The Musketeers of the Guard (french: Mousquetaires de la garde) 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 Maison du Roi (, "King's Household") 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. Organisation ...

, the Royal Household of the

French monarchy France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the firs ...

History

They were founded in 1622 when

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...

furnished a company of light cavalry (the ''carabins'', created by Louis' father Henry IV) with

muskets A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually dis ...

. The Musketeers fought in battles both on foot (

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 mar ...

) and on horseback ( cavalry). They formed the

royal guard A royal guard is a group of military bodyguards, soldiers or armed retainers responsible for the protection of a royal person, such as the emperor or empress, king or queen, or prince or princess. They often are an elite unit of the regular arm ...

for the king while he was outside of the royal residences (within the royal residences, the king's guard was the ''

Garde du corps A ''Garde du Corps'' (French for lifeguard) is a military unit, formed of guards. A '' Garde du Corps'' was first established in France in 1445. From the 17th century onwards, the term was used in several German states and also, for example, in th ...

'' and the ''

Gardes suisses Swiss Guards (french: Gardes Suisses; german: Schweizergarde; it, Guardie Svizzere'')'' are Swiss soldiers who have served as guards at foreign European courts since the late 15th century. The earliest Swiss guard unit to be established on a ...

''). The Musketeers of the Guard wore an early type of military uniform with a

tabard A tabard is a type of short coat that was commonly worn by men during the late Middle Ages and early modern period in Europe. Generally worn outdoors, the coat was either sleeveless or had short sleeves or shoulder pieces. In its more develope ...

(known as ''soubreveste''), indicating that they "belonged" to the King, and an embroidered white cross denoting the fact that they were formed during the Huguenot rebellions in support of the Catholic cause. Mousquetaires du roi

Shortly after the Musketeers were established, a second company was founded to report to Cardinal Richelieu. At the cardinal's death in 1642, the company passed to his successor

Cardinal Mazarin Cardinal Jules Mazarin (, also , , ; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino () or Mazarini, was an Italian cardinal, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Louis XIII and Louis X ...

, who disbanded his Musketeers in 1646. He revived the Musketeers in 1657 with a company of 150 men. Upon Mazarin's death in 1661, the cardinal's Musketeers passed to

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

. In 1664, the two companies were reorganized: one company took the name "Grey Musketeers" (''mousquetaires gris'') from the color of their matched horses, while the second were called "Black Musketeers" (''mousquetaires noirs''), mounted on black horses. At roughly the same time, the size of the Musketeer companies was doubled. The Musketeers were among the most prestigious of the military companies of the

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for "ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for ...

, and in principle membership in the companies was reserved for nobles. With the reforms of

Michel le Tellier Michel Le Tellier, marquis de Barbezieux, seigneur de Chaville et de Viroflay (19 April 1603 – 30 October 1685) was a French statesman. Biography Le Tellier was born in Paris to a Parisian magistrate, Michel III Le Tellier, and his wife, Clau ...

– which mandated a certain number of years of military service before nobles could attain the rank of officer – many nobles sought to do this service in the privileged Musketeer companies. In 1776, the Musketeers were disbanded by

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

for budgetary reasons. Reformed in 1789, they were disbanded again shortly after the

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 coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. They were reformed on 6 July 1814 and definitively disbanded on 1 January 1816.

Notable Musketeers of the Guard

The following are some of the notable Musketeers: *

Charles de Batz de Castelmore d'Artagnan Charles de Batz de Castelmore (), also known as d'Artagnan and later Count d'Artagnan ( 1611 – 25 June 1673), was a French Musketeer who served Louis XIV as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard. He died at the siege of Maastricht in the F ...

(The historical basis of

Alexander Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer. ...

' character

d'Artagnan Charles de Batz de Castelmore (), also known as d'Artagnan and later Count d'Artagnan ( 1611 – 25 June 1673), was a French Musketeer who served Louis XIV as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard. He died at the siege of Maastricht in the ...

in his 1844 novel ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight ...

'') *

Henri d'Aramitz Henri, Seigneur d'Aramitz ("Lord of Aramits"; c. 1620–1655 or 1674) was a Gascon ''abbé'', and black musketeer of the Maison du Roi in 17th century France. In addition, he was the nephew of the Comte de Troisville, captain of the Musketeers ...

(The historical basis of Dumas' character

Aramis René d'Herblay, alias Aramis, is a fictional character in the novels ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844), '' Twenty Years After'' (1845), and '' The Vicomte de Bragelonne'' (1847-1850) by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the other two musketeers, A ...

in ''

'') * Armand d'Athos (The historical basis of Dumas' character Athos in ''

'') *

Isaac de Porthau Isaac de Porthau (also Portau or Portaut; January 30, 1617, Pau – July 13, 1712) was a Gascon black musketeer of the Maison du Roi in 17th century France. In addition, he was the first cousin once removed of the Comte de Troisville, captain of ...

(The historical basis of Dumas' character

Porthos Porthos, Baron du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds is a fictional character in the novels ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844), '' Twenty Years After'' (1845), and '' The Vicomte de Bragelonne'' (1847-1850) by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the othe ...

in ''

'') * Jean-Armand du Peyrer de Troisville (The historical basis of Dumas' character Monsieur de Tréville in ''

'') * Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (later American Revolutionary War general) *

Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, GE (16 January 16752 March 1755), was a French soldier, diplomat, and memoirist. He was born in Paris at the Hôtel Selvois, 6 rue Taranne (demolished in 1876 to make way for the Boulevard Saint-Germain). Th ...

* Étienne de Boré, first

Mayor of New Orleans The post of Mayor of the City of New Orleans (french: Maire de La Nouvelle-Orléans) has been held by the following individuals since New Orleans came under American administration following the Louisiana Purchase — the acquisition by the U.S. ...

Gallery

Mousceteor.jpg, Musketeer of the Guard c. 1660 1663-Louis-XIV -Maison-Du-Roi -Mousquetaires.jpg, Musketeers c. 1660 Mousquetaires-de-la-maison-du-roi-.jpg, The Musketeers, late 17th century Jean+Alaux,+dit+le+Romain,+Prise+de+Valenciennes.+17+mars+1677.jpg, Musketeers in the storming of Valenciennes on 17 March 1677. A fragment of the picture. Mousquetaires au prise de Gand en 1678.jpg, Musketeers in the storming of Ghent, 1678. A fragment of the picture. Mousquetaires-1729.jpg, Review of Black Musketeers in the plain of Sablons. By Robert Paul Ponce Antoine, 1729 Mousquetaires de la Garde Musician Marbot.jpg, Musicians of the Musketeers of the Guard in 1724. Oboeist of the 2nd company and drummer of the 1st company Musketeer 1730-50.jpg, Musketeer of the Guard, 1724 Mousquetaires de la Garde Marbot.jpg, Grey and black musketeers, 1745 Mousquetaire 06303.JPG, 1816, second company Mousquetaire gris 6305.jpg, 1816

In pop culture

The Three Musketeers (2011 film) ''The Three Musketeers'' is a 2011 romantic action adventure film directed by Paul W. S. Anderson and starring Matthew Macfadyen, Logan Lerman, Ray Stevenson, Milla Jovovich, Luke Evans, Mads Mikkelsen, Orlando Bloom, and Christoph Waltz. ...

References

*This article is based in part on the article Mousquetaire from the

French Wikipedia The French Wikipedia (french: Wikipédia en français) is the French-language edition of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. This edition was started on 23 March 2001, two months after the official creation of Wikipedia. It has articl ...

, retrieved on September 9, 2006.''

History

Notable Musketeers of the Guard

Gallery

In pop culture

References

Further reading