Rodrigo de Villandrando Rodrigo de Villandrando ( died c . 1457 ) was a Spanish routier from Castile and mercenary military leader in Gascony during the final phase of the Hundred Years ' War . He was famous for his pillaging and was consequently known as the Emperor of Pillagers ( " empereur des brigands " ) or L ' Écorcheur ( the slaughterer ) . Originally from Biscay , he was the son of Pedro de Villandrando and Agnes de Corral . He became count of Ribaldo and Valladolid . Around 1410 he arrived in France and was admitted into the company of Amaury de Séverac . He rose to become captain of the routiers , veritable mercenaries in the pay of the seneschal or various other powerful lords and even bishops . When his protector Amaury died in 1427 , he entered the service of Charles VII of France . In 1428 he was joined by Juan Salazar , who became his lieutenant . In his early career he is known to have pillaged Treignac , Meymac , and Tulle . On 11 June 1430 he participated in the Battle of Anthon with around 400 men armed with such prosaic devices as billhook s , sledge hammer s , and spade s . He participated on the side of the French king against Louis II of Chalon - Arlay , Prince of Orange and a vassal of Philip the Good . In 1431 he was rewarded by John II of Aragon with the county of Ribadeo and the right to eat at his table once a year . That same year he pillaged Saint - Clément - de - Régnat and was employed by the French to put down a peasant rebellion , which he did by massacring the refugees at Saint - Romain - le - Puy . In September 1432 his routiers , in the pay of Georges de la Trémoille , held Les Ponts - de - Cé against the assaults of Jean V de Bueil . Around 1433 , at the height of his power , he had around 10 , 000 mercenaries , mostly Englishmen called " Rodrigoys " , under his command and he was the terror of the countryside of the Médoc , where his men habitually held the petty lords of the region for ransom and forced protection money from the populace ; they were constantly pillaging and ransacking the bastide s . In 1433 he took the castle of Lagarde Viaur and held it for a very high ransom . In the late 1430s he pillaged Bor - et - Bar , Salers , and Laparade . On 24 May 1433 he married Margaret , the half - sister of Charles I , Duke of Bourbon , and illegitimate daughter of Duke John I . For 6 , 000 " écu s " he bought the castles of Ussel and then Châteldon from his brother - in - law . Between 1434 and 1439 he was subsequently installed in the fortress of Montgilbert . In 1436 his men pillaged Cordes ; in 1438 Lauzun , Fumel , Issigeac , and Blanquefort were hit . In 1437 his men violently despoiled the furrier s of Charles VII at Hérisson . In 1438 he joined French forces under Charles II of Albret and Poton de Xaintrailles and embarked on a " chevauchée " in the Bordelais and Médoc . They were stopped only by the walls of Bordeaux itself . In 1440 he fought with Charles of Bourbon against Charles VII in the revolt known as the Praguerie . In 1441 Changy and Pavie were pillaged by his men . In 1442 he again had the support of the French king for the depredation of northern Gascony . Later that year he and Albret threatened Bazas . In 1443 a party of his men on the command of Salazar returned to Spain , plundering upper Languedoc and the Lauragais on the way . Banned thenceforward from the realm , Rodrigo returned to Spain , where he was made marshal of Castile . He willed his worldly goods to the church of Castile and retired from the world to a monastery , where he died sometime around 1457 .