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Le Ballet de l'Acier

Royal Army

France maintains a small standing army (regiments royaux, which are owned by the state) which is expanded by paying private entrepreneurs to form additional units (regiments gentilhommes, which are owned by their captains and colonels) as needed; the crown also makes extensive use of foreign mercenaries – Swiss, German, Italian, Irish, Scottish, Croation, Flemish, and others. The core of the French army consists of the king’s household troops, the standing regiments, and the noble cavalry; the crown also maintains companies of marines for manning coastal fortifications and serving aboard the handful of ships which comprise the French navy.

Royal army—