Ecorcheurs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ecorcheurs (lit. flayers properly of dead bodies) were armed bands who desolated France in the reign of Charles VII, stripping their victims of everything, often to their very clothes.
They were mercenaries without employment since the Treaty of Arras which ended disputes between Armagnacs and Burgundian in 1435. Rodrigo de Villandrando was known as the "Emperor of Pillagers" (empereur des brigands) and "L'Écorcheur" (the slaughterer).
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This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.
