french clothing in the tyw

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French military fashion during the Thirty Years War1

Introduction

For France, a lot of equipment is very common to what we can find in the continent. But, for

the player who wants to play a French army during the Thirty Years War (like me and I amdefinitively not alone), it is to short. It is exactly like playing Swedish army with figurines for

English Civil War (two topics I like but not in the same time! Fortunately you made great

Swedish).Indeed, some different kinds of fashions can be specifically attributed to French troops

making a real ethnic aspect of the native French armies of the Thirty Years War2. As a player,

what I would like to have, in an ideal world, are the following troops which are exposed in thefollowing pages:

1. Infantrya. Musketeer of the 1640s.

b. Pikemen of the 1640s.c. Swiss pikemen wearing heavy armor which also could be used (with some respect) for

other nations like the United Provinces.

2. Cavalry

a. The musketeer of the guard (Maison du Roi) which are also (and may be essentially)foot troops at this period.

b. Heavy French cuirassiers liked to wear metallic hat (and may be some Savoyards

helmet). Also, it would be great to have French heavycuirassiers on foot (helmet and hat)for the army of Cond who used them as choc troops

3.

c. Some chevau-lgers in metallic hat which can also be used in an English Civil Wararmy.

As you asked me, I made some researches. Unfortunately (or not), I had a lot of work thisyear (book, articles, teaching and so on) and if I enjoyed it, I had not a lot of time to do

something serious for you, even if it was what I wanted the most.

I wanted to show you something before coming to Paris in 19-24 May where I will visit the

Muse de larme. I have also access, here in the University Library of Cambridge, to the mos timportant primary printed source of French army wrote and drew by Colbert de Lostelnau

4

which paradoxically is not often use, today, to depict the French army of the Thirty Years War

even if the book was done right during this conflict5.

So, here are my thoughts as a wargamer and, I hope, as an historian as well. I hope you will

enjoy them.

1Some good transversals references for that period are Parrott 2001, LYNN1997(cf. bibliography at the end).2It is definitively the same for Spain during the first half of the 17thcentury and I hope to see some of them too, to

complete your impressive 16thcentury range.3See below for references.4LOSTELNAU1647.5You know I like a lot THION2008 but it is really a big setback he didnt use this source. Consequently, his book

loses in accuracy.

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1. Frenchinfantry of the Thirty Years War

a. Musketeer

The first wars of Louis XIII

Two paintings of Claude Lorraine6show that during the 1620, the French musketeers (and

more generally the French army) were not so far from the common fashion of the time. The only

difference was the very specific way of wearing the large hat in the back side of the head. Thetwo paintings are reproduced below.

Claude Lorraine,Le siege de La Rochelle7. War against the French Protestants.

Claude Lorraine,La passe de Suse8. Succession of Mantua.

6Painter from the 17thcentury (1602-1682). His two war paintings, La pass de Suse andLe sige de La Rochelle

are today in the Louvre.7Sorry for the poor quality of the photo but I found no good reproduction. For the events, cf. PARROTT2001, pp. 88-

91.

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The Thirty Years War

During the Thirty Years War and more precisely in the years 1640s, the French musketeers

adopted a very specific fashion. Several drawings from the period show that. You will find two

typical examples in 1.a.1.and 1.a.2.

1.a.1.French musketeer of the period of the Thirty

Years' War, from LOSTELNEAU,Le mareschal de

bataille(1647). The culotte-style pantaloons would

appear to have been unique to the French infantry.

(from The French Army of the Thirty Years' War: LineInfantry By Curt Johnson).

1.a.2.French musketeer in 1646 quoted by

BACHELOT2003, plate 4.

The specificities are more numerous than the ones explained in the text of fig 1.a.1.:

1. Culotte. The culotte-style is indeed the first main difference between French andother Western European soldiers, even if the British also used this fashion. Note the

ribbon at its bottom! French liked feather and ribbons during the 17th

century. Very

often, the bottom of the culottewas finished by a decorative fringe (1.a.3, 4 and5).Note that the officers also wore this kind of culotte.

8Quoted by Parrott 2001 (cover and back). For the events, cf. PARROTT2001, pp. 91-100.

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2. Sock. What is also extremely French fashion is the specific way to attach the socks ina kind of flower. Sometime it is said that this comes from the shoes themselves but,following the drawing of that period it is clear that the flower is made with the socks.

For that, please see the example of 1.a.2.which is very clear. It makes sense anyway

as the socks are no more bound by the trouser but only by a string.

3.

Vest. The vest (if my English is correct) is a little bit shorter than in other countriesbut it is not very evident.

4. Hat. The hat is less large than the ones used in other armies. 1.a.3. shows also capand fur cap which is always fun to make armies more original. If the norm was thehat, Lostelnau quoted those different caps and so on. Note the presence of feathers on

all of them.

5. Hairs. The French fashion was also to have mi-long hairs a little bit longer than theEnglish ones. Here also it is something very important as it is the beginning of a use

which will conduct to the adoption of wig.

1.a.3. Musketeer of the very beginning of Louis XIVs reign (Rocroi period)

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1.a.4. Musketeer of late Louis XIIIs reign

1.a.5. Musketeer of late Louis XIII-beginning Louis XIVs reign.In HAYTHORNTHWAITE1983, p. 115, based on LOSTELNAU1647.

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b. Pikemen

The pikemen followed the same fashion than the musketeers as is shown by Lostelnau (1.b.1):

1. Helmets. The helmets displayed on 1.b.1. and 1.b.2.9 were the most used in theFrench army and, by some aspects, are very typical of this nation, even if others usedit also.

2. Armor. It is wrongly said that the French didnt use armor as it is clearly shown byLostelnau. However, like in the British armies, some units/soldiers didnt use them soa current army had both armored and unarmored pikemen.

3. Culotte, sock, vestand hairsare identical to the French musketeers.

1.b.1. French pikeman, beginning of 1640s10.

9This helmet is well shown in the book THION2003, pp. 23-24 of the French edition (arrival of the Great Cond,

wrongly attributed after the battle of Rocroi by the way) even if it is a more recent painting.10LOSTELNAU1647.

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1.b.2. Musketeer and pikemen 1640s.

c. Swiss pikemen

The Thions book shows very good photographs of Swiss armour11

. I think I will not be able

to do better.It is also a very important feature of the French army of the Thirty Years War that numerous

Swiss regiments were employed by Louis XIII and Louis XIV. The Swiss pikemen used to be

more heavily protected than any other unit. They, for example, kept the tassette until the Nine

Years War and so, during the first half of the 17th

century, they were more like 16th

centurypikemen. This kind of troops could be great in any French army.

For the musketeers, I didnt see any specificity and so, what you did for German troops would

be just perfect in those units.

11THION2008, p. 47 of the French edition.

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Armour of Swiss pikemen (made in the years 1620-1630)12.

2. The musketeers of theMaison du roiand the cavalry

a. The musketeers of the guard

Those troops are just omitted from any comprehensive range of that period. It is really not agood idea to not have them yet as this unit

13was used mounted sometime but also, most of the

time dismounted as elite troops to storm the enemys fortresses (as they did in La Rochelle for

example).Actually the musketeers intervened in many occasions which were not all recorded. Anytime

the king was near the front, the musketeers were there but most of the time they were fighting

under some prince of the blood (prince de sang, the most well known being Cond) or even somegreat captain. So, what is very important, for playing French during the Thirty Years War or the

Frond (battle as well as skirmish) is that this troop was available in horse and foot with a

complete command that is officer, ensign and drummer. At this period, the officers wore also thetabar (which was not the case in the 18

thcentury).

The musketeers of the Maison du roi wore the very first uniform available in France.

Actually, all what was compulsory was the famous tabar. The tabar appeared at the very end of

12Quoted by Thion 2008, p. 47, armor kept in the Muse de larme.13 Essentially the king musketeers as the guard of Richelieu was used as bodyguard. However, there was no

difference in their design.

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the 1630s as far as we can know. It was very ample with lace and bearing a white cross in its

middle. The drawings depicting the musketeers of theMaison du roior of Richelieu are based onpictures likeLa reddition de la ville de Montauban(2.a.1.). The tabar is not a kind of poncho as

the arms themselves were covered by it. Note also the very large hat with feather ( 2.a.2.).

The rest of the equipment was in charge of the musketeers themselves. It seems that the

officers tried to be as dandy as possible with feathers, ribbons and so on. The compagniewasdisband by Mazarin in 1646 and rebuilt long time after. During the beginning of the personal

reign of Louis XIV, in 1663, the musketeers were sometime usedas marines to conquer some

place in North Africa. It is unknown but a very interesting detail14

. It shows how important, goodand flexible were those troops.

2.a.1.La reddition de la ville de Montauban15

.

14Bachelot 2003, pp. 126-128..15Quoted by THION2008, p. 16 of the French edition.

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2.a.2. Musketeer of the guard in the 1640s

2.a.3. Musketeer of the guard in the 1640s

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b. The cuirassiers

The French cuirassiers were no different from the others. However, it seems that the metallic

hat was very popular in cavalry (2.b.1.). This kind of helmet was used in both cuirassiers and

chevau-lgersunits as well as in the English troops of the English Civil War.

2.b.1. Armor of cuirassier from the Gendarmes de la Masion du roiin the 1630s and 40s16.

16Quoted by THION2008, p. 88 of the French edition.

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In my knowledge, no one makes cuirassiers with Savoyards helmet which could be useful at

least for both French and Spanish armies. The Muse de larme is full of 17th

century armourand I will take a lot of photographs in May and send them to you.

2.b.2. Savoyards helmet used in French and Spanish armies (but not only)17.

At last, concerning cuirassiers, the Great Cond used them in foot as choc troops18

. It would

be great to have the possibility to build one unit of that kind (please!).

c. Chevaux lgers

To finish, chevaux lgers in metallic hat as shown in 2.b.3. would be very useful to have

typical French or English cavalry units.

17Quoted by THION2008, p. 64 of the French edition.18GUTHRIE2003, p. 211.

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2.c.1. Chevaux lgersin metallic hat19

Conclusion

As I hope you can see, making a typical French army is quite possible. With your impressive

range of Thirty Years War armies, it would be great to see it (as well as Spanish troops that is

another story). Technically, the Swedish and the French were the great winners of that war and Ihope you will not neglect the second ones.

Anyway, it was a pleasure to write these few lines and you can be sure that I will remain oneof the best TAGs fans!

Philippe Clancier

19Quoted by THION2008, p. 92 of the French edition.

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Bibliography used for these pages

BACHELOT, Bernard.Louis XIV en Algrie. Gigeri 1664. Editions du Rocher, Paris, 2003.

GUTHRIE, William. The Later Thrity Years War. From the Battle of Wittstock to the Treaty ofWestphalia. Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, London, 2003.

HAYTHORNTHWAITE, Philip. The English Civil War, 1642-1651. An illustrated Military History.Blandford Press, Poole, Dorset, 1983.

LOSTELNAU, Colbert de.Le Mareschal de Bataille. Contenant le Maniement des Armes, 1647.

LYNN, John. Giant of the Grand Sicle. The French Army, 1610-1715. Cambridge University

Press, Cambride, 1997.

PARROTT, David. Richelieus Army. War Government and Society in France, 1624-1642.Cambridge University Press, Cambride, 2001.

THION, Stphane. Les Armes Franaises de la Guerre de Trente Ans. LRT Editions, Auzielle,

2008.

french clothing in the tyw

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