Jean Le Fèvre de Saint-Remy
French historian
Jean le Fèvre de Saint-Remy or Jean Lefebvre de Saint-Remy (c. 1394 – 16 June 1468) born in Abbeville, was a Burgundian chronicler during the Hundred Years' War and lord (seigneur) of Saint Remy, la Vacquerie, Avesnes and Morienne. He is also known by the formal title of authority Toison d'or (Golden Fleece) because he served as the King of Arms to the Order of the Golden Fleece.
Biography
Of noble birth, he adopted the profession of arms and with other Burgundians fought in the English ranks at the Battle of Agincourt. Following the foundation of the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1430 by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, at the Order's chapter meeting in Lille (November 1431) Le Fèvre was appointed its king of arms and he soon became a very influential person at the Burgundian court. As counsellor to the duke of Burgundy, he frequently assisted Philip III in conducting negotiations with foreign powers, and he was an arbiter in tournaments and authority on all questions of chivalry, where his wide expert knowledge of heraldry was highly respected. Recognition of distinction for his services in the form adoubement and knighthood ensued late in Le Fèvre's life: the medieval chronicler Georges Chastellain describes a moving scene at the occasion of the Order's chapter meeting in Bruges in May 1468, where the King of Arms Le Fèvre retired from service on the grounds of old age. Shortly after the Order's tribute in his honour, Le Fèvre died at Bruges of natural causes on 16 June 1468.
Le Fèvre also wrote a chronicle or history of Charles VI of France. The greater part of this chronicle is a resumption of the work of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, but Le Fèvre is an original authority for the years between 1428 and 1436 and makes some valuable additions to our knowledge, especially about the chivalry of the Burgundian court.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 31, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q1648217. VIAF identifies the subject as 378145857888423021092. The Library of Congress control number is n80156456. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1394, 1468, 1430 and 1431.
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This entry incorporates text from “Jean Le Fèvre de Saint-Remy” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.