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: Lisle
Before 1304 [his father] Warin Lisle [aged 32] and [his mother] Alice Tyeys were married.
Around 1304 Gerard Lisle 1st Baron Lisle was born to Warin Lisle [aged 33] and Alice Tyeys at Kingston Lisle, Oxfordshire.
On 16th March 1322 the rebel army led by Thomas Plantagenet 2nd Earl of Leicester, 2nd Earl Lancaster, Earl of Salisbury and Lincoln [aged 44] attempted to cross the bridge over the River Ure (between Ripon and York) at Boroughbridge Bridge [Map]. Their path was blocked by forces loyal to the King led by Andrew Harclay 1st Earl Carlisle [aged 52]. Bartholomew Badlesmere 1st Baron Badlesmere [aged 46], Roger Mortimer 1st Earl March [aged 34], John Botetort 1st Baron Botetort [aged 57] and John Maltravers 1st Baron Maltravers [aged 32] fought for the rebels. Roger Clifford 2nd Baron Clifford [aged 22], Nicholas Longford [aged 37], Thomas Plantagenet 2nd Earl of Leicester, 2nd Earl Lancaster, Earl of Salisbury and Lincoln, John Mowbray 2nd Baron Mowbray [aged 35] were captured.
[his father] Warin Lisle [aged 51] was hanged after the battle at Pontefract [Map].
Following the battle Hugh Audley 1st Earl Gloucester [aged 31] and his wife Margaret Clare Countess Gloucester were both imprisoned. He in Nottingham Castle [Map] and she in Sempringham Priory [Map].
John Clinton 2nd Baron Clinton [aged 22], Ralph Greystoke 1st Baron Greystoke [aged 22], William Latimer 2nd Baron Latimer of Corby [aged 46], Robert Lisle 1st Baron Lisle [aged 34], Domhnall Mar II Earl of Mar [aged 29] and Peter Saltmarsh [aged 42] fought for the King.
Adam Everingham 1st Baron Everingham of Laxton [aged 43] was captured.
Humphrey Bohun 4th Earl Hereford 3rd Earl Essex [aged 46] was killed. His son John [aged 15] succeeded 5th Earl Hereford, 4th Earl Essex.
Piers Grandison 2nd Baron Grandison [aged 31] fough for the rebels, and was captured.
Hugh Audley 1st Baron Audley of Stratton Audley [aged 55] surrendered before the battle and was imprisoned in Wallingford Castle [Map] for the rest of his life
John Giffard 2nd Baron Giffard Brimpsfield [aged 34] was captured.
Roger Mortimer 1st Earl March was imprisoned at Tower of London [Map].
In 1327 Gerard Lisle 1st Baron Lisle [aged 23] was knighted.
After 3rd December 1329 Gerard Lisle 1st Baron Lisle [aged 25] and Eleanor Fitzalan [aged 9] were married. She the daughter of Edmund Fitzalan 2nd or 9th Earl of Arundel and Alice Warenne Countess Arundel.
Around 1330 [his son] Warin Lisle 2nd Baron Lisle was born to Gerard Lisle 1st Baron Lisle [aged 26] and [his wife] Eleanor Fitzalan [aged 10] at Kingston Lisle, Oxfordshire. He married (1) before 1360 Margaret Pipard Baroness Lisle and had issue (2) after 1360 Joan Unknown Baroness Lisle.
In or before 1331 [his brother-in-law] John Grey 3rd Baron Grey of Codnor [aged 25] and [his sister] Alice Lisle Baroness Grey Codnor [aged 21] were married. She by marriage Baroness Grey of Codnor.
In 1344 [his sister] Alice Lisle Baroness Grey Codnor [aged 35] died at Codnor, Derbyshire [Map].
14th December 1344 [his brother-in-law] Richard Fitzalan 3rd or 10th Earl of Arundel 8th Earl of Surrey [aged 38] and Isabel Despencer Countess Arundel [aged 32] marriage annulled by Pope Clement VI on the grounds that he had never freely consented to marry Isabel. He, at this time, is believed to be having an affair with her first cousin Eleanor [aged 26] who he married four months later.
On 5th April 1345 [his brother-in-law] Richard Fitzalan 3rd or 10th Earl of Arundel 8th Earl of Surrey [aged 39] and Eleanor Plantagenet Countess Arundel and Surrey [aged 26] were married at Ditton Church, Stoke Poges. She by marriage Countess Arundel. She the daughter of Henry Plantagenet 3rd Earl of Leicester 3rd Earl Lancaster [aged 64] and Maud Chaworth. He the son of Edmund Fitzalan 2nd or 9th Earl of Arundel and Alice Warenne Countess Arundel. They were half third cousins. He a great x 5 grandson of King John of England. She a great granddaughter of King Henry III of England.
On 26th August 1346 the army of King Edward III of England [aged 33] defeated the French army at the Battle of Crécy. The English army was commanded by King Edward III of England, his son Edward "Black Prince" [aged 16], Thomas Beauchamp 11th Earl Warwick [aged 33], William Bohun 1st Earl of Northampton [aged 36] and John Beauchamp 1st Baron Beauchamp Warwick [aged 30].
The English army was included: Bishop Thomas of Hatfield [aged 36], Hugh Despencer 1st Baron Despencer [aged 38], Bernard Brocas [aged 16], Thomas Felton [aged 16], James Audley [aged 28], Robert Bourchier 1st Baron Bourchier, Bartholomew "The Elder" Burghesh 1st Baron Burghesh [aged 59], Bartholomew "The Younger" Burghesh 2nd Baron Burghesh [aged 18], Reginald Cobham 1st Baron Cobham [aged 51], John Darcy 1st Baron Darcy of Knayth [aged 66], Robert Ferrers 3rd Baron Ferrers of Chartley [aged 37], Richard Scrope 1st Baron Scrope of Bolton [aged 19], William Scrope [aged 21], Stephen Scrope [aged 21], William Latimer 4th Baron Latimer of Corby [aged 16], John Lisle 2nd Baron Lisle [aged 28], Gerard Lisle 1st Baron Lisle [aged 42], Nicholas Longford [aged 61], Edward Montagu 1st Baron Montagu, Walter Paveley 4th Baron Burghesh [aged 27], Michael Poynings 1st Baron Poynings [aged 28], Robert Ufford 1st Earl Suffolk [aged 48], John de Vere 7th Earl of Oxford [aged 34], Thomas West [aged 34], John Willoughby 2nd Baron Willoughby [aged 43], John Wingfield [aged 26], Henry Percy 11th and 3rd Baron Percy [aged 25], Hugh Courtenay 2nd or 10th Earl Devon [aged 43] (possibly), Walter "Elder" Devereux [aged 37], John Devereux [aged 44], Enion Sais Brecon, John Chandos [aged 26], Richard Pembridge [aged 26] and John Sully [aged 63].
The French army suffered significant casualties. King Philip "Fortunate" VI of France [aged 52] was wounded. William de Coucy [aged 60] and his son Enguerrand 6th Lord de Coucy [aged 33] and were killed.
Charles II Count Alençon [aged 49] was killed. His son Charles [aged 9] succeeded Count Alençon.
Louis Chatillon II Count Blois I Count Chatillon was killed. His son Louis succeeded III Count Blois.
Louis Dampierre II Count Nevers I Count Flanders [aged 42] was killed. His son Louis [aged 15] succeeded III Count Nevers, II Count Flanders.
King John I of Bohemia [aged 50] was killed. His son Charles [aged 30] succeeded IV King Bohemia, Holy Roman Emperor Luxemburg. Blanche Valois Holy Roman Empress Luxemburg [aged 29] by marriage Holy Roman Empress Luxemburg.
Rudolph "Valiant" Metz I Duke Lorraine [aged 26] was killed. His son John succeeded I Duke Lorraine.
Jean IV de Harcourt [aged 39] was killed.
Before 30th March 1347 [his wife] Eleanor Fitzalan [aged 27] died.
This is a translation of the 'Memoires of Jacques du Clercq', published in 1823 in two volumes, edited by Frederic, Baron de Reissenberg. In his introduction Reissenberg writes: 'Jacques du Clercq tells us that he was born in 1424, and that he was a licentiate in law and a counsellor to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in the castellany of Douai, Lille, and Orchies. It appears that he established his residence at Arras. In 1446, he married the daughter of Baldwin de la Lacherie, a gentleman who lived in Lille. We read in the fifth book of his Memoirs that his father, also named Jacques du Clercq, had married a lady of the Le Camelin family, from Compiègne. His ancestors, always attached to the counts of Flanders, had constantly served them, whether in their councils or in their armies.' The Memoires cover a period of nineteen years beginning in in 1448, ending in in 1467. It appears that the author had intended to extend the Memoirs beyond that date; no doubt illness or death prevented him from carrying out this plan. As Reissenberg writes the 'merit of this work lies in the simplicity of its narrative, in its tone of good faith, and in a certain air of frankness which naturally wins the reader’s confidence.' Du Clercq ranges from events of national and international importance, including events of the Wars of the Roses in England, to simple, everyday local events such as marriages, robberies, murders, trials and deaths, including that of his own father in Book 5; one of his last entries.
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On 2nd August 1347 [his mother] Alice Tyeys died.
Before 18th August 1347 Edmund St John 3rd Baron St John of Basing [aged 13] and [his future wife] Elizabeth Strange Baroness St John of Basing were married. She by marriage Baroness St John of Basing.
Before 29th July 1349 Gerard Lisle 1st Baron Lisle [aged 45] and Elizabeth Strange Baroness St John of Basing were married. There appears to be some confusion here as to whether Gerard Lisle 1st Baron Lisle married Elizabeth Strange Baroness St John of Basing daughter of John Strange 2nd Baron Strange Blackmere [deceased] and Ankaret Boteler Baroness Strange Blackmere [aged 40], or Elizabeth Strange [aged 51] daughter of John Strange 2nd Baron Strange Knockin and Isolde Chaworth Baroness Strange Knockin. The dates would suggest the former.
On 15th December 1357 Gerard Lisle 1st Baron Lisle [aged 53] was created 1st Baron Lisle of Kingston Lisle in Oxfordshire.
On 20th June 1358 Gerard Lisle 1st Baron Lisle [aged 54] summoned to a Council.
Before 1360 [his son] Warin Lisle 2nd Baron Lisle [aged 29] and [his daughter-in-law] Margaret Pipard Baroness Lisle [aged 36] were married.
After 1360 [his son] Warin Lisle 2nd Baron Lisle [aged 30] and [his daughter-in-law] Joan Unknown Baroness Lisle were married. She by marriage Baroness Lisle of Kingston Lisle in Oxfordshire.
On 9th June 1360 Gerard Lisle 1st Baron Lisle [aged 56] died at Stowe, Northamptonshire. His son Warin [aged 30] succeeded 2nd Baron Lisle of Kingston Lisle in Oxfordshire. Margaret Pipard Baroness Lisle [aged 37] by marriage Baroness Lisle of Kingston Lisle in Oxfordshire.
He was buried at St Michael's Church, Stowe Nine Churches [Map]. His effigy is of the Early Medieval Period with right leg over left.
Warin Lisle 2nd Baron Lisle: Around 1330 he was born to Gerard Lisle 1st Baron Lisle and Eleanor Fitzalan at Kingston Lisle, Oxfordshire. Before 1360 Warin Lisle 2nd Baron Lisle and Margaret Pipard Baroness Lisle were married. After 1360 Warin Lisle 2nd Baron Lisle and Joan Unknown Baroness Lisle were married. She by marriage Baroness Lisle of Kingston Lisle in Oxfordshire. On 28th June 1382 Warin Lisle 2nd Baron Lisle died. His daughter Margaret succeeded 3rd Baroness Lisle of Kingston Lisle in Oxfordshire.
Margaret Pipard Baroness Lisle: Around 1323 she was born to William Pipard. On 3rd August 1373 she died.
After 9th June 1360 Richard Pembridge [aged 40] and [his former wife] Elizabeth Strange Baroness St John of Basing were married.
In 1362 [his former wife] Elizabeth Strange Baroness St John of Basing died.
Kings Gwynedd: Great x 11 Grand Son of Maredudd ab Owain King Deheubarth King Powys King Gwynedd
Kings Seisyllwg: Great x 13 Grand Son of Hywel "Dda aka Good" King Seisyllwg King Deheubarth
Kings Powys: Great x 11 Grand Son of Maredudd ab Owain King Deheubarth King Powys King Gwynedd
Kings France: Great x 12 Grand Son of Hugh I King of the Franks
Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 16 Grand Son of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine
Great x 1 Grandfather: Robert Lisle 
GrandFather: Gerard Lisle 9 x Great Grand Son of Maredudd ab Owain King Deheubarth King Powys King Gwynedd
Great x 2 Grandfather: Henry Fitzgerald 
Great x 1 Grandmother: Alice Fitzgerald 8 x Great Grand Daughter of Maredudd ab Owain King Deheubarth King Powys King Gwynedd
Great x 4 Grandfather: William Ferrers 3rd Earl of Derby 
6 x Great Grand Son of Hugh I King of the Franks
Great x 3 Grandfather: Robert Ferrers 6 x Great Grand Son of Maredudd ab Owain King Deheubarth King Powys King Gwynedd
Great x 4 Grandmother: Sybil de Braose Countess Derby 
5 x Great Grand Daughter of Maredudd ab Owain King Deheubarth King Powys King Gwynedd
Great x 2 Grandmother: Ermentrude Ferrers 7 x Great Grand Daughter of Maredudd ab Owain King Deheubarth King Powys King Gwynedd
Great x 4 Grandfather: William Boclande
Great x 3 Grandmother: Joan Boclande
Great x 4 Grandmother: Maud Saye 
Father: Warin Lisle 10 x Great Grand Son of Maredudd ab Owain King Deheubarth King Powys King Gwynedd
Great x 1 Grandfather: Henry Armentieres
GrandMother: Alice Armentieres
Gerard Lisle 1st Baron Lisle 11 x Great Grand Son of Maredudd ab Owain King Deheubarth King Powys King Gwynedd
Great x 1 Grandfather: Henry Tyeys 1st Baron Tyeys
GrandFather: Henry Tyeys 2nd Baron Tyeys
Mother: Alice Tyeys