Aubryon, Jean

Born in 1440. He was a scribe and clerk at the city hall of Metz ; due to his official position, he had to enter into relations with people of the most diverse social status, which probably gave him the idea to start writing his “diary” (Journal). Starting in January 1465, this review of the events of everyday life in Metz continues until 1501 and, with rare exceptions, presents a list of facts, day after day, in the same form, without any connection: marriage and death, war and peace , rain and bucket. The art of the narrator is limited only to a clear and simple statement of what happened. Only in some cases, when describing important events, the style of the chronicle becomes elevated: such are his stories about the embassies of the city of Metz; a report on the last embassy and a story about the meeting of the Metz nobles with the French king represents an important part of the chronicle of Aubrion, who took part in the embassy as a secretary.

He personally was part of the Metz delegation sent to Karl the Bold , the Duke of Burgundy , in 1471 and 1473. Then he visited Bourges , upon returning from which, fell into the hands of the Burgundians, and regained his freedom only for a significant ransom. The reasons for his trip to Bourges are not indicated. In 1477, he was one of the embassy delegates from the residents of the city of Metz, to Louis XI , then to Nozhan , eighteen or twenty miles from Auxerre , in 1492 he was again noted as an active participant in the affairs of the city of Metz, who sent the embassy to the archbishop of Trier. As stated in the Biographie Universelle, Aubrion died on October 10, 1501, but the source of information is not given.

Aubryon’s “diary” style is dry, phrases begin unchanged item (besides ...); but all this is redeemed by the simplicity and naivete of presentation and the truthfulness of the story, his writings contain some information that cannot be found elsewhere, and the direct participation of Aubryon in the events about which the chronicle narrates gives the latter credibility. The value of the "diary" was already recognized by contemporaries of Aubryon; the manuscript, passed from hand to hand, was in the Vienna court library; published for the first time in full in 1857 by Loderan Larsha. Stopping in the year 1501 due to the death of Aubryon, the chronicle was continued until 1512 by Pierre Aubrion, Jean's cousin.

Two of his manuscripts are noted in the Bibliotheque Historique de la France (vol. Iii. Nos. 38,770 et 38,777, et vol. Iv .: Supplement to vol. Iii. No. 38,770, ed. Fevret de Fontette) of Le Long: one entitled "Les Chroniques de la Ville de Metz" another - "Journal de Jean Aubrion". They are probably the same work, and contain, according to Le Long, a segment of the history of Metz from 1464 to 1500, or, according to Kalmet, from the death of Karl the Bold in 1477, to 1501 or 1502.

• Aubrion, Jean // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• The biographical dictionary of the Society for the diffusion of useful knowledge , London, 1844, Volume 4, Part 1, P. 73