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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Paternal Family Tree: Grey
Before 1434 [his father] Henry Grey 3rd or 6th Baron Grey of Codnor [aged 28] and [his mother] Margaret Percy Baroness Grey Codnor [aged 24] were married. She by marriage Baroness Grey of Codnor. They were fifth cousins. She a great x 5 granddaughter of King Henry III of England.
In 1435 Henry Grey 4th or 7th Baron Grey of Codnor was born to [his father] Henry Grey 3rd or 6th Baron Grey of Codnor [aged 30] and [his mother] Margaret Percy Baroness Grey Codnor [aged 26].
On 17th July 1444 [his father] Henry Grey 3rd or 6th Baron Grey of Codnor [aged 39] died. His son Henry [aged 9] succeeded 4th or 7th Baron Grey of Codnor.
On 29th August 1454 Henry Grey 4th or 7th Baron Grey of Codnor [aged 19] and Katherine Strangeways Baroness Grey Codnor were married. She by marriage Baroness Grey of Codnor. She the daughter of Thomas Strangeways and Katherine Neville Duchess Norfolk [aged 54]. They were third cousin once removed. She a great x 2 granddaughter of King Edward III of England.
On 12th January 1460 John Boteler [aged 30] and [his future wife] Margaret Stanley Baroness Grey Codnor [aged 25] were married at Bewsey, Warrington, Lancashire. They were fourth cousin once removed. She a great x 4 granddaughter of King Edward I of England.
On 17th February 1461 the Lancastrian army defeated the Yorkist army at Second Battle of St Albans and rescued King Henry VI of England and II of France [aged 39]. The Lancastrian army was commanded by Henry Holland 3rd Duke Exeter [aged 30] and included Henry Percy 3rd Earl of Northumberland [aged 39], [his brother-in-law] John Mowbray 3rd Duke of Norfolk [aged 45], Henry Grey 4th or 7th Baron Grey of Codnor [aged 26], Henry Roos and Richard Welles 7th Baron Welles, Baron Willoughby [aged 33].
Thomas Ros 9th Baron Ros Helmsley [aged 33], William Tailboys 7th Baron Kyme [aged 46], John Talbot 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury [aged 12] and Thomas Tresham [aged 41] were knighted.
The Yorkist army included Richard "Kingmaker" Neville Earl Warwick, 6th Earl Salisbury [aged 32], William Fitzalan 9th or 16th Earl of Arundel [aged 43], John Wenlock 1st Baron Wenlock [aged 61] and Henry Bourchier 2nd Count of Eu 1st Earl Essex [aged 57]. John Neville 1st Marquess Montagu [aged 30] was captured. Robert Poynings [aged 42] and James Luttrell [aged 34] were killed.
John Grey [aged 29] was killed fighting for Lancaster. A death that was to have far reaching consequences; his widow Elizabeth Woodville Queen Consort England [aged 24] subsequently married King Edward IV of England [aged 18].
During the battle William Bonville 1st Baron Bonville [aged 68] and Thomas Kyriell [aged 65] were assigned to the protection of the King Henry VI. After the battle both were beheaded against all decent laws of battle.
William Bonville 1st Baron Bonville was beheaded. His great granddaughter Cecily succeeded 2nd Baroness Bonville.
Thomas Kyriell was beheaded.
William Cotton [aged 21] was killed.
On 28th September 1464 [his mother] Margaret Percy Baroness Grey Codnor [aged 55] died.
English Historical Literature in the Fifteenth Century Appendix 13. On the 21st day of the same month of May [1471], King Edward [aged 29] returned to the City of London in noble triumph, having Margaret [aged 41], formerly queen, led before his army in a chariot. He rode through the middle of the city, with banners and standards unfurled, as though on a campaign or expedition undertaken against the aforementioned Kentish rebels. In his company at that time were: His brothers, the Dukes of Clarence [aged 21] and Gloucester [aged 18]; the Dukes of Norfolk [aged 46], Suffolk [aged 28], and Buckingham [aged 16]; the Earls of Northumberland [aged 22], Shrewsbury [aged 22], Rivers [aged 31], Essex [aged 67], Wiltshire [aged 43], and Pembroke [aged 20]. Among the barons and lords: Audley [aged 45], [his future brother-in-law] Stanley [aged 36], Grey of Ruthin [aged 17], the son and heir of the Earl of Kent [aged 54], Grey of Codnor [aged 36], Berners [aged 55], Cromwell1, Dacre2, Hastings [aged 59], Howard [aged 28]3, Dynham [aged 38], Cobham [aged 23], Mautravers [aged 21], the son and heir of Arundel [aged 53], Bourchier, Dudley [aged 70], Scrope [aged 33], and Ferrers [aged 16], along with many other nobles, knights, and esquires, and a greater number of mounted men than had ever been seen before.
Eodem mensis Maii die xxj rediit Rex Edwardus ad ciuitatem London, cum nobili triumpho, faciens secum adduci dictam Margaretam, olim reginam, in curru precedente exercitui. Et equitauit per medium ciuitatis, vexillis et standardis displicatis, tanquam in itinere et expedicione capta aduersus prefatos Kentenses, In cuius comitiva tune fuerunt duces de Clarence et Gloucester ipsius fratres; item duces de Northfolke et Southfolk, et de Bukyngham; item comites de Northumberland, de Shrovesbury, de Ryuers, de Essex, de Wyltshyre, de Pembroke; Barones, domini de Audeley, de Stanley, de Grey Ruthyn, films et heres de Comitis Cancie, de Grey Cotenor, de Barreners, de Cromwell, de Dacres, de Hastynges, de Howard, de Dynham, de Cobham, de Mautravers, filius et heres de Arundell, de Bourgcher, de Dudley, de Scrope, de Ferrers, cum aliis nobilibus, militibus et armigeris, ac multitudine equitum maiore quam ante sit visa.
Note 1. Unclear as to who this refers to since Ralph Cromwell 3rd Baron Cromwell died in 1456.
Note 2. Unclear as to who this refers to since Thomas Dacre 6th Baron Dacre Gilsland died in 1458, Ralph Dacre 1st Baron Dacre Gilsland died in 1461 and Humphrey Dacre 1st Baron Dacre Gilsland [aged 47] was created Baron Dacre in either 1473 or 1482.
Note 3. We take this to refer to Thomas Howard 2nd Duke of Norfolk, son of John Howard 1st Duke of Norfolk, referring to his subsiduary title.
Around 1475 William Berkeley [aged 24] and [his future wife] Katherine Stourton Baroness Grey Codnor [aged 20] were married. They were fifth cousins.
Before 1481 Henry Grey 4th or 7th Baron Grey of Codnor [aged 45] and Margaret Stanley Baroness Grey Codnor [aged 45] were married. She by marriage Baroness Grey of Codnor. They were fourth cousin once removed. She a great x 4 granddaughter of King Edward I of England.
In 1481 [his wife] Margaret Stanley Baroness Grey Codnor [aged 46] died.
On 22nd August 1485 King Richard III of England [aged 32] was killed during the Battle of Bosworth. His second cousin once removed Henry Tudor [aged 28] succeeded VII King of England.
Humphrey Cotes [aged 35] died. It isn't clear on which side he was fighting.
Those supporting Henry Tudor included:
John Blount 3rd Baron Mountjoy [aged 35].
John Cheney 1st Baron Cheyne [aged 43].
Richard Guildford [aged 35].
Walter Hungerford [aged 21].
[his former brother-in-law] Thomas Stanley 1st Earl of Derby [aged 50].
Edward Woodville Lord Scales [aged 29].
Edward Courtenay 1st Earl Devon [aged 26].
Rhys ap Thomas Deheubarth [aged 36].
Jasper Tudor 1st Duke Bedford [aged 53].
William Beaumont 2nd Viscount Beaumont [aged 47].
Giles Daubeney 1st Baron Daubeney [aged 34].
William Stanley [aged 50].
Roger Kynaston of Myddle and Hordley [aged 52].
Henry Marney 1st Baron Marney [aged 38].
William Brandon [aged 29] was killed.
James Harrington [aged 55] was killed.
John Howard 1st Duke of Norfolk [aged 60] was killed and attainted. He was buried firstly at Thetford Priory, Norfolk [Map] and therafter at Church of St Michael the Archangel, Framlingham [Map]. Duke Norfolk, Baron Mowbray, Baron Segrave, Baron Howard forfeit.
John Sacheverell [aged 85] was killed.
Philibert Chandee 1st Earl Bath
William Norreys [aged 44], Gilbert Talbot [aged 33], John de Vere 13th Earl of Oxford [aged 42] and John Savage [aged 41] commanded,.
Robert Poyntz [aged 35] was knighted.
Those who fought for Richard III included:
John Bourchier 6th Baron Ferrers of Groby [aged 47].
John Conyers [aged 74].
Thomas Dacre 2nd Baron Dacre Gilsland [aged 17].
William Berkeley 1st Marquess Berkeley [aged 59].
Richard Fitzhugh 6th Baron Fitzhugh [aged 28].
John Scrope 5th Baron Scrope of Bolton [aged 48].
Thomas Scrope 6th Baron Scrope of Masham [aged 26].
Henry Grey 4th or 7th Baron Grey of Codnor [aged 50].
Edmund Grey 1st Earl Kent [aged 68].
Ralph Neville 3rd Earl of Westmoreland [aged 29].
John de la Pole Earl Lincoln 1st [aged 23].
Humphrey Stafford [aged 59].
George Talbot 4th Earl of Shrewsbury [aged 17].
Thomas Howard 2nd Duke of Norfolk [aged 42] was wounded, captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London [Map] for three years. He was attainted; Earl Surrey forfeit.
Francis Lovell 1st Viscount Lovell [aged 29] fought and escaped.
John Zouche 7th Baron Zouche Harringworth [aged 26] was captured.
John Babington [aged 62], William Alington [aged 65], Robert Mortimer [aged 43], Robert Brackenbury, Richard Ratclyffe [aged 55] and Richard Bagot [aged 73] were killed
Walter Devereux Baron Ferrers of Chartley [aged 53] was killed.
William Catesby [aged 35] was executed at Leicester, Leicestershire [Map] after the battle.
George Stanley 9th Baron Strange Knockin 5th Baron Mohun Dunster [aged 25] held as a hostage by Richard III before the Battle of Bosworth.
Henry Percy 4th Earl of Northumberland [aged 36] betrayed King Richard III of England by not committing his forces at the Battle of Bosworth.
John Iwardby [aged 35] was killed.
Before 1492 Henry Grey 4th or 7th Baron Grey of Codnor [aged 56] and Katherine Stourton Baroness Grey Codnor [aged 36] were married. She by marriage Baroness Grey of Codnor. The difference in their ages was 20 years. They were fourth cousins.
In April 1496 Henry Grey 4th or 7th Baron Grey of Codnor [aged 61] died. Baron Grey of Codnor abeyant.
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.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
Around 1497 William Pole [aged 19] and [his former wife] Katherine Stourton Baroness Grey Codnor [aged 42] were married. Her brother [his former brother-in-law] William Stourton 5th Baron Stourton [aged 40] would later marry his sister Catherine Pole [aged 20]; Marriage of Two Sets of Siblings. The difference in their ages was 23 years; she, unusually, being older than him. He the son of John de la Pole 2nd Duke of Suffolk and Elizabeth York Duchess Suffolk [aged 52]. They were third cousins. He a great x 3 grandson of King Edward III of England.
In November 1521 [his former wife] Katherine Stourton Baroness Grey Codnor [aged 66] died.
William Troutbeck and Margaret Stanley Baroness Grey Codnor were married.
Richard de Vere and [his mother] Margaret Percy Baroness Grey Codnor were married. He the son of Richard de Vere 11th Earl of Oxford and Alice Sergeaux Countess Oxford. They were third cousin once removed. She a great x 5 granddaughter of King Henry III of England.
Kings Wessex: Great x 13 Grand Son of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England
Kings Gwynedd: Great x 9 Grand Son of Owain "Great" King Gwynedd
Kings Seisyllwg: Great x 15 Grand Son of Hywel "Dda aka Good" King Seisyllwg King Deheubarth
Kings Powys: Great x 10 Grand Son of Maredudd ap Bleddyn King Powys
Kings England: Great x 6 Grand Son of King Henry III of England
Kings Scotland: Great x 12 Grand Son of King Duncan I of Scotland
Kings Franks: Great x 20 Grand Son of Charles "Charlemagne aka Great" King of the Franks King Lombardy Holy Roman Emperor
Kings France: Great x 13 Grand Son of Hugh I King of the Franks
Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 17 Grand Son of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine
Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry Grey 1st Baron Grey of Codnor 
Great x 3 Grandfather: Richard Grey 2nd Baron Grey of Codnor 6 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Eleanor Courtenay Baroness Grey Codnor 
5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 2 Grandfather: John Grey 3rd Baron Grey of Codnor 7 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Robert Fitzpayn 1st Baron Fitzpayn 
Great x 3 Grandmother: Joan Fitzpayn Baroness Grey Codnor
Great x 4 Grandmother: Isabella Clifford 
Great x 1 Grandfather: Henry Grey 8 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Gerard Lisle 
Great x 3 Grandfather: Warin Lisle
Great x 4 Grandmother: Alice Armentieres
Great x 2 Grandmother: Alice Lisle Baroness Grey Codnor
Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry Tyeys 2nd Baron Tyeys
Great x 3 Grandmother: Alice Tyeys
GrandFather: Richard Grey 1st or 4th Baron Grey of Codnor 6 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Cobham 
Great x 3 Grandfather: Reginald Cobham
Great x 4 Grandmother: Joan Neville 
Great x 2 Grandfather: Reginald Cobham 1st Baron Cobham 4 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Walter Devereux 
Great x 3 Grandmother: Joan Devereux 3 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Margery de Braose 
2 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England
Great x 1 Grandmother: Joan Cobham 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Maurice Berkeley 7th and 2nd Baron Berkeley 
2 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Thomas Berkeley 8th and 3rd Baron Berkeley 3 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Eva Zouche 
Great x 2 Grandmother: Joan Berkeley Baroness Cobham Sternborough 4 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Roger Mortimer 1st Earl March 
3 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Margaret Mortimer Baroness Berkeley 4 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Joan Geneville Baroness Mortimer 2nd Baroness Geneville 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Father: Henry Grey 3rd or 6th Baron Grey of Codnor 7 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 1 Grandfather: Ralph Bassett 1st Baron Basset Sapcote
GrandMother: Elizabeth Bassett Baroness Grey Codnor
Henry Grey 4th or 7th Baron Grey of Codnor 6 x Great Grand Son of King Henry III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry Percy 10th and 2nd Baron Percy 5 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Henry Percy 11th and 3rd Baron Percy 5 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Idonia Clifford Baroness Percy 4 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Henry Percy 1st Earl of Northumberland 2 x Great Grand Son of King Henry III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry Plantagenet 3rd Earl of Leicester 3rd Earl Lancaster Grand Son of King Henry III of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Mary Plantagenet Baroness Percy 
Great Grand Daughter of King Henry III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Maud Chaworth 
Great x 1 Grandfather: Thomas Percy 3 x Great Grand Son of King Henry III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Ralph Neville 1st Baron Neville of Raby
Great x 3 Grandfather: Ralph Neville 2nd Baron Neville of Raby 8 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Euphemia Clavering Baroness Neville Raby 
7 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Margaret Neville 4 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Hugh Audley 1st Baron Audley of Stratton Audley 
2 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Alice Audley Baroness Greystoke and Neville 3 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Iseult Mortimer 3 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England
GrandFather: Henry Percy of Atholl 4 x Great Grand Son of King Henry III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: David Strathbogie 10th Earl Atholl 3 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: David III Strathbogie 11th Earl Atholl 4 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: David IV Strathbogie 12th Earl Atholl 5 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry Beaumont Earl Buchan 
3 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Katherine Beaumont Countess Atholl 4 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Alice Comyn Baroness Beaumont 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 1 Grandmother: Elizabeth Strathbogie 3 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: William Ferrers 1st Baron Ferrers of Groby 
5 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Henry Ferrers 2nd Baron Ferrers of Groby 6 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Ellen or Margaret Segrave Baroness Ferrers Groby 
Great x 2 Grandmother: Elizabeth Ferrers Countess Atholl 2 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Theobald Verdun 2nd Lord Verdun 
Great x 3 Grandmother: Isabel Verdun Baroness Ferrers Groby Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Clare Lady Verdun 
Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Mother: Margaret Percy Baroness Grey Codnor 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry III of England