The Scottish Guard is an elite military corps created by Charles VII in 1422 to constitute the personal guard of the French sovereign. She was gradually integrated into the troops of the military household of the king.
The origin of the Scottish Guard dates back to the year 882, when a contingent of Scottish nobles came to France to form the guard of King Charles III. However, the Scottish Guard was not formally created until the reign of Charles VII. Documents attest to its existence in 1425, but we can assume that it was founded at the end of the 1410s, long before the creation of the Cent-Suisses company which dates back to 1497.
Its members, numbering about a hundred, formed the king's close guard for which they received a large salary. The Scottish Guard was also employed as a fighting unit. Thus many of its members were killed in 1465 at the Battle of Montlhéry alongside King Louis XI. This sovereign created two other companies of archers from the corps, but they were made up of Frenchmen. In 1515 Francis I added a fourth company. This corps was known collectively as the bodyguards. By this time the I was no longer exclusively Scots on its staff, but was still known as the Scottish Company.
To recall this origin, the Scottish company was often commissioned by members of the Scottish royal family, notably in the 17th century Kings Charles I and James II. Another reminder of the origins:the response of the guet was the term "hamir" corresponding to the Middle Scottish hhay ham ier ("I am here").
The specific title of Scottish guards designated six soldiers of the Scottish company of bodyguards chosen to serve as close guard to the king during particular ceremonies such as the coronation or the royal wedding. Their leader bore the title of first man-at-arms of France
Like the other companies of bodyguards, the first company was re-established in 1814 under the Restoration, only to disappear definitively with the fall of the Bourbons in 1830.
Anecdote
During a tournament, Gabriel I of Montgomery, a member of the Scottish Guard, accidentally killed King Henry II of France.