How an illegitimate English nobleman built a career on absolute loyalty in fourteenth-century Italy
English. Illegitimate son of Lord Malcolm Musard. Lord of Aiguebelle.
Death: 1383, April
| Year, Month | State, Comp. ventura | Opponent | Command | Area of Activity | Actions Undertaken and Other Salient Facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| …………… | France | Fights in the Hundred Years’ War. | |||
| 1360/1361 | |||||
| Jan.–Mar. | Comp. ventura | Church | France, Piedmont | After the Treaty of Brétigny the Grand Company is formed, of which he is one of the most important captains. In mid-December 1360, under the orders of Walter Lesley, he fights alongside John Hawkwood (Giovanni Acuto) and Albrecht Sterz in the conquest of Pont-Saint-Esprit. He follows the mercenaries against Avignon at the expense of Pope Innocent VI. In February 1361 the Pope sends him, Hawkwood, and Walter Lesley a letter seeking peace. He arrives in Italy with the White Company commanded by Sterz, sent by the pontiff in aid of the Marquess of Montferrat Giovanni Palaeologus. | |
| …………… | Count of Savoy | Montferrat | Piedmont | He soon leaves the company to enter the service of the Count of Savoy Amadeus VI, of whom he becomes a friend. He is enfeoffed with certain lands. He fights the Marquesses of Saluzzo and Montferrat. He opposes the White Company still commanded by Sterz. | |
| Sept. | Piedmont | He takes part in the siege of Carignano. During this period he is frequently employed by Amadeus VI (the Green Count) as his ambassador to the companies of fortune present in his territories, with the task of persuading them to desist from their intentions and abandon their usual raiding. | |||
| 1364 | |||||
| Apr. | Piedmont | Count Amadeus of Savoy decides to create a chivalric order of 14 members. Its emblem is a collar, like those worn by greyhounds on the hunt, with the inscription FERT engraved three times with three love-knots. Richard Musard is called to be a member. | |||
| 1365 | Count of Savoy | Ottoman Empire | Greece and Turkey | He departs from Venice aboard several galleys (with only 1,500–1,800 cavalry at his disposal) to support Amadeus of Savoy in Greece and Turkey against the Bulgarians and Turks. The expedition is organised to bring relief to the Emperor of Constantinople John V Palaeologus, cousin of the Count of Savoy, following threats received from his adversaries. After numerous attacks he is able to enter Gallipoli. | |
| 1368 | |||||
| June | Lombardy | He attends in Milan, in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, the wedding between Duke Lionel of Clarence and Valentina, niece of Bernabò Visconti. On the occasion, through his intervention, he manages to prevent a duel between the Count of Savoy and his rival Philip of Savoy-Achaea, who had offended the Green Count with some insolent remarks. | |||
| 1371 | |||||
| Feb. | Piedmont | He is tasked with inspecting the Savoyard fortifications in Piedmont. | |||
| 1372 | |||||
| Summer | Count of Savoy | Milan | Piedmont | He relieves Otto of Brunswick in Asti. He defeats the Visconti forces on the river Adverse, where he commands the second battalion. | |
| 1373 | |||||
| Aug. | Count of Savoy | Saluzzo | Captain General | Piedmont | He is appointed Captain of Piedmont. He moves to Savigliano and declares war on the Marquess of Saluzzo. |
| Oct. | Piedmont | He is again tasked with inspecting the defences of the sub-Alpine territories threatened by the Visconti forces, who are preparing to attack them. | |||
| 1374 | |||||
| Mar. | Piedmont | In Turin as lieutenant of the Piedmontese territories. At Rivoli he renews the truce with the Marquess of Saluzzo, in force until Pentecost. | |||
| …………… | He is present at the negotiations taking place between the Count of Savoy Amadeus and the lord of Milan Bernabò Visconti. | ||||
| 1382 | Anjou | Naples | Campania | He accompanies the Count of Savoy on his expedition into the Kingdom of Naples in support of the claimant Louis I of Anjou (Luigi I d’Angiò) against the sovereign Charles of Durazzo (Carlo di Durazzo). | |
| 1383 | |||||
| Feb. | Campania | He is recorded at Santo Stefano near Campobasso. | |||
| Mar. | Campania and Liguria | He witnesses the death of Amadeus of Savoy. Together with Gaspare di Montmajeur, Ludovico of Savoy, Giovanni di Vernay, and Francesco di Arenthon he transports the body to Liguria, to be buried in the family tomb at Hautecombe in Savoy. | |||
| Apr. | Liguria | Richard Musard dies in Savona shortly after landing. He is buried in the church of the Knights of St. John. |
Sources
-“Und vaillant chivallier d’Engleterre, bon et hardy.” SERVION
-“Musard, known as the “black squire”, became a sort of personal bodyguard and received numerous honors, including membership in Savoy’s chivalric order of knights, the Order of the Collar, in 1364.” CAFERRO
-“Richard Musard was a bastard, and like many illegitimate nobles in the mid-fourteenth century, a career of mercenary offered an obvious path to advancement. The French even had a specific term for such men: bourc…(Riguardo alla sua scelta di militare in Italia per il solo conte di Savoia) Musard’s decision is..striking and difficult to explain. Yet it ultimately proved successful: after joining Amadeus VI, he endured numerous dangers enjoiyed a long and prosperous career, acquired an estate and castle, married a noblewoman, and outlined his lord and friend by several months following Amedeus’s death in 1383…(Sua partecipazione alla crociata indetta contro i bulgari ed i turchi) The participation of men such as Richard Musard in Amadeus VI campaign and Walter Leslie (Walter Lesley) in the Alexandrian crusade reveals an often overbooked dimensions of the mercenary world. These were soldiers who had spent decades in the moral grey zones of the Hundred Years War and the Italian conflicts, men for whom the papal promise of absolution was not merely a diplomatic instrument but a deeply personal offer. The crusade thus became, for some of them, not only a military enterprise but also a rare opportunity to confront the spiritual consequences of a lifetime spent in violence.” OLBEI
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