Chronicle of King Charles VII: Part II: 1449 - 1461

King Charles VII is victorious! Decisive battles in the 1420s to 1430s recaptured for the French king much that had been seized by the English. Still in control of vast territories in northern and southwestern France, the English king Henry VI sacrificed peace and stability in March 1449 when he allowed his soldiers to sack Fougières, an important town on the Breton march. In response, the duke of Brittany asked King Charles for aid and the Hundred Years’ War entered its endgame. Within three years, the English had been ejected from all of France except Calais and Charles was triumphant.

Throughout this time, Jean Chartier, royal historiographer and grand chanter of the Abbey of Saint-Denis outside Paris, composed his vernacular chronicle of the king’s victories. He accompanied the king on his tours of the kingdom, witnessed battles and skirmishes, and recorded court proceedings and judicial decisions. The final years of his chronicle serve as a personal celebration of the greatness of France, and acts as the ultimate conclusion to the document known widely as the Grandes Chroniques de France.

Chronicle of King Charles VII is the first English-language translation of Jean Chartier’s masterpiece of vernacular French history. Transcribed from the earliest known manuscript, this chronicle has been translated by historian Derek R. Whaley to make it more accessible to the scholarly community and future students of history.