View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by St Andrews Research Repository FAMILY, AMBITION AND SERVICE: THE FRENCH NOBILITY AND THE EMERGENCE OF THE STANDING ARMY, C. 1598-1635 Daniel Thomas A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2011 Full metadata for this item is available in St Andrews Research Repository at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/1914 This item is protected by original copyright Family, Ambition and Service: The French Nobility and the Emergence of the Standing Army, c. 1598-1635. Daniel Thomas Thesis submitted for the degree of Ph.D. at the University of St Andrews November 2010 ii DECLARATIONS 1. Candidate’s declarations: I, Owen Daniel Thomas hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 80,000 words in length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student in September 2007 and as a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in June 2008; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between 2007 and 2010. Date: 28/03/2011 signature of candidate 2. Supervisor’s declaration: I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. Date …… signature of supervisor ……… 3. Permission for electronic publication: (to be signed by both candidate and supervisor) In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews I understand that I am giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. I also understand that the title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that my thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use unless exempt by award of an embargo as requested below, and that the library has the right to migrate my thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. I have obtained any third-party copyright permissions that may be required in order to allow such access and migration, or have requested the appropriate embargo below. The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the electronic publication of this thesis: (ii) Access to all of the printed copy but embargo of all of electronic publication of thesis for a period of five years on the following ground(s): Publication would be commercially damaging to the researcher, or to the supervisor, or the University; Publication would preclude future publication Date: 28/03/11 signature of candidate signature of supervisor ……… iii ABSTRACT This thesis will contend that a permanent body of military force under royal command, a ‘standing army’, arose during the first three decades of the seventeenth century in France. Such a development constituted a transformation in the nature of the monarchy’s armed forces. It was achieved by encouraging elements of the French nobility to become long-term office-holders within royal military institutions. Those members of the nobility who joined the standing army were not coerced into doing so by the crown, but joined the new body of force because it provided them with a means of achieving one of the fundamental ambitions of the French nobility: social advancement for their family. The first four chapters of this thesis thus look at how the standing army emerged via the entrenchment of a system of permanent infantry regiments within France. They look at how certain families, particularly from the lower and middling nobility, attempted to monopolise offices within the regiments due to the social benefits they conferred. Some of the consequences that arose from the army becoming an institution in which ‘careers’ could be pursued, such as promotion and venality, will be examined, as will how elements of the the nobility were vital to the expansion of the standing army beyond its initial core of units. Chapters Five and Six will investigate how the emergence of this new type of force affected the most powerful noblemen of the realm, the grands. In particular, it will focus on those grands who held the prestigious supra-regimental military offices of Constable and Colonel General of the Infantry. The thesis concludes that the emergence of the standing army helped to alter considerably the relationship between the monarchy and the nobility by the end of the period in question. A more monarchy-centred army and state had begun to emerge in France by the late 1620s; a polity which might be dubbed the early ‘absolute monarchy’. However, such a state of affairs had only arisen due to the considerable concessions that the monarchy had made to the ambitions of certain elements of the nobility. iv CONTENTS Declarations ii. Abstract iii. Acknowledgements v. Abbreviations and Conventions vii. Introduction The Nobility and Military Change in Early Modern France. 1 Chapter One The Emergence of the Standing Army: the Rise of the Regimental System in France, c. 1550-1635 19 Chapter Two The Satisfaction of Private Interest: Family Ambition, Social Relations and the Early Standing Army. 46 Chapter Three Adjudicating Appointment: Promotion, Venality and Merit within a Career Army. 74 Chapter Four The régiment de Normandie and the petits-vieux: the Expansion of the Standing Army, c. 1598-1635. 97 Chapter Five ‘La première charge de l’épée’? The Constable of France, 1593-1626. 120 Chapter Six The duc d’Épernon, the Colonel General of the Infantry, and the New Standing Army. 147 Conclusion The Army, the Nobility and the Monarchy. 176 Appendix One Companies and Captains of the vieux Regiments. 190 Appendix Two Biographical Details of vieux Regiment Captains. 235 Bibliography 258 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My first thanks are due to my two supervisors. Guy Rowlands has been attentive, critical and supportive, and his efforts in the final stages of editing were nothing short of heroic. Malcolm Walsy has been a constant source of help and advice throughout this lengthy process. In particular, his presence during my first few visits to the French archives was much appreciated, as was his help with my palaeography. In addition, Andrew Pettegree supervised the early stages of this project and made a number of useful suggestions. I would also like to more generally thank Guy, Malcom and Andrew for the faith they showed in an unknown student in 2006, when I first enquired about the possibility of study in St Andrews. I would not have started my postgraduate research, far less completed it, without the belief that they showed in me and my work from an early stage. Indeed, the Reformation Studies Institute in St Andrews has been a wonderful place to work since I arrived here in 2007. Prior to my arrival at St Andrews, a number of other academics were vital to my intellectual development. David Parrott at Oxford supervised my Master’s dissertation, and taught me many valuable lessons about historical study and academic life. I also received a wonderful undergraduate education at King’s College, London. At that institution, I would particularly like to thank Richard Vinen, Richard Overy, Lucy Kostyanovsky, and, above all, Robert Frost. Robert’s teaching on early modern Europe was inspirational, and he was critical to my decision to pursue postgraduate study. At a more practical level, I am grateful to the Arts and Humanities Research Council, who funded both my Master’s and doctoral studies, including a lengthy research trip to France. The University of St Andrews provided me with a Ph.D. scholarship for the duration of my doctorate, further testimony to the superb level of support that I have received from the university. I must also thank all the librarians and archivists at the institutions noted in the bibliography who helped facilitate my research. In particular, all the staff at the Site Richelieu-Louvois of the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris, where I conducted a great deal of my archival research, were extremely helpful. At a personal level, I am fortunate to have had a number of great friends during my postgraduate studies. These include Andy McLennan and Tom Adcock at Oxford; Parisian Gooners Ben Smith and Ollie Angot; and Charles Ironside, Russell Morgan, vi Tom Coombes and Matt Jennings back home in Dorset. At St Andrews, I’d particularly like to thank Russ Coombes, Cathal McDermott, Paula Kelly, Mark Byrne, Martin Maher, and Andy Drinnon for their friendships. My final thanks must go to my family. My parents and my brother have been unstinting in their support for my studies, and have often kept me sane through measures such as home-cooking, music, and football. Within my family I also include Mel, as she will soon be joining it. More than anything else, her love has driven me forward during some difficult times. I truly cannot thank her enough for everything that she has given me in the last three years, and I am looking forward to our future together more than I can say. Lastly, I would like to pay tribute to my maternal grandfather, Roy Packer, who died in 2005.