Untranslated French primary sources
Hey there folks Merry Christmas.

As I spent more time reading about history and consulting primary sources from time to time it has dawned upon me that the vast majority of primary sources is not translated into English. I feel this is a shame, not just because I cannot read it but because a large group of authors and documentary makers only use sources that they can read. This can (and possible already has) lead to a very anglocentric approach to the medieval period in which a single English oddity can be taken as a fact in face of multiple sources in other languages.

A few French sources which were translated into English and which I read were. Montluc, Bayard, de la Broquière and Fourquevaux. All of these translations I read predate the 1950s so there might be a few mistakes in them. There are many more sources I would like to read but so far I haven't been able to find and English translation of the following.

Philippe de Mézières
Jean V de Bueil - Le Jouvencel
Martin du Bellay - memoires
and more of which I forgot the name already.

I thought that perhaps it might be a good idea to get a list of untranslated sources for future reference, and perhaps people who can read those sources could pick out the interesting bits and translate them. I am not asking you to do this for me but if you ever feel like it posting an interesting bit it could help shed some new light on old ideas. So if you know some untranslated sources in German, Dutch, French, Spanish, etc etc. then feel free to post the names,
I'm working on Philip of Cleves' Instruction de toutes manieres de guerroyer &c., very slowly and just for fun (since my French is pretty rubbish). Maybe one day, if I ever finish it, I might want to learn enough German to have a first-hand look at Philipp von Seldeneck's kriegsbuch too..
Lafayette C Curtis wrote:
I'm working on Philip of Cleves' Instruction de toutes manieres de guerroyer &c., very slowly and just for fun (since my French is pretty rubbish). Maybe one day, if I ever finish it, I might want to learn enough German to have a first-hand look at Philipp von Seldeneck's kriegsbuch too..


I never heard of Philipp von Seldeneck before but from the sound of the summary it looks like a good read. Sadly I cannot find an online version only a few physical copies in my Uni's library.
As a French native speaker I would be glad to help (both of you), if you have some texts you want to dive into. I used to spend some of my free time as a translator for free softwares. Do not hesitate to contact me if you want to !
Leo Rousseau wrote:
As a French native speaker I would be glad to help (both of you), if you have some texts you want to dive into. I used to spend some of my free time as a translator for free softwares. Do not hesitate to contact me if you want to !


Thanks for the offer. I personally do not know which french-only source is in most want of being translated, so perhaps some other people here could step in and name a few.

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