The chronicles of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, Vol. 01 [of 13] — Text and Context

A Chronicle Built on Short, Dated Chapters

The work’s structure is immediately apparent from the table of contents: fifty-three chapters in the first volume alone, each with a heading that summarizes its content. Chapters are rarely more than a few pages long, and they follow a strict chronological order, often noting the exact year and sometimes the month. This format allows Monstrelet to juxtapose disparate events—a truce in one region, a tax revolt in another—without forcing a single narrative thread. The effect is cumulative: the reader sees how the murder of Orleans in 1407 echoes through subsequent negotiations, sieges, and popular uprisings. The translator, Thomas Johnes, preserves this structure, and the English text retains the flavor of a medieval chronicle, with phrases like “in this same year” and “about this time” linking episodes.

Recurring Images: The City of Paris as a Character

Paris appears repeatedly as a stage for political drama. Monstrelet notes the mood of the Parisians with unusual specificity: they “shewed great joy” when the duke of Burgundy entered the city, and “little children sung carols in all the squares.” The chronicler also records the unpopularity of the duke of Orleans, blamed for heavy taxes, and the hope that Burgundy would lift them. These details are not mere color; they explain why Burgundy could defy the king’s orders and still be welcomed. The city’s gates, squares, and hôtels—especially the hôtel d’Artois—become recurring locations where power is visibly contested. Monstrelet’s eye for crowd behavior gives the chronicle a social dimension often absent from official records.

Movement Between Court and Field

The narrative shuttles between the royal council in Paris and the armed retinues moving across France. When the king’s envoys fail to negotiate peace, the duke of Burgundy “advanced, by short journeys to St Denis” with a large body of men, and later “entered Paris, with the intent of justifying his act.” Monstrelet tracks these movements precisely, noting who accompanied whom and where they dismounted. The chronicle also follows messengers and letters: challenges are sent to England, propositions are debated for days, and reports are made to the king. This constant motion—of armies, diplomats, and rumors—creates a sense of a kingdom in flux, where authority is negotiated through both words and armed presence.

The Translator’s Voice: Thomas Johnes and His Dedication

The volume opens with a dedication to John, duke of Bedford, written by the translator Thomas Johnes in 1808. Johnes draws a parallel between the historical Bedford—regent of France during the Hundred Years’ War—and his patron, who had served as regent in Ireland. This framing reminds the reader that the chronicle is mediated through an early nineteenth-century lens. Johnes’s translation, published in thirteen volumes, aims to make Monstrelet accessible to an English audience, and his footnotes (not included in this excerpt) likely clarify obscure references. The dedication also signals the political interests of the era: Johnes praises Bedford’s “milder and more valuable virtues,” contrasting them with the “hero” figure, and hints at contemporary debates about governance.

Readers approaching this first volume should attend to the way Monstrelet builds his account from small, dated blocks. The chronicle does not offer a single sweeping narrative but a mosaic of events, each chapter a tile. Pay attention to the recurring mentions of Parisian opinion and the precise itineraries of nobles—these are the threads that connect the murder of Orleans to the larger civil war. Johnes’s translation, while fluent, carries its own historical context; the dedication to a duke of Bedford is a reminder that every chronicle is also a document of its own time.

Monstrelet’s clipped, dated entries about the Burgundian feud remind me of my grandfather’s parish notes—events unadorned, yet heavy. Reading about that armored clash, I recalled a quieter book, Battlefield Church, Salop: an historical and descriptive sketch Together with some account of the battle of Shrewsbury, and foundation of the college or chantry — Story, Setting & Ideas, where the same cold facts felt like stones warmed by prayer. Both leave a hush.