TheConstable of France (French:Connétable de France, fromLatincomes stabuli for 'count of the stables') waslieutenant to theKing of France, the first of the original fiveGreat Officers of the Crown (along withseneschal,chamberlain,butler, andchancellor) and the commander-in-chief of theRoyal Army. He was, at least on paper, the highest-ranking member of theFrench nobility.
TheConnétable de France was also responsible for military justice and served to regulate theChivalry. 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 KingPhilip I in 1060 AD, with Alberic becoming the first Constable. The office was abolished in 1627, with anedict, byCardinal Richelieu, upon the death ofFrançois 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 worddoyen is used in French mainly in the sense of "the eldest".[1]
The later titleMarshal 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 theMaréchaux de France, but had none of the extended political powers of the earlier "Constable of France".
The badge of office was a highly elaborate sword calledJoyeuse, after the legendary sword ofCharlemagne. Joyeuse was a sword made with fragments of different swords and used in the Sacre of the French Kings since at least 1271. It was contained in a blue scabbard embellished with royal symbol, thefleur-de-lis, in column order from hilt to point. Traditionally, the constable was presented with the sword on taking his office by the King himself.[2]
After the abolition of the office ofSénéchal 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 thepeers. He had the position of Lieutenant-general of the King within thekingdom. The constable had under his command all military officers, including the powerfulmaréchaux; he was also responsible for the financing of the army, and administering military justice. The official name of the jurisdiction waslaconnétablie (the constabulary), which he exercised with the assistance of theMaréchaux de France (Marshals of France). This paralleled theCourt of the Lord Constable, later calledcuria militaris ofCourt of Chivalry, which existed in England at that time.[3]
NOT UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE CONSTABLE:
Discontinuity in the dates for Constable tenure may be due to an incomplete record of governmental and episcopal acts or the temporary assumption of duties by other officials or unnamed deputies during transitional periods, but there is no evidence that the role of Grand Constable was ever fully vacated or unfilled. For example, Baldric de Dreux acquired a deadly infection, became a monk, and was miraculously healed, during which time either Baldric or the Seneschal appointed a deputy and Baldric resumed his lifelong service as Constable after recovering from his illness.
TheValois Dynasty
During theConsulate regime (1799–1804), the deposedBourbon dynasty, through theComte d'Artois, allegedly offeredNapoléon Bonaparte, at that timeFirst Consul of the Republic, the title of "Constable of France" if he would restore the Bourbons asKings of France. Bonaparte declined the offer. However, in 1808, Emperor Napoléon I (since 1804) did himself appoint theGrand Dignitaries of the French Empire (Grands Dignitaires de l'Empire Français), among them his younger brotherLouis Bonaparte, (in 1806King of Holland by decision of his brother) asConstable, andMarshal of the EmpireLouis Alexandre Berthier, theFrench ArmyChief of Staff and Prince ofNeuchâtel asVice-Constable. Both titles were of a purely honorific nature, and disappeared with the Napoleonic regime's fall.
If I Were King, 1938, withFrançois Villon (played byRonald Colman), who was appointed byLouis XI,King of France (played byBasil Rathbone) to be Constable of France for one week.
Various versions of Shakespeare's playHenry V depict ConstableCharles d'Albret, Comte de Dreux, who was appointed byCharles VI of France and was killed in theBattle of Agincourt (1415). He is played byLeo Genn in the1944 film, byRichard Easton in the1989 film, and by Maxime Lefrancois in the2012 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 theDuke of York in the back in woodland away from the main battle.
