The Chronicle of Froissart Volume 1

by Jean Froissart, John Bourchier (Translator)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1901 edition. Excerpt: ... INTRO- information about itself and its manners. That Froissart DUCTION should be turned into English before the last reflection of the age of Froissart had died away in the new era of the Sixteenth Century, that the courtly poet and historian of the times of Edward 1n. should be brought by translation into a closer partnership with Chaucer, was a thing to be desired more than most of the literary things provided under the reign of Henry vra.; and it was fortunately accomplished by the man whose mission it might seem to have been to rescue as much as he could of the treasures of the Middle Ages before they were overwhelmed by new learning. He translated Froissart, he translated Huon of Bordeaux. Mediaeval Literature TheWeakness Lord Berners is a follower of Chaucer and Malory as an of English interpreter in English of some of the courtly French literature which was for the most part so imperfectly understood, though so generously admired, in the island of Britain. What the English had been deprived of by the accidents of their history was the peculiar glory of the Middle Ages; they had no proper courtly romance, no chivalrous stories in their own language of the same temper as those of France. Many things are attainable in a literature like that of England between the Norman Conquest and the Revival of Learning; but what was not attainable before Chaucer, and very feebly remembered after him, was precisely that sort of grace which belongs to a Court, to a refined affected mode of sentiment, like that of the Romaunt of the Rose. Before Chaucer and Grower acquired it, the English had not the right of entry to that world; and in most of their persevering studies of the way to be gentle, they are little better than the ambitious gallants in...

518 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1369

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.