Jean Le Bel

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Jean le Bel (right, next to Jean d'Outremeuse ) at the Palais Provincial in Liege

Jean Le Bel (* around 1290 in Flanders ; † February 15, 1370 in Liège ) was a French-speaking chronicler of the Middle Ages .

Life

Saint-Lambert
Liège Cathedral

Le Bel's father, Gilles le Beal des Changes, was a noble councilor in Liege. Although Le Bel entered church service and had been canon of Saint-Lambert Cathedral from around 1315 , he led a rather sophisticated life. Despite his ecclesiastical office, he is said to have fathered twins with the Liege patrician Marie de Prez at an advanced age: Jean and Gilles, who in turn became knights and canons. In 1327 he accompanied his friend and patron Jean de Beaumont (* 1288; † 1356), the son of the Count of Hainaut ( John I of Hainaut, 1248-1304) to England, where he took part in an unsuccessful campaign against the Scots .

Jacques de Hemricourt , author of the Miroir des nobles de Hesbaye (“Mirror of the nobles of Hesbaye”) praises his character, his hospitality and his impressive demeanor. He assures that Le Bel was more than 80 years old. In 1369 Le Bel wrote his will. The grave inscription names 1370 as the year of death.

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Le Bel was one of the first chroniclers to write in French rather than Latin. He is said to have been influenced by Jean de Rocquetaillade (Johannes de Rupescissa). For a long time we only knew about him because Jean Froissart named him as one of his sources in the foreword of his first book:

... moi Jean Froissart, je commence à parler, d'après la relation de Monseigneur Jean le Bel, jadis chanoine de Saint Lambert de Liège ...
... I, Jean Froissart, raise the floor according to the report of Jean Le Bel, formerly Canon of Saint Lambert in Liège ...

On behalf of Jean de Beaumont, he wrote the 110 chapters of the Vrayes Chroniques ("The True Chronicle"), which with sober precision the events of the reign of Edward III. and the first part of the Hundred Years War between France and England, namely that of the years 1329-1367. He is said to have been one of the first to systematically question contemporary witnesses to establish the facts. Le Bel's main merit was that he rejected all information in his chronicle for which no direct witness could be called. Despite his sympathy for the English, Le Bel remained impartial as the reporter.

Le Bel remained almost unknown until the 19th century. In 1847 a fragment of his writing was discovered: in Le Miroir des Histoires by Jean d'Outremeuse . As a whole, his chronicle was found again in 1861. It is in the Chalons-sur-Marne library and was first edited by L. Polain in 1863. Le Bel's songs and poems, the Virelais , reported by Hemricourt, have been lost to this day.

literature

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Biographical-Bibliographical Church Lexicon
personal data
SURNAME Le Bel, Jean
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian chronicler
DATE OF BIRTH around 1290
PLACE OF BIRTH Flanders
DATE OF DEATH February 15, 1370
Place of death Liege