Constable of France

The Constable of France (French: Connétable de France, from Latin comes stabuli for 'count of the stables') was lieutenant to the King of France, the first of the original five Great Officers of the Crown (along with seneschal, chamberlain, butler, and chancellor) and the commander-in-chief of the Royal Army. He was, at least on paper, the highest-ranking member of the French nobility.

The Connétable de France was also responsible for military justice and served to regulate the Chivalry. His jurisdiction was called the Constabulary (connestablie; or in modern French orthography which sticks closer to the correct pronunciation: connétablie).

The office was established by King Philip I in 1060 AD, with Alberic becoming the first Constable. The office was abolished in 1627, with an edict, by Cardinal Richelieu, upon the death of François de Bonne, duc de Lesdiguières, in order to strengthen the immediate authority of the King over his army.

The position was officially replaced by the purely ceremonial title "Dean of Marshals" (Doyen des maréchaux), who was in fact the most senior "Marshal of France" (Maréchal de France); as the word doyen is used in French mainly in the sense of "the eldest".^[1]

The later title Marshal General of France or more precisely "Marshal General of the King's camps and armies" (Maréchal général des camps et armées du Roi) was bestowed on the most outstanding military leaders. The recipient had command authority over all the French armies and garrisons who were engaged in war, and was senior to the Maréchaux de France, but had none of the extended political powers of the earlier "Constable of France".

Authority[edit]

After the abolition of the office of Sénéchal in 1191, the Connétable became the most important officer in the army, and as First Officer of the Crown, he ranked in ceremonial precedence immediately after the peers. He had the position of Lieutenant-general of the King within the kingdom. The constable had under his command all military officers, including the powerful maréchaux; he was also responsible for the financing of the army, and administering military justice. The official name of the jurisdiction was la connétablie (the constabulary), which he exercised with the assistance of the Maréchaux de France (Marshals of France). This paralleled the Court of the Lord Constable, later called curia militaris of Court of Chivalry, which existed in England at that time.^[3]

(Maréchal de France). However, during exceptional times the Marshal of France could be senior to the Constable, depending on the decisions of the King

Marshal of France

– a special category of general in the Royal French army, commanding all the regiments of the same branch of service (i.e. Cavalry, Dragoons, Infantry et al.)

Colonel-general

General

– the highest regular general officer rank of the French army to which a career army officer could be promoted on the basis of seniority and merit, and not noble blood

Lieutenant-general

(literally (Military) Camp Marshal), not to be confused with Field Marshal) – the lowest general officer rank, in later times renamed Major-général and equivalent to the present-day général de brigade (brigadier-general)

Maréchal de camp

– a prestigious honorary position, not an army rank, which gave the right to carry the King's royal banner (called Oriflamme) into battle

Porte-Oriflamme

(Grand-Maître des Arbalétriers du Roi) who was in charge of all archers in the army

Grand Master of Crossbowmen

(Grand-Maître de l'Artillerie royale). From the beginning of the 17th century, the Grand Master of the Artillery became a Great Officer of the Crown an immediate subordinate of the King and was no longer under the command of the Constable.

Grand Master of Artillery

NOT UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE CONSTABLE:

Baldric de Dreux, 20 May 1043–1069

[5]

Walter (Baldric's deputy), 1048

[5]

Alberic (Baldric's deputy), 1060

Gauthier, 1069–1071

Adelelme, 1071–1075

Adam le Isle, 1075–1085

Thibaut, , 1085–1107

Seigneur de Montmorency

Gaston de Chanmont, 1107–1108

Hugues le Borgne de Chanmont, 1108–1135

(died 1160), 1138–?

Mathieu de Montmorency

Simon de Neauphle-le-Chateau, 1165–?

(died 1191), 1174–1191

Raoul I de Clermont

Dreux IV de Mello (1148–1218), 1194–1218

(died 1231), 1218–1231

Mathieu II le Grand, Baron de Montmorency

(died 1241), 1231–1240

Amaury de Montfort

(died 1250), 1240–1250

Humbert V de Beaujeu

(died 1276), 1250–1276

Gilles de Trasignies

Humbert VI de Beaujeu (died 1285), 1277

(died 1302), 1277–1302

Raoul II de Clermont

(1249–1329), 1307–1329

Gaucher V de Châtillon

Movies[edit]

If I Were King, 1938, with François Villon (played by Ronald Colman), who was appointed by Louis XI, King of France (played by Basil Rathbone) to be Constable of France for one week.

Various versions of Shakespeare's play Henry V depict Constable Charles d'Albret, Comte de Dreux, who was appointed by Charles VI of France and was killed in the Battle of Agincourt (1415). He is played by Leo Genn in the 1944 film, by Richard Easton in the 1989 film, and by Maxime Lefrancois in the 2012 film. In the 1944 film he dies in personal combat with King Henry. In the 1989 film he is depicted as falling from his horse into the mud (historical tradition holds he was drowned in the mud due to the weight of his armour, disabled by having his horse fall on him). In the 2012 film he is shot by a longbowman after stabbing the Duke of York in the back in woodland away from the main battle.