Primat was a French Benedictine monk and historian of the abbey of Saint-Denis near Paris. He composed two histories of France with a royal focus, one in Latin and the other in Old French. His Latin chronicle covers the years 1248 to 1277 but now survives only in an Old French translation and in excerpts incorporated into the works of others. It contains a detailed account of the reign of Louis IX, making it one of the most important contemporary sources for that reign. His French chronicle, the Roman des rois, covers the entire history of France down to 1223. It was completed around 1274 for Philip III and its presentation copy is extant. It is the earliest version of what would become the Grandes Chroniques de France, the first official history of France.

The Grandes Chroniques de France is a vernacular royal compilation of the history of the Kingdom of France, most manuscripts of which are luxury copies that are heavily illuminated. Copies were produced between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, the text being extended at intervals to cover recent events. It was first compiled in the reign of Saint Louis, who wished to preserve the history of the Franks, from the coming of the Trojans to his own time, in an official chronography whose dissemination was tightly controlled. It was continued under his successors until completed in 1461. It covers the Merovingian, Carolingian, and Capetian dynasties of French kings, with illustrations depicting personages and events from virtually all their reigns.