The sovereigns of France had guards in their service in Merovingian times, and their household forces appear from time to time in the history of medieval wars. Louis XI. was, however, the first to regularize their somewhat loose organization, and he did so to such good purpose that Francis I. had no less than 8000 guardsmen organized, subdivided and permanently under arms. The senior unit of the _Gardes du Corps_ was the famous company of Scottish archers (_Compagnie ecossaise de la Garde du Corps du Roi_), which was originally formed (1418) from the Scottish contingents that assisted the French in the Hundred Years' War. Scott's _Quentin Durward_ gives a picture of life in the corps as it was under Louis XI. In the following century, however, its regimental history becomes somewhat confused. Two French companies were added by Louis XI. and Francis I. and the _Gardes du Corps_ came to consist exclusively of cavalry. About 1634 nearly all the Scots then serving went into the "regiment d'Hebron" and thence later into the British regular army (see HEPBURN, SIR JOHN). Thereafter, though the titles, distinctions and privileges of the original Archer Guard were continued, it was recruited from native Frenchmen, preference being (at any rate at first) given to those of Scottish descent. At its disbandment in 1791 along with the rest of the _Gardes du Corps_, it contained few, if any, native Scots. There was also, for a short time (1643-1660), an infantry regiment of _Gardes ecossaises_. In 1671 the title of _Maison Militaire du Roi_ was applied to that portion of the household that was distinctively military. It came to consist of 4 companies of the _Gardes du Corps_, 2 companies of _Mousquetaires_ (cavalry) (formed 1622 and 1660), 1 company of _Chevaux legers_ (1570), 1 of _Gendarmes de la Maison Rouge_, and 1 of _Grenadiers a Cheval_ (1676), with 1 company of _Gardes de la Porte_ and one called the _Cent-Suisses_, the last two being semi-military. This large establishment, which did not include all the guard regiments, was considerably reduced by the Count of St Germain's reforms in 1775, all except the _Gardes du Corps_ and the _Cent-Suisses_ being disbanded. The whole of the _Maison du Roi_, with the exception of the semi-military bodies referred to, was cavalry.