Abbot John Whethamstede’s Chronicle of the Abbey of St Albans
Abbot John Whethamstede's Register aka Chronicle of his second term at the Abbey of St Albans, 1451-1461, is a remarkable text that describes his first-hand experience of the beginning of the Wars of the Roses including the First and Second Battles of St Albans, 1455 and 1461, respectively, their cause, and their consequences, not least on the Abbey itself. His text also includes Loveday, Blore Heath, Northampton, the Act of Accord, Wakefield, and Towton, and ends with the Coronation of King Edward IV. In addition to the events of the Wars of the Roses, Abbot John, or his scribes who wrote the Chronicle, include details in the life of the Abbey such as charters, letters, land exchanges, visits by legates, and disputes, which provide a rich insight into the day-to-day life of the Abbey, and the challenges faced by its Abbot.
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Paternal Family Tree: Sidney
Maternal Family Tree: Emma de Dinan 1136-1208
In 1615 [his father] Robert Sidney 2nd Earl of Leicester [aged 19] and [his mother] Dorothy Percy Countess Leicester [aged 17] were married. She the daughter of [his grandfather] Henry "Wizard Earl" Percy 9th Earl of Northumberland [aged 50] and [his grandmother] Dorothy Devereux Countess Northumberland [aged 51]. He the son of Robert Sidney 1st Earl of Leicester [aged 51] and Barbara Gamage Countess Leicester [aged 52]. They were fifth cousin once removed.
In 1626 Colonel Robert Sidney was born to Robert Sidney 2nd Earl of Leicester [aged 30] and Dorothy Percy Countess Leicester [aged 28].
On 13th July 1626 [his grandfather] Robert Sidney 1st Earl of Leicester [aged 62] died. His son [his father] Robert [aged 30] succeeded 2nd Earl of Leicester, 2nd Viscount Lisle. [his mother] Dorothy Percy Countess Leicester [aged 28] by marriage Countess of Leicester.
On 20th July 1639, some sources say 11th July 1639, [his brother-in-law] Henry Spencer 1st Earl of Sunderland [aged 18] and Dorothy Sidney Countess Sunderland [aged 21] were married at Penhurst Rother. She by marriage Baroness Spencer Wormleighton. Her long-term suitor, she was the 'Sacharissa' of his poems, Edmund Waller [aged 33] wrote a letter to the bride's sister [aged 12] on the occasion of the wedding. She the daughter of Robert Sidney 2nd Earl of Leicester [aged 43] and Dorothy Percy Countess Leicester [aged 41]. They were third cousins.
Madam,
In this common joy at Penshurst, I know none to whom complaints may come less unseasonably than to your ladyship, the loss of a bedfellow being almost equal to that of a mistress; and therefore you ought at least to pardon, if you consent not to the imprecations of, the deserted, which just Heaven no doubt will hear. May my lady Dorothy, if we may yet call her so, suffer as much, and have the like passion for this young lord, whom she has preferred to the rest of mankind, as others have had for her; and may his love, before the year go about, make her taste of the first curse imposed upon womankind, the pains of becoming a mother. May her first born be none of her own sex, nor so like her but that he may resemble her lord as much as herself. May she that always affected silence and retirement have the house filled with the noise and number of her children, and hereafter of her grandchildren; and then may she arrive at that great curse, so much declined by fair ladies, old age; may she live to be very old and yet seem young; be told so by her glass, and have no aches to inform her of the truth; and when she shall appear to be mortal, may her lord not mourn for her, but go hand in hand with her to that place where we are told there is neither marrying nor giving in marriage, that being there divorced we may all have an equal interest in her again! My revenge being immortal, I wish all this may befall her posterity to the world's end and afterwards! To you, madam, I wish all good things, and that this loss may in good time be happily supplied with a more constant bedfellow of the other sex. Madam, I humbly kiss your hands, and beg pardon for this trouble, from
Your ladyship's
most humble servant,
E. Waller.
In 1643 [his brother-in-law] Henry Spencer 1st Earl of Sunderland [aged 22] was created 1st Earl of Sunderland. [his sister] Dorothy Sidney Countess Sunderland [aged 25] by marriage Countess of Sunderland.
In 1645 [his brother] Philip Sidney 3rd Earl of Leicester [aged 25] and [his sister-in-law] Catherine Cecil were married. She the daughter of William Cecil 2nd Earl Salisbury [aged 53] and Catherine Howard Countess Salisbury [aged 55]. He the son of [his father] Robert Sidney 2nd Earl of Leicester [aged 49] and [his mother] Dorothy Percy Countess Leicester [aged 47]. They were fifth cousins.
Around 1648 Colonel Robert Sidney [aged 22] took Lucy Walter [aged 18] as his mistress.
On 9th April 1649 James Scott 1st Duke Monmouth 1st Duke Buccleuch was born illegitimately to King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland [aged 18] and Lucy Walter [aged 19] at Rotterdam. Some thought his father was Colonel Robert Sidney [aged 23] who Evelyn says "he most resembl'd".
On 20th August 1659 [his mother] Dorothy Percy Countess Leicester [aged 61] died.
On 31st May 1665 the King issued a commission to Colonel Robert Sidney [aged 39] to be 'Colonell of Our Holland Regiment of Foot, raised or to be raised, for Our service.'
Adam Murimuth's Continuation and Robert of Avesbury’s 'The Wonderful Deeds of King Edward III'
This volume brings together two of the most important contemporary chronicles for the reign of Edward III and the opening phases of the Hundred Years’ War. Written in Latin by English clerical observers, these texts provide a vivid and authoritative window into the political, diplomatic, and military history of fourteenth-century England and its continental ambitions. Adam Murimuth Continuatio's Chronicarum continues an earlier chronicle into the mid-fourteenth century, offering concise but valuable notices on royal policy, foreign relations, and ecclesiastical affairs. Its annalistic structure makes it especially useful for establishing chronology and tracing the development of events year by year. Complementing it, Robert of Avesbury’s De gestis mirabilibus regis Edwardi tertii is a rich documentary chronicle preserving letters, treaties, and official records alongside narrative passages. It is an indispensable source for understanding Edward III’s claim to the French crown, the conduct of war, and the mechanisms of medieval diplomacy. Together, these works offer scholars, students, and enthusiasts a reliable and unembellished account of a transformative period in English and European history. Essential for anyone interested in medieval chronicles, the Hundred Years’ War, or the reign of Edward III.
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Samuel Pepys' Diary. 14th March 1666. Thence to walk all alone in the fields behind Grayes Inne, making an end of reading over my dear "Faber fortunae", of my Lord Bacon's, and thence, it growing dark, took two or three wanton turns about the idle places and lanes about Drury Lane, but to no satisfaction, but a great fear of the plague among them, and so anon I walked by invitation to Mrs. Pierce's, where I find much good company, that is to say, Mrs. Pierce, my wife, Mrs. Worshipp and her daughter, and Harris [aged 32] the player, and Knipp, and Mercer, and Mrs. Barbary Sheldon, who is come this day to spend a weeke with my wife; and here with musique we danced, and sung and supped, and then to sing and dance till past one in the morning; and much mirthe with Sir Anthony Apsley [aged 50] and one Colonell Sidney [aged 40], who lodge in the house; and above all, they are mightily taken with Mrs. Knipp. Hence weary and sleepy we broke up, and I and my company homeward by coach and to bed.
In August 1668 Colonel Robert Sidney [aged 42] died. He was buried at St John the Baptist Church, Penshurst.
John Evelyn's Diary. 15th July 1685. Thus ended this quondam Duke [aged 36], darling of his father and ye ladies, being extreamly handsome and adroit; an excellent souldier and dancer, a favourite of the people, of an easy nature, debauch'd by lust, seduc'd by crafty knaves who would have set him up only to make a property, and took the opportunity of the King being of another religion, to gather a party of discontented men. He fail'd, and perish'd. He was a lovely person, had a virtuous and excellent lady that brought him greate riches, and a second dukedom in Scotland. He was Master of the Horse, General of the King his father's Army, Gentleman of the Bedchamber, Knight of the Garter, Chancellor of Cambridge, in a word had accumulations without end. See what ambition and want of principles brought him to! He was beheaded on Tuesday 14th July [Note. Most sources quote 15th July 1685]. His mother, whose name was Barlow [Note. Lucy Walter is often spoken of incorrectly as Mrs. Walters or Waters, and during her career she seems to have adopted the alias of Mrs. Barlo or Barlow (the name of a family with which the Walters of Pembrokeshire had intermarried). From Dictionary of National Biography.], daughter of some very meane creatures, was a beautiful strumpet, whom I had often seene at Paris; she died miserably without any thing to bury her; yet this Perkin had ben made to believe that the King had married her; a monstrous and ridiculous forgerie; and to satisfy the world of the iniquity of the report, the King his father (If his father he really was, for he most resembl'd one Sidney, who was familiar with his mother) publickly and most solemnly renounc'd it, to be so enter'd in the Council Booke some yeares since, with all ye Privy Councellors at testation.
Kings Wessex: Great x 17 Grand Son of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England
Kings Gwynedd: Great x 14 Grand Son of Owain "Great" King Gwynedd
Kings Seisyllwg: Great x 20 Grand Son of Hywel "Dda aka Good" King Seisyllwg King Deheubarth
Kings Powys: Great x 15 Grand Son of Maredudd ap Bleddyn King Powys
Kings Godwinson: Great x 18 Grand Son of King Harold II of England
Kings England: Great x 8 Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Kings Scotland: Great x 13 Grand Son of King William I of Scotland
Kings France: Great x 10 Grand Son of King Philip IV of France
Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 22 Grand Son of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine
Kings Spain: Great x 14 Grand Son of Alfonso VII King Castile VII King Leon
Great x 4 Grandfather: William IV Sidney 
Great x 3 Grandfather: Nicholas Sidney
Great x 2 Grandfather: William Sidney
Great x 4 Grandfather: William Brandon 
Great x 3 Grandmother: Anne Brandon
Great x 1 Grandfather: Henry Sidney
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Pakenham
Great x 3 Grandfather: Hugh Pakenham
Great x 2 Grandmother: Anne Pakenham
GrandFather: Robert Sidney 1st Earl of Leicester 9 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Dudley 
6 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Edmund Dudley 7 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Bramshott
Great x 2 Grandfather: John Dudley 1st Duke Northumberland 7 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Edward Grey 1st Viscount Lisle 
5 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Elizabeth Grey Viscountess Lisle 6 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Talbot Viscountess Lisle 
5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 1 Grandmother: Mary Dudley 8 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Richard Guildford
Great x 3 Grandfather: Edward Guildford
Great x 4 Grandmother: Ann Pympe
Great x 2 Grandmother: Jane Guildford Duchess Northumberland 8 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas West 8th Baron De La Warr 5th Baron West 
6 x Great Grand Son of King Henry III of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Eleanor West 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Mortimer Baroness De La Warr and West 
6 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Father: Robert Sidney 2nd Earl of Leicester 10 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Thomas Gamage
Great x 2 Grandfather: Robert Gamage of Coity Castle 10 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: John St John 
8 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Margaret St John 9 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Sybil of Lansgtone Manor
Great x 1 Grandfather: John Gamage of Coity Castle 11 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
GrandMother: Barbara Gamage Countess Leicester 12 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England
Colonel Robert Sidney 8 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry Percy 4th Earl of Northumberland 3 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Henry Percy 5th Earl of Northumberland 4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Maud Herbert Countess Northumberland 
9 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Thomas Percy 4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Robert Spencer of Spencer Combe 
Great x 3 Grandmother: Katherine Spencer Countess Northumberland 3 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Eleanor Beaufort Countess Ormonde 
2 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 1 Grandfather: Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland 5 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Ralph Harbottle 9 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Guiscard Harbottle 4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret Percy 3 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Eleanor Harbottle 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry Willoughby 
9 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Jane Willoughby 10 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret Markham
GrandFather: Henry "Wizard Earl" Percy 9th Earl of Northumberland 6 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Richard Neville 2nd Baron Latimer of Snape 
3 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: John Neville 3rd Baron Latimer 4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Anne Stafford Baroness Latimer 
11 x Great Grand Daughter of King David I of Scotland
Great x 2 Grandfather: John Neville 4th Baron Latimer of Snape 5 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: George de Vere 
6 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Dorothy de Vere 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret Stafford 8 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 1 Grandmother: Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland 6 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Charles Somerset 1st Earl of Worcester 3 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Henry Somerset 2nd Earl of Worcester 4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Herbert 3rd Baroness Herbert Raglan 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry III of England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Lucy Somerset Baroness Latimer Snape 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Anthony Browne 
6 x Great Grand Son of King Henry III of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Elizabeth Browne Countess of Worcester 4 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Lucy Neville 3 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Mother: Dorothy Percy Countess Leicester 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Devereux 9th Baron Ferrers of Chartley 
7 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Walter Devereux 1st Viscount Hereford 4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Cecily Bourchier Baroness Ferrers Chartley 
3 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Richard Devereux 5 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Grey 1st Marquess Dorset 6 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Mary Grey Baroness Ferrers Chartley 4 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Cecily Bonville Marchioness Dorset 
3 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 1 Grandfather: Walter Devereux 1st Earl Essex 6 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Edward Hastings 2nd Baron Hastings Baron Botreaux, Hungerford and Moleyns 
3 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: George Hastings 1st Earl Huntingdon 4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Mary Hungerford Baroness Hastings, 4th Baroness Hungerford, 5th Baroness Botreaux and 2nd Baroness Moleyns 
4 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Dorothy Hastings 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry Stafford 2nd Duke of Buckingham 3 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Anne Stafford Countess Huntingdon 4 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Catherine Woodville Duchess Buckingham and Bedford 
6 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry III of England
GrandMother: Dorothy Devereux Countess Northumberland 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Robert Knollys 
Great x 3 Grandfather: Robert Knollys
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Troutbeck
Great x 2 Grandfather: Francis Knollys
Great x 3 Grandmother: Lettice Peniston
Great x 1 Grandmother: Lettice Knollys Countess Essex and Leicester 6 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Carey 
5 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: William Carey 4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret Spencer 3 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Catherine Carey 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Boleyn 1st Earl Wiltshire and Ormonde 6 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Mary Boleyn 
7 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Howard Countess of Wiltshire and Ormonde 
6 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England