Newsletter Number 22

THE CLAN FRASER SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND AND THE UNITED KINGDOM
NEWSLETTER NUMBER 22
MARCH 2002

DAVID SIMSON THE LEPER GUARDSMAN- A SAD TALE FROM 15TH CENTURY FRANCE

A common feature of medieval and early modern monarchies in Europe and beyond was that they entrusted the personal safety of the monarch to foreign guardsmen, deemed more reliable and less involved in local politics than native soldiers.

The Byzantine emperors had their Varangian guards, drawn from the Viking lands; the kings of Hungary were protected by Cuman steppe nomads. The 15th century kings of France looked to Scotland for their bodyguards. The precise date at which the so-called "Garde Ecossaise" was founded remains shadowy; it appears to have been in existence by 1425 and may possibly date back to the late 1410's.
The organisation remained nominally in existence until the French Revolution and was only finally disbanded in 1830, though it had long since lost its Scottish character by that date. During the 15th century, however, it was very definitely staffed by Scots. Its members were in very close attendance on the person of the monarch, and were well paid for their services. Their role was not always a comfortable one. For one thing, the Garde remained a fighting unit and several of its members were to be killed in action protecting King Louis XI at the Battle of Montlhery in 1465. For another, the central role of the Garde in protecting the king from internal as well as external foes ensured that the monarch took a very close personal interest in the loyalty of its members.
In theory the foreign nature of the guardsmen was supposed to insulate them from local politics; in practice, as they became long-term residents in France, they became increasingly absorbed into the life of that country and came to take on local loyalties. At times of tension this could lead to large-scale purges of the Garde to get rid of men whose loyalties were deemed doubtful. The 1450's were an unstable decade in French politics, despite final victory over the English in the Hundred Years War. The king, Charles VII (perhaps best known to English-speaking audiences as Joan of Arc's "Dauphin") was growing old and his relations with his eldest son, Louis, were very bad- in 1456 Louis ran away to the court of the Duke of Burgundy. The decade was full of show trials in which those suspected of undue sympathy to Louis faced trumped up treason charges. The Garde was not immune; its second-in-command was executed in 1455 and its commander exiled. At some point in 1459 one David Simson joined the Garde as one of a group of 48 archers under the command of Patrick Folcart (to use the French spelling of his name). Folcart also commanded 31 men-at-arms (more heavily armed and better paid troops); there was also an elite group of 24 additional Scottish archers under a French commander.
We know nothing much about him beyond his name. Possibly he had been recruited from the Scottish unit which served in the ranks of the French royal army- joining the better paid elite Garde would constitute a distinct promotion. Simson may well have served the King of France for many years since we know from disciplinary cases that other members of the Garde had been fighting in France in the 1430's. He may have sailed to France with one of the large Scottish armies which had gone there in the early 1420's. In other words, he may have been very much a veteran soldier with years of life and warfare in France behind him- we know of Garde members who retired due to age and infirmity. Simson served in the ranks of the Garde for some four years. He survived the massive purge and reorganisation of the Garde which took place when Louis inherited the throne in 1460. Folcart was sacked along with about a quarter of Garde. New captains and a large number of new archers came in; the men-at-arms vanish.
The new structure was about a hundred strong; an elite group of 25 and a further 74 men, all archers. Simson was in the latter group. Obviously his political loyalties, wherever they may have been, were acceptable to the new regime and he was not obliged to follow Folcart into the service of Louis' younger brother Charles. He would have remained in close attendance on the king, mostly in the palaces of the Loire valley which had become the favoured area of royal residence by the 1450's.
No doubt he would have been very visibly on duty at royal entries to cities or protecting the king at court ceremonies (paintings of the period show the Garde in its distinctive red, white and green surcoats in attendance on French monarchs- even guarding Charles VII depicted as one of the Magi at the Nativity in a miniature in the Hours of Etienne Chevalier, now in Chantilly). Perhaps he hoped for promotion to the elite group of 25.

Alas, the accounts for 1463 show David Simson being pensioned off because he had "become leprous". We cannot be sure what this really means. Late medieval doctors were inclined to diagnose a whole range of skin complaints as "leprosy" and medical historians would argue that "true" leprosy was very rare in Europe by the 15th century. If the disease Simson suffered from was leprosy, then it would have been a disaster for an archer given its propensity to attack extremities such as the fingers. Even if it was not (and we know nothing more of his fate), the social consequences of the diagnosis would have been serious even if it is clear that medieval lepers were nothing like as strictly segregated from the wider community as legend would have it. The only consolation, perhaps, is that he was paid off with a decent sum of money. It is hard to say how much exactly as the entry in the accounts refers to two other individuals leaving the Garde at the same time, but since one of these had just murdered the other one may assume that most of the 216 "livres" allocated would go to Simson- interestingly it looks as if 216 livres was more or less a year's pay for an archer. This was quite a respectable sum and would at least have enabled him to purchase a place in a decent class of leper home, where one might imagine this old soldier bossing the other inmates round in Scottish-accented French!

The authors full title is Dr Brian GH Ditcham (MA St Andrews, PhD Edinburgh) 22 Belmont Road, Gillingham, Kent, ME7 5JB,. He's a native of Stirling, the son and grandson of Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, a French medieval specialist and earns his crust working for the DTI.
He has published on Scottish mercenaries in 15th century France, although, his PhD thesis remains unpublished. He's not a CFS member just someone I met on the net, with some fascinating stories to tell and I must thank him for his time and effort. (Picture Joan of Arc with her Garde Ecossaise but there's no evidence that they guarded her) Editor

(The full newsletter is available by filling in a membership application
form, Printable version available click here.)

BACK TO TOP

BACK TO HOME PAGE>>>

HOME	SITE INDEX	NEXT ARTICLE

THE CLAN FRASER SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND AND THE UNITED KINGDOM NEWSLETTER NUMBER 22 MARCH 2002 DAVID SIMSON THE LEPER GUARDSMAN- A SAD TALE FROM 15TH CENTURY FRANCE A common feature of medieval and early modern monarchies in Europe and beyond was that they entrusted the personal safety of the monarch to foreign guardsmen, deemed more reliable and less involved in local politics than native soldiers. The Byzantine emperors had their Varangian guards, drawn from the Viking lands; the kings of Hungary were protected by Cuman steppe nomads. The 15th century kings of France looked to Scotland for their bodyguards. The precise date at which the so-called "Garde Ecossaise" was founded remains shadowy; it appears to have been in existence by 1425 and may possibly date back to the late 1410's. The organisation remained nominally in existence until the French Revolution and was only finally disbanded in 1830, though it had long since lost its Scottish character by that date. During the 15th century, however, it was very definitely staffed by Scots. Its members were in very close attendance on the person of the monarch, and were well paid for their services. Their role was not always a comfortable one. For one thing, the Garde remained a fighting unit and several of its members were to be killed in action protecting King Louis XI at the Battle of Montlhery in 1465. For another, the central role of the Garde in protecting the king from internal as well as external foes ensured that the monarch took a very close personal interest in the loyalty of its members. In theory the foreign nature of the guardsmen was supposed to insulate them from local politics; in practice, as they became long-term residents in France, they became increasingly absorbed into the life of that country and came to take on local loyalties. At times of tension this could lead to large-scale purges of the Garde to get rid of men whose loyalties were deemed doubtful. The 1450's were an unstable decade in French politics, despite final victory over the English in the Hundred Years War. The king, Charles VII (perhaps best known to English-speaking audiences as Joan of Arc's "Dauphin") was growing old and his relations with his eldest son, Louis, were very bad- in 1456 Louis ran away to the court of the Duke of Burgundy. The decade was full of show trials in which those suspected of undue sympathy to Louis faced trumped up treason charges. The Garde was not immune; its second-in-command was executed in 1455 and its commander exiled. At some point in 1459 one David Simson joined the Garde as one of a group of 48 archers under the command of Patrick Folcart (to use the French spelling of his name). Folcart also commanded 31 men-at-arms (more heavily armed and better paid troops); there was also an elite group of 24 additional Scottish archers under a French commander. We know nothing much about him beyond his name. Possibly he had been recruited from the Scottish unit which served in the ranks of the French royal army- joining the better paid elite Garde would constitute a distinct promotion. Simson may well have served the King of France for many years since we know from disciplinary cases that other members of the Garde had been fighting in France in the 1430's. He may have sailed to France with one of the large Scottish armies which had gone there in the early 1420's. In other words, he may have been very much a veteran soldier with years of life and warfare in France behind him- we know of Garde members who retired due to age and infirmity. Simson served in the ranks of the Garde for some four years. He survived the massive purge and reorganisation of the Garde which took place when Louis inherited the throne in 1460. Folcart was sacked along with about a quarter of Garde. New captains and a large number of new archers came in; the men-at-arms vanish. The new structure was about a hundred strong; an elite group of 25 and a further 74 men, all archers. Simson was in the latter group. Obviously his political loyalties, wherever they may have been, were acceptable to the new regime and he was not obliged to follow Folcart into the service of Louis' younger brother Charles. He would have remained in close attendance on the king, mostly in the palaces of the Loire valley which had become the favoured area of royal residence by the 1450's. No doubt he would have been very visibly on duty at royal entries to cities or protecting the king at court ceremonies (paintings of the period show the Garde in its distinctive red, white and green surcoats in attendance on French monarchs- even guarding Charles VII depicted as one of the Magi at the Nativity in a miniature in the Hours of Etienne Chevalier, now in Chantilly). Perhaps he hoped for promotion to the elite group of 25. Alas, the accounts for 1463 show David Simson being pensioned off because he had "become leprous". We cannot be sure what this really means. Late medieval doctors were inclined to diagnose a whole range of skin complaints as "leprosy" and medical historians would argue that "true" leprosy was very rare in Europe by the 15th century. If the disease Simson suffered from was leprosy, then it would have been a disaster for an archer given its propensity to attack extremities such as the fingers. Even if it was not (and we know nothing more of his fate), the social consequences of the diagnosis would have been serious even if it is clear that medieval lepers were nothing like as strictly segregated from the wider community as legend would have it. The only consolation, perhaps, is that he was paid off with a decent sum of money. It is hard to say how much exactly as the entry in the accounts refers to two other individuals leaving the Garde at the same time, but since one of these had just murdered the other one may assume that most of the 216 "livres" allocated would go to Simson- interestingly it looks as if 216 livres was more or less a year's pay for an archer. This was quite a respectable sum and would at least have enabled him to purchase a place in a decent class of leper home, where one might imagine this old soldier bossing the other inmates round in Scottish-accented French! The authors full title is Dr Brian GH Ditcham (MA St Andrews, PhD Edinburgh) 22 Belmont Road, Gillingham, Kent, ME7 5JB,. He's a native of Stirling, the son and grandson of Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, a French medieval specialist and earns his crust working for the DTI. He has published on Scottish mercenaries in 15th century France, although, his PhD thesis remains unpublished. He's not a CFS member just someone I met on the net, with some fascinating stories to tell and I must thank him for his time and effort. (Picture Joan of Arc with her Garde Ecossaise but there's no evidence that they guarded her) Editor (The full newsletter is available by filling in a membership application form, Printable version available click here.) BACK TO TOP BACK TO HOME PAGE>>>