Liège, Palais Provincial05a, statues de Henri de Hornes, Jean d'Outre Meuse et Jean le Bel

Jean Le Bel (c. 1290 – 15 February 1370) was a chronicler from

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far fro ...

Biography

Jean Le Bel's father, Gilles le Beal des Changes, was an alderman of

. Jean entered the church and became a canon of the cathedral church, but he and his brother Henri followed Jean de Beaumont to England in 1327, and took part in the border warfare against the Scots. His will is dated 1369, and his epitaph gives the date of his death as 1370. Nothing more is known of his life, but Jacques de Hemricourt, author of the ''Miroir des nobles de Hesbaye'', has left a eulogy of his character, and a description of the magnificence of his attire, his retinue and his hospitality. Hemricourt asserts that he was eighty years old or more when he died.

Chronicles

Jean was one of the first chroniclers to write in French instead of Latin. He was a soldier and companion of Jean, Count de Beaumont and travelled with him to England and Scotland in 1327. At the request of the duke, he wrote ''Vrayes Chroniques'' ("True Chronicles"), which recorded the events of the reign of

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...

. He is believed to be the first person to use interviews to confirm and supplement his facts. Jean gives as his reason for writing a desire to replace a certain misleading rhymed chronicle of the wars of

by a true relation of his enterprises down to the beginning of the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagen ...

. For a long time Jean was only known as a chronicler through a reference by

Jean Froissart Jean Froissart (Old and Middle French: ''Jehan'', – ) (also John Froissart) was a French-speaking medieval author and court historian from the Low Countries who wrote several works, including ''Chronicles'' and ''Meliador'', a long Arthurian ...

; Froissart was greatly influenced by him and borrowed from his texts. Froissart names him in the prologue of the first book of his ''

Chronicles Chronicles may refer to: * ''Books of Chronicles'', in the Bible * Chronicle, chronological histories * ''The Chronicles of Narnia'', a novel series by C. S. Lewis * ''Holinshed's Chronicles'', the collected works of Raphael Holinshed * '' The Idh ...

'' as one of his authorities, and incorporates Le Bel's own text, verbatim and at length, in his own book. Le Bel's own chronicle is only preserved in a single, anonymous manuscript. A fragment of his work in the manuscript of

Jean d'Outremeuse Jean d'Outremeuse or ''Jean des Preis'' (1338 in Liège – 1400) was a writer and historian who wrote two romanticised historical works and a lapidary. ''La Geste de Liége'' is an account of the mythical history of his native city, Liège, writt ...

's ''Ly Myreur des Histors'', was discovered in 1847; and the whole of his chronicle, preserved in the library of Chálons-sur-Marne, was edited in 1863 by L. Polain. In the matter of style Le Bel has been placed by some critics on the level of Froissart. His chief merit is his refusal to narrate events unless either he himself or his informant had witnessed them. This scrupulousness in the acceptance of evidence must be set against his limitations. He takes on the whole a similar point of view to Froissart's; he has no concern with national movements or politics; and, writing for the public of

chivalry Chivalry, or the chivalric code, is an informal and varying code of conduct developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It was associated with the medieval Christian institution of knighthood; knights' and gentlemen's behaviours were governed b ...

, he preserves no general notion of a campaign, which resolves itself in his narrative into a series of exploits on the part of his heroes. Froissart was considerably indebted to him, and seems to have borrowed from him some of his best-known episodes, such as the death of

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventuall ...

, Edward III and the countess of Salisbury, and the devotion of the burghers of

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

. The songs and

virelais A ''virelai'' is a form of medieval French verse used often in poetry and music. It is one of the three ''formes fixes'' (the others were the ballade and the rondeau) and was one of the most common verse forms set to music in Europe from the lat ...

, in the art of writing which he was, according to Hemricourt, an expert, have not come to light.

Biography

Chronicles

Notes

References

Further reading