Mercadier

Mercadier or Mercardier (died 10 April 1200) was a famous Occitan warrior of the 12th century, and the leader of a group of mercenaries in the service of King Richard I of England.

In 1183 he appears as a leader of Brabançon mercenaries in Southern France. He entered King Richard's service in 1184, attacking and laying waste to lands of Aimar V of Limoges. In 1188 he managed seventeen castles captured from the count of Toulouse. Suggestions that he accompanied Richard on the Third Crusade are based on a charter that has been established as a forgery. There is no evidence that Mercadier was with King Philip II of France when the king left the Holy Land for France. Instead, it appear that Mercadier remained in the Angevin realm with his troops to defend Richard's estates in the latter's absence.