“La cronique martiniane” by Sébastien Mamerot and “The Chronicle of Popes and Emperors” by Martinus Polonus

Abstract

The article analyses and compares the texts of the medieval universal chronicle by Martinus Polonus with the Renaissance chronicle by Sébastien Mamerot. The translation of Martinus Polonus’s text was supplemented with the history of France and its mythical beginnings by the French translator. Sources that could shed a light on the lives of Polonus, a Dominican monk and a Papal confessor, and Mamerot, a chaplain of the Troyes collegiate, employed by Louis de Laval, are scarce and their works were only partially edited. Due to these facts, the problems that arise in the study of their texts are in need of further research.