Enguerrand de Monstrelet - Slag bij Azincourt

Enguerrand de Monstrelet ( 1400 – 20 July 1453) was a French chronicler. He was born in

Picardy Picardy (; Picard language, Picard and , , ) is a historical and cultural territory and a former regions of France, administrative region located in northern France. The first mentions of this province date back to the Middle Ages: it gained it ...

, most likely into a family of the minor nobility.

Life

In 1436 and later he held the office of lieutenant of the ''gavenier'' (i.e. receiver of the ''gave'', a kind of church rate) at

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; ; ), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Escaut river. A sub-pref ...

, and he seems to have made this city his usual place of residence. He was for some time

bailiff A bailiff is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. There are different kinds, and their offices and scope of duties vary. Another official sometimes referred to as a '' ...

of the cathedral chapter and then provost of Cambrai.Wijsman, Hann
1600_ History in Transition. Enguerrand de Monstrelet’s Chronique in Manuscript and Print (c. 1450-c. 1600)
Academia.edu. Retrieved July 23, 2012 He was married and left some children when he died. Little else is known about Monstrelet except that he was present, not at the capture of

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

, but at her subsequent interrogation with Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. Continuing the work of

Froissart Jean Froissart ( Old and Middle French: ''Jehan''; sometimes known as John Froissart in English; – ) was a French-speaking medieval author and court historian from the Low Countries who wrote several works, including ''Chronicles'' and ''Meli ...

, Monstrelet wrote a ''Chronique'', which extends to two books and covers the period between 1400 and 1444, when, according to another chronicler, Mathieu d'Escouchy, he ceased to write. In these can be found his commentary on the Battle of Tannenberg (1410) between the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

and the Polish-Lithuanian and allied armies, where he stated that the King of Poland "had just recently pretended to become a Christian in order to win the Polish Crown". Turnbull, Stephen, ''Tannenberg 1410'', Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2003, p.18, ISBN 978-1-84176-561-7 But following a custom which was by no means uncommon in the Middle Ages, a clumsy sequel, extending to 1516, was formed out of various chronicles and tacked onto his work. Monstrelet's own writings, dealing with the latter part of the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...

, are valuable because they contain a large number of authentic documents and reported speeches. The author, however, shows little power of narration; his work, although clear, is dull. His somewhat ostentatious assertions of impartiality do not cloak a marked preference for the Burgundians in their struggle with France. Among many editions of the ''Chronique'' may be mentioned those of J.-A. Buchon (1826) and the one edited for the ''Société de I'histoire de France'' by M Doüet-d'Arcq (Paris, 1857–1862). See Auguste Molinier, ''Les Sources de I'histoire de France'', vols. IV and V (Paris, 1904).

Works

* ** Tome 1 1857
Tome 2 1858

Tome 3 1859

Tome 4 1860

Tome 5 1861

Tome 6 1862

References

Sources

External links

* *''The Chronicles of Enguerrand de Monstrelet'', translated by Thomas Johnes
vol. 1
(1840)
vol. 2
(1849) on

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. {{DEFAULTSORT:Monstrelet, Enguerrand De 1400s births 1453 deaths People from Picardy 15th-century French historians