Jean de Venette

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Jean Fillon , called Jean de Venette (* 1307 in Venette near Compiègne , † after 1368), was a French poet , historian and chronicler of the Middle Ages .

Life

Jean de Venette came from a rural background. He entered the Carmelite order and in 1339 became prior of the Carmelite convent Place Maubert in Paris . From 1341 to 1366 he was Provincial Magister of the Order for France and probably also taught theology at the Sorbonne . De Venette undertook numerous trips that took him through the Auvergne , Provence and Champagne , there especially to Châlons , Troyes and Reims . In Reims he witnessed the comet of 1368, about which he reported in detail. It is therefore certain that De Venette was still alive in 1368. However, he appears to have passed away within the next two years.

Works

De Venette's importance for historical research arises from the chronicle he wrote and the fact that he was an eyewitness to most of the events that he reports. The chronicle is written in Latin and covers the years 1340–1368. It follows on from Guillaume de Nangis ' chronicle , which led to speculation as to whether De Venette saw himself in Guillaume de Nangis' footsteps. De Venette's work was first published by Luc d'Achery ( Spicilegium , Volume III). The entries for the years 1358–1359 are in their original version, while the entries for the previous years have obviously been revised. De Venette reports in detail on the horrors of the plague years 1348–1349:

“It is said that the plague came from the unbelievers. She reached Italy, came from there over the Alps to Avignon, where she attacked several cardinals and depopulated their household. Then it spread unexpectedly over France, through Gascon and Spain, step by step, from city to city, from house to house, and finally from person to person. It even jumped over to Germany, although it wasn't as violent there as it was with us. During the epidemic, God in His usual goodness deigned to grant His grace so that no matter how much the people suffered, almost everyone looked forward to death. There was not a single person who died without first confessing his sins ... "

When writing the Chronicle, De Venette's sympathies were with the common people, whose lives he paid much attention to. Accordingly, he supported Étienne Marcel . He often has a negative effect on the nobility and the English. Formally he fulfilled his duty of loyalty to the French monarchy, but he always remained its indomitable critic. With great independence of spirit he names the excesses of the nobility as well as the resistance of the common people. In this respect his point of view differs from Froissart's . The Latin in which the Chronicle is written is stylistically not very mature. Since De Venette not only lists bare facts but also describes his personal impressions, his report has a dramatic liveliness that was hardly found until then.

In addition to his Latin chronicle, De Venette also wrote a long French poem: La Vie des trois Maria . It was written around 1347 and extends over 35,000 verses. In the lengthy text, De Venette describes the legend of Saint Mary, mother of Jacob the Little , (Mary) Salome of Galilee and her maid. Interwoven is a recapitulation of Israelite history since Abraham and the deeds of the apostles . It is now in the French National Library .

literature

  • Richard A. Newhall (Editor), Jean Birdsall (Translator): The Chronicle of Jean de Venette . Columbia University Press, New York 1953
  • A. Molinier .: Les sources de l'histoire de France . Picard, Paris 1904, volume 4
  • Venette, Jean de . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 27 : Tonalite - Vesuvius . London 1911, p. 987 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Venette, Jean de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jean Fillon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French poet and chronicler
DATE OF BIRTH 1307
PLACE OF BIRTH Venette at Compiègne
DATE OF DEATH after 1370