The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy
The Gesta Normannorum Ducum [The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy] is a landmark medieval chronicle tracing the rise and fall of the Norman dynasty from its early roots through the pivotal events surrounding the Norman Conquest of England. Originally penned in Latin by the monk William of Jumièges shortly before 1060 and later expanded at the behest of William the Conqueror, the work chronicles the deeds, politics, battles, and leadership of the Norman dukes, especially William’s own claim to the English throne. The narrative combines earlier historical sources with firsthand information and oral testimony to present an authoritative account of Normandy’s transformation from a Viking settlement into one of medieval Europe’s most powerful realms. William’s history emphasizes the legitimacy, military prowess, and governance of the Norman line, framing their expansion, including the conquest of England, as both divinely sanctioned and noble in purpose. Later chroniclers such as Orderic Vitalis and Robert of Torigni continued the history, extending the coverage into the 12th century, providing broader context on ducal rule and its impact. Today this classic work remains a foundational source for understanding Norman identity, medieval statesmanship, and the historical forces that reshaped England and Western Europe between 800AD and 1100AD.
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Before 6th September 1631 [his father] Edmund Porter and [his mother] Mary Chiborne were married.
On 6th September 1631 Charles Porter was born to Edmund Porter and Mary Chiborne.
Samuel Pepys' Diary. 13th December 1662. By and by we sat, Mr. Coventry [aged 34] and I (Sir G. Carteret [aged 52] being gone), and among other things, Field and Stint did come, and received the £41 given him by the judgement against me and Harry Kem1; and we did also sign bonds in £500 to stand to the award of Mr. Porter [aged 31] and Smith for the rest: which, however, I did not sign to till I got Mr. Coventry to go up with me to Sir W. Pen [aged 41]; and he did promise me before him to bear his share in what should be awarded, and both concluded that Sir W. Batten [aged 61] would do no less.
Note 1. Fine for the imprisonment of Field (see February 4th, 1661-62, and October 21st, 1662).
Samuel Pepys' Diary. 12th December 1666. From the 'Change [Map] to Captain Cocke's [aged 49], and there, by agreement, dined, and there was Charles Porter [aged 35], Temple, Fenn, Debasty, whose bad English and pleasant discourses was exceeding good entertainment, Matt. Wren [aged 37], Major Cooper, and myself, mighty merry and pretty discourse.
Samuel Pepys' Diary. 23rd June 1667. After dinner they all to church, and I by water alone to Woolwich, Kent [Map], and there called on Mr. Bodham: and he and I to see the batterys newly raised; which, indeed, are good works to command the River below the ships that are sunk, but not above them. Here I met with Captain Cocke [aged 50] and Matt. Wren [aged 38], Fenn, and Charles Porter [aged 35], and Temple and his wife. Here I fell in with these, and to Bodham's with them, and there we sat and laughed and drank in his arbour, Wren making much and kissing all the day of Temple's wife.
Samuel Pepys' Diary. 10th February 1668. Thence I to the Temple [Map] to Charles Porter's [aged 36] lodgings, where Captain Cocke [aged 51] met me, and after long waiting, on Pemberton [aged 43]1, an able lawyer, about the business of our prizes, and left the matter with him to think of against to-morrow, this being a matter that do much trouble my mind, though there be no fault in it that I need fear the owning that I know of.
Note 1. Francis Pemberton, afterwards knighted, and made Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench in 1679. His career was a most singular one, he having been twice removed from the Bench, and twice imprisoned by the House of Commons. He twice returned to the bar, and after his second return he practised with great success as a serjeant for the next fourteen years till his death, June 10th, 1697. Evelyn says, "He was held to be the most learned of the judges and an honest man" ("Diary", October 4th, 1683).
Samuel Pepys' Diary. 30th March 1668. After a little talk, I away to White Hall and Westminster, where I find the Parliament still bogling about the raising of this money: and every body's mouth full now; and Mr. Wren [aged 39] himself tells me that the Duke of York [aged 34] declares to go to sea himself this year; and I perceive it is only on this occasion of distaste of the Parliament against W. Pen's [aged 46] going, and to prevent the D. Gawden's: but I think it is mighty hot counsel for the Duke of York at this time to go out of the way; but, Lord! what a pass are all our matters come to! At noon by appointment to Cursitor's Alley, in Chancery Lane, to meet Captain Cocke [aged 51] and some other creditors of the Navy, and their Counsel, Pemberton [aged 43], North, Offly, and Charles Porter [aged 36]; and there dined, and talked of the business of the assignments on the Exchequer of the £1,250,000 on behalf of our creditors; and there I do perceive that the Counsel had heard of my performance in the Parliamenthouse lately, and did value me and what I said accordingly. At dinner we had a great deal of good discourse about Parliament: their number being uncertain, and always at the will of the King [aged 37] to encrease, as he saw reason to erect a new borough. But all concluded that the bane of the Parliament hath been the leaving off the old custom of the places allowing wages to those that served them in Parliament, by which they chose men that understood their business and would attend it, and they could expect an account from, which now they cannot; and so the Parliament is become a company of men unable to give account for the interest of the place they serve for.
Samuel Pepys' Diary. 7th March 1669. So to my cozen Turner's, and there staid talking a little, and then back to Suffolk Street, where they not being yet come home I to White Hall, and there hear that there are letters come from Sir Thomas Allen [aged 36], that he hath made some kind of peace with Algiers; upon which the King [aged 38] and Duke of York [aged 35], being to go out of town to-morrow, are met at my Lord Arlington's [aged 51]: so I there, and by Mr. Wren [aged 40] was desired to stay to see if there were occasion for their speaking with me, which I did, walking without, with Charles Porter [aged 37]1, talking of a great many things: and I perceive all the world is against the Duke of Buckingham [aged 41] his acting thus high, and do prophesy nothing but ruin from it: But he do well observe that the church lands cannot certainly come to much, if the King shall [be] persuaded to take them; they being leased out for long leases.
Note 1. Charles Porter "was the son of a prebend in Norwich, and a 'prentice boy in the city in the rebellious times. When the committee house was blown up, he was very active in that rising, and after the soldiers came and dispersed the rout, he, as a rat among joint stools, shifted to and fro among the shambles, and had forty pistols shot at him by the troopers that rode after him to kill him 24th April, 1648. In that distress he had the presence of mind to catch up a little child that, during the rout, was frighted, and stood crying in the streets, and, unobserved by the troopers, ran away with it. The people opened a way for him, saying, 'Make room for the poor child.' Thus he got off, and while search was made for him in the market-place, got into the Yarmouth [Map] ferry, and at Yarmouth [Map] took ship and went to Holland.... In Holland he trailed a pike, and was in several actions as a common soldier. At length he kept a cavalier eating-house; but, his customers being needy, he soon broke, and came for England, and being a genteel youth, was taken in among the chancery clerks, and got to be under a master.... His industry was great; and he had an acquired dexterity and skill in the forms of the court; and although he was a bon companion, and followed much the bottle, yet he made such dispatches as satisfied his clients, especially the clerks, who knew where to find him. His person was florid, and speech prompt and articulate. But his vices, in the way of women and the bottle, were so ungoverned, as brought him to a morsel.... When the Lord Keeper North had the Seal, who from an early acquaintance had a kindness for him which was well known, and also that he was well heard, as they call it, business flowed in to him very fast, and yet he could scarce keep himself at liberty to follow his business.... At the Revolution, when his interest fell from, and his debts began to fall upon him, he was at his wits' end.... His character for fidelity, loyalty, and facetious conversation was without exception"-Roger North's Lives of the Norths (Lord Keeper Guilford), ed. Jessopp, vol. i., pp. 381-2. He was originally made Chancellor [aged 60] of Ireland in the reign of James II, during the viceroyalty of Lord Clarendon, 1686, when he was knighted. "He was", says Burnet, "a man of ready wit, and being poor was thought a person fit to be made a tool of. When Clarendon was recalled, Porter was also displaced, and Fitton was made Chancellor, a man who knew no other law than the King's pleasure" ("Own Time"). Sir Charles Porter was again made Chancellor of Ireland in 1690, and in this same year he acted as one of the Lords Justices. This note of Lord Braybrooke's is retained and added to, but the reference may after all be to another Charles Porter. See vol. iii., p. 122, and vol. vi., p. 98.
In 1671 Charles Porter [aged 39] and Letitia Coxeter were married.
In April 1686 Charles Porter [aged 54] was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland.
On 8th December 1696 Charles Porter [aged 65] died.
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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[his son] Frederick Porter was born to Charles Porter and Letitia Coxeter.
[his daughter] Elizabeth Porter was born to Charles Porter and Letitia Coxeter. She married 1708 Reverend John Moore, son of Henry Hamilton Moore 3rd Earl of Drogheda.
[his daughter] Letitia Porter was born to Charles Porter and Letitia Coxeter.
Father: Edmund Porter
GrandFather: Charles Chiborne of Messing Hall in Essex
Mother: Mary Chiborne
GrandMother: Jane Spilman