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All About History Books
The Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke. Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson. Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback.
Froissart is in Late Medieval Books.
1373. Le Jolie Buisson de Jonece i.e. The Pretty Bush of Youth. A poem written by Froissart celebratin the lives of Philippa, Queen of England, and Blanche, Duchess of Lancaster.
| Je te pri; nomme nous au mains | I beg you; at least name for us |
| Les seignours que tu as véus | The lords you have known |
| Et dont tu as les biens éus | And from whom you have received good things, |
| Si prenderont leurs hoirs exemple. | So that their heirs may take example." |
| — Volontiers ! Premiers vous exemple | — "Willingly! First, take as an example |
| La bonne, qui pourist en terre, | The good lady, who now rests in the earth, |
| Qui fu royne d'Engleterre; | Who was Queen of England; |
| Phelippe ot nom la noble dame. | The noble lady was named Philippa. |
| Propisces li soit Diex à l'âme! | May God be gracious to her soul!" |
| J'en sui bien tenus de pryer | I am indeed bound to pray |
| Et ses largheces escryer, | And proclaim her generosity, |
| Car elle me fist et créa; | For she made and created me; |
| Ne onques voir ne s'effréa, | Nor did she ever truly shy away, |
| Ne ne fu son coer saoulés | Nor was her heart ever sated |
| De donner le sien à tous lés. | From giving her all in every way. |
| Aussi sa fille de Lancastre. | So, too, her daughter of Lancaster (age 25). |
| Haro! mettés moi une emplastre | Alas! Apply a balm to my heart, |
| Sus le coer, car, quant m'en souvient, | For, when I remember it, |
| Certes souspirer me convient | Surely I must sigh, |
| Tant sui plains de melancolie! | So full of melancholy am I! |
| Elle morut jone et jolie | She died young and fair, |
| Environ de vingt-et-deux ans, | Around the age of twenty-two, |
| Gaie, lie, friche, esbatans, | Merry, joyful, carefree, playful, |
| Douce, simple, d'humble samblance. | Sweet, simple, of humble appearance. |
| La bonne dame ot à nom Blanche. | The good lady was named Blanche. |
| J'ai trop perdu en ces deux dames; | I have lost too much in these two ladies; |
| J'en tors mes poins, j'en bac mes palmes. | I wring my hands, I beat my palms. |
| Encor ot la noble Royne | The noble Queen had also |
| Une fille de bonne orine | Another daughter of good lineage, |
| Ysabiel, et de Couci dame. | Isabel, and lady of Couci. |
| Je te pri; nomme nous au mains | I beg you; at least name for us |
| Les seignours que tu as véus | The lords you have known |
| Et dont tu as les biens éus | And from whom you have received good things, |
| Si prenderont leurs hoirs exemple. | So that their heirs may take example." |
| — Volontiers ! Premiers vous exemple | — "Willingly! First, take as an example |
| La bonne, qui pourist en terre, | The good lady, who now rests in the earth, |
| Qui fu royne d'Engleterre; | Who was Queen of England; |
| Phelippe ot nom la noble dame. | The noble lady was named Philippa. |
| Propisces li soit Diex à l'âme! | May God be gracious to her soul!" |
| J'en sui bien tenus de pryer | I am indeed bound to pray |
| Et ses largheces escryer, | And proclaim her generosity, |
| Car elle me fist et créa; | For she made and created me; |
| Ne onques voir ne s'effréa, | Nor did she ever truly shy away, |
| Ne ne fu son coer saoulés | Nor was her heart ever sated |
| De donner le sien à tous lés. | From giving her all in every way. |
| Aussi sa fille de Lancastre. | So, too, her daughter of Lancaster (age 25). |
| Haro! mettés moi une emplastre | Alas! Apply a balm to my heart, |
| Sus le coer, car, quant m'en souvient, | For, when I remember it, |
| Certes souspirer me convient | Surely I must sigh, |
| Tant sui plains de melancolie! | So full of melancholy am I! |
| Elle morut jone et jolie | She died young and fair, |
| Environ de vingt-et-deux ans, | Around the age of twenty-two, |
| Gaie, lie, friche, esbatans, | Merry, joyful, carefree, playful, |
| Douce, simple, d'humble samblance. | Sweet, simple, of humble appearance. |
| La bonne dame ot à nom Blanche. | The good lady was named Blanche. |
| J'ai trop perdu en ces deux dames; | I have lost too much in these two ladies; |
| J'en tors mes poins, j'en bac mes palmes. | I wring my hands, I beat my palms. |
| Encor ot la noble Royne | The noble Queen had also |
| Une fille de bonne orine | Another daughter of good lineage, |
| Ysabiel, et de Couci dame. | Isabel, and lady of Couci. |