Scots Members of the French Nobility

[Theobald]

Scots Members of the French Nobility

One peculiar aspect of the "Auld Alliance" between France and Scotland (founded on the common enmity with England) was the existence of French titles held by Scots nobles. These notes discuss three known cases: the earls of Douglas, the Stuarts of Darnley and the earl of Arran. They also discuss the case of another Scottish family which was granted a quarter of France in their arms, namely and Kennedy. Finally, the case of Montgomerie is discussed because their arms, by coincidence, were identical with those of France.

Introduction

1415 had been a bad year for France: the army of Henry V of England defeated the French at Agincourt (Azincourt in French) and the French nobility was decimated. English troops occupied Northern France, and the treaty of Troyes (1420) was imposed on the mad king Charles VI and his divided court. The treaty provided for the marriage of Henry V with Charles VI's daughter, and the accession of Henry V to the French throne upon the death of Charles VI, passing over the Dauphin Charles, son of Charles VI.

Earlier, in June 1419, the Dauphin had escaped Paris and taken refuge in Bourges. There, he summoned the Scots to his help, and a contingent of soldiers arrived from Scotland, led by the duke of Albany, the earl of Douglas and Sir John Stuart, lord of Darnley. For the next 5 years, these Scottish soldiers provided crucial support to the Dauphin, who assumed the name of Charles VII on the death of his father in 1422. They allowed the party of Charles VII to resist the English, until fortune changed sides with the counter-offensive led by Joan of Arc in 1429-31. In particular, a stunning victory was achieved at Baugé in 1421, during which the duke of Clarence, brother of the English king, was killed. The Scottish troops were badly defeated at Verneuil in 1424, and again trying to relieve the besieged town of Orléans in 1429. Orléans was relieved by Joan of Arc, and Paris and Normandy were retaken in 1436. The remnants of this Scottish force remained in the service of the king of France, were reorganized as the Gardes Écossaises when a permanent French army was formed in 1475, and remained the premier corps of the King's Household Troops until the Revolution. The captainship of these troops remained hereditary in the Stuart of Darnley family until the 17th c.

The Earl of Douglas, Duke of Touraine

The Stuarts of Darnley, seigneurs d\'Aubigny

The Earl of Arran, duke of Châtellerault

Kennedy of Bargany

Montgomerie



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