Hagre l'Escot was a Scottish mercenary captain during the Hundred Years War.
He fought for Edward III in 1360,[1] and on the Black Prince's expedition to Castile in 1366.[2]
After the Treaty of Brétigny Hagre and his men found themselves unemployed and so become one of the 30 so-called Tard-Venus bandits,[3] that ranged the French country side pillaging towns.[4] This led Avignon Pope Innocent VI to preach a "crusade against the robbers", and French King John II to "pay off" the brigands with gold to go to Italy.
His story is mentioned in the Chronicles of Froissart[5] which holds that:
Guin de Batefol: he had on his way well two thousand combatants. There were Talebart Talebardon, Guiot du Pin, Espiote, the Petite Meschin, Batillier, Francois Hennequin, de Bourc[6] Camus, the Bourc of L'Espare, Naudon de Bagerent, Bourc de Bretuel, Lamit, Hagre l'Escot , Albrest Ourri the German, Borduel, Bernart de la Salle, Robert Briquet, Carsuelle, Aymon of Ortinge, Garsiot of Chastel, Guionnet of Paux, Hortingo de la Salle and several others. If these Companies advised, about mid-Lent, that they were trailing towards Avignon and would go to see the pope and the cardinals: if they passed and entered and ran in the county of Mâcon; and they came to the county of Forez for this good country and to Lyon on the Rhone.[7]
There is some debate among modern scholars over whether he is[1][2] or is not[8] identifiable with Thomas Stewart, 2nd Earl of Angus.
References
edit- ^ a b Andy King, Claire Etty, England and Scotland, 1286-1603 (Macmillan International Higher Education, 2015) p 173.
- ^ a b Michael Lynch, The Oxford Companion to Scottish History (Oxford University Press).
- ^ Jean Alexandre C. Buchon, Charles Du Fresne Du Cange (sieur), Georges Chastellain, Geoffroi de Villehardouin, Enguerrand de Monstrelet, Jean Froissart, Jean Molinet, Geoffroi de Paris, Collection des chroniques nationales françaises, Volume 14(Verdière & J. Carez, 1824) p 124
- ^ Charles Du Fresne Du Cange (sieur), Histoire de l'empire de Constantinople sous les empereurs français jusqu'à. (Verdière, 1824), p 124.
- ^ Chroniques de Froissart, Volume 4 (J. Carez, 1824) p124.
- ^ The words Bourc or Bourg and Latin pieces Burgus, mean Bastard, illegitimate child .
- ^ Froissart - Chronicles of Sir Jean Froissart, Chapter CXLVII.
- ^ [https://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/3193/1/Ditchburn.pdf David Ditchburn. Scotland and Europe: the Medieval Kingdom and its Contacts with Christendom, 1214-1560 – volume I: Religion, Culture and Commerce. (Tuckwell Press. 2000).