A bibliography of English military books up to 1642 and of ...

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Contents. " L'Art de Chevalerie," as the original is called, was written
about 141 2, and was first printed in Paris, 1488, fol. [See 503.] Caxton
made his translation from a French MS. entrusted to him by Henry VII.
(probably the MS. Royal, 15 E. VL, now in the B.M.), which was transcribed
before 1453,
and, like many MSS. transcribed during her lifetime, has
the passage at the end of the prologue, present in the English printed ed.,
but omitted in the French, in which Christine apologizes for writing of wars
and battles. Doubts have been expressed as to whether this really is Christine
de Pisan's work, solely, it would seem, on account of her sex. But if she
were capable of writing " Le Livre de Paix," why not this military compilation
Scholarship and conversation with eminent soldiers of her time would,
in a work of this kind, be a sufficient substitute for personal experience.^
Many French bibliographers have ascribed the authorship to Jean de Meung,
but what the author of the " Romaunt de la Rose" really did was to translate
Vegetius' " De re militari " into French in 1 284, by command of Jean,
Count of Eu, which translation is alluded to by him in the dedication of
his translation of Boetius. It is this passage which has mislead the bibliographers.
But now, since the publication of de Meung's version (Paris,
1897, 8°), there is no longer any excuse for ascribing the other to him.
Antedating the Italian translation of Colonna's compilation from the same
ancient writer by three years, it
is, of course, a work of the greatest interest.
It is coloured throughout by the mediaeval spirit j the military terminology
of the Romans is translated into the chivalric terminology of the Middle Ages.
Since there were no equivalents in his language for the Latin words, de
Meung simply impressed those used in chivalry, and thus fixed the military
vocabulary of Western Europe for two hundred years ;
and, not content with
merely translating, he amplified the text with all sorts of interpolations
comments, personal refleiftions, historical examples, and explanations of what
did not seem quite clear. See Introdu