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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Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine 1902 V32 Page 175 is in Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine 1902 V32.
The attention of the Committee has been called during the year, amongst other things, to the proposed cleaning and scraping of the Market Cross at Salisbury, and to the injury being done to the fine long barrow at Winterbourne Stoke cross roads [Map]. The Salisbury Town Council yielded to the representations made by our Society and by the Society of Antiquaries, and has decided not to scrape the stonework of the Market Cross. The Secretary lost no time in interceding for the preservation of one of the finest of the long barrows, and it is hoped that further damage to it is averted.