The True Chronicles of Jean le Bel Volume 1 Chapters 1-60 1307-1342
The True Chronicles of Jean le Bel offer one of the most vivid and immediate accounts of 14th-century Europe, written by a knight who lived through the events he describes, and experienced some of them first hand. Covering the early decades of the Hundred Years’ War, this remarkable chronicle follows the campaigns of Edward III of England, the politics of France and the Low Countries, and the shifting alliances that shaped medieval warfare. Unlike later historians, Jean le Bel writes with a strong sense of eyewitness authenticity, drawing on personal experience and the testimony of fellow soldiers. His narrative captures not only battles and sieges, but also the realities of military life, diplomacy, and the ideals of chivalry that governed noble society. A key source for Jean Froissart, Le Bel’s chronicle stands on its own as a compelling and insightful work, at once historical record and literary achievement. This translation builds on the 1905 edition published in French by Jules Viard, adding extensive translations from other sources Rymer's Fœdera, the Chronicles of Adam Murimuth, William Nangis, Walter of Guisborough, a Bourgeois of Valenciennes, Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke and Richard Lescot to enrich the original text and Viard's notes.
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On 19th June 1896 Wallis Warfield aka Simpson Duchess of Windsor was born.
On 21st July 1928 Ernest Aldrich Simpson [aged 31] and Wallis Warfield aka Simpson Duchess of Windsor [aged 32] were married.
On 10th January 1931 Thelma Morgan Viscountess Furness [aged 26], at her country house Burrough Court, near Melton Mowbray, introduced the [her future husband] Duke of Windsor [aged 36] to Wallis Warfield aka Simpson Duchess of Windsor [aged 34]. She, Wallis, was visiting Thelma's sister Gloria aka Maria Mercedes Morgan [aged 26].
After 1936 [her future husband] King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom [aged 41] and Wallis Warfield aka Simpson Duchess of Windsor [aged 39] stayed at Belton House [Map] after the Abdication Crisis. Peregrine Cust 6th Baron Brownlow [aged 36] had been involved in the Abdication Crisis at the King's Lord-in-waiting.
On 20th January 1936 King George V of the United Kingdom [aged 70] died. His son [her future husband] Edward [aged 41] succeeded VIII King of the United Kingdom. Duke York merged with the crown.
On 11th December 1936 [her future husband] King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom [aged 42] abdicated VIII King of the United Kingdom. [her future brother-in-law] King George VI of the United Kingdom [aged 40] succeeded VI King of the United Kingdom. Duke York merged with the Crown.
On 3rd May 1937 Ernest Aldrich Simpson [aged 39] and Wallis Warfield aka Simpson Duchess of Windsor [aged 40] were divorced.
On 3rd June 1937 King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom [aged 42] and Wallis Warfield aka Simpson Duchess of Windsor [aged 40] were married at the Château de Candé. No member of his family attended. He the son of King George V of the United Kingdom and Victoria Mary Teck Queen Consort England [aged 70].
1939. Gerald Leslie Brockhurst [aged 48]. Portrait of Wallis Warfield aka Simpson Duchess of Windsor [aged 42]. Cost 1,000 guineas (around £39,000 today) with the Duchess sitting for Brockhurst at his New York studio. It depicts the Duchess in a navy blue silk blouse and chiffon skirt by Mainbocher and includes the fabulous Bouquet of Flowers brooch by Van Cleef and Arpels (catalogued by Van Cleef and Arpels as the Hawaii brooch and purchased for Wallis by the Duke in 1938).
Before 25th April 1939 Thomas William Anson [aged 26] and Anne Ferelith Bowes-Lyon [aged 21] were married at St Margaret's Church, Westminster [Map]. The wedding was attended by the [her brother-in-law] King [aged 43] and Queen [aged 38], Princesses Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom [aged 13] and Princess Margaret [aged 8] - see Pathe. He the son of Thomas Edward Anson 4th Earl Lichfield [aged 55] and Evelyn Maud Keppel Countess Lichfield [aged 52].
This is a translation of the 'Memoires of Jacques du Clercq', published in 1823 in two volumes, edited by Frederic, Baron de Reissenberg. In his introduction Reissenberg writes: 'Jacques du Clercq tells us that he was born in 1424, and that he was a licentiate in law and a counsellor to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in the castellany of Douai, Lille, and Orchies. It appears that he established his residence at Arras. In 1446, he married the daughter of Baldwin de la Lacherie, a gentleman who lived in Lille. We read in the fifth book of his Memoirs that his father, also named Jacques du Clercq, had married a lady of the Le Camelin family, from Compiègne. His ancestors, always attached to the counts of Flanders, had constantly served them, whether in their councils or in their armies.' The Memoires cover a period of nineteen years beginning in in 1448, ending in in 1467. It appears that the author had intended to extend the Memoirs beyond that date; no doubt illness or death prevented him from carrying out this plan. As Reissenberg writes the 'merit of this work lies in the simplicity of its narrative, in its tone of good faith, and in a certain air of frankness which naturally wins the reader’s confidence.' Du Clercq ranges from events of national and international importance, including events of the Wars of the Roses in England, to simple, everyday local events such as marriages, robberies, murders, trials and deaths, including that of his own father in Book 5; one of his last entries.
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In 1941 Hugh Molyneux 7th Earl of Sefton [aged 42] and Josephine Gwynne Armstrong Countess Sefton [aged 38]. Whilst he was a good friend of the [her husband] Duke of Windsor [aged 46], his wife was a good friend of the Duke's wife Wallis Warfield aka Simpson Duchess of Windsor [aged 44]. Josephine Gwynne Armstrong Countess Sefton by marriage Countess Sefton.
On 26th April 1943 Alastair Windsor 2nd Duke Connaught and Strathearn [aged 28] died at Ottawa. He was buried at St Ninian's Chapel, Mar Lodge Estate. Duke Connaught and Strathearn extinct. The diaries of Sir Alan Lascelles [aged 56], [her brother-in-law] King George VI's [aged 47] private secretary, published in 2006, recorded that both the regiment and Athlone had rejected him as incompetent, and he fell out of a window when drunk and perished of hypothermia overnight.
On 21st October 1947 David Allan Bethell 5th Baron Westbury [aged 25] and Ursula James [aged 23] were married at St Martin in the Fields Church [Map]. Princesses Elizabeth [aged 21] and Margaret [aged 17] attended the wedding, as did the [her brother-in-law] Duke [aged 47] and Duchess [aged 45] of Gloucester.
On 29th September 1949 George Henry Hubert Lascelles 7th Earl Harewood [aged 26] and Marion Stein Countess Harewood [aged 22] were married at St Mark's Church North Audley Street. [her brother-in-law] King George VI of the United Kingdom [aged 53], his uncle, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon Queen Consort England [aged 49], [her mother-in-law] Victoria Mary Teck Queen Consort England [aged 82] [her sister-in-law] Princess Mary Windsor Countess Harewood [aged 52], his mother, and other members of the Royal family attended the wedding. He the son of Henry Lascelles 6th Earl Harewood and Princess Mary Windsor Countess Harewood.
Marion Stein Countess Harewood: On 18th October 1926 she was born at Vienna [Map]. On 6th March 2014 she died.
On 6th February 1952 [her brother-in-law] King George VI of the United Kingdom [aged 56] died at Sandringham Estate, Norfolk. He was buried at King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle [Map]. His daughter Elizabeth [aged 25] succeeded II Queen of the United Kingdom; she was at her Kenyan home Sagana Lodge.
On 30th November 1958 [her former husband] Ernest Aldrich Simpson [aged 61] died.
On 28th March 1965 [her sister-in-law] Princess Mary Windsor Countess Harewood [aged 67] died.
On 28th May 1972 [her husband] King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom [aged 77] died. He was buried at Royal Burial Ground Frogmore Estate Home Park Windsor, Berkshire.
On 24th April 1986 Wallis Warfield aka Simpson Duchess of Windsor [aged 89] died.