Sticking his neck out; Marcel's death: He was decapitated, hanged, drawn and quartered.

Byline: Charles Legge

QUESTIONWhat did Amerigot Marcel do to the people of Bruges to be publicly executed inthe main town square? THROUGHOUT the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) the Englishmade use of routiers, bands of mercenaries who roamed throughout rural France.

These were usually former soldiers who were surprisingly well organised andwell trained. Most hailed from the province of Gascony in south-west France(though others came from Spain, Germany and England) which had been underEnglish control since 1154 and was a major battleground during the War.

They gained a fearsome reputation: pillaging, raping and looting everythingthey came across.

Amerigot Marcel (who also appears as Aymerigot Marcel, Amerygott Marcel andMerigot Marches in the literature) was a former French captain born in Limousinin about 1360.

Limousin was particularly volatile during the conflict being on the border ofFrench and English dominions, and Marcel eventually left service to became aroutier.

He was, for a time, the most feared man in southern France, taking toplundering and occupying many castles in the Auvergne region includingVentadour, Cassuriel and Mercoeur.

Marcel was captured in 1390 after his fortress …