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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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Elizabeth Lewes was born to [her father] Thomas Lewes Vintner of Little St Helens London.
On 23rd February 1680 Thomas Whitley of Peel Hall (age 29) and Elizabeth Lewes were married.
Roger Whitley's Diary. 5th January 1690. Sonday, was not at church; dined at home with Mainwaring, his brother, my brother & Minshall; in the evening my [her husband] sonne (age 39) & his wife came to see us; past 6, I went to Woods; went with him to Nag's Head; there was also Mainwaring & Cooper; we parted before 9; came home.
Roger Whitley's Diary. 6th June 1690. Friday, Bidolph & Mainwaring dined at home; some of the King's officers came to prepare the house, &c. & provision for the King; Golding the cook came to visit us; Bidolph & Bills, &c. went to shoote; Mainwaring went to Chester; severall people came with provisions; the Gentleman Usher & 2 other King's servants with him supt, stayd all night; soe did some of the rest; my [her husband] sonne (age 39), his wife & children came from London & Jack Whitley & his wife; they went with Fowler & his coach to Chester; my sonne wife & children lay at Mr Traverse's; Roger came from London late at night, lay here;.
Roger Whitley's Diary. 17th June 1690. Tuesday, Mainwaring, Bidolph & I went to Chester (soe did my [her husband] sonne (age 39), his wife, &c.) & cosen Whitley; we dined at Angells; visited G.Mainwaring (age 47) & his wife; I went to 4 o'clock prayers; then waited on the Bishop; Dr Fog was there; then went to Jacksons; there was 2 Mainwarings Streete, Taylor (awhile) cosen Booth, Basker[ile) [fo. 119v] June. Farington, my sonne, Parry, Morgan,&c. we parted past 7; Bidolph & Mainwaring went home with me in the coach.
Roger Whitley's Diary. 3rd July 1690. Thursday, I left Ruabon, past 12; called on cosen Powell; did not light; came to Chester about 4; lighted at Angells; there was Doctor, his wife, sister Anne; my [her husband] sonne (age 39) & his wife; Streete came thither to us; he, my sonne & I went to Jacksons; the Governor came to us & Sir William Gleg; then Captaine Bub:, another Gentleman, & Bell; I left them presently, went home with my daughters.
Roger Whitley's Diary. 22nd July 1690. Tuesday, Huson came about 7 from Frodesly; went with Tomkinson to Mold faire about 10; my [her husband] sonne (age 39), his wife, children & Sidney went to Chester & Aston past 10; some men came with poll money from Manley (past 11) payed it to Houseman; about 2, Palin & 3 others brought wood from Bechin, they did eate in the buttry, & retorned about 3: 23. Wednesday, Tomkinson retorned from Mold; in the evening Radley came to see me; stayd ½ houer;,&c. in the morning Coles of Lichfeild called for some things for Bidolph, went away in a short tyme.
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.
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Roger Whitley's Diary. 5th November 1690. Wednesday, Mr Taylor & his brother Ball dined with us; went past 3; at the same tyme my [her husband] sonne (age 39), his wife, children & servants: went to Chester; soe towards London.
On 28th April 1696 [her husband] Thomas Whitley of Peel Hall (age 45) died.
[her son] Roger Whitley was born to Thomas Whitley of Peel Hall and Elizabeth Lewes.