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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On 20th May 1875 Florence Harriet Young was born at Rushall, Staffordshire.
On 12th August 1899 Harold St George Gray [aged 27] and Florence Harriet Young [aged 24] were married at St Mary's Church, Motcombe. The witnesses were her sister Elizabeth, and the bride and groom's fathers.
On or before 10th February 1901, the date he was baptised at St Mary's Church, Iffley, [her son] Lionel St George Gray was born to [her husband] Harold St George Gray [aged 29] and Florence Harriet Young [aged 25].
Keiller Collection Photos. 1908. West Kennet Avenue. Probably Florence Harriet Young [aged 32].
1911. Census. [her husband] Harold St George Gray [aged 38], Florence Harriet Young [aged 35] and [her son] Lionel St George Gray [aged 9] at Castle House, Taunton.
Keiller Collection Photos. May 1911. Two figures, thought to be [her husband] Harold Gray's [aged 39] wife Florence [aged 35] and their son Lionel [aged 10], with two stones of Avebury's Northern Inner Circle.
Avebury North Circle Cove [Map]. 13th May 1911. Photograph by [her husband] Harold St George Gray [aged 39] of (presumably) his wife Florence [aged 35] and their son Lionel [aged 10].
Keiller Collection Photos. April 1914. A photo of Avebury's bank and ditch. The figures on the bank are thought to be [her husband] Harold Gray's [aged 42] wife Florence Harriet Young [aged 38] and their son Lionel St George Gray [aged 13].
Archaeologia Volume 84 1935 Section VI. 28th April 1914. Plate XXXI. Fig. 2. The E. and SE. earthworks at Avebury, looking NE. With Florence Harriet Young [aged 38] and [her son] Lionel St George Gray [aged 13].
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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In July 1923 [her son] Lionel St George Gray [aged 22] died.
Diary of WEV Young. 23rd September 1930. Pages 129-131.
[her husband] Mr Gray [aged 58] called me into the hut at five o'clock and paid me off, remarking as he did so that funds this time were very short (I hope he will get enough for his own "honorarium"). Mrs Gray [aged 55] also joined in with a few well chosen remarks, plainly intended for my edification, although addressed to her spouse – "Really dear: I cannot keep on making up the expenses of the excavations, my purse will not allow it. I had to make up five pounds for the Ham Hill work." … In the presence of Sir Joseph and Lady Bowley, I listened meekly to all this … behaving myself with that gruelling humility one should do, in the presence of their superiors, then touching my ragged cap I backed away, and took my leave.
Archaeologia Volume 84 1935 Section VI. With one exception the other 'finds' in the chalk rubble were of little value as evidence of date. But that exception was an important one, viz. the finding of nine red deer antler picks (nos. 89, 90, 91, 94, 95, 131, 133, 135, and 136), for the most part fractured and incomplete, but capable of considerable repair,1 resting on the solid chalk floor of the fosse—thrown away when they became useless as tools (pl. XXXVI, fig. 1, and p. 150). Some of these picks proved to be excellent specimens, and nos. 89, 90, 133, 135, and 136 are figured in pls. XLVII and XLVIII. It is difficult to realize how this stupendous fosse was excavated out of the solid chalk by means of antler picks only. There can be no doubt that the hardest chalk must have been loosened, at least to some extent, by the blows ol flint hammers and mauls. The other appliances used in this work would probably be wooden and bone shovels, and baskets and ropes to haul the chalk to the surface. Close to the bottom a fragmentary shoulder-blade bone was found in a very bad state of preservation, and it was uncertain whether it had been used as a shovel.2
Note 1. All the picks and other antler and bone implements found in the Avebury excavations were restored by Mrs. St. George Gray [aged 58].
Note 2. Three bone shovels, described on pp. 115-116, were found at the bottom of the fosse in Cutting II.
On 28th February 1963 [her husband] Harold St George Gray [aged 91] died.
On 5th June 1970 Florence Harriet Young [aged 95] died at Martock, Somerset.