Froissart holds a distinguished place among the poets as well as the
historians of his century. He wrote chiefly in the allegorical style
then in vogue; and his poems, though cast in a mold no longer in
fashion, are fresh and full of color, and were found worthy of
imitation by Geoffrey Chaucer.
But it is as the supreme chronicler of the later age of chivalry that
he lives. "God has been gracious enough" he writes, "to permit me to
visit the courts and palaces of kings, ... and all the nobles, kings,
dukes, counts, barons, and knights, belonging to all nations, have
been kind to me, have listened to me, willingly received me, and
proved very useful to me.... Wherever I went I enquired of old knights
and squires who had shared in deeds of arms, and could speak with
authority concerning them, and also spoke with heralds in order to
verify and corroborate all that was told me. In this way I gathered
noble facts for my history, and as long as I live, I shall, by the
grace of God, continue to do this, for the more I labour at this the
more pleasure I have, and I trust that the gentle knight who loves
arms will be nourished on such noble fare, and accomplish still more.
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