The famous French soldier Pierre Bayard

Pierre Bayard : French Soldier

Born in 1473 at Chateau Bayard, Dauphine, Seigneur De Pierre Terrail Bayard was a French soldier who descended from a noble family who were noted for their great success in two hundred years of battle. In 1487, Bayard left his employment as a page for Charles I, Duke of Savoy, at the invitation of Charles VIII of France, who added him to the followers of Seigneur de Ligny.

Bayard, in his youth, was noted for his affable manner, attractiveness and high degree of skill at the tilt-yard. Bayard went to Italy with Charles VIII in 1494, and by 1495, Bayard had captured standard in the Battle of Fornova and was knighted. It wasn’t long after this when Bayard was pursuing an enemy into Milan by himself when he was captured, only to be released later by Lodovico Sforza without requesting a ransom. During the Assault of Canossa in 1502, Bayard was injured. During combat between thirteen French and thirteen German knights, Bayard was regaled as a hero, and all through the period’s Italian wars, his valor and vigor were obvious and respected.

It’s also said that he once defended the bridge of Garigliano all by himself against 200 Spanish soldiers. Bayard once again proved himself an excellent warrior at the siege of Genoa in 1508 by Louis IX, and was subsequently made captain of a horse and foot company in 1509. Bayard distinguished himself even further with his skill during the siege of Padua. He served the Italian Wars continually until 1512’s Siege of Brescia. During an initial mounting of the ramparts, Bayard was severely wounded and carried by soldiers to a nearby house. Even before he had recovered from his wound, he rushed to serve in the Battle of Ravenna under Gaston de Foix in 1512.

One year later, Bayard’s escape was blocked while he was attempting to rally his fellow countrymen, when England’s Henry VIII was victorious against the French during the Battle of the Golden Spurs. Bayard was unwilling to surrender tot he English, instead opting to approach an unarmed enemy solder, summoning him to yield; Bayard relinquished himself to the enemy when the knight complied. Because of his impressive gallantry, King Henry let Bayard free without requesting a ransom from the English camp that he was taken to. In 1515, upon the accession of Francis I, Bayard attained the rank of Dauphine’s lieutenant general; he’d later promote his young sovereign to knighthood after Bayard’s valorous victory at Marignan. Bayard, with the assistance of loon men, maintained Mezieres when war erupted between Charles V and Francis I; the location was thought to be indefensible, but Bayard managed to protect it for six weeks against 35,000 soldiers, at which point imperial generals withdrew their attack. The steadfast resistance of Bayard rescued France from being invaded, since the king didn’t possess proper forces to stand up against the imperialist forces. France celebrated the difficult victory, which allowed Francis I the time to gather the royal army, which forced all of the invaders out by 1521. Bayard was seen by parliament as his country’s savior, and he was promoted to knighthood within the order of Saint Michael, as well as commander of Loo Gens d’Armes, which was a position previously exclusive only to blood-related princes. Bayard traveled to Italy in 1523 with Admiral Bonnivet, and when Bonnivet was wounded during his defeat at Robecco, he asked Bayard to take command of the army to rescue it. While he drove back the first pursuers, Bayard was critically wounded while guarding the Passage of Sesia by an arquebus ball, and died on April 30th, 1524.