 In 1357 Arnaud was elected commander of the "Great Company", a loose collection of companies of freebooters of various nationalities.While most ordinary companies numbered no more than a few hundred men, the shifting membership brought at its height made up an army of about 2700 men.In 1357, Arnaud de Cervole married Jeanne de Graçay, and after Arnaud she married Enguerran of Eudin 
In 1358, Arnaud and his troops travelled to Avignon where Pope Innocent VI gave him 20,000 gold florins to distribute among his companions in exchange for giving up all the castles his men had occupied in the papal territories.