La Hire

La Hire (lä ēr) [key], c.1390–c.1443, French commander in the Hundred Years War, whose real name was Étienne de Vignoles or Vignolles. He entered (1418) the service of the dauphin (later King Charles VII) and was a loyal companion of Joan of Arc, with whom he helped to defeat (1429) the English at Orléans and Patay. For a time La Hire ravaged N France at the head of a marauding band of soldiers, but in 1437 he resumed the fight against the English.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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