Statue of Chevalier de Bayard in Sainte-Anne-d'Auray, Brittany
In 1521, Bayard and his troops were besieged in Mezières by those of Charles V. When an enemy officer approached to demand his surrender, the French commander replied:
— “Tell him who sent you that before surrendering a city entrusted by the king to my honor, I will build with the enemy’s dead the only bridge over which I am allowed to leave.”
Vicente Vega, Diccionario Ilustrado de Anécdotas (Barcelona: Gustavo Gili, 1965), p. 1444. (Nobility.org translation.)
Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 221
