LA HIRE
(ca. 1390–1443). Étienne de Vignolles, called “La Hire” for his temper, was a constant
but undisciplined supporter of Charles VII. He fought at many major Valois defeats
(Verneuil, 1424; the Battle of the Herrings, 1429) and victories (Orléans, 1429; Tartas,
1442). His chief military achievement was to maintain an army in the field regardless of
the cost to those whom he nominally served. Often, this meant that his troops were little
more than bandits, but his close association with Jeanne d’Arc has cloaked this ignominy
and ennobled an otherwise ruthless personality. Bailli of Vermandois after 1429, he died
in Montauban in the presence of the king.
Paul D.Solon
[See also: BRIGAND/BRIGANDAGE; HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR;
MONTMORILLON]
Beaucourt, Gaston du Fresne de. Histoire de Charles VII. 6 vols. Paris: Librairie de la Société
Bibliographique, 1881–91.
Contamine, Philippe. Guerre, état et société a la fin du moyen âge: études sur les armées des rois
de France 1337–1494. Paris: Mouton, 1972.
Rohmer, R. “La vie et les exploits d’Étienne de Vignolles, dit La Hire, capitaine gascon et bailli de
Vermandois, 1390?-1443.” Paris: École Nationale des Chartres, 1907, Positions des thèses, pp.
167–73.
Tuetey, Alexandre. Les écorcheurs sous Charles VII. Montbéliard: Barbier, 1874.
LA MARCHE, OLIVIER DE
(1425/29–1502). Chronicler and poet of the court of Burgundy. His prose writings,
including the Mémoires and several treatises and letters on the house of Burgundy,
celebrate the splendor of latemedieval chivalric ceremony. La Marche helped supervise
court festivities, and he describes them at length, especially the 1454 Pheasant Banquet
and celebrations in honor of the Order of the Golden Fleece recorded in an epistle from
- His highly personal chronicle of the dukes of Burgundy, written for Philip of
Habsburg, duke of Burgundy and grandson of Charles the Bold, covers the period 1435–
Among his verse, two works are of special note. The Parement et triomphe des dames
(1493) enumerates allegorically the aspects of a noblewoman’s costume. The Chevalier
délibéré (1483), a conventional, moralized allegory of human life—written in honor of
Charles the Bold and published by Vérard and translated into Dutch, Spanish, and
English—explores the theme of death. The narrator undergoes symbolic adventures,
encountering Hutin, son of Gluttony, the hermit Understanding, and Age. He witnesses
several combats and retires to his bed, where he muses on the battles of life.
Earl Jeffrey Richards
[See also: BURGUNDIAN CHRONICLERS; VOW CYCLE]
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