Peter du Terrail de, esteemed by his contemporaries the model of soldiers and men of honour, and denominated "the knight without fear and without reproach," was descended from an ancient and noble family in Dauphine. He accompanied Charles VIII in his expedition to Italy, and gave remarkable proofs of his valour, especially at the battle of Fornone. He was dangerously wounded at the taking of the city of Brescia; and there restored to the daughters of his host two thousand pistoles, which their mother had directed them to give him in order to prevent the house from being plundered: an action which has been celebrated by many historians.

On his return to France he was made lieutenant-general of Dauphiné. He fought by the side of Francis I. at the battle of Marignan; and that prince afterwards insisted on being knighted by his hand, after the manner of the ancient knights. The Chevalier Bayard defended Mezieres during six weeks, against Charles the Fifth's army. In 1524, at the retreat of Rebeque, when General Bonivet had been wounded and obliged to quit the field, the conduct of the rear was committed to the Chevalier Bayard; who, though so much a stranger to the arts of a court that he never rose to the chief command, was always called, in times of real danger, to the posts of greatest difficulty and importance. He put himself at the head of the men-at-arms; and animating them by his presence and example to sustain the shock of the enemy's whole troops, he gained time sufficient for the rest of his countrymen to make good their retreat. But in this service he received a wound which he immediately perceived to be mortal; and being unable to continue longer on horseback, he ordered one of his attendants to place him under a tree, with his face towards the enemy; then fixing his eyes on the guard of his sword, which he held up instead of a cross, he addressed his prayers to God, and, in this posture, which became his character both as a soldier and as a Christian, he calmly awaited the approach of death. Bourbon, who led the foremost of the enemy's troops, found him in this situation, and expressed pity and regret at the sight. "Pity not me," cried the high-spirited chevalier; "I die, as a man of honour ought, in the discharge of my duty. They indeed are objects of pity who fight against their king, their country, and their oath." The marquis de Pescara, passing soon after, manifested his admiration of Bayard's virtue, as well as his sorrow for his fate, with the generosity of a gallant enemy; and finding that he could not be removed with safety from that spot, he ordered a tent to be pitched there, and appointed proper persons to attend him. But notwithstanding all this care, Bayard died, as his ancestors for several generations had done, in the field of battle. Pescara ordered his body to be embalmed, and sent to his relations; and such was the respect paid to military merit in that age, that the duke of Savoy commanded it to be received with royal honours in all the cities of his dominions. In Dauphiné, Bayard's native province, the people of all ranks came out in a solemn procession to meet it.