The White Company
Preserved but no longer current.
A band of French cut-throats organized by Bertrand du Guesclin m 1366, and led against Pedro the Cruel; so called because they wore a white cross on the shoulder. The name had previously (13th cent.) been given to a gang of assassins led by Folquet, the villainous Bishop of Toulouse, who massacred all suspected of heresy.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “The White Company” mean?
A band of French cut-throats organized by Bertrand du Guesclin m 1366, and led against Pedro the Cruel; so called because they wore a white cross on the shoulder. The name had previously (13th cent.) been given to a gang of assassins led by Folquet, the villainous Bishop of Toulouse, who massacred all suspected of heresy.
Is “The White Company” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.