: 338: 539:

in October 1789. This left the Swiss Guard as the last remaining unit of the old Maison du Roi, although a short-lived

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The next companies of the Maison du Roi, and by far the most famous, were the Musketeers, the guardsmen who appear in

39: 33: 441: 155: 50: 511: 456:'s guards eventually became King's Musketeers, which by now became a two-company battalion in all but name. 448:

and his friends served. The second company, not taken into the Maison du Roi until 1663, was previously the

400: 318: 276: 217: 86: 531:'s outbreak in July 1789, the French Guards defected from the monarchy and joined in the attack on the 350: 536: 436: 575: 486: 474: 384: 369: 337:, formed in 1440, and traced its ultimate origins to the Scots forces brought to France in 1419 by 126: 453: 404: 138: 334: 81: 802: 777: 752: 727: 702: 677: 559: 528: 412: 380: 373: 176: 160: 547: 449: 110: 431: 368:

in 1474 and 1479 respectively. Finally, the fourth company, again French, was raised by

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The regiments of the Maison du Roi did not see significant active service after the

313: 596: 388: 267: 226: 197: 191: 129:, these two officers of state were given joint command of the military household. 579: 582:

to Belgium and only 450 men remained with him to cross the frontier. After the

416: 592:- twelve infantry regiments of which two were Swiss and the remainder French 563: 470: 356:

Buchan's original company was divided in two, one part becoming the 1st (or

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had disbanded in 1787. In part, this was to provide military roles for

423:. This company was paired with another company of heavy cavalry. These 346: 142: 571: 546:

On 10 August 1792, most of the 900 Swiss Guards defending the

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Les Institutions de la monarchie française à l'époque moderne

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of 1708, saving the French army from probable destruction.

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company carried over from the Military Household of 1814

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The oldest of the regiments of the Maison du Roi was the

103:, was the military part of the French royal household or 387:'s Protestant troops through the intervention of the 799: