"Chroniques de France, d'Engleterre et des paīs voisins" begins in 1327 and ends in 1400. It is a firsthand narrative covering the Hundred Years' War from including events in Flanders, Spain, Portugal, France, and England. Jean Froissart (born c.1333, Valenciennes, Brabant — died c.1404, Chimay, Hainaut) was a French court historian and poet.
The text of Froissart's Chronicles is preserved in more than 100 manuscripts, illustrated by a variety of miniaturists. One of the first known printed edition was published under the title "Croniques de France, dAngleterre, dEscoce, dEspaigne, de Bretaigne, de Gascongne, de Flandres et lieux circunvoisins" 4 tomes, Paris, Antoine Verard, [ca. 1498].
This Chronicles were frequently reprinted in the early centuries in both French and, after Bourchier's translation of 1523-25, in English. But almost all those editions were so-called "Epitomes" - condensed version of the original text, along with such aids as indices and marginal dates. Full text of this chronicle containing almost three million words was translated from French into modern English with variations and additions and published in twelve volumes by Thomas Johnes (1748-1816) in 1803-1810. This is the most comprehensive edition of Froissart's Chronicles in English until now.
As an addition to this extraordinary work you can read
"Memoirs of the life of Sir John Froissart" by Thomas Johnes. |