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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Paternal Family Tree: Molyneux
Edmund Molyneux was born to [his father] Richard Molyneux and [his mother] Joan aka Jane Haydock.
In 1415 [his father] Richard Molyneux (age 18) and Helen Harrington (age 17) were married.
After 16th June 1422 [his father] Richard Molyneux (age 25) and [his mother] Joan aka Jane Haydock (age 35) were married.
On 17th January 1440 [his mother] Joan aka Jane Haydock (age 53) died.
On 23rd September 1459 [his father] Richard Molyneux (age 62) died at Madeley, Staffordshire.
Before February 1466 John Cheyne of Drayton Beauchamp (age 76) and [his future wife] Agnes Lexham were married.
A History of the County of Buckingham: Volume 3: Parishes: Chenies. On Sir John Cheyne's (age 78) death without issue in 146833 his widow [his future wife] Agnes married Edmund Molyneux, who was sheriff of the county in 147534 and presented to the church in 147935. He died in 148436, and Agnes survived him ten years. By her will 20 November 1494 her first husband's great-great-nephew John Cheyne of Chesham Bois (q.v.) obtained Drayton Beauchamp, Grove and Cogenhoe Manors, but Chenies [Map] passed to Agnes Cheyne's niece Anne (age 35) wife of David Philip37. Anne and David Philip, who was sheriff in 149838, had some difficulty in inducing the trustees to hand over the manor39, but were in possession in 1500, when Chenies was settled on Anne and her issue40. She died seised of it in 1510, when it passed to her granddaughter Anne wife of John Broughton and daughter and heir of Guy Sapcote (age 19), son of Anne Philip by a former husband (age 39)41.
Note 33. Chan. Inq. p.m. 8 Edw. IV, no. 51.
Note 34. P.R.O. List of Sheriffs, 2.
Note 35. Lipscomb, Bucks. iii, 252.
Note 36. Brass in church.
Note 37. Add. MS. 5840, fol. 39.
Note 38. P.R.O. List of Sheriffs, 2.
Note 39. Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 218, no. 30.
Note 40. De Banco R. Hil. 15 Hen. VII, m. 297; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxv, 162.
Note 41. Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxv, 162.
In or after 1468 Edmund Molyneux and Agnes Lexham were married.
21st January 1484. St Michael's Church, Chenies [Map]. Brass of Edmund Molyneux and [his wife] Agnes Lexham inscribed "Here lies Dame Agnes Cheyne sometime wife of Sir John Cheyne knight who died day A.D. and Edmund Molyneux Esq. Second husband of the aforesaid lady who died 21 January A.D. 1484 on whose souls may God have mercy".
Note. Agnes Lexham was married, firstly to John Cheyne of Drayton Beauchamp and, secondly, to Edmund Molyneux.
On 21st June 1485 Edmund Molyneux died at Chenies Manor House, Buckinghamshire [Map].
Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke
Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson.
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Around 20th November 1494 [his former wife] Agnes Lexham died. Her will was dated 20th November 1494.
[his mother] Joan aka Jane Haydock who gave birth to a son Edmund Molyneux in 1418. Possible she mayu have died in, or as a consequence of, childbirth giving to her second child [his half-sister] Ellen aka Anne Molyneux in 1417?
Great x 2 Grandfather: William Molyneux of Sefton 
Great x 1 Grandfather: William Molyneux
GrandFather: Richard Molyneux IV Lord of Sefton
Father: Richard Molyneux
Great x 4 Grandfather: Gilbert de Haydock
Great x 3 Grandfather: Gilbert de Haydock II
Great x 2 Grandfather: Gilbert de Haydock III
Great x 1 Grandfather: John de Haydock
GrandFather: Gilbert Haydock IV
Mother: Joan aka Jane Haydock