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.
Calendar of Treasury Papers is in Calendars.
Around 17th May 1694. 4. Papers relating to certain guns which had been sunk in their Majesties' ship the "London," near the buoy at the Nore, which guns Sir William Pritchard had entered into agreement with the Office of Ordnance to recover, receiving half the value, and, having recovered them, refused to deliver the half of them on account of a debt due to him for stores. Including the Solicitor-General's opinion thereon; signed "Tho. Trevor." A report on the subject is dated 17 May 1694.
There is the following entry in the Minute Book, Vol. VI., p. 112, 26 Nov. 1695: "Officers of Ordnance and Sr Wm Pritchard abt ye guns taken out of ye 'London' wreck 17 or 18 years ago. He took them up on articles to have half; he would have ye ks half towd an old debt in ye Office of Ordnce. My Lords cannot pay this debt."