The name of an influential figure with an ambivalent reputation in the old Swiss Confederation and older Swiss historiography turns up again and again in the second half of the 17th century in connection with Swiss mercenary service in France. I am referring to Peter Stuppa (1619â1701),1 an officer from Chiavenna, a city in what was at the time a dependent territory of the Three Leagues. Stuppa was in the French service from the mid-1630s until his death in 1701. The subject of the Grisons achieved a spectacular military and social rise in the second half of his life during the reign of Louis XIV.2 Stuppa first becomes perceptible in the historiography when looking back at the 1660s. Starting in late 1665, the then captain in the Swiss Guards regiment made himself highly unpopular in the Confederation by raising compagnies franches for France along with other Swiss officers. These compagnies franches were mercenary troops, which were not recruited and deployed in keeping with the framework conditions of the French-Swiss mercenary alliance that had just been renewed in 1663 and were therefore considered illegal.3 The officers at
Although hardly any other Swiss protagonist had a comparable career in French mercenary service, up to now â presumably due to the difficult source situation â hardly any research has been done on Peter Stuppa.7 The fact that starting in 1671, a subject of the Grisons seemingly appeared out of nowhere to become a powerful factor in the French army and at the court of Louis XIV is in need of explanation. The pre-history of this exceptional career is entirely unknown. This contribution tries to throw light on its background and begins in the 1650s and early 1660s: with Stuppa as a protagonist in the Swiss Guards Regiment and with those of his personal relationships that can be established for this period.
1 A Relative Opens the Door to a Career in France
The time Peter Stuppa spent as an officer in the Swiss Guards in France in the 1650s and 1660s paved the way for his extraordinary career from 1672 on. He made it to the privileged position of an officer in the Guards thanks to the support of his cousin Johann Anton Stuppa (before 1597â1652), who had been in the French service since 1630 at the latest.8 Johann Anton served France as a mercenary officer in the Thirty Yearsâ War; he was the leader of the pro-French
There is hardly any reliable information on Peter Stuppaâs life before 1648.12 The Histoire militaire by the military historian Emmanuel May (1734â1802)
Since the Stuppa family has not left behind any extant records, information on the Guard captain Peter Stuppa can only be gleaned from the correspondence series of the royal ministries and from sources that have been handed down to us from contemporaries. Even though no family archives are available, disparate sources with news about individual family members throw light on at least punctual aspects of Peter Stuppaâs milieu and activities. But, overall, the information of which we dispose on his early career has to be regarded as highly fragmentary.
Peter Stuppa had a close relationship with the Chandieu family from Vaud since his early years of service in the Swiss Guards regiment and, fortunately, this relationship is also reflected in their family archives. In an otherwise extremely difficult situation as regards sources, the extensive correspondence left behind by the brothers Paul de Chandieu-Villars (1622â85) and Albert de Chandieu-LâIsle (1618â75) provides us most of the information we have on Peter Stuppa and the 1650s and early 1660s. Paul and Albert came from an aristocratic family from the Dauphiné, which had settled in Bernese Vaud in the 16th century and owned several manors there. Like Stuppa, they were officers in the French service. Paul de Chandieu had commanded a half company in the Swiss Guards regiment since 1654.16 The earliest known original letters of Peter Stuppa and of at least two other members of the Stuppa family are to be found among their papers. Moreover, Stuppa is frequently brought up in the intra-family Chandieu correspondence.17 Although the source material is attractive, it is somewhat diminished by the fact that explicitly formulated remarks on Stuppaâs role in the Swiss Guards Regiment, whether possible functions or concrete missions, are lacking. Hence, it is often only possible to place the fragmentary information available into a coherent substantive context by way of interpretation. Moreover, the fact that not a single letter from the Chandieus to Stuppa could be found makes matters more difficult. But from the replies of Stuppa, who was mostly in Paris over a long period of time, and the letters between the brothers, we can conclude that a regular exchange of information took place between them.
The Chandieu brothers and Peter Stuppa were pursuing a common goal in the 1650s: the preservation of their military units in the French army and of their privileged status as (Guard) officers, which was by no means guaranteed. For the number of troops and officers even of the prestigious Guard Regiment varied depending mainly on the wars being fought and financial and political
The sources available for this period contain several remarks about Peter Stuppa. He first appeared as an intermediary representing the interests of (certain) Swiss officers. Starting from the end of 1656, he tried to avert the scraping of Paul de Chandieuâs half-company. He did so together with Guard captain
Apart from his militating for the preservation of the Chandieu company, Stuppa also acted as representative of the Chandieu familyâs interests in other ways in Paris. Between 1656 and 1660, he got in touch with relevant authorities about outstanding pay and other matters connected to the half company, as well as financial transactions and a family salt business.29 In addition, Peter Stuppa tried for a long time to get the Colonel général des Suisses et Grisons to grant Paul de Chandieu a leave of absence (congé).30
you have every possible obligation to [Guard captain Johann Peter] Stoppa who this morning, in the presence of just [Guard captain Georg] Keller and me, spoke for you to M. [the Colonel général des Suisses et
Grisons?, Eugène-Maurice de Savoie] the Count [de Soissons] with as much vigour as can possibly ⦠be employed for a friend In this meeting, we did not ⦠[fail], rest assured, to support your interests in such a way that you will surely [obtain] your leave. â¦32
Several accounting records prepared for colonel Albrecht von Wattenwyl (1619â71) from Bern list financial compensation that Stuppa received for his intercession in matters that are not further specified (possibly also for outstanding troop payments). Between 1656 and 1665, five payments to Stuppa of 20 to 50 livres are listed for his âsollicitationsâ.33 While on his deathbed, the Guard captain from the Grisons, Johann Baptist Tscharner (1618â62), was also counting on Stuppaâs influence; Tscharner recommended that a cousin âwrite mister Friess and mister officer Stoppa from time to time and tend to their advice and whatever they will advise, do the sameâ.34
The sources do not always allow us to determine whether Peter Stuppaâs efforts were successful. But the fact that he was able to act as solliciteur for his clientèle at all undoubtedly presupposed a certain degree of credibility.35 This was apparently already the case in the 1650s.
3 Special Functions in the Swiss Guards Regiment and in the Relationship with the Swiss Confederation
In the mid-1650s, there was a change in the occupants of the two key positions in Swiss mercenary service in France: the post of Colonel of the Swiss Guards regiment was filled in January 1656 after a vacancy for more than two years and that of Colonel général des Suisses et Grisons was filled in December 1657 after
Y[our] H[ighness] could have already heard that Lord Stopa, a Grison who has a half company in the Swiss Guards regiment and is very attached to the Kingâs service, for whom he does not cease to provide good offices in this country, and as I sense the fruit in the matters that I deal with on the Kingâs behalf I feel obliged to very humbly beseech Y[our] H[ighness] to show him all possible favour and, particularly, to be so kind as to augment his half company into a full company as soon as it will be possible. The favour that Y[our] H[ighness] will show him will be very well employed ⦠57
De La Bardeâs letter provides two reasons for aiding Stuppa. Firstly, the ambassador presented Stuppa as an officer who undertook ceaseless efforts on behalf of the Kingâs interests in the Swiss Confederation (âthis countryâ), which in turn contributed to de La Bardeâs main order of business: namely, the renewal
Further proof that France regarded Peter Stuppaâs direct connections in the Confederation as useful and actively promoted them is to be found in the granting of Basel citizenship to him on 15 June 1659. Before the decision in question was taken by the Basel Council, the Secretary of the French ambassador, the Embassy Treasurer and other individuals appealed to the mayor of Basel and other delegates of Basel to the Federal Diet in several sessions to make Stuppa a citizen of Basel. In order to underscore the importance of the matter, the Secretary of the embassy sent a reminder to Basel, including a supplication and an official attestation of the Three Leagues.61 The embassyâs motives are
4 A Wide-Ranging Network of Contacts
In his early career, Peter Stuppa also benefited from his dense network of contacts. That he was, as a member of the Swiss Guards regiment, in contact with the Swiss mercenary elites and, via the latter, with the Swiss ruling elites has already been made clear. Stuppaâs activities as mediator also show that he was trying to position himself as an active player within this network of officers: presumably with the aim of building up his own network of clients. In what follows, we want thus briefly examine the other social contexts in which Peter Stuppa was to be found in the 1650s and early 1660s.
To start with Stuppaâs family, besides the aforementioned cousin Johann Anton Stuppa, Peterâs younger brother Johann Baptist Stuppa (1623â92) should also be mentioned. From 1652 to 1661, he was active as a pastor at the French Protestant Church in Threadneedle Street in London. The services he rendered to the illustrious Huguenot family du Puy-Montbrun, his ties to Louis II de Bourbon, prince de Condé (1621â86), and to other leaders of the Fronde, and his theological studies made Johann Baptist a well-connected figure in international Protestantism.67 Oliver Cromwell recruited him as an agent and sent
The city of Geneva was also evidently counting on Peter and Johann Baptist Stuppa becoming influential figures when, on 22 June 1655, it granted citizenship to one of their brothers, Nicolas Stuppa (1611â68), and his son for free. In
Peter Stuppaâs relationships with relevant actors at the court and in the army were key for his social and military rise. His marriage to Anne Charlotte de Gondi (1627â94) in January 1661 was surely crucial. The Gondis were an aristocratic family from Florence who, under the protection of Catherine de Medici (1519â89), were able to position themselves as influential financiers, clergy and court officials in France from the 1560s on. Anne Charlotteâs father and grandfather served as, among other things, gentilhomme ordinaire de la chambre du roi and introducteur des ambassadeurs. A very distant relative was the influential leader of the Fronde, Jean François Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz (1613â79).74 Before her first marriage to Louis François Colbert,75 Anne Charlotte may have been fille dâhonneur to Marie de Bourbon (1606â92), the mother of Eugène-Maurice de Savoie-Carignan, Comte de Soissons (1635â73) and Colonel général des Suisses et Grisons.76 Yet another family and official
As already suggested, in his dealings as Guard captain, Peter Stuppa had personal access to some of the most important decision-makers at the court: Cardinal Mazarin and the Minister of War Le Tellier. The Chandieu correspondence makes clear that Stuppa was also acquainted with other prominent army officers like Marshal Henri de La Tour dâAuvergne, Viscount of Turenne (1611â75), and the Count of Soissons. The latter accompanied Stuppa in autumn 1660 on a one-month trip to England, which did not, however, have any military purpose. Louis XIV had given Soissons the mission of paying respects to the restored monarchy and King Charles II on his behalf and of seeking a bride at the English court for Louisâ younger brother Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (1640â1701).78 Furthermore, Stuppa was also in contact with important financial actors like Baron Jean Herault de Gourville (1625â1703), the brothers Georges Pelissari (c.1628â76) and Claude Pelissari (died 1662), and Barthélémy Herwarth (1607â76).79
The connection to the French ambassador in the Swiss Confederation, Jean de La Barde, and the role played by the latterâs patronage in the enlargement of Stuppaâs company and his acquisition of citizenship in Basel has already been mentioned. It is clear, moreover, that a close relationship existed with de La Bardesâ long-time collaborator, the secretary of the embassy François Mouslier (died 1683).80 Mouslier was very active in Paris in supporting the Swiss officers, often together with Stuppa, as becomes apparent from the Chandieu correspondence. Interestingly, Mouslier also turns up as a âfriendâ in connection with Peter Stuppaâs marriage to Anne Charlotte de Gondi. The marriage contract
The problematic situation of the sources does not allow for a more exact reconstruction of when and how Peter Stuppaâs connections in the various milieus came into being. In light of the documents considered, it would appear permissible to conclude that the Guard officer disposed of a far-flung and effective network of relationships, consisting, in part, of illustrious actors from different social contexts, already in the 1650s.
5 Peter Stuppa as Protagonist and Profiteer in Franceâs Reshaping of its Relations with the Swiss Confederation: Outlook and Conclusion
The reshaping and enlargement of the French army were among the first tasks that Louis XIV tackled upon assuming personal rule in 1661 and pursued more intensively in connection with his expansionist foreign policy starting in 1665.82 The monarch did not only want to reshape his army, but also relations with the Swiss Confederation. The 15 years of tough negotiations to renew the alliance between France and the Swiss Confederation culminated in the celebration of the alliance in Paris in November 1663: a lavish display of power by Louis XIV vis-Ã -vis his Swiss allies. Just a short time thereafter, it would become apparent that the Crown was not allowing itself to be limited by this treaty in its efforts to achieve its political goals.83 A first change in French-Swiss relations was evident in the staffing of the embassy in Solothurn. The term of office of the ambassador Jean de La Barde (1603â92), who had negotiated the alliance with the Swiss Confederation, had come to an end in October 1663. Louis XIV did not name a high-ranking aristocratic diplomat as his successor, as the cantons, needless to say, expected, but instead left the post under the
Peter Stuppa was one of the protagonists and profiteers of these changes. For contemporaries and 18th century military historians, he shared responsibility for the negative development of Louis XIVâs mercenary policy. Thus, he is said to have encouraged the transformation of former Guard companies into cheap compagnies franches that were mostly led by officers from allied
Thanks to the change in system, in the 1660s, the French Crown benefited from cost savings with more or less unchanged troop numbers and was able to achieve a persistently lower pay rate for the Swiss line regiments thanks to Stuppaâs 1671 recruitment mission.94 The 1671 mission provides the first clearly documented evidence in the sources of Peter Stuppaâs official collaboration with the French Minister of War. It would appear that starting in the mid-1650s, thanks to the missions that he successfully discharged and his loyal services, the subject of the Grisons rose continually from an âordinaryâ captain in the Guards to a royal âcréatureâ, who was a good candidate for assuming his later function of interim Colonel général des Suisses et Grisons. The sources examined thus
Some historiographical studies (see Caviezel in note 2) and the Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz identify Stuppa with two first names as Johann Peter Stuppa. The name Johann cannot be observed in any of the sources consulted, however. Hence, only the Peter Stuppa version will be used in this paper. On the unclear year of birth, see note 12.
Peter Stuppa is alternately described as a military celebrity and hero or, because of his ties to the French court, as a schemer and someone who sullied his own homeland; see, for instance, Charles-François de Vintimille, Comte Du Luc, âMémoire sur la Suisse (1715)â, trans. in Schweizerisches Museum 2:4 (1816), 610â668, p. 626; Beat Fidel Zurlauben, Histoire militaire des Suisses au service de la France, 7 (Paris, 1752), pp. 130â139; Beat Fidel Zurlauben, Code militaire des Suisses, pour servir de suite à lâHistoire Militaire des Suisses, au service de la France, 1 (Paris, 1758), pp. 55â60; Hartmann Caviezel, âGeneral-Lieutenant Johann Peter Stoppa und seine Zeit,â Jahresbericht der historisch-antiquarischen Gesellschaft von Graubünden 22 (1892), 1â59; Edouard Rott, Histoire de la représentation diplomatique de la France auprès des cantons suisses, de leurs alliés et de leurs confédérés, 7 (Bern, 1921), pp. V, 66, and 372â373; Francis Barraz, Peter Stoppa, 1621â1701: La vie dâun commandant de régiment suisse au service de la France, sous Louis XIV (Cully, 1990).
On the alliance between France and the Swiss Confederation that existed since 1521, see Après Marignan: La paix perpétuelle entre la France et la Suisse, eds. Alexandre Dafflon, Lionel Dorthe, and Claire Gantet (Lausanne, 2018); Andreas Würgler, âSymbiose ungleicher Partner: Die französisch-eidgenössische Allianz 1516â1798/1815,â Jahrbuch für Europäische Geschichte 12 (2011), 53â75.
The post of Colonel général des Suisses et Grisons was usually held by a hereditary prince. The office holder, Louis XIVâs legitimised son, Louis Auguste de Bourbon, Duc du Maine (1670â1736), assumed the post in 1688 upon reaching the age of majority, but Peter Stuppa continued to set the tone until his death in 1701, see Katrin Keller, âEin Schweizer Gardehauptmann als französischer Unterhändler: Johann Peter Stuppas Werbeverhandlungen in der Eidgenossenschaft 1671,â in: Beobachten, Vernetzen, Verhandeln: Diplomatische Akteure und politische Kulturen in der frühneuzeitlichen Eidgenossenschaft, eds. Philippe Rogger, Nadir Weber (Basel, 2018), 92â115, p. 93.
See François-Joseph-Guillaume Pinard, Chronologie historique-militaire, contenant lâhistoire de la création de toutes les charges, dignités et grades militaires supérieurs de toutes les personnes qui les ont possédés ⦠des troupes de la maison du Roi: Les lieutenants généraux des armées du Roi jusquâen 1715, 4 (Paris, 1761), p. 305; Keller, âGardehauptmann,â pp. 92â97. Only three other Swiss officers in the 17th century attained the post of Lieutenant général, the highest rank in the French army after Maréchal de France: Johann Ludwig von Erlach (1595â1650) from Bern in 1647, Hans Rudolf Werdmüller (1614â77) from Zurich in 1655, and Johann Jakob von Erlach (1628â94) from Bern in 1688, see Pinard, Chronologie, 4, pp. 36, 228, and 321. Apart from Stuppa, the function of interim Colonel général des Suisses et Grisons was also briefly held by François de Reynold (1642â1722) from Fribourg from 1719â21; Louis-Auguste-Augustin dâAffry (1713â93) from Fribourg was administrator of the Swiss and Grisons troops from 1771 to 1792, see Georges Andrey, âFrançois de Reynold,â 2010, in Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse [DHS]. Available at https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/fr/articles/024199/2010-08-27/. Accessed 2 June 2021; Alain-Jacques Czouz-Tornare, âLouis-Auguste-Augustin dâAffry,â 2017, in DHS. Available at https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/fr/articles/023244/2017-06-15/. Accessed 2 June 2021.
In early 1672, the Savoyard ambassador in Paris, Thomas-François Chabod, Marquis de Saint-Maurice (1624â82), reported to the Duke of Savoy: âLord Stoup, who is now omnipotent hereâ and: âLord Stoup has credit with Monsieur de Louvois who does everything this other person suggests to himâ, cited in Rott, Représentation, 7, pp. 406, 407. When Stuppa died, Louis de Rouvroy, Duc de Saint-Simon (1675â1755) noted: âThe King put his complete trust in Stoppa, colonel of the Swiss guards, to such an extent that so long as he lived, M. du Maine could do nothing about itâ, see Louis de Rouvroy Saint-Simon, Mémoires de Saint-Simon: Nouvelle édition collationnée sur le manuscrit autographe, augmentée des additions de Saint-Simon au Journal de Dangeau, 8 (Paris, 1891), pp. 34â35.
See Keller, âGardehauptmann,â p. 3 (note 5). In 2019, a French family researcher published a volume on the Stuppa family compiling an extensive collection of quotations from the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as data from primary sources (above all, French church records). The latter are not placed in a more general historical context, however, see Dominique G. Colliot, Un canal de sang de Bâle à Paris: Histoire de la Famille Stoppa (Paris, 2019).
Johann Anton Stuppaâs family, which likewise came from Chiavenna, had settled in Lyon in 1597 and his father was a merchant-banker there. Initially, Johann Anton was also active in this field, see Colliot, Canal, pp. 171, 177, and 179.
See Alexander Pfister, Jörg Jenatsch: Sein Leben und seine Zeit (Chur, 1984), pp. 377, 384â386, and 392; Rott, Représentation, 4:1 (Bern, 1909), pp. 526, 649; idem, Représentation, 4:2 (Bern, 1911), p. 422. Rott mistakenly refers to Johann Anton as Joseph Anton.
In January 1638, Louis XIII rewarded Johann Anton Stuppa for his services with a âhereby newly created captainâs post in the regiment of his Swiss guardsâ, see Bern, Schweizerisches Bundesarchiv [BAR], P0#1000/1463#1320*, patent dated 13 January 1638. It is unclear how things went after this show of favour: it is not until 1648 that Stuppaâs company is perceptible as part of the Swiss Guards regiment, see Zurlauben, Histoire militaire, 2 (Paris, 1752), p. 113. The last Stuppa to serve as commander was Jean-Alexandre Stuppa (c.1700- after 1724), see Zurlauben, Histoire militaire, 1 (Paris, 1752), p. 274.
Since being permanently established in 1616, the Swiss Guards regiment was part of the court troops later known as the Maison militaire du roi. As garde ordinaire, The Swiss Guards served at and around the court and at the same time figured among the elite troops in the field, see Rémi Masson, Défendre le roi: La maison militaire au XVIIe siècle (Ceyzérieu, 2017), p. 108.
Neither his year of birth nor his date of birth can be verified, nor do we know where the young Peter Stuppa lived or stayed, nor at what point in time he entered into French service. The Stuppa family fled Chiavenna in 1620 in connection with the Valtellina Massacre and settled in various places (including Geneva and Lyon), see Konrad Schulthess, âGlaubensflüchtlinge aus Chiavenna und dem Veltlin in Zürcher Kirchenbüchern, 1620â1700,â Der Schweizer Familienforscher 36 (1969), 77â114, pp. 78â80, 106; Jacques Augustin Galiffe, Notices généalogiques sur les familles genevoises: Depuis les premiers temps jusquâà nos jours (Geneva, 1836), pp. 464â465. According to his own remark to Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619â83), Stuppa had already been serving in France for 32 years in 1667. This would allow us to date the start of his service to 1635â36, see Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France [BnF], Département des manuscrits, Mélanges de Colbert, 146, p. 207, letter from Peter Stuppa to Jean-Baptiste Colbert, n.p., 20 November 1667. The inscription of Stuppaâs epitaph in Château-Thierry that is cited in Zurlauben gives Stuppaâs age as 81 years and six months. This would mean that Stuppa was born in June 1619, see Zurlauben, Histoire militaire, 1, p. 360. According to information from the Musée du Trésor de lâHôtel-Dieu in Château-Thierry, the gravestone was damaged during the French Revolution and later restored. An epitaph no longer exists today and there is presumably no other way of verifying the text.
See Emmanuel May, Histoire militaire de la Suisse, et celle des Suisses dans les différens services de lâEurope, 6 (Lausanne, 1788), pp. 97â98. May does not give any sources for this. (In general, concrete references are hardly to be found in his work, in contrast to Zurlauben, who constantly names his sources.) This information was evidently not available to Zurlauben and Pinard, who published before May. These details have to be viewed critically in principle, since Mayâs text exhibits a number of inaccuracies: for example, he describes Stuppaâs promotion to Lieutenant colonel in 1654 as an award for his services during the Battle of Arras on 25 August 1654. But according to Pinard, Stuppa was with his company in Italy with the French army from 1653 to 1655 (and, in general, repeatedly in northern Italy since 1648). Zurlauben also includes Stuppa among the five Guard companies that were deployed in Italy from 1653 to 1655, see Zurlauben, Histoire militaire, 2, pp. 191â195.
See Pinard, Chronologie, 4, p. 305; Zurlauben, Histoire militaire, 2, pp. 182.
The earliest and most specific reference to the conversion is found in the concluding record or Abschied of the Diet of the Swiss Confederation of 22 January 1662, when Basel announced that the Guard captain Stuppa had converted, see Die Eidgenössischen Abschiede aus dem Zeitraume von 1649 bis 1680, 6:1 (Frauenfeld, 1867), p. 553 (Art. d).
See François Cojonnex, Un Vaudois à la tête dâun régiment bernois: Charles de Chandieu (1658â1728) (Cully, 2006), pp. 17â20.
The family papers are in the Archives cantonales vaudoises and form part of the P Charrière de Sévery collection. Paul de Chandieu-Villars was the father of the later Stuppa protégé Charles de Chandieu (1658â1728), whose 1701 appointment as commander of the former Bernese regiment of Erlach caused a great stir in Bern, see Cojonnex, Vaudois. Complementary, although considerably less ample, sources from this period are also found in the Acta Helvetica, in a sub-collection of the Zurlaubiana, the family archives of the Zurlauben magistrate family from Zug and in the family archives of the Bernese patrician family, the von Wattenwyl, in Schloss Oberdiessbach (Oberdiessbach Castle).
See Philippe Rogger, âKompaniewirtschaft, Verflechtungszusammenhänge, familiale Unternehmensorganisation: Die Zurlauben als Militärunternehmer auf den eidgenössischen Söldnermärkten um 1700,â in Soldgeschäfte, Klientelismus, Korruption in der Frühen Neuzeit: Zum Soldunternehmertum der Familie Zurlauben im schweizerischen und europäischen Kontext, eds. Kaspar von Greyerz, André Holenstein, and Andreas Würgler (Göttingen, 2018), 211â238, pp. 236â237. Johann Anton Stuppa had to learn this in 1650, when his entire company was âre-formedâ and combined with the Zurlauben half company. The diminution did not only mean a lowered profit outlook, but could also lead to the need for greater coordination between the two co-heads and thus harboured greater potential for conflict. In 1652, after Johann Antonâs death, Peter Stuppa did not take over the command of this half company, but instead the Colonel général des Suisses et Grisons awarded the unit to Johann Baptist Tscharner from the Grisons (1618â62), the son of the mayor of Chur, Johann Tscharner (1593â1659). After Peter Stuppa complained directly to Louis XIV, the latter authorised him to raise a new half company, which was then joined to that of Tscharner, see Zurlauben, Histoire militaire, 2, pp. 113â114; La Courneuve, Ministère des Affaires Ãtrangères [MAE], Mémoires et Documents Suisse, 48MD/23, fol. 231r. In light of the catastrophic state of French finances at the time, the creation of this half company was not self-evident. Stuppaâs continued participation in the Swiss Guards regiment was thus in great danger at the time.
See Zurlauben, Histoire militaire, 1, p. 278; idem, Histoire militaire, 2, pp. 113â115.
See André Holenstein, Mitten in Europa: Verflechtung und Abgrenzung in der Schweizer Geschichte (Baden, 2014), pp. 127â128.
Presumably Heinrich Im Thurn (died 1659), see Zurlauben, Histoire militaire, 1, p. 240.
How and whether Albert Chandieu LâIsle was involved in his brotherâs half-guard company is unknown. The correspondence only makes clear that he militated for it to be maintained.
Lausanne, Archives cantonales vaudoises [ACV], P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 201, letter from Albert de Chandieu-LâIsle to Paul de Chandieu-Villars, Paris, 6/16 January 1657; also ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 200 and 202, letters from Albert de Chandieu-LâIsle to Paul de Chandieu-Villars, Paris, 22 December 1656/2 January 1657 and Paris, 9 January 1657.
See Holenstein, Europa, p. 125; Guillaume Poisson, 18 novembre 1663: Louis XIV et les cantons suisses (Lausanne, 2016), p. 39. In order to prevent the Swiss from withdrawing their troops in the precarious situation of the Crown during the Fronde, Jules Mazarin (1602â61) and other ministers gave some of the French crown jewels to the Swiss officers in February 1649 and May 1650 as security for the 600,000 livres owed them, see Yves-Marie Bercé, âLe rôle des Suisses pendant la Fronde: âmaîtres ou serviteurs?â,â in Cinq siècles de relations franco-suisses: Hommage à Louis-Edouard Roulet (Neuchâtel, 1984), p. 77.
ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 806, letter from Charles de Schomberg to Paul de Chandieu-Villars, Paris, 17 April 1656.
ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 200, letters from Albert de Chandieu-LâIsle to Paul de Chandieu-Villars, Paris, 22 December 1656/2 January 1657; ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 819 and 820, letters from Peter Stuppa to Paul de Chandieu-Villars, Paris 2 January 1657 and Paris 9 January 1657.
ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 200 and 201, letters from Albert de Chandieu-LâIsle to Paul de Chandieu-Villars, Paris, 22 December 1656/2 January 1657 and 6/16 January 1657.
See Zurlauben, Histoire militaire, 2, p. 294.
ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 200, 231, and 232, letters from Albert de Chandieu-LâIsle to Paul de Chandieu-Villars, Paris, 22 December 1656/2 January 1657, 4 January 1658, and 17 January 1658; ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 1068, letter from Paul de Chandieu-Villars to Louise Chandieu-Villars, Bordeaux, 17 November 1659; ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 818 and 834, letters from Peter Stuppa to Paul de Chandieu-Villars, Paris, 28 November 1656 and n.p., 12 October 1660.
See ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 828, letter from Peter Stuppa to Paul de Chandieu-Villars, Paris, 20 December 1657; ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 230, 231, and 232, letters from Albert de Chandieu-LâIsle to Paul de Chandieu-Villars, Paris, 13 December 1657, 4 January 1658, and 17 January 1658.
Regesten und Register zu den Acta Helvetica, Gallica, Germanica, Hispanica, Sabaudica etc. necnon genealogica stemmatis Zur-Laubiani [AH], 1â186, ed. Aargauer Kantonsbibliothek (Aarau, 1976â2014), 40/131 and AH 44/136.
AH 96/124: âvous avez tous les Obligations du monde a [capitaine de la Garde Johann Peter] stoppa qui hier matin a La presence de [capitaine de la Garde Georg] Keller Et moy seuls, a Parlé pour vous a Mr [le Colonel général des Suisses et Grisons?, Eugène-Maurice de Savoie] le Conte [de Soissons] avec autant de ⦠[vigueur] quâil se peut ⦠Employer pour un amis En ce rencontre, nous nâavons pas ⦠[manqué] Comme vous pouvez ⦠[croire] dâAppuyer vos Jnterests de sorte que sur ce Asseurement vous ⦠[recevrez] vostre Congé â¦â. Insertions and omissions per AH-Regest. The count mentioned is undoubtedly the Colonel général des Suisses et Grisons.
Oberdiessbach, Schlossarchiv, Familienarchiv [FA] von Wattenwyl, drawer 38, no. 6, financial records of the Guard company of Colonel Albrecht von Wattenwyl 1652â68.
Chur, Staatsarchiv Graubünden [StAGR], D V-3.230, no. 150 (f. 463), letter from Johann Baptist Tscharner to an unknown cousin, Paris, 24 January 1662.
See Hervé Drévillon, Lâimpôt du sang: Le métier des armes sous Louis XIV (Paris, 2005), p. 91.
See Georges Livet, Suisse, 1 (Recueil des instructions aux ambassadeurs et ministres de France 30) (Paris, 1983), p. L; Zurlauben, Histoire militaire, 1, pp. 141â142.
ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 811, letter from Peter Stuppa to Paul de Chandieu-Villars, Paris, 4 May 1655.
ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 817, letter from Peter Stuppa to Paul de Chandieu-Villars, Paris, 24 October 1656. According to Charles de Baschiâs itinerary, Louis XIV stayed at the Château de Compiègne on 22 August, 5 September, and 6 October 1656, evidently accompanied by Stuppa (and his company?) on several occasions, see Charles de Baschi, Voyage de Charles IX. en France, écrit par Abel Jouan, suivi dâun itinéraire des Rois de France, depuis & compris Louis VII. jusquâà Louis XIV. inclusivement (Paris, 1759), p. 136.
ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 200, letter from Albert de Chandieu-LâIsle to Paul de Chandieu-Villars, Paris, 22 December 1656/2 January 1657. A romantic relationship with an unidentifiable lady of the court (possibly his later wife?) is also talked about in a few other letters during this period.
ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 827, letter from Peter Stuppa to Paul de Chandieu-Villars, Paris, 19 October 1657.
ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 828, letter from Peter Stuppa to Paul de Chandieu-Villars, Paris, 20 December 1657.
ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 905, letter from N. Tschudi to Paul de Villars-Chandieu, Lyon, 19 May 1656; ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 817 and 831, letters from Peter Stuppa to Paul de Villars-Chandieu, Paris, 24 October 1656 and Paris, 16 April 1658; ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 234, letter from Albert de Chandieu-LâIsle to Paul de Chandieu-Villars, Paris, 4 May 1657.
ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 207, letter from Albert de Chandieu-LâIsle to Paul de Chandieu-Villars, Paris, 9 March 1657. The spelling of the name is uncertain: de la Coster or something similar.
ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 820 and 821, letters from Peter Stuppa to Paul de Villars-Chandieu, n.p., 9 January 1657 and Paris, 12 January 1657.
ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 828 and 829, letter from Peter Stuppa to Paul de Villars-Chandieu, Paris, 20 December 1657 and Paris, 11 January 1658.
BnF, Mélanges de Colbert, 146, p. 207, letter from Peter Stuppa to Jean-Baptiste Colbert, n.p., 20 November 1667.
See May, Histoire militaire, 6, p. 98 and the critical discussion of the function above (see note 13).
The post, which initially only existed in the French infantry, did not acquire importance until 1661, when Louis XIV relied especially on the Lieutenant colonels and the majors in implementing his reforms and made these offices inalienable, see Drévillon, Sang, p. 46; Guy Rowlands, The Dynastic State and the Army under Louis XIV: Royal Service and Private Interest, 1661â1701 (Cambridge, 2002), pp. 162â164.
See Zurlauben, Histoire militaire, 1, p. 150; Masson, Défendre, p. 241.
See Livet, Suisses, 1, p. 54.
Geneva, Archives de lâEtat de Genève [AEG], R.C. 171, fol. 115r, Geneva Council Minutes, entry of 26 May 1671: âNob[le] Jacob Andrion in light of his request tending to allow him to raise some Swiss and Valaisans passing through this town for Lord Stouppe General Commissioner of the Swiss â¦â; Fribourg, Archives de lâEtat de Fribourg [AEF], Rathserkanntnisbuch 30, oath of the Captains, 15 October 1671; Rott, Représentation, 7, fol. 407, letter from the Marquis de Saint Maurice to the Duke of Savoy, 19 February 1672: âLord Stoup has credit with Monsieur de Louvois who blindly does everything this other person suggests to him and also made him the general commissioner of the Swiss. This new position reduces somehow the authority of the post of monsieur the count of Soissons, but he appears not to heed this, in order not to compromise himself and risk his reputation.â (âLe Sr Stoup a crédit auprès de Mr de Louvois, qui fait aveuglément tout ce que cet autre luy suggère et lâa aussy fait commissaire général des Suisses. Ce nouvel employ diminue en quelque sorte lâautorité de la charge de Mr le comte de Soissons, mais il tesmoigne de nây pas prendre garde, pour ne pas se compromettre et risquer sa réputation.â).
AH 7/62, address from October 1671.
See AH 111/71.
Bern, Staatsarchiv des Kantons Bern [StABE], A V 67, no page number (included between pp. 817 and 819), letter from the Guard officers Erlach, Chandieu-Villars, Locher, Keller, von Waldkirch, Stricker, Werdmüller, Machet, de Reynold, Hauser, Sury, and de Molondin to the 13 cantons, Paris and Dunkirk, 10 August 1666.
StABE, A V 67, (included between pp. 817 and 819). The Guard officers criticised the view of the Diet, for which the selection of officers from allied territories (Zugewandte Orte) or those who were recently given citizenship in one of the 13 cantons violated the terms of the mercenary alliance.
See Zurlauben, Histoire militaire, 2, p. 39. There is no extant overview of the composition of the Swiss Guards regiment in the 17th century in the relevant French archives. The claim is based on Zurlaubenâs âEnumération des Compagnies du Régiment des Gardes-Suisses qui ont été réformés en différens temsâ, which he established using the annual accounts of the Extraordinaires des Guerres. The records on the Extraordinaires des Guerres of the 17th century, which would make it possible to grasp the financing of Swiss troops in France, were mostly destroyed during the French Revolution, see Joél Félix, Ãconomie et finances sous lâAncien Régime: Guide du chercheur, 1523â1789 (Vincennes, 1994), pp. 49â211. Available at http://books.openedition.org/igpde/2255. Accessed 2 June 2021.
BAR, P0#1000/1463#1404*P0, letter from Jean de La Barde to Eugène Maurice de Savoie-Carignan, Comte de Soissons, n.p., 8 February 1658: âV[otre] A[ltesse] pourra desja avoir appris que le S[ieu]r Stopa Grison qui a une demie Compagnie au Regiment des Gardes Suisses et tres affectionnée au Service du Roy, pour lequel il ne cesse de faire de bons offices en ce pais, et comme Jâen ressens le fruict dans les affaires que Jâay à y traitter de la part du Roy Je me sens obligé de suplier tres humblement V[otre] A[ltesse] de luy faire toutes les graces possibles et particulierement de vouloir augmenter sa demie Comp[ag]nie Jusques à une Compagnie entiere le plustost quâil se pourra. La grace que V[otre] A[ltesse] luy fera sera tres bien employée â¦â.
The negotiations being conducted by de La Barde since 1648 turned out to be particularly difficult in the anti-French Protestant cantons and were made even more difficult by English agitation, among other things. In 1654, Oliver Cromwell (1599â1658) had sent John Pell (1611â85) to Zurich as envoy to the Swiss Confederation, having given him the concrete mission of foiling the renewal of the alliance and encouraging the Swiss cantons to recall their poorly treated mercenary troops in France, see Sarah Rindlisbacher, âZur Verteidigung des âProtestant Causeâ: Die konfessionelle Diplomatie Englands und der eidgenössischen Orte Zürich und Bern 1655/56,â Zwingliana 43 (2016), 193â334, pp. 213â219.
As the example of Albrecht von Wattenwyl (1617â71) shows, other officers also supported the ambassador in his negotiations. In return, de La Barde also militated on von Wattenwylâs behalf here: specifically, for the preservation of his Guard company, see FA von Wattenwyl, drawer 38, no. 7, letter from the embassy secretary Claude de Brillac to Albrecht von Wattenwyl, Solothurn, 4 March 1660.
A similar case is found in 1665 with Sebastian Heinrich Stricker (?-1665), a Guard captain from Uri, whom François Michel Le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois (1641â91) informed: âI presented to the King the care that you take to be serviceable to him in your canton and His Majesty received what I had the honour to tell him so well that he resolved to grant you a half company to form a complete one with the company under your commandâ, see BAR, P0#1000/1463#1321*, letter from Marquis Louvois to Sebastian Heinrich Stricker, Paris, 13 November 1665. The formation of this half company would not come to pass, because Stricker died unexpectedly in December 1665.
Basel, Staatsarchiv Basel Stadt [StABS], Ãlteres Hauptarchiv [AHA], minutes: Kleiner Rat 42, fol. 316r. The documents mentioned in the minutes could not be found. Curiously, Peter Stuppa himself never travelled to Basel to receive his citizenship. For a long time, he let it be known that the King and the court could not do without him, so that finally, in mid-February 1661, Stuppaâs brother, Johann Baptist Stuppa, took the oath of citizenship on his behalf, see StABS, AHA, minutes: Kleiner Rat 43, fols. 42r, 242v.
It was crucial for the military entrepreneur to dispose of the largest possible geographical sphere of influence with a great potential for mercenaries. The more companies and regiments entered into the service of foreign princes, the greater became the competition for recruits within the Federation. The acquisition of additional citizenship rights served as a measure against the increasing competition (and at the same time intensified the latter), see Anne-Lise Head-König, âDer Aufstieg der Militärunternehmer: Jost Brendle, Oberst und Generalleutnant im Dienste Frankreichs,â in Die schweizerische Wirtschaft: 1291â1991, ed. Ronald Cicurel (St-Sulpice, 1991), 80â86, p. 80. In addition to Basel citizenship, Peter Stuppa acquired citizenship of Fribourg in 1671, see AEF, Rathserkanntnussbücher 30, fol. 76, as well as of the Catholic canton of Glarus in 1688, see Glarus, Landesarchiv Glarus, PA 23.B 1:5. Per the documents from the Three Leagues that were submitted for the naturalisation in Basel, Stuppa also seems to have been a citizen of Sent in Lower Engadine. As will be discussed further on, the citizenship of relatives in Geneva also provided Stuppa access to another recruitment area.
This was confirmed during Stuppaâs major recruitment mission in 1671: In Basel, in contrast to other cantons, the recruitment negotiations went smoothly and quickly, as Stuppa glowingly emphasized to the Minister of War Louvois, see Keller, âGardehauptmann,â pp. 109â111. He also discusses the connection between citizenship and influence in this excerpt from a considerably later letter: âFor the canton of Basel, I am sure that you are convinced like me that it will do everything that you will want, as I am a citizen of that city. I will not fail to write to these gentlemen, such that I will have no reason to doubt their following the advice that I will give themâ BAR, P0#1000/1463#1062*, letter from Peter Stuppa to Roger Brûlart, Marquis de Puysieux, Paris, 22 June 1698.
However, this clause did not apply to companies of the Swiss Guards regiment, see Paul Schweizer, Correspondenz der französischen Gesandtschaft in der Schweiz 1664â1671 (Basel, 1880), pp. 94â95.
See Julia Gauss, Alfred Stoecklin, Bürgermeister Wettstein: Der Mann, das Werk, die Zeit (Basel, 1953), p. 317.
Concretely, the Basel Council tied the granting of citizenship to the expectation that Basel would be taken into account in the future when recruiting new companies or awarding command posts, see StABS, minutes: Kleiner Rat, 43, fol. 242v. Starting in 1663, the Stuppa Guard company will also then be listed in Etat de la France as the Basel company (from this edition on, the Guard companies are listed with the names of the officers), see Nicolas Besongne, Estat de la France ⦠(Paris, 1663), pp. 170â171. The Stuppa regiment that was formed in 1672 created additional opportunities for Basel officers to take command of a company in this regiment as captains. Apart from family members and officers from the Grisons, the commanders in Stuppaâs military units in fact came mainly from Basel.
Some of those with whom Stuppa corresponded can be identified in the State Papers of John Thurloe (1616â68). These included Condéâs envoys in London, Henry Taillefer, Sieur de La Barrière (died 1670) and Pierre de Caumont La Force, Marquis de Cugnac, the Frondists and Condé followers Jacques Carpentier de Marigny (1615â70) and Henri Charles de La Trémoille, Prince de Tarente (1620â72), and the Geneva theologian Antoine Léger (1596â1661), who kept him informed about what was happening politically and militarily in the different European countries, see John Thurloe, State Papers, ed. Fletcher Gyles (London, 1742). Available at https://www.british-history.ac.uk/series/thurloe-state-papers. Accessed 2 June 2021. Johann Baptist Stuppa was also in touch with the Zurich antistes Johann Jakob Ulrich (1602â68), see Zurich, Staatsarchiv Zürich, E II 457 f, Stuppaâs letters to Ulrich in the dossier Anglicana, teils Duraeana; as well as with the Basel antistes Theodor Zwinger (1597â1654), Basel, Universitätsbibliothek Basel, Frey-Gryn Mscr II, 11, no.14.
See Stefano Villani, ââA Man of Intrigue but of No Virtueâ: Jean-Baptiste Stouppe (1623â1692), a Libertine between Raison dâ Ãtat and Religion,â Church History and Religious Culture 101 (2021), 306â323; Grigorio Vola, âThe Revd. J. B. Stouppeâs Travels in France in 1654 as Cromwellâs Secret Agent,â Proceedings of the Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland 27 (2001), 509â526; Arnold Lätt, âSchweizer in England im 17. Jahrhundert,â Zeitschrift für Schweizerische Geschichte 11:3 (1931), 316â353, pp. 337â348; Fernand de Schickler, Les églises du refuge en Angleterre, 2 (Paris, 1892), pp. 153â154, 170â172.
See Lätt, âSchweizer,â p. 340.
See Schickler, Eglises, pp. 231â234; ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 850, letter from Johann Baptist Stuppa to Paul de Chandieu-Villars, Paris, 30 November 1661. During the Dutch War, Johann Baptist published the anti-Dutch tract La religion des Hollandois. In 1677 he was promoted to colonel with his own regiment and in 1689 to brigadier, see Zurlauben, Histoire militaire, 3 (Paris, 1752), p. 32.
AEG, R.C. 155, fol. 195, Geneva Council Minutes, entry of 22 June 1655.
See AEG, R.C. 155, fol. 305.
See, e.g. ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 818, letter from Peter Stuppa to Paul de Chandieu-Villars, Paris, 28 November 1656: âIf you or monsieur deslisle [Albert de Chandieu-LâIsle] could address all soldiers to my brother in Geneva or to monsieur George Michely, I will be much obligedâ.
See Joanna Milstein, The Gondi family: Strategy and Survival in Early Modern France (Farnham, 2013), pp. 26â27, 64â65, and 76 (genealogical table after p. XI).
See Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Jullien Courcelles, Histoire généalogique et héraldique des Pairs de France, des grands dignitaires de la Couronne, des principales familles nobles du royaume, et des maisons princières de lâEurope: Précédée de la généalogie de la maison de France, 10 (Paris, 1829), p. 7. Louis-François Colbert was Contrôleur des finances en la généralité de Paris and a second cousin of Jean Baptiste Colbert. His dates of birth and death and the date of the marriage are unknown.
See Marie-Catherine-Hortense de Villedieu, Mémoires de la vie de Henriette-Sylvie de Molière (Tours, 1977), p. 208. Apart from its being mentioned in the memoires of the writer Marie-Catherine de Villedieu (c.1640â1683), no evidence of this function could be found.
See Colliot, Canal, pp. 183â184. When exactly the cousin was in the service of the Comtesse is not clear. It has been shown that she was given this title in 1675.
See Max Braubach, Prinz Eugen von Savoyen: Eine Biographie (Vienna, 1963), p. 27; Pinard, Chronologie, 3 (Paris, 1761), p. 573; ACV, P Charrière de Sévery, Ba 834, letter from Peter Stuppa to Paul de Chandieu-Villars, n.p., 12 October 1660.
The relationship with the financial actors appears in an event in 1657, when the aforementioned people gathered to discuss the support of Nicolas Fouquet (1615â80), who had fallen into disrepute with Mazarin. Stuppa was present and is described as belonging to the âfaction de M. dâHerval [Herwarth]â, see Jean Hérault de Gourville, Mémoires de Gourville, 1 (Paris, 1694), pp. 317â318.
Rott, Représentation, 6 (Bern, 1917), p. 960 refers to Mouslier as âsecretary and confidant of De La Bardeâ.
BnF, P.O. 2729 Stoppa ou Stoupe (1). The relationship between Stuppa and Mouslier deteriorated starting in the mid-1660s at the latest and definitively in 1671, when the Minister of War, bypassing the résident Mouslier, entrusted Stuppa with the recruitment of mercenaries: a task that traditionally belonged to the embassyâs competencies, see Schweizer, Correspondenz, S. 158.
See Masson, Défendre, pp. 116â120; Olivier Chaline, Les armées du roi: Le grand chantier, XVIIe-XVIIIe siècle (Paris, 2018), pp. 23â30.
See Poisson, 1663, pp. 63â80, 109â111; Holenstein, Europa, p. 127.
In 1665, Mouslier even only had the rank of a deputé-résident; he did not become résident until 1667, see Livet, Suisse, 1, p. 54; Andreas Affolter, Verhandeln mit Republiken: Die französisch-eidgenössischen Beziehungen im frühen 18. Jahrhundert (Cologne, 2017), p. 48; Schweizer, Correspondenz.
See Livet, Suisse, 1, p. 53; Rott, Représentation, 6, p. 960; Schweizer, Correspondenz, pp. 26â27.
Schweizer, Correspondenz, p. 29.
See BAR, P0#1000/1463#1392*, letter from François Mouslier to Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Solothurn, 16 October 1665. The enlargement of the army served to prepare for armed aggression against Spain, which was foreseeable after the death of the Spanish King Philip IV on 17 September 1665, because Louis XIV laid claim to parts of Philipâs inheritance. In May 1667, Louis XIV had his troops invade the Spanish Netherlands; in February 1668, he occupied the Spanish Franche-Comté. Swiss troops took part in the conquests. The Federal Diet condemned the French military actions as offensive actions against non-French territories and hence as troop deployments that violated the alliance, see Klaus Malettke, Hegemonie, multipolares System, Gleichgewicht, internationale Beziehungen 1648/1659â1713/1714 (Paderborn, 2021), pp. 316â317; Rudolf Maag, Die Freigrafschaft Burgund und ihre Beziehungen zu der schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft vom Tode Karls des Kühnen bis zum Frieden von Nymwegen (1477â1678) (Zurich, 1891), pp. 193â215; Benjamin Ryser, Zwischen den Fronten. Berner Militärunternehmer im Dienst des Sönnenkönigs Ludwig XIV. (Zurich, 2021), pp. 49, 321 (note 318).
See inter alia BAR, P0#1000/1463#1392*, letter from François Mouslier to Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Solothurn, 13 November 1665; BAR, P0#1000/1463#1321*, letter from Marquis de Louvois to François Mouslier, Paris, 8 December 1665; StABE, A VI 57, p. 10, concluding record (Abschied) of the Diet of 11 January 1666 in Baden.
See Keller, âGardehauptmann,â p. 98; StABE, A IV 57, pp. 671â678, list for the Diet of 1 July 1668; Zurlauben, Histoire militaire, 2, p. 39; Nicolas Besongne, Estat de la France ⦠(Paris, 1665), pp. 215â129; idem, Estat de la France ⦠(Paris, 1669), pp. 231â233.
Not only by way of novel compagnies franches, but also by France delaying debt repayment, paying pensions partly in the form of salt instead of money, and obstructing or abolishing Swiss trade privileges that were provided for in the alliance, see Livet, Suisse, 1, p. 53; Maag, Freigrafschaft, pp. 247â252.
See Schweizer, Correspondenz, pp. 95â96; Holenstein, Europa, pp. 127â129.
On the 1668 transformation of the troops, in particular, Zurlauben notes: â[Stuppa] had recommended the plan of this reform, persuaded the Marquis de Louvois, the Minister of War, to form out of the debris of the dismissed companies a large number of compagnies franches, of which the pay was six écus per man.⦠Several officers of the [Guard] regiment and others, who because of their low birth or the mediocrity of their fortune, did not have anything to venture or to hope for in Switzerland, formed these companies and, despite the repeated objections of the cantons, preserved them.â (â[Stuppa] avoit conseillé le plan de cette réforme, persuada au Marquis de Louvois, Ministre de la Guerre, de composer des débris des Compagnies licentiées un grand nombre de Compagnies-Franches, dont la solde étoit de six écus par homme.⦠Plusieurs Officiers du Régiment [des Gardes] & dâautres, qui par leur basse naissance, ou la médiocrité de leur fortune, nâavoient rien à risquer ni à pretendre en Suisse, formerent ces Compagnies, & malgré les défenses réitérées des Cantons, ils les conserverentâ, see Zurlauben, Code militaire, 1, pp. 55â56; Keller, âGardehauptmann,â pp. 98â99.
See StABE, A IV 57, p. 716, Abschied der Tagsatzung of 4 November 1668; StABS, AHA, Protokolle: C 1.1, 18 March 1669; Vincennes, Service historique de la défense, Ya 373, list of the compagnies franches in the âEstat de toutes les troupes Suisses qui sont au service du Royâ, 10 February 1696.
See Keller, âGardehauptmann,â p. 114.