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39-598: The 7th century Chronicle of Fredegar contains the oldest mention of a medieval legend thus linking the Franks to the Trojans. The Carolingian Liber historiae Francorum elaborates new details, and the tradition continued to be elaborated throughout the Middle Ages, when it was taken seriously as genealogy and became a "veritable form of ethnic consciousness". The 8th-century Historia Brittonum , borrowing from

78-493: A 'fauchet' is an old-fashioned hay rake , used for gathering in the cut grass. Fauchet's personal motto was 'sparsa et neglecta coegi', i.e. 'I have gathered scattered and neglected things', a reference to the obscure and ancient texts he collected (or 'raked in') and used for his historical research. A Latin motto which appears beneath his portrait of 1599 reads 'Falchetus Francis sparsa & Neglecta coëgi / Lilia queis varium hoc continuatur opus.' (I Fauchet have gathered for

117-818: A history of antiquities of Gaul and of Merovingian and Carolingian France (1579, 1599, 1601, 1602), of the dignities and magistrates of France (1600), of the origin of the French language and poetry (1581), and of the liberties of the Gallican church. A collected edition in a single massive volume was published in 1610. Fauchet read widely throughout his life among the key authors of Old and Middle French literature, including chroniclers and historians such as Jean Froissart , Enguerrand de Monstrelet , and Philippe de Commynes ; and poets, such as Gace de la Buigne , Guillaume de Lorris , Jean de Meun , Huon de Méry , Hugues de Berzé , and Chrétien de Troyes . Fauchet

156-566: A list of Judaic kings, a list of popes up to the accession of Theodore I in 642 and Chapter 3 of the chronicle of Isidore of Seville . On the reverse of the folio containing the papal list is an ink drawing showing two people which according to Monod probably represent Eusebius and Jerome . The first 49 chapters of the second book contain extracts from Jerome's Latin translation of the Chronicle of Eusebius . The text includes some interpolations. The remaining chapters contains extracts from

195-536: A literary miscellany in the tradition of Aulus Gellius 's Attic Nights . The author's manuscript of this miscellany still exists ; it was never printed in full in Fauchet's lifetime, though he would recycle parts of it in his later printed works on the history of French poetry and French magistratures. Fauchet was eventually made second president of the Cour des monnaies (29 March 1569), and subsequently rose to

234-483: Is his history of the French language and its poetry, the Recueil de l’origine de la langue et poësie françoise (1581). The book is in two parts. The first part consists of a history of the development of the French language, out of a mixture of Gallo-Roman with Frankish elements. The second part of the Recueil is an anthology of 127 French poets living prior to 1300. Fauchet's theorising about language formation in

273-604: Is not present in other medieval sources. One group of manuscripts (Krusch's Class 4) contain a reworking of the Chronicle of Fredegar followed by additional sections that describe events in Francia up to 768. These additional sections are referred to as the Continuations . Krusch in his critical edition, appends these extra chapters to the text of the Codex Claromontanus creating the false impression that

312-472: Is said to have founded and named the city of Paris in honor of his uncle Paris . Gilles Corrozet 's La Fleur des antiquitez... de Paris (1532) describes Francis I as the 64th descendant of Hector of Troy. Lemaire de Belges' work inspired Pierre de Ronsard 's epic poem La Franciade (1572). In this poem, Jupiter saves Astyanax (renamed Francus). The young hero arrives in Crete and falls in love with

351-526: Is unknown and the attribution to Fredegar dates only from the 16th century. The chronicle begins with the creation of the world and ends in AD ;642. There are also a few references to events up to 658. Some copies of the manuscript contain an abridged version of the chronicle up to the date of 642, but include additional sections written under the Carolingian dynasty that end with the death of Pepin

390-794: The Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Bibllioteca Apostolica Vaticana in the Vatican , while some are scattered across Europe's libraries ( Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève , Paris; the British Library ; Berlin State Library ; Dijon Public Library; National Library of Sweden ; Burgerbibliothek of Berne ; Biblioteca Ambrosiana ) and still many others remain unaccounted for. The wars left Fauchet poor, and in 1599 he had to sell his office in

429-548: The Chronicle of Hydatius . The third book contains excerpts from Books II–VI of the Decem Libri Historiarum by Gregory of Tours with several interpolations. Fredegar's source appears to have lacked the last four books of Gregory's text and his narrative ends in 584. The 90 chapters in the fourth book contain details of events concerning the Burgundian court. Fredegar does not reveal his sources but

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468-654: The Franks as originally Trojans (called "Sicambers" or "Sicambrians") after the fall of Troy who came into Gaul after being forced out of the area around the mouth of the Danube by the Goths in 439 B.C. (section 1, p, 33). He also details the reigns of each of these kings—including Francus (section 43, p. 76) from whom the Franks are named—and their battles with the Gauls, Goths, Saxons, etc. Annio da Viterbo also describes

507-499: The Wars of Religion , as a member of the government of Henri III, Fauchet was forced to flee Paris in 1589 and could not return until 18 April 1594, now in the service of the new king, Henri IV. During this absence, Fauchet's Paris residence was sacked, resulting in the loss of his library: more than two thousand volumes, by his own account, many of which were manuscripts. Many medieval manuscripts once belonging to Fauchet now reside in

546-565: The 6th-century Frankish Table of Nations , makes mention of Francus as one of the four sons of Hisicion (Francus, Romanus , Alamanus , and Brutus ), grandsons of Alanus , the first man to live in Europe. The Grandes Chroniques de France (13th - 15th centuries), a vast compilation of historic material, make reference of the Trojan origins of the French dynasty. Johannes Trithemius ' De origine gentis Francorum compendium (1514) describes

585-621: The Cour des monnaies. Fauchet published most of his print works during this period, from 1599 to his death in 1602. Henri IV, said to have been amused with an epigram written by Fauchet, supposedly pensioned him with the title of historiographer of France, but there is no official record of this. He died in Paris. Fauchet has the reputation of being an impartial and scrupulously accurate writer, and in his works are to be found important facts not easily accessible elsewhere. His works taken together form

624-545: The English medievalist Roger Collins group into five classes. The original chronicle is lost, but it exists in an uncial copy made in 715 by a Burgundian monk named Lucerius. This copy, the sole exemplar of a class 1 manuscript, is in the Bibliothèque nationale de France (MS Latin 10910) and is sometimes called the Codex Claromontanus because it was once owned by the Collège de Clermont in Paris. A diplomatic edition

663-457: The French scattered and neglected / lilies with which this varied work is made). In the Recueil of 1581, Fauchet proudly writes, 'suivant ma devise, j'ai recueilli ce qui estoit espars et delaissé: ou si bien caché, qu'il eust esté malaisé de le trouver sans grand travail' ('following my motto, I have gathered what was scattered and abandoned: or so well hidden, that it would have been difficult to find without much exertion'). Fauchet's activity as

702-656: The Short in 768. The Chronicle of Fredegar with its Continuations is one of the few sources that provide information on the Merovingian dynasty for the period after 591 when Gregory of Tours ' the Decem Libri Historiarum finishes. None of the surviving manuscripts specify the name of the author. The name "Fredegar" (modern French Frédégaire) was first used for the chronicle in 1579 by Claude Fauchet in his Recueil des antiquitez gauloises et françoises . The question of who wrote this work has been much debated, although

741-460: The acquaintance of the humanist Sperone Speroni . Upon his return to Paris, Fauchet composed a series of short essays based on his wide reading in medieval French literature, much of which had not yet been printed and was only accessible in manuscript. He entitled this collection Les Veilles ou observations de plusieurs choses dinnes de memoire en la lecture d'aucuns autheurs françois par C.F.P. , dated to 1555.The Veilles (French for 'vigils') are

780-559: The alternate name Wifflisburg for this locality, a name only then coming into usage. This assumption is supported by the fact that he had access to the annals of many Burgundian churches. He also had access to court documents and could apparently interview Lombard , Visigoth , and Slavic ambassadors. His awareness of events in the Byzantine world is also usually explained by the proximity of Burgundy to Byzantine Italy. The chronicle exists in over thirty manuscripts, which both Krusch and

819-496: The arrival of Trojans into Gaul. Based on the medieval legend, Jean Lemaire de Belges 's Illustrations de Gaule et Singularités de Troie (1510–12) has Astyanax survive the fall of Troy and arrive in Western Europe. He changes his name to Francus and becomes king of Celtic Gaul (while, at the same time, Bavo, cousin of Priam , comes to the city of Trier ) and founds the dynasty leading to Pepin and Charlemagne . He

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858-423: The colophon mentioned above. He has suggested that one author was responsible for the text up to 751, and that a different author probably wrote the additional chapters. Claude Fauchet (historian) Claude Fauchet ( French pronunciation: [klod foʃɛ] ; 3 July 1530 – January 1602) was a sixteenth-century French historian , antiquary , and pioneering romance philologist . Fauchet published

897-548: The earlier chapters are presumably based on local annals. Chapters 24–39 contain an accounts from witnesses of events between 603 and 613. Chapter 36 is an interpolation on the life of Saint Columbanus that is copied, almost without change, from the Vita Columbani by Jonas of Bobbio . The book ends abruptly with the Battle of Autun in 642. Book IV has been the most studied by historians as it contains information that

936-549: The earliest printed work of literary history in a vernacular language in Europe, the Recueil de l'origine de la langue et poësie françoise (1581). He was a high-ranking official in the governments of Charles IX , Henri III , and Henri IV , serving as the president of the Cour des monnaies . He was born in Paris , to Nicole Fauchet, procureur au Châtelet , and Geneviève Audrey, granddaughter of Jacques III De Thou . His mother

975-429: The first book has been praised as ahead of its time, and throughout he demonstrates a profound knowledge of contemporary linguistic theory, as well as engaging with earlier and less frequently cited traditions of linguistic theory such as Dante's De vulgari eloquentia . The Recueil was much used in the following two centuries by literary historians and antiquarians curious about medieval French literature. During

1014-814: The fourth book continues up to 642 and foreshadows events occurring between 655 and 660. In the prologue the author (traditionally Fredegar) writes: I have most carefully read the chronicles of St Jerome, Hydatius and a certain wise man, of Isidore as well as of Gregory, from the beginning of the world to the declining years of Guntram's reign; and I have reproduced successively in this little book, in suitable languages and without many omissions, what these learned men have recounted at length in their five chronicles. In fact, Fredegar quotes from sources that he does not acknowledge and drastically condenses some of those he does. He also inserts additional sections of text that are not derived from his main sources. These inserted sections are referred to as "interpolations". For most of them

1053-532: The historian J. M. Wallace-Hadrill admits that "Fredegar" is a genuine, if unusual, Frankish name. The Vulgar Latin of this work confirms that the Chronicle was written in Gaul; beyond this, little is certain about the origin of this work. As a result, there are several theories about the authorship: Fredegar is usually assumed to have been a Burgundian from the region of Avenches because of his knowledge of

1092-481: The histories by Gregory of Tours corresponding to Fredegar's Book III. The third and final book consists of the 90 chapters of Fredegar's Book IV followed by the Continuations . The Continuations consists of three parts. The first ten chapters are based on the Liber Historiae Francorum , an anonymous Neustrian chronicle that ends in around 721. The second part (Chapters 11–33) covers

1131-627: The illustrious Count Nibelung, Childebrand's son. The chronicle then continues for another twenty chapters covering events in Francia up to the year 768. The medievalist Roger Collins has argued that the text in the Class 4 manuscripts is sufficiently different from the Fredegar Chronicle of the Codex Claromontanus that it should be considered a separate work. He has proposed the new title Historia vel Gesta Francorum which occurs in

1170-458: The princess Hyanthe with whom he is destined to found the royal dynasty of France. In the tradition of translatio imperii , many medieval authors established Greek or Roman genealogies for European dynasties: Chronicle of Fredegar The Chronicle of Fredegar is the conventional title used for a 7th-century Frankish chronicle that was probably written in Burgundy . The author

1209-423: The rank of premier président in 1581. He held this office until 1599. Among his friends and colleagues are to be counted Étienne Pasquier , Antoine Loisel , Henri de Mesmes , Louis Le Caron , Jean-Antoine de Baïf , Jacopo Corbinelli , Gian Vincenzo Pinelli , Filippo Pigafetta , Sperone Speroni, and many other learned and erudite characters of the sixteenth century. Fauchet's most important published work

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1248-472: The sources are not known. Some of the interpolations are used to weave a legend of a Trojan origin for the Franks through the chronicle. The initial 24 chapters of the first book are based on the anonymous Liber generationis which in turn is derived from the work of Hippolytus . The remainder of the book contains a compendium of various chronological tables including a list of the Roman Emperors,

1287-411: The two parts originate from the same manuscript. Class 4 manuscripts are divided into three books. The first begins with a section based on the treatise De cursu temporum by the obscure fourth century Latin writer Quintus Julius Hilarianus. This is followed by a version of Fredegar's Book II incorporating an expanded account of the Trojan origin of the Franks. The second book is an abridged version of

1326-661: The works of Tacitus (the Annals , Histories , Germania , and Agricola , but minus the Dialogue on Orators ), which was reprinted in 1584. A translation of the Dialogue on Orators was brought out in 1585. While these translations were not openly published under Fauchet's name until the posthumous edition of 1612, the attribution is not in question. Fauchet enjoyed punning on the etymology of his surname and on its symbolism for his activity as an antiquarian. In French,

1365-410: The years up to 751. At this point a colophon is inserted in the text explaining that the writing of the chronicle was ordered by Charles Martel 's brother, Count Childebrand . Wallace-Hadrill's translation is: Up to this point, the illustrious Count Childebrand, uncle of the said King Pippin, took great pains to have this history or "geste" of the Franks recorded. What follows is by the authority of

1404-579: Was also connected through her daughter from an earlier marriage to the Godefroy family . Fauchet was thus closely connected by birth to the world of the Paris Parlement . Fauchet studied at the University of Paris before taking his degree in civil law at the University of Orléans in 1550. He subsequently travelled through northern Italy , visiting Rome and also Venice , where he made

1443-720: Was also the first person to use the name ' Marie de France ' to refer to the Anglo-Norman writer of the Lais. Alongside his work as a historian and as a civil servant, Fauchet was also the first person to translate the complete works of Tacitus into French. A partial translation of the Annals (books XI-XVI) appeared anonymously for the first time alongside a translation of Annals, I-V, by Estienne de la Planche in an edition printed for Abel l'Angelier in 1581. The next year, l'Angelier brought out Fauchet's complete translation of

1482-477: Was prepared by the French historian Gabriel Monod and published in 1885. The Codex Claromontanus was also the basis of the critical edition by Krusch published in 1888 and of the partial English translation by Wallace-Hadrill published in 1960. Most of the other surviving manuscripts were copied in Austrasia and date from the early ninth century or later. The first printed version, the editio princeps ,

1521-467: Was published in Basel by Flacius Illyricus in 1568. He used MS Heidelberg University Palat. Lat. 864 as his text. The next published edition was Antiquae Lectiones by Canisius at Ingolstadt in 1602. In the critical edition by Krusch the chronicle is divided into four sections or books. The first three books are based on earlier works and cover the period from the beginning of the world up to 584;

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