Jean Froissart

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Jean Froissart (seated), writing his Chroniques, miniature from a mid-15th-century … (credit: Courtesy of the Bibliotheque de l'Arsenal, Paris; photograph, Studio STA Photo)

(born 1333?, Valenciennes, Brabant — died c. 1400, Chimay, Hainaut) French court historian and poet. As a scholar Froissart traveled widely and lived among the nobility of several European courts. His Chronicles, a firsthand narrative covering the Hundred Years' War from 1325 to 1400, including events in Flanders, Spain, Portugal, France, and England, is the most important and detailed document of feudal times and the best contemporary exposition of chivalric and courtly ideals. He also wrote ballades, rondeaux, and allegorical poetry celebrating courtly love.

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Froissart, Jean (c.1337-c.1404), prolific poet and chronicler of knighthood and chivalry from Valenciennes, Hainault. Patronized initially by the Lord of Beaumont, uncle to Queen Philippa of England, he first gained a reputation for verse, and later wrote a long Arthurian epic, Meliador. He began collecting material for the Chroniques on which his fame justly rests even before passing into the queen's service c.1361. Expanded and artfully rewritten to flatter different patrons over more than thirty years, these recount in vivid detail the wars of western Europe from the 1320s onwards, especially the Hundred Years War, for which they are an inexhaustible if unreliable source.

Bibliography

• Froissart, Jean, Chronicles, ed. and trans. Geoffrey Brereton (Harmondsworth, 2nd edn., 1978).
• Ainsworth, P. F., Jean Froissart and the Fabric of History (Oxford, 1990).
• Palmer, J. J. N. Froissart: Historian (Woodbridge, 1981)

— Michael C. E. Jones

The French priest, poet, and itinerate reporter Jean Froissart (c. 1337-c.1404) is known primarily as a chronicler. During his wide travels, lodging in castles from Scotland to Italy, he recorded what he observed, leaving the best picture of 14th-century feudal life.

Jean Froissart was born in Valenciennes. Educated by and for the Church, he was later received into the priest-hood, but his natural inclinations were somewhat opposed to the austerity of religious life, even though he was canon of the collegial church of Chimay and chaplain to the Count of Blois. After his arrival in England in 1361 he entered the service of Queen Philippa (she too a native of Valenciennes), wife of Edward III. His early poems and his heroic stories pleased the English court, but after the death of his protectress in 1369 he returned to Valenciennes.

Four years later Froissart was received by Wenceslas of Luxembourg, Duke of Brabant, a congenial poet who was his patron until 1384. His last patron on the Continent was the Count of Blois. From 1389 he was generally at Valenciennes or Chimay until he again left for England in 1394, where he was well received by Richard II but did not stay. Froissart was living in 1404, but the date of his death is unknown.

The poetry of Froissart fills three sizable volumes and ranges from pastourelles, to narrative and didactic poems, to courtly poetry. The best are The Paradise of Love, The Pretty Buzzard of Youth, and the long Thornlet of Love, on disappointments in love, and the bitter Tale of the Florin. His Méliador, in which are inserted 81 short poems of Wenceslas, contains over 30,000 lines; it is an attempt to revive the old Arthurian romance.

Froissart's Chroniques de France, d'Engleterre et des paīs voisins (Chronicles) begins in 1327 and ends in 1400. His written source up to 1361 was Jean le Bel, whom he often copied directly. His main source derived from his art of getting people to tell him all they knew; no news correspondent ever equaled this medieval information magnet. Unlike Geffroi de Villehardouin and Jean de Joinville, Froissart was never involved in public affairs or military action, but he traveled and interviewed endlessly. He knew everyone and was at his best in describing the coronation of John II and the visit of Philip VI of France to Pope Benedict XII at Avignon. Indeed, the index to his chronicle constitutes a veritable "who's who" of western Europe for more than half a century, and yet Froissart was much more of a historian than a social reporter.

Further Reading

The only work of Froissart in English is the Chronicles, the classic translation is Lord Berner's, edited by William P. Ker (6 vols., 1901-1903). Two good studies in English are G. G. Coulton, The Chronicler of European Chivalry (1976; 1977), and F. S. Shears Froissart, Chronicler and Poet (1974).

Froissart, Jean (b. 1337; d. after 1404). Though best known in the modern period for his chronicles, Froissart is also the author of a significant poetic corpus, including lyric compositions in the formes fixes, pastourelles, narrative dits, and a chivalric romance of more than 30, 000 lines, the Meliador. Aside from the latter, Froissart's poetry participates in the tradition inspired by the Roman de la Rose; he was particularly influenced by his older contemporary, Guillaume de Machaut. Like Machaut, Froissart prepared anthology manuscripts of his poetic works (excluding Meliador), with dits arranged in chronological order and lyric compositions arranged by verse form.

Little is known of Froissart's life beyond his literary contributions. He was a native of Valenciennes. As a writer he enjoyed the patronage of the high aristocracy, including, among others, Philippa of Hainaut, queen of England, with whom he was associated from 1361 until her death in 1369; Wenceslas of Brabant, whose own compositions appear as lyric insertions in Meliador; Gui, comte de Blois, who appointed Froissart court chaplain; and Gaston Phébus, comte de Foix and vicomte de Béarn, whom Froissart entertained during the winter of 1388-9 with an oral reading of Meliador. By 1373, he had taken holy orders and been granted a benefice at Estinnes-au-Mont, which he held for the next ten years. It was also at about this time that he turned from the composition of lyric poetry and dits in order to devote himself to Meliador and to his chronicles. In the 1380s, due to his growing ties with Gui de Blois, Froissart received canonries in Chimay and Lille.

Froissart frequently hints at a love affair with a lady named Marguerite. This name is encoded into the Espinette amoureuse, and in several other pieces Froissart declares his love for the daisy (marguerite), even inventing a myth to explain its origins. It has not been possible, however, to identify a historical woman of that name who might have played an important role in Froissart's life, and the motif may be a purely literary one. It is none the less an important thread running through Froissart's poetic corpus, with allusions to the daisy or to the name ‘Marguerite’ appearing, in various forms, in many of his works.

Froissart composed in the standard lyric formes fixes of the 14th c. No music has survived for his compositions, although it is possible that they were sometimes set to the melodies of other songs. His work is typical of late medieval lyric in the tradition of Machaut: love poetry, often incorporating mythological figures and allusions to allegorical personifications. Like Machaut, Froissart included lyric insertions in his narrative dits.

His three major dits are the Espinette amoureuse (c.1369), Prison amoureuse (1372-3), and Joli Buisson de Jonece (1373); he also composed numerous shorter pieces. Like those of Machaut, Froissart's dits feature a first-person amorous protagonist, closely identified with the author, who is portrayed as inept in love but successful in the composition of lyric and narrative poetry, both in the service of the lady and for aristocratic patrons. The most distinctive feature of Froissart's dits is his incorporation of pseudo-Ovidian myths, adapted to fit the context in which they are placed. These may be either an alteration of known myths or entirely new stories, involving characters with pseudo-Greek names.

The verse romance Meliador (1388) features a five-year quest competition, jointly proclaimed by King Arthur and the king of Scotland, whose purpose is to select a husband for the Scottish princess. The resulting text, in which the adventures of several knights are interlaced, provides the occasion for a thorough review of chivalric values, both amorous and military. In the Meliador, as in the chronicles, Froissart expresses his belief in these values as the underpinnings of an aristocratic society.

Froissart worked on his magnum opus, the Chroniques, from approximately 1360 to 1400. He began with an adaptation of the chronicle of Jean le Bel, which covered the period 1326-56, and then continued with an account of contemporary events, focusing on the political intrigue and military exploits of the Hundred Years War. Froissart's sympathies lay entirely with the nobility; he had little patience with the claims of the bourgeoisie. His Chroniques provide invaluable evidence for social mores and political attitudes of the time; he is particularly noted for his vivid descriptions of pageantry and ceremony, and for his lively vignettes of court life.

[Sylvia Huot]

Bibliography

• P. Dembowski, Jean Froissart and his Meliador (1983)

Froissart's statue in the Louvre

Statue of Jean Froissart, Chimay (Belgium).

Jean Froissart (c. 1337 – c. 1405) was one of the most important of the chroniclers of medieval France. For centuries, Froissart's Chronicles have been recognized as the chief expression of the chivalric revival of the 14th century Kingdom of England and France. His history is also one of the most important sources for the first half of the Hundred Years' War.

Contents 1 Life 2 Legacy 3 Gallery 4 External links

Life

Very little is known of Froissart's life and the little that is known comes mainly from Froissart's own Chronicle and his poems. Froissart originated from Valenciennes, Hainaut, and his writings suggest his father was a painter of armorial bearings. Froissart began working as a merchant but soon gave that up to become a clerk. By about age 24, he had gained significant distinction and carried with him a letter of recommendation from the King of Bohemia when he became a court poet and a kind of official historian to Philippa of Hainault, queen consort of Edward III of England.

The memoirs of his time in Philippa's service, between 1361 and 1369, were later put together with reports of other events he had witnessed, in his Chroniques ("Chronicles"). 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 something from the noble material of time past")

He traveled around England, Scotland, Wales, France, Flanders and Spain gathering material and first-hand accounts for his Chronicle. He also went with Lionel Duke of Clarence to Milan to attend the duke's marriage to the daughter of Galeazzo Visconti. At this wedding two other significant writers of the Middle Ages were present, Chaucer and Petrarch.

After the publication of this first book, and after the death of Philippa, he enjoyed the patronage of Joanna, Duchess of Brabant among various others. He received rewards—including the benefice of Estinnes, a village near Binche and later became canon of Chimay—which were sufficient to finance further travels, which provided additional material for his work. He returned to England in 1395 but seemed disappointed by the changes since he was last there and what he viewed as the end of chivalry. The date and circumstances of his death are unknown but St Monegunda of Chimay claims to be the final resting place for his remains although this is unverified.

Legacy

The text of Froissart's Chronicles is preserved in more than 100 illuminated manuscripts, illustrated by a variety of miniaturists. One of the most lavishly illuminated copies was commissioned by Louis of Gruuthuse, a Flemish nobleman, in the 1470s. The four volumes of this copy (BNF, Fr 2643; BNF, Fr 2644; BNF, Fr 2645; BNF, Fr 2646) contain 112 miniatures painted by the best Brugeois artists of the day, among them Loiset Lyédet, to whom the miniatures in the first two volumes are attributed.

The English composer Edward Elgar wrote an overture entitled Froissart.

Jean Froissart is also known to have been one of the first to mention the use of the verge and foliot, or verge escapement in European clockworks, by 1368.

Gallery

All miniatures by Loyset Liédet, unless stated.

Execution of Hugh the younger Despenser 1326. A miniature from one of the most famous manuscripts of the Chronicle.	Battle of Sluys 1340 in the Gruuthuse MS.	Battle of Crécy, 1346 From a 15th-century illuminated manuscript of Jean Froissart's Chronicles (BNF, FR 2643, fol. 165v).	Battle of Neville's Cross, 1346. English victory over the Scots from the Gruuthuse manuscript.
John the Good, king of France, ordering the arrest of Charles the Bad, king of Navarre; from the Chroniques of Jean Froissart.	Battle of Poitiers 1356 (miniature of Froissart).	Defeat of the Jacquerie 9 June 1358 {BNF , FR 2643), fol. 226v, Jean Froissart, Chroniques, Flandre, Bruges XVe s}	The Execution of Étienne Marcel and Jean Maillard 31 July 1358. {French Wikipetia from Jean Froissart, Chroniques. Flandre, Bruges XVe s. fol. 230. (BNF , FR 2643)
The crowning of Charles VI 1380. {French Wikipedia Jean Froussart 1455-1490}	Richard II of England meets rebels,1381 in the lively if pedestrian style of Loiset Lyédet from the Gruuthuse Froissart	Death of Wat Tyler, leader of the Peasants Revolt 1381	Battle of Roosebeke1382 {French Wikipedia} Les chroniques de Froissart, milieu du XVe siècle
Après la bataille de Roosebeke Charles VI rentre à Paris à la tête de son armée. Les Parisiens négocient avec ses envoyés les conditions de leur soumission. {French Wikipedia}Les Chroniques de Jean Froissart, milieu du XVe siècle	The Bal des Ardents, {The Ball of the Burning Men} 1393. {Jean Froissart miniature of 1450-80}	Battle of Nicopol, 1396, by the Master of the Dresden Prayer book from the Gruuthuse Froissart	Execution of prisoners after the Battle of Nicopol Ms. Fr 2646, attr. to the Master of the Dresden Prayer Book

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jean Froissart

• Bibliography Jean Froissart, compiled by Dr. Godfried Croenen, University of Liverpool
• The Chronicles of Froissart exhibition, now ended, in the Royal Armouries
• Full edition of Froissart's Chronicles in12 volumes translated by Thomas Johnes

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