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.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
Maternal Family Tree: Elizabeth Ruddock
In 1766 Catherine Rebecca Gray Lady Manners was born to Francis Gray and Elizabeth Ruddock at Lehena.
On 12th January 1790 William Manners aka Tollemache 1st Baronet [aged 23] and Catherine Rebecca Gray Lady Manners [aged 24] were married. He the son of John Manners [aged 59] and Louisa Tollemache 7th Countess Dysart [aged 44].
In 1791 [her daughter] Louisa Tollemache was born to [her husband] William Manners aka Tollemache 1st Baronet [aged 24] and Catherine Rebecca Gray Lady Manners [aged 25]. She married in or before 1820 Joseph Burke 11th Baronet and had issue.
In 1792 [her daughter] Catherine Camilla Tollemache was born to [her husband] William Manners aka Tollemache 1st Baronet [aged 25] and Catherine Rebecca Gray Lady Manners [aged 26].
In 1793 Catherine Rebecca Gray Lady Manners [aged 27] published Poems by Lady Manners.
In 1793 [her daughter] Emily Frances Tollemache was born to [her husband] William Manners aka Tollemache 1st Baronet [aged 26] and Catherine Rebecca Gray Lady Manners [aged 27].
1794. Thomas Lawrence [aged 24]. Portrait of Catherine Rebecca Gray Lady Manners [aged 28].
On 18th November 1794 [her son] Lionel Tollemache 8th Earl Dysart was born to [her husband] William Manners aka Tollemache 1st Baronet [aged 28] and Catherine Rebecca Gray Lady Manners [aged 28]. He married 1819 Maria Elizabeth Toone Countess Dysart and had issue.
In 1796 [her son] Felix Thomas Tollemache was born to [her husband] William Manners aka Tollemache 1st Baronet [aged 29] and Catherine Rebecca Gray Lady Manners [aged 30].
In 1797 [her son] Arthur Caesar Tollemache was born to [her husband] William Manners aka Tollemache 1st Baronet [aged 30] and Catherine Rebecca Gray Lady Manners [aged 31].
In 1799 [her daughter] Caroline Tollemache was born to [her husband] William Manners aka Tollemache 1st Baronet [aged 32] and Catherine Rebecca Gray Lady Manners [aged 33].
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.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
In 1800 [her daughter] Catherine Octavia Tollemache was born to [her husband] William Manners aka Tollemache 1st Baronet [aged 33] and Catherine Rebecca Gray Lady Manners [aged 34].
On 15th August 1802 Aubrey Beauclerk 6th Duke St Albans [aged 36] and [her sister-in-law] Louisa Grace Manners Duchess St Albans [aged 25] were married. She by marriage Duchess St Albans. She the daughter of [her father-in-law] John Manners and [her mother-in-law] Louisa Tollemache 7th Countess Dysart [aged 57]. He the son of Aubrey Beauclerk 5th Duke St Albans and Catherine Ponsonby Duchess St Albans. They were half third cousins. He a great x 2 grandson of King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland.
On 19th September 1802 [her son] Hugh Francis Tollemache was born to [her husband] William Manners aka Tollemache 1st Baronet [aged 36] and Catherine Rebecca Gray Lady Manners [aged 36] at Petersham, Surrey.
On 16th April 1804 [her son] Frederick James Tollemache was born to [her husband] William Manners aka Tollemache 1st Baronet [aged 37] and Catherine Rebecca Gray Lady Manners [aged 38]. He married (1) 26th August 1831 Sarah-Maria Bomford and had issue (2) 4th September 1847 Isabella Anne Forbes and had issue.
In 1805 [her son] Algernon Gray Tollemache was born to [her husband] William Manners aka Tollemache 1st Baronet [aged 38] and Catherine Rebecca Gray Lady Manners [aged 39].
In 1807 [her daughter] Laura Maria Tollemache was born to [her husband] William Manners aka Tollemache 1st Baronet [aged 40] and Catherine Rebecca Gray Lady Manners [aged 41].
On 19th February 1816 [her sister-in-law] Louisa Grace Manners Duchess St Albans [aged 39] died. The same day her son Aubrey Beauclerk 7th Duke St Albans died. His uncle William [aged 49] succeeded 8th Duke St Albans, 8th Earl Burford, 8th Baron Heddington, 5th Baron Vere of Hanworth in Middlesex. Maria Janetta Nelthorpe Duchess St Albans by marriage Duchess St Albans. Both at the home of her sister Laura Manners Countess Stair and her husband John Dalrymple 7th Earl of Stair [aged 31] at Portman Square Marylebone.
In 1819 [her son] Lionel Tollemache 8th Earl Dysart [aged 24] and [her daughter-in-law] Maria Elizabeth Toone Countess Dysart were married.
In or before 1820 [her son-in-law] Joseph Burke 11th Baronet [aged 33] and [her daughter] Louisa Tollemache [aged 28] were married.
On 9th March 1821 Wilbrahim Tollemache 6th Earl Dysart [aged 81] died. His sister [her mother-in-law] Louisa [aged 75] succeeded 7th Countess Dysart. Baronet Talmash of Helmingham in Suffolk extinct. Her grandson [her husband] William Manners aka Tollemache 1st Baronet [aged 54] assumed the name Tollemache.
In 1825 [her daughter] Caroline Tollemache [aged 26] died.
On 18th April 1830 [her daughter] Louisa Tollemache [aged 39] died.
On 26th August 1831 [her son] Frederick James Tollemache [aged 27] and [her daughter-in-law] Sarah-Maria Bomford were married.
On 11th March 1833 [her husband] William Manners aka Tollemache 1st Baronet [aged 66] died. His son Lionel [aged 38] succeeded 2nd Baronet Tollemache of Hanby Hall in Lincolnshire.
On 5th October 1843 [her son] Felix Thomas Tollemache [aged 47] died.
On 4th September 1847 [her son] Frederick James Tollemache [aged 43] and [her daughter-in-law] Isabella Anne Forbes were married.
In 1848 [her son] Arthur Caesar Tollemache [aged 51] died.
Jean de Waurin's Chronicle of England Volume 6 Books 3-6: The Wars of the Roses
Jean de Waurin was a French Chronicler, from the Artois region, who was born around 1400, and died around 1474. Waurin’s Chronicle of England, Volume 6, covering the period 1450 to 1471, from which we have selected and translated Chapters relating to the Wars of the Roses, provides a vivid, original, contemporary description of key events some of which he witnessed first-hand, some of which he was told by the key people involved with whom Waurin had a personal relationship.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
On 21st March 1852 Catherine Rebecca Gray Lady Manners [aged 86] died.
Poems by Lady Manners. Catherine Rebecca Gray Lady Manners. Second edition. London: John Bell, 1793. 126p.