Rodrigo de Villandrando
Encyclopedia
Rodrigo de Villandrando (died c. 1457) was a Spanish routier
from Castile
and mercenary military leader in Gascony
during the final phase of the Hundred Years' War
. He was famous for his pillaging and was consequently known as the Emperor of Pillagers (empereur des brigands) or L'Écorcheur
(the slaughterer).
Originally from Biscay
, he was the son of Pedro de Villandrando and Agnes de Corral. He became count of Ribaldo and Valladolid
. Around 1410 he arrived in France and was admitted into the company of Amaury de Séverac. He rose to become captain of the routiers, veritable mercenaries in the pay of the seneschal
or various other powerful lords and even bishops. When his protector Amaury died in 1427, he entered the service of Charles VII of France
. In 1428 he was joined by Juan Salazar, who became his lieutenant. In his early career he is known to have pillaged Treignac
, Meymac
, and Tulle
.
On 11 June 1430 he participated in the Battle of Anthon with around 400 men armed with such prosaic devices as billhook
s, sledge hammers, and spade
s. He participated on the side of the French king against Louis de Chalon Arlay, Prince of Orange
and a vassal of Philip the Good.
In 1431 he was rewarded by John II of Aragon
with the county of Ribadeo
and the right to eat at his table once a year. That same year he pillaged Saint-Clément-de-Régnat
and was employed by the French to put down a peasant rebellion, which he did by massacring the refugees at Saint-Romain-le-Puy
. In September 1432 his routiers, in the pay of Georges de la Trémoille
, held Les Ponts-de-Cé
against the assaults of Jean V de Bueil
. Around 1433, at the height of his power, he had around 10,000 mercenaries, mostly Englishmen called Rodrigoys, under his command and he was the terror of the countryside of the Médoc
, where his men habitually held the petty lords of the region for ransom and forced protection money from the populace; they were constantly pillaging and ransacking the bastides. In 1433 he took the castle of Lagarde Viaur and held it for a very high ransom. In the late 1430s he pillaged Bor-et-Bar
, Salers
, and Laparade
.
On 24 May 1433 he married Margaret, the half-sister of Charles I, Duke of Bourbon
, and illegitimate daughter of Duke John I
. For 6,000 écu
s he bought the castles of Ussel
and then Châteldon
from his brother-in-law. Between 1434 and 1439 he was subsequently installed in the fortress of Montgilbert
.
In 1436 his men pillaged Cordes
; in 1438 Lauzun
, Fumel
, Issigeac
, and Blanquefort
were hit. In 1437 his men violently despoiled the furriers of Charles VII at Hérisson
. In 1438 he joined French
forces under Charles II of Albret
and Poton de Xaintrailles and embarked on a chevauchée
in the Bordelais
and Médoc. They were stopped only by the walls of Bordeaux
itself.
In 1440 he fought with Charles of Bourbon against Charles VII in the revolt known as the Praguerie. In 1441 Changy
and Pavie
were pillaged by his men. In 1442 he again had the support of the French king for the depredation of northern Gascony. Later that year he and Albret threatened Bazas
.
In 1443 a party of his men on the command of Salazar returned to Spain, plundering upper Languedoc
and the Lauragais
on the way. Banned thenceforward from the realm, Rodrigo returned to Spain, where he was made marshal
of Castile
. He willed his worldly goods to the church of Castile and retired from the world to a monastery, where he died sometime around 1457.
Routiers
The routiers were mercenaries associated with free companies who terrorized the French countryside during the Hundred Years War. The word routier is French for "road-man", referring to their travelling nature. -Background:Routiers were a product of their time...
from Castile
Castile (historical region)
A former kingdom, Castile gradually merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre...
and mercenary military leader in Gascony
Gascony
Gascony is an area of southwest France that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution. The region is vaguely defined and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; sometimes they are considered to overlap, and sometimes Gascony is considered a...
during the final phase of the Hundred Years' War
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
. He was famous for his pillaging and was consequently known as the Emperor of Pillagers (empereur des brigands) or L'Écorcheur
Ecorcheurs
The écorcheurs were armed bands who desolated France in the reign of Charles VII, stripping their victims of everything, often to their very clothes....
(the slaughterer).
Originally from Biscay
Biscay
Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Biscay. Its capital city is Bilbao...
, he was the son of Pedro de Villandrando and Agnes de Corral. He became count of Ribaldo and Valladolid
Valladolid
Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales...
. Around 1410 he arrived in France and was admitted into the company of Amaury de Séverac. He rose to become captain of the routiers, veritable mercenaries in the pay of the seneschal
Seneschal
A seneschal was an officer in the houses of important nobles in the Middle Ages. In the French administrative system of the Middle Ages, the sénéchal was also a royal officer in charge of justice and control of the administration in southern provinces, equivalent to the northern French bailli...
or various other powerful lords and even bishops. When his protector Amaury died in 1427, he entered the service of Charles VII of France
Charles VII of France
Charles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France including the capital, Paris...
. In 1428 he was joined by Juan Salazar, who became his lieutenant. In his early career he is known to have pillaged Treignac
Treignac
Treignac is a commune in the Corrèze department in central France.During the Hundred Years' War it was pillaged by Rodrigo de Villandrando.-Population:-References:*...
, Meymac
Meymac
Meymac is a commune in the Corrèze department in central France.-Geography:The commune lies just south of the Millevaches Plateau and north-west of the Cantal mountains....
, and Tulle
Tulle
Tulle is a commune and capital of the Corrèze department in the Limousin region in central France. It is also the episcopal see of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulle...
.
On 11 June 1430 he participated in the Battle of Anthon with around 400 men armed with such prosaic devices as billhook
Billhook
The billhook is a traditional cutting tool known and used throughout the world, and very common in the wine-growing countries of Europe, used widely in agriculture and forestry The billhook (also bill hook – although this more usually refers to either a metal or plastic hook used to hold bills,...
s, sledge hammers, and spade
Spade
A spade is a tool designed primarily for the purpose of digging or removing earth. Early spades were made of riven wood. After the art of metalworking was discovered, spades were made with sharper tips of metal. Before the advent of metal spades manual labor was less efficient at moving earth,...
s. He participated on the side of the French king against Louis de Chalon Arlay, Prince of Orange
Prince of Orange
Prince of Orange is a title of nobility, originally associated with the Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France. In French it is la Principauté d'Orange....
and a vassal of Philip the Good.
In 1431 he was rewarded by John II of Aragon
John II of Aragon
John II the Faithless, also known as the Great was the King of Aragon from 1458 until 1479, and jure uxoris King of Navarre from 1425 until his death. He was the son of Ferdinand I and his wife Eleanor of Alburquerque...
with the county of Ribadeo
Ribadeo
Ribadeo is a municipality in the Spanish province of Lugo in Galicia. It has a population of 9619 and an area of 106.2 km². It is the capital of the A Mariña Oriental region .- External links:*....
and the right to eat at his table once a year. That same year he pillaged Saint-Clément-de-Régnat
Saint-Clément-de-Régnat
Saint-Clément-de-Régnat is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France.-References:*...
and was employed by the French to put down a peasant rebellion, which he did by massacring the refugees at Saint-Romain-le-Puy
Saint-Romain-le-Puy
Saint-Romain-le-Puy or Le Puy is a commune in the Loire department in central France.The town is located from Montbrison along the D8...
. In September 1432 his routiers, in the pay of Georges de la Trémoille
Georges de la Trémoille
Georges de la Trémoille was count of de Guînes from 1398 to 1446 and Grand Chamberlain of France to King Charles VII of France. He sought reconciliation between Philip, Duke of Burgundy and Charles VII during their estrangement in the latter part of the Hundred Years' War...
, held Les Ponts-de-Cé
Les Ponts-de-Cé
Les Ponts-de-Cé is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.Les Ponts-de-Cé is in the suburbs of Angers.-History:In September 1432, during the Hundred Years' War, the routiers of Rodrigo de Villandrando, in the pay of Georges de la Trémoille, held Les Ponts-de-Cé against the...
against the assaults of Jean V de Bueil
Jean V de Bueil
Jean V de Bueil , called le Fléau des Anglais "plague of the English", count of Sancerre, vicount of Carentan, lord of Montrésor, Château-la-Vallière, Saint-Calais, Vaujours, Ussé and Vailly, son of Jean IV de Bueil and Margarete Dauphine of Auvergne. He is the author of Le Jouvencel Jean V de...
. Around 1433, at the height of his power, he had around 10,000 mercenaries, mostly Englishmen called Rodrigoys, under his command and he was the terror of the countryside of the Médoc
Médoc
The Médoc is a region of France, well known as a wine growing region, located in the département of Gironde, on the left bank of the Gironde estuary, north of Bordeaux. Its name comes from Medullicus, or "country of the Medulli", the local Celtic tribe...
, where his men habitually held the petty lords of the region for ransom and forced protection money from the populace; they were constantly pillaging and ransacking the bastides. In 1433 he took the castle of Lagarde Viaur and held it for a very high ransom. In the late 1430s he pillaged Bor-et-Bar
Bor-et-Bar
Bor-et-Bar is a commune in the Aveyron department in southern France.-Population:-References:*...
, Salers
Salers
Salers is a commune in the Cantal department in south-central France.It is famous for the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée cheeses Cantal and Salers...
, and Laparade
Laparade
Laparade is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France....
.
On 24 May 1433 he married Margaret, the half-sister of Charles I, Duke of Bourbon
Charles I, Duke of Bourbon
Charles de Bourbon was the oldest son of John I, Duke of Bourbon and Marie, Duchess of Auvergne.He was Count of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis from 1424, and Duke of Bourbon and Auvergne from 1434 to his death, although due to the imprisonment of his father after the Battle of Agincourt, he acquired...
, and illegitimate daughter of Duke John I
John I, Duke of Bourbon
Jean de Bourbon was Duke of Bourbon, from 1410 to his death and Duke of Auvergne since 1416. He was the eldest son of Louis II and Anna d'Auvergne...
. For 6,000 écu
ECU
ECU may refer to:Automotive terms* Electronic control unit, a generic term for any embedded system that controls one or more of the electrical systems or subsystems in a motor vehicle...
s he bought the castles of Ussel
Ussel, Corrèze
Ussel is a commune in the Corrèze department in central France. Its inhabitants are named Ussellois. The town is best known for its charming old streetscapes and for its pastoral and natural landscapes offering a perfect setting for green alternative vacations.-Location:The community of Ussel is...
and then Châteldon
Châteldon
Châteldon is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France.-About the town:Châteldon is a medieval village in the northern part of Auvergne. It dates from the early Middle Ages, with many of its buildings dating back to the 14th century...
from his brother-in-law. Between 1434 and 1439 he was subsequently installed in the fortress of Montgilbert
Montgilbert
Montgilbert is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France....
.
In 1436 his men pillaged Cordes
Cordes-sur-Ciel
Cordes-sur-Ciel is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France.The fortified town was built in 1222 by Raimon VII, the Count of Toulouse, who, though not a Cathar himself, tolerated the heresy. The village is now a popular tourist spot...
; in 1438 Lauzun
Lauzun
Lauzun is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France....
, Fumel
Fumel
Fumel is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France.It is twinned with Uttoxeter, United Kingdom.In 1438 it was pillaged by Rodrigo de Villandrando....
, Issigeac
Issigeac
Issigeac is a small medieval village that dates back to roman times, located in the Périgord and is approximately southwest of Bergerac in Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is a commune of the Dordogne department....
, and Blanquefort
Blanquefort, Gironde
Blanquefort or Blancafòrt is a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France. Blanquefort is an outlying commune of the Bordeaux metropolitan area....
were hit. In 1437 his men violently despoiled the furriers of Charles VII at Hérisson
Hérisson
Hérisson is a commune in the Allier department in central France.-Population:-References:*...
. In 1438 he joined French
Kingdom of France
The Kingdom of France was one of the most powerful states to exist in Europe during the second millennium.It originated from the Western portion of the Frankish empire, and consolidated significant power and influence over the next thousand years. Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, developed a...
forces under Charles II of Albret
Charles II of Albret
Charles II d'Albret was a French magnate, administrator, and soldier.He was the son of Charles d'Albret and Marie de Sully. His father died in 1415 at the Battle of Agincourt, leaving the younger Charles as lord of Albret and titular Count of Dreux, titular count since after Agincourt the lands of...
and Poton de Xaintrailles and embarked on a chevauchée
Chevauchée
A chevauchée was a raiding method of medieval warfare for weakening the enemy, focusing mainly on wreaking havoc, burning and pillaging enemy territory, in order to reduce the productivity of a region; as opposed to siege warfare or wars of conquest...
in the Bordelais
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
and Médoc. They were stopped only by the walls of Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
itself.
In 1440 he fought with Charles of Bourbon against Charles VII in the revolt known as the Praguerie. In 1441 Changy
Changy, Loire
Changy is a commune in the Loire department in central France....
and Pavie
Pavie
Pavie is a commune in the Gers department in southwestern France.-Population:...
were pillaged by his men. In 1442 he again had the support of the French king for the depredation of northern Gascony. Later that year he and Albret threatened Bazas
Bazas
Bazas is a commune in the Gironde department in southwestern France.-Geography:Bazas stands on a narrow promontory above the Beuve valley 60 km/37 mi southeast of Bordeaux and 40 km/25 mi southwest of Marmande.-History:...
.
In 1443 a party of his men on the command of Salazar returned to Spain, plundering upper Languedoc
Languedoc
Languedoc is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day régions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées in the south of France, and whose capital city was Toulouse, now in Midi-Pyrénées. It had an area of approximately 42,700 km² .-Geographical Extent:The traditional...
and the Lauragais
Lauragais
The Lauragais is an area of southwestern France located south-east of Toulouse....
on the way. Banned thenceforward from the realm, Rodrigo returned to Spain, where he was made marshal
Marshal
Marshal , is a word used in several official titles of various branches of society. The word is an ancient loan word from Old French, cf...
of Castile
Kingdom of Castile
Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...
. He willed his worldly goods to the church of Castile and retired from the world to a monastery, where he died sometime around 1457.
Sources
- Labarge, Margaret WadeMargaret Wade LabargeMargaret Wade Labarge was a Canadian historian and author specializing in the role of women in the Middle Ages. She was adjunct professor of history at Carleton University....
. Gascony, England's First Colony 1204–1453. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1980. ISBN 0 2411 0309 6. - Lodge, Eleanor Cabot. Gascony under English Rule. Port Washington: Kennikat Press, 1926. ISBN 0 8046 1232 3.
- Quicherat, J. E. J.Jules Etienne Joseph QuicheratJules Etienne Joseph Quicherat was a French historian and archaeologist.His father, a working cabinet-maker, came from Paray-le-Monial to Paris to support his large family; Quicherat was born there. He was fifteen years younger than his brother Louis, a great Latin scholar and lexicographer, who...
Rodrigue de Villandrando, l'un des combattants pour l'indépendance française au XVe siècle. Paris: Hachette, 1879.