BAYARD, Pierre du Terrail, Chevalier de, was born, of a noble family, at the chateau Bayard, Dauphiné, in 1476. He served as a page to the duke of Savoy until Charles VIII., attracted by his graceful bearing, placed him among the royal followers under the count de Ligny. As a youth he was distinguished for comeliness, affability of manner, and skill in the tilt-yard. In 1494 he accompanied Charles VIII. into Italy, and was knighted after the battle of Fornova, where he had captured a standard. Shortly afterwards, entering Milan alone in pursuit of the enemy, he was taken prisoner, but w as set free without a ransom by Ludovic Sforza. His powers and daring were conspicuous in the Italian wars of this period. On one occasion it is said that, single-handed, he made good the defence of a bridge over the Garigliano against about 200 Spaniards, an exploit that brought him such renown that Pope Julius II. sought to entice him into the Papal service, but unsuccessfully. The captaincy of a company in the royal service was’given him in 1508, and the following year he led a storming party at the siege of Brescia. Here his intrepidity in first mounting the rampart cost him a severe wound, which obliged his soldiers to carry him into a neighbouring house, the residence of a nobleman, whose wife and daughters he protected from threatened insult. On his recovery he declined a gift of 2500 ducats, with which they sought to reward him. At this time his general was the celebrated Gaston de Foix, who acted greatly in accordance with his advice, and, indeed, fell at the battle of Ravenna through neglecting it. In 1513, when Henry VIII. of England routed the French at the battle of the Spurs, Bayard, in trying to rally his countrymen, found his escape cut off. Suddenly riding up to an ...