Pierre du Tercail, Chevalier de, one of the most illustrious heroes of the chivalrous age, or rather one of the latest representatives of the ancient chivalry, was descended from an ancient and noble family in Dauphine, and was born in 1476 at the château of Bayard, near Grenoble. He was esteemed by his contemporaries the model of soldiers and men of honour, and denominated "the knight without fear and without reproach." He accompanied Charles VIII. in his expedition to Italy, and gave remarkable proofs of his valour, especially at the battle of Fuornuovo. He was dangerously wounded at the storming of Brescia, and was nursed in the house of a lady, who on his recovery presented him with two thousand pistoles for the protection he had afforded her family against the soldiers. With knightly courtesy he accepted the gift, and bestowed it on her two daughters for their marriage portions; 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. in the tremendous battle of Marignano; and that young prince afterwards insisted on being knighted by his hand, after the manner of the ancient knights. During six weeks he defended the town of Mezieres against the army of Charles the Fifth. In 1524, at the retreat of Rebec, 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 enabled the rest of his countrymen to make good their retreat. But in this service he received a mortal wound; and being unable to continue longer on horseback, he ordered one of his attendants to place him against a tree, with his face to 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 attitude, 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, coming up soon after, manifested his admiration of Bayard's virtue as well as sorrow for his fate, with the generosity of a gallant enemy; and finding that he could not be removed with safety from the spot, he ordered a tent to be pitched there, and appointed proper persons to attend him. Bayard died, as his ancestors for several generations had done, on the field of battle. His death took place on the 30th of April 1524, at the age of forty-eight. Pescara ordered the body to be embalmed; and 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. The life of Bayard was written by one of his secretaries, and has since appeared under various forms.