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.
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Archaeologia Cambrensis 1925 Page 230 is in Archaeologia Cambrensis 1925.
Rhuddlan Friary [Map] Effigy.
Rhuddlan Friary Effigy. At a distance of a mile from the town of Rhuddlan, lying just beyond its castle, stand the ruins of what was once a Dominican Friary. Tradition assigns its origin as a Friary to seven Welsh gentlemen in 1197. If this be correct, then it must have been taken over by the Dominicans in the early part of the thirteenth century. The first historical notice is the appointment of Anian, the prior of Rhuddlan - "Y Brawd Du" - as Bishop of St. Asaph, in 1268. To-day little remains of this Friary. In years gone by, it formed a quarry for building, and now stand only the remains of the dormitory and domestic offices transformed into barns. Fixed in some of the walls in the open shippon were various effigies-all more or less in imperfect condition and exposed to the weather. Chief amongst these was the tombstone monument of William Fresney, Archbishop of Rages (Edessa), of which a description has been already published in Arch. Camb., 1912, pp. 121-5. The monument consists of a life-sized figure of the Archbishop, with crosier, mitre, chasuble, alb and maniple, with hand uplifted in blessing, and the inscription, now more or less illegible in parts-" Priez pour l'alme Frere William Ercheveske de Rages."
As the stone was beginning to show serious signs of weathering, the permission of Capt. Conwy, R.N., C.M.G., the owner of the property, was obtained for its removal to safer quarters, and on November 9th and 10th, 1923, the monument was safely removed from the Friary, under the superintendence of the Rev. W. J. Davies, Vicar of Rhuddlan, and Mr. J. O. Hughes, the estate agent, with some of his workmen, and re-erected against the north side of the sacrarium of the Parish Church.