Froissart's Chronicles (Penguin Classic History) by Jean Froissart

by Jean Froissart

Excerpt from Froissart ChroniclesJohn Of Gaunt's Expedition to Spain The Battle Of Otterburn (chevy Chase)About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1400

About the author

Jean Froissart 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.

Reviews

[George Polansky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excerpts from the Chronicles covers England and Europe from about 1322 to the 1400. I found it difficult to read but still enjoyed it.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

An abridged version of The Chronicles of Froissart appears in volume 35 of The Harvard Classics. Dedicated to the Chronicle and Romance genres, this volume also includes A Description of Elizabethan England by William Harrison and The Holy Grail by Thomas Malory, itself an abridgment of Malory’s larger work Le Morte d’Arthur .

I found Jean Froissart’s Chronicles to be a fun read, in part because some of it is based on his real experiences of events in the Medieval era. As much as I love learning about the lives of common people, Froissart’s embrace of pomp and pageantry is aesthetically compelling. He gives us a window into court life and life in military camps, along with descriptions of great battles in the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453). Like The Holy Grail , this text gives us an idealized form of chivalry. While appealing, Froissart clearly glossed over the dirty realities and moral ambiguity of the age he wrote about. Chronicles is amusing, but little of it has resonated with me on an emotional or intellectual level.

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[Image: Cover of the Delphi Classics’ The Harvard Classics]

Citation:
Froissart, J. (2018). Froissart's chronicles. In Charles W. Eliot (Ed.), The Harvard classics (eBook). Delphi Classics. https://www.delphiclassics.com/shop/t... (Original work published 14th century)

Froissart, J. (1990). Froissart's chronicles: Selections from the great wars of England and France (Audiobook, J. Horton, Narr.). Recorded Books. https://www.audible.com/pd/Froissarts... (Original work published 14th century)

Title: The Chronicles of Froissart: Historical Narrative of Many of the Battles of the Hundred Year’s War Between England and France
Author(s): Jean Froissart (1337 – c. 1410)
Year: 14th century
Series: The Harvard Classics (1909): Volume 35 - Delphi Complete Harvard Classics and Shelf of Fiction
Genre: Nonfiction - Medieval History
Date(s) read: 8/22/25 - 8/23/25
Book 170 in 2024
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