The Liber de proprietatibus rerum (On the Properties of Things) by Bartholomew the Englishman and its French translation by Jean Corbechon

Among the many texts that King Charles V had translated into French, one of the most notable is the Liber de proprietatibus rerum, written around 1230-1240 by a Franciscan monk, Bartholomaeus Anglicus (Bartholomew the Englishman). This encyclopedia in nineteen books rapidly became the accepted reference work for the natural sciences. It was translated into several vernacular languages in the fourteenth century, including an Occitan version dedicated to Gaston Phoebus, count of Foix. Only the French translation completed by Jean Corbechon in 1372 for Charles V proved truly successful. Unfortunately, the original manuscript executed for the king has not survived, but Corbechon's translation had a long posterity : more than 40 copies have been identified, most of them luxuriously produced, with outstanding miniatures at the beginning of each book of the English monk's treatise (BNF, Fr 135 and BNF, Fr 136 ).