Michel Pintoin
Michel Pintoin, known as the Chronicler of Saint-Denis, the Monk of Saint-Denis or Religieux de Saint-Denis was a French monk, cantor, and chronicle writer believed to be the anonymous author of a history of the reign of Charles VI of France.
The Monk of St Denis
Michel Pintoin was a monk and cantor at the Abbey of St-Denis. The abbey had a reputation for writing chronicles and the monks were considered the official chroniclers of the Valois kings. They were given access to official documents. Pintoin has been identified as the monk who authored a chronicle of the reign of Charles VI of France. Anonymous for many centuries, in 1976 the Monk was tentatively identified as Michel Pintoin, although scholars continue to refer to the author as the Monk or the Religieux, or the Chronicler of Saint-Denis.Because he witnessed many of the events of the Hundred Years War, the Monk of St Denis is considered a valuable chronicler of this period. His history of the reign of Charles VI, titled Chronique de Religieux de Saint-Denys, contenant le regne de Charles VI de 1380 a 1422, encompasses the king's full reign in six volumes. Originally written in Latin, the work was translated to French in six volumes by L. Bellaguet between 1839 and 1852.
Pintoin, considered to be the most well-informed of the chroniclers in the court of Charles VI, wrote about events such as the English Peasants' Revolt in the 1380s and the Harelle and Maillotins revolts in France during the same period. He also recorded Charles VI's reinstatement of the Marmousets, the choice of Olivier de Clisson as royal constable, and the disastrous Bal des Ardents in 1393.
Style
Because he was cleric, the Monk wrote about the Hundred Years War from a perspective that differed from secular or "chivalric" chroniclers such as Jean Froissart. Writing in Latin, his tone was frequently similar to a sermon. He sympathized with the commoners during the war and chastised the knights, who he believed behaved as poorly as common soldiers, to the point that they even caused harm. His opinion of knightly valour is summed up in this passage:Knights without courage, you who take pride in your armour plate and plumed helmets, you who glory in looting....you who boasted with so much arrogance about the feats of valour of your ancestors, now you have become the laughingstock of the English and the butt of foreign nations.Of the French defeat at the Battle of Agincourt, he wrote that it was caused by the arrogance of the French knights, who charged the English, with the result that "The nobility of France was captured and ransomed like a vile herd of slaves, or else it was slaughtered by an obscure soldiery".