"Coustillier" Topic

Forgive me for posting here in English. But I was wondering if anyone could tell about the origin of this word “coustillier.” I believe it is French but it might actually have come from Italian. I think it might be sword bearer or servant. In the 15th century it was the term for a soldier who would ride behind a knight. He would come into play after the charge when the knight was dropping his lance and try to pull out his sword (a bodyguard of sorts.) Again, sorry for posting in English and thanks in advance.

A coustillier, or coutilier, was a foot soldier in the late Middle Age. He was armed with a dagger and a spear with a large blade (in French a "langue de boeuf" litterally "ox's tongue".)
The man riding behind a knight serving as a sword bearer and servant was "un écuyer".
Hope that will help you.

I just checked my copy of "Armies of the Middle ages, volume 1" by Ian Heath, and a coustillier is defenitely a llghtly armed (javelins a sword and sometimes a light lance), horse mounted man-at-arms (fig 121). In the Osprey MAA 144 (Armies of Burgundy) he is mounted on an unarmed horse (plate G,3). They were used as aides by their knights and for scouting. There are coustilliers in the French and Burgundian army, but I don't know if there were any in other armies. Unfortunately, I cannot help with origins of the word, except that it's a French word...

French historian, Philippe Contamine states that a coutilier was an "armed servant or swordsman" who had to carry a light lance or javelin and have a horse. Quoted from "War in the Middle Ages" p.127. It would appear that the coutilier was mounted, but perhaps there were instances when he would fight on foot. It also seems that his primary role was to protect the gendarme. So I would suppose that if the gendarme should fight in the vile manner of the foot soldier, then the coutilier would follow suit.

I guess that coustilier or coutilier is related to "couteau" (knife). Coutiliers were armed with a sword and a knife. Coutilier/coutelier would mean knife-bearer, but also knife-maker.

Denis

Denis,

I believe you are correct. ("Couteau" is probably where we get the English word "cutlery" from). Anyway, mention is made in the texts of knives, daggers, short swords, swords....much probably depends on who did the translation. Afterall, there was a dizzying array of terms used for hand held edged weapons. It is probably safe to say that a coutilier was a swordsman or "edged weapon" bearer.

Of the folks who tried to answer my question, who of are European and speak French as your first language?

Not I for one.....Just a plain old American with too many books on Medieval and Renaissance warfare.

I'm French. I checked several times, and found in a Funcken's book, a coustiller on horse. This book gives a simple definition: "soldier armed with a pike". The name is coming from the old french "coutel". I wonder if a coustilier was in the beginning a soldier who tried to kill the knight's horse with his pike and finish his job by stabbing the man with a knife ("coûteau") between the weak points of his armour. Later, coustilier woul be used for pike armed soldiers.

I think that Fanchick is correct. BTW, I'm from Europe, Belgium, but my first language is Flemish, second English, and though I buy Vae Victis every two months, My french is terrible...

I'm French too. I looked in my dictiornary of etymologies and found nothing interesting.
Then I searched on google and found many genealogy sites of people named coustilier or coutilier. The origin of their name seem to be "knife-maker".
Not really into the middle ages (and 16th) but interested in linguistics and etymology.

Denis