Jean Froissart
Jean Froissart (~
1337 - ~
1405) was one of the most important of the chroniclers of
medieval France.
He originated from Valenciennes, and became a court poet and a kind of official historian to Philippa of Hainault, queen consort of Edward III of England. His memoirs of his time in her service, between 1361 and 1369, were later put together with reports of other events he had witnessed, in his Chroniques ("Chronicles") of 1373. He took a serious approach to his work:
- Je suis de nouveau entré dans ma forge pour travailler et forger en la noble matière du temps passé
- ("Again I entered my smithy to work and forge in the noble manner of times past")
After the publication of this first book, he enjoyed the patronage of the Duke of
Brabant and various others, and received sufficient rewards to finance further foreign travels, which provided additional material. His viewpoint on the
Hundred Years War is not a sophisticated one; the events he witnessed enabled him to tell a vivid and colourful story, but he did not tend to reflect on their deeper significance. The date and circumstances of his death are unknown.
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