Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes
Récits d’un bourgeois de Valenciennes aka The Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes is a vivid 14th-century vernacular chronicle written by an anonymous urban chronicler from Valenciennes in the County of Hainaut. It survives in a manuscript that describes local and regional history from about 1253 to 1366, blending chronology, narrative episodes, and eyewitness-style accounts of political, military, and social events in medieval France, Flanders, and the Low Countries. The work begins with a chronological framework of events affecting Valenciennes and its region under rulers such as King Philip VI of France and the shifting allegiances of local nobility. It includes accounts of conflicts, sieges, diplomatic manoeuvres, and the impact of broader struggles like the Hundred Years’ War on urban life in Hainaut. Written from the perspective of a burgher (bourgeois) rather than a monastery or royal court, the chronicle offers a rare lay viewpoint on high politics and warfare, reflecting how merchants, townspeople, and civic institutions experienced the turbulence of the 13th and 14th centuries. Its narrative style combines straightforward reporting of events with moral and civic observations, making it a valuable source for readers interested in medieval urban society, regional politics, and the lived experience of war and governance in pre-modern Europe.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
In 1870 Mary Victoria Leiter Baroness Curzon Kedleston was born to [her father] Levi Zeigler Leiter (age 35).
1887. Alexandre Cabanel (age 63). Portrait of Mary Victoria Leiter Baroness Curzon Kedleston (age 17).
On 22nd April 1895 George Nathaniel Curzon 1st Marquess Kedleston (age 36) and Mary Victoria Leiter Baroness Curzon Kedleston (age 25) were married.
On 20th January 1896 [her daughter] Mary Irene Curzon 2nd Baroness Ravensdale was born to [her husband] George Nathaniel Curzon 1st Marquess Kedleston (age 37) and Mary Victoria Leiter Baroness Curzon Kedleston (age 26).
On 23rd August 1898 [her daughter] Cynthia Blanche Curzon Lady Ancoats was born to [her husband] George Nathaniel Curzon 1st Marquess Kedleston (age 39) and Mary Victoria Leiter Baroness Curzon Kedleston (age 28). She married 11th May 1920 Oswald Mosley 6th Baronet, son of Oswald Mosley 5th Baronet and Katharine Maud Edwards-Heathcote, and had issue.
On 18th March 1900 General William Lockhart (age 58) died of malaria. His funeral occurred the following day and the service was taken by James Welldon the Bishop of Calcutta, and former headmaster of Harrow School. Lockhart's good friend and Viceroy [her husband] Lord Curzon (age 41) attended.
On 20th March 1904 [her daughter] Alexandra Naldera Curzon was born to [her husband] George Nathaniel Curzon 1st Marquess Kedleston (age 45) and Mary Victoria Leiter Baroness Curzon Kedleston (age 34). Naldera baing the place in India where she was conceived. She married (1) 1925 Major Edward Dudley Metcalfe.
Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke
Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
On 9th June 1904 [her father] Levi Zeigler Leiter (age 69) died.
On 18th July 1906 Mary Victoria Leiter Baroness Curzon Kedleston (age 36) died at 1 Carlton Terrace, St James'.
1909. William Logsdail (age 49). Portrait of Mary Victoria Leiter Baroness Curzon Kedleston.
On 2nd January 1917 [her former husband] George Nathaniel Curzon 1st Marquess Kedleston (age 57) and Grace Elvina Hinds Marchioness Curzon Kedleston (age 31) were married. She by marriage Baroness Ravensdale of Ravensdale in Derbyshire, Baroness Scarsdale. The difference in their ages was 26 years.
On 20th March 1925 [her former husband] George Nathaniel Curzon 1st Marquess Kedleston (age 66) died. Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, Earl Curzon of Kedleston extinct. His nephew Richard (age 26) succeeded 2nd Viscount Scarsdale of Scarsdale in Derbyshire, 6th Baron Scarsdale, 10th Baronet Curzon of Kedleston in Derbyshire, 10th Baronet Curzon of Nova Scotia. His daughter Mary (age 29) succeeded 2nd Baroness Ravensdale of Ravensdale in Derbyshire.
After 20th March 1925. All Saints Church, Kedleston [Map]. Monument to [her former husband] George Nathaniel Curzon 1st Marquess Kedleston (deceased) and his first wife Mary Victoria Leiter Baroness Curzon Kedleston. Table Tomb in white marble; two angels holding the crown of life lean over the effigies designed by Bertram Mackennal (age 61).
