JEAN FROISSART (1374)

Poet and court historian whose extremely literary Chronicles of the 14th century remain the most important and detailed documents of feudal times.

As a cultivated scholar Froissart lived among the nobility of several European courts. In England he served Queen Phillippa of Hainaut, King Edward III and his sons the Black Prince and the Duke of Clarence; he became the chaplain of Guy II de Chatillon, comte de Blois and was ordained canon of Chimay under the same. He travelled to Scotland, Italy, France and the Iberian Peninsula.

The main subject of Froissart´s Chronicles was the "honourable adventures and feasts of arms" of the Hundred Years War. He used his privileged position to question central figures and observe key events. The firsthand narrative covers weddings, funerals and great battles from 1325 to 1400. Book I was based on the work of the Flemish writer Jean le Bel and later rewritten; Book II concerns the events in Flanders and the Peace of Tournai; Book III, Spain and Portugal; and Book IV is based on the Battle of Poitiers and a final visit to England where he was shocked by the weakness of the royal government.

Froissart cites exact dialogues and all available facts, allowing the reader to draw his own conclusions. The splendour and pageantry are emphasized while the victims and causes of suffering are overlooked.

Froissart´s allegorical poetry celebrates courty love. L´Horloge amoureux compares the heart to a clock and Méliador is a chivalrous romance. His ballades and rondeaux expose the poet´s personal feelings. Despite his fame during his lifetime Froissart apparently died in obscurity; his burial place has never been discovered.