Pierre Desrey de Troyes (
c. 1450–1514) was a French chronicler, historian, genealogist and translator.
Relatively little is known of his life, but his work is of value to historians.
Life and work
Desrey was born around 1450 and died around 1514.[1]
He was a native of
Troyes. His motto was said to be Tout par honneur (All in good faith).[2]
Little is known of his life, but his work indicates that he was well educated and had broad interests.[3]
He was a scholar with deep knowledge of the scriptures, a translator and a compiler of history who drew on various sources.[4]
In his continuation of the Chronicles de Enguerran de Monstrelet, which includes the whole reign of
Charles VIII of France, he describes himself as a "simple orateur de Troyes en Champagne."[5]
Since there is no record of his being a member of the clergy, "orateur" may be taken as meaning "prose writer".[6]
Desrey contributed to the Mystère de la Passion de Troyes, and acted in the plays as a member of the Compagnons de Mystère.[7]
According to Théophile Boutiot, Desrey was one of the main actors in 1497, and could be called the principal.
That year he represented the eternal Father. The town gave him 100 sous for his expenses and effort.[8]
His writings include a Latin version of the Danse Macabre (1490), a translation of
Nicholas of Lyra's Les Postilles et Expositions des Epistres et Evangilles Dominacales (1493), a translation of
Werner Rolevinck's Fasciculus Temporum entitled Fleurs et Manières des Temps Passées (1495), a compilation La genealogie avecques les gestes et nobles faitz d'armes du trespreux et renommé prince Godeffroy de Boulion (1504), Parement et triumphe des Dames d'Olivier de la Marche (1510) and contributions on Monstrelet (1512) and Gaguin (1514) to the Grandes Chroniques de France.[3]
Desrey is thought to be the author of several poems, and is also thought to be the author of the Troyes Mémoire.[3]
This was apparently written in 1492.[6]
It is a set of instructions for artists making tapestries for the
Church of Saint-Urbain, Troyes, that would depict legends of
Saint Urban and
Saint Cecilia.
They gave a good sense of the details he thought important as an iconographer, but left considerable freedom of expression to the artist.[1]
Item, to begin the representation ... a domestic tabernacle shaped like a noble palace will be portrayed in which glorious St. Urban will be depicted, dressed as a young schoolboy, hands joined, eyes looking up to heaven, kneeling humbly before an altar.[1]
Desrey's Genealogie de Godefroi de Buillon, completed in 1499, survives only in print.
It gives a complete history of the
Crusades, starting with the birth of the Chevalier au Cygne (
Knight of the Swan), the mythical ancestor of
Godfrey of Bouillon (1060–1100), and ending after the accession of
Philip IV of France (1268–1314).
At least six editions are preserved from the 16th century, published between 1504 and 1580.[4]
——; Robert Gaguin (1518), La Mer des croniques et mirouer historial de France, jadiz composée en latin par religieuse personne frère Robert Gaguin,... (in French), translated by Nicole de La Chesnaye, Nicolas de La Barre
——, Archives curieuses de l'histoire de France... 1re série. - Tome 1er: Relation du voyage du roy Charles VIII pour la conqueste du royaume de Naples (in French), Paris: Beauvais , 1834
Translator
Nicholas of Lyra (1492), Les Postilles et Expositions des Évangiles (in French), translated by Pierre Desrey, Paris: Pierre et Guillaume Le Rouge
Dacier, Bon-Joseph (1867),
"The Life of Monstrelet with an Essay on his Chronicles", The Chronicles of Enguerrand de Monstrelet: Containing an Account of the Cruel Civil Wars Between the Houses of Orleans and Burgundy; of the Possession of Paris and Normandy by the English; Their Expulsion Thence; and of Other Memorable Events that Happened N the Kingdom of France, as Well as in Other Countries ... Beginning at the Year MCCCC, where that of Sir John Froissart Finishes, and Ending at the Year MCCCCLXVII, and Continued by Others to the Year MDXVI., G. Routledge and sons, retrieved 2015-12-22