La succession du maréchal de France Oudart du Biez. De sa disgrâce (1547) à la nomination de Pierre Strozzi (1554)

In 1547, when Henry II became king of France, Oudart du Biez, marshal of France, was disgraced on the pretext that he had not prevented the capture of Boulogne by the English three years earlier. Several contemporary witnesses write that he was immediately dismissed and replaced by Robert de La Marck. In fact, he was discharged from office only in 1551, at the end of his trial, and when he died two years later, no successor had yet been appointed. Technically, the marshaldom of La Marck had been created especially for him, and that of the late du Biez was assigned to Piero Strozzi in 1554 : evidence of this is to be found in Strozzi’s letters patent, dated (it seems) 12 March. The problem of the dismissal of Oudart du Biez sheds light on the gradual and still partly unclear development of the title of marshal of France into a lifelong office, conferred on four ordinary holders. It also illustrates the gap between the social reality of institutions, as seen and described by contemporaries, and their strictly legal forms.