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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Paternal Family Tree: De La Pole
Maternal Family Tree: Katherine Norwich 1306-1381
Around 1330 Michael de la Pole 1st Earl Suffolk was born to [his father] William Pole [aged 28] and [his mother] Katherine Norwich [aged 24].
In or before 1356 Michael de la Pole 1st Earl Suffolk [aged 25] and Katherine Wingfield Countess Suffolk [aged 15] were married.
In 1356 [his daughter] Philippa Pole Baroness Burnell was born to Michael de la Pole 1st Earl Suffolk [aged 26] and [his wife] Katherine Wingfield Countess Suffolk [aged 16] at Kingston upon Hull [Map]. She married 1375 Hugh Burnell 2nd Baron Burnell, son of Nicholas Haudlo Burnell 1st Baron Burnell, and had issue.
In 1361 [his son] Michael de la Pole 2nd Earl Suffolk was born to Michael de la Pole 1st Earl Suffolk [aged 31] and [his wife] Katherine Wingfield Countess Suffolk [aged 21]. He married before 1394 Katherine Stafford Countess Suffolk, daughter of Hugh Stafford 2nd Earl Stafford and Philippa Beauchamp Countess Stafford, and had issue.
In 1363 [his son] Thomas Pole was born to Michael de la Pole 1st Earl Suffolk [aged 33] and [his wife] Katherine Wingfield Countess Suffolk [aged 23].
In 1365 [his son] William Pole was born to Michael de la Pole 1st Earl Suffolk [aged 35] and [his wife] Katherine Wingfield Countess Suffolk [aged 25].
In 1366 Michael de la Pole 1st Earl Suffolk [aged 36] was created 1st Baron Pole. [his wife] Katherine Wingfield Countess Suffolk [aged 26] by marriage Baroness Pole.
On 21st June 1366 [his father] William Pole [aged 64] died at Kingston upon Hull [Map].
Around 1367 [his son] Richard Pole was born to Michael de la Pole 1st Earl Suffolk [aged 37] and [his wife] Katherine Wingfield Countess Suffolk [aged 27].
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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In or before 1369 [his brother-in-law] Richard Scrope 1st Baron Scrope of Bolton [aged 41] and [his sister] Blanche Pole Baroness Scrope Bolton [aged 40] were married. She by marriage Baroness Scrope of Bolton.
Around 1369 [his son] John Pole was born to Michael de la Pole 1st Earl Suffolk [aged 39] and [his wife] Katherine Wingfield Countess Suffolk [aged 29].
Around 1373 [his daughter] Anne Pole was born to Michael de la Pole 1st Earl Suffolk [aged 43] and [his wife] Katherine Wingfield Countess Suffolk [aged 33]. She married Gerard Lisle, son of Warin Lisle 2nd Baron Lisle and Margaret Pipard Baroness Lisle.
Around 1375 [his son-in-law] Hugh Burnell 2nd Baron Burnell [aged 28] and Philippa Pole Baroness Burnell [aged 19] were married. She the daughter of Michael de la Pole 1st Earl Suffolk [aged 45] and Katherine Wingfield Countess Suffolk [aged 35].
Around 1377 [his daughter] Elizabeth Pole was born to Michael de la Pole 1st Earl Suffolk [aged 47] and [his wife] Katherine Wingfield Countess Suffolk [aged 37].
Around 1378 [his sister] Blanche Pole Baroness Scrope Bolton [aged 50] died at Bolton, North Yorkshire.
On 28th January 1381 [his mother] Katherine Norwich [aged 75] died.
On 20th January 1382 King Richard II of England [aged 15] and Anne of Bohemia Queen Consort England [aged 15] were married at Westminster Abbey [Map] by Bishop Robert Braybrooke. She by marriage Queen Consort England. She the daughter of Charles IV King Bohemia Holy Roman Emperor Luxemburg and Elizabeth Pomerania Holy Roman Empress Luxemburg [aged 35]. He the son of Edward "Black Prince" and Joan "Fair Maid of Kent" Princess Wales [aged 53]. They were fourth cousins. He a grandson of King Edward III of England.
It was the first royal wedding that including a Royal Procession from the Tower of London [Map] to Westminster Abbey [Map].
Arranged by Michael de la Pole 1st Earl Suffolk [aged 52] the marriage not popular since it brought no dowry and little prospect of increased trade since Bohemia not a primary English trade partner.
In 1383 Michael de la Pole 1st Earl Suffolk [aged 53] was appointed Lord Chancellor.
In 1385 Michael de la Pole 1st Earl Suffolk [aged 55] was created 1st Earl Suffolk. [his wife] Katherine Wingfield Countess Suffolk [aged 45] by marriage Countess Suffolk.
Around 1386 [his daughter] Margaret Pole was born to Michael de la Pole 1st Earl Suffolk [aged 56] and [his wife] Katherine Wingfield Countess Suffolk [aged 46].
In 1386 [his wife] Katherine Wingfield Countess Suffolk [aged 46] 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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Around 1386 [his daughter] Philippa Pole Baroness Burnell [aged 30] died.
Around September 1386 the Wonderful Parliament sought to reform the administration of King Richard II of England [aged 19]. Michael de la Pole 1st Earl Suffolk [aged 56] was impeached for his failures in France.
Patent Rolls. 11th October 1387. Inspeximus and confirmation to John de Beauchamp of Holt [aged 68] of a writing of even date, of Robert de Veer [aged 25], duke of Ireland, granting, with the king's consent and licence, to the said John, for life, a yearly rent of £100 from the manors of Bovytracy and Holdesworthy, co. Devon, and Blakedon and Ludeford, co. Somerset, and all other his lands in the last named county. Witnessed by Alexander [aged 46], archbishop of York, Michael de la Pole [aged 57], Earl of Suffolk, Nicholas Slake, Richard Clifford, and Richard Felde. And further grant that in case the said Robert die in the lifetìme of the said John, the latter shall receive the said yearly rent for the term of his life, and if the said manors and lands are recovered out of the king's hand, he shall receive it at the Exchequer. By p.s.
On 3rd February 1388 the Merciless Parliament commenced. It ended on 4th June 1388. Its primary function was to prosecute members of the Court of King Richard II of England [aged 21]. The term "Merciless" is contemporary having been coined by the chronicler Henry Knighton.
Michael de la Pole 1st Earl Suffolk [aged 58] was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered in his absence. He had escaped to France.
Archbishop Alexander Neville [aged 47] was found guilty of treason and it was determined to imprison him for life in Rochester Castle, Kent [Map]. He fled to Louvain [Map] where he became a parish priest for the remainder of his life.
On 19th February 1388 Robert Tresilian was hanged naked and his throat cut. See Chronicle of Adam of Usk.
On 25th March 1388 Nicholas Brembre was hanged. He was buried at Christ Church, Greyfriars [Map].
On 5th May 1388 Simon Burley [aged 48] was executed despite the protestations of his friend Edmund of Langley 1st Duke of York [aged 46]. See Chronicle of Adam of Usk.
On 12th May 1388 John Beauchamp 1st Baron Beauchamp [aged 69] was beheaded at Tower Hill [Map]. He was buried at Worcester Cathedral [Map]. Baron Beauchamp of Kidderminster forfeit.
Robert de Vere 1st Duke Ireland [aged 26] was attainted.
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On 5th September 1389 Michael de la Pole 1st Earl Suffolk [aged 59] died in Paris [Map]. His son Michael [aged 28] succeeded 2nd Earl Suffolk, 2nd Baron Pole.
[his father] William Pole and [his mother] Katherine Norwich were married.
[his father] William Pole and Margaret Peverell were married. The difference in their ages was 20 years.
Maximilian Habsburg Spain II Holy Roman Emperor [1]
Maximilian "The Great" Wittelsbach I Duke Bavaria I Elector Bavaria [1]
Maria Anna Wittelsbach Holy Roman Empress [1]
Marie de Medici Queen Consort France [1]
Ferdinand of Spain II Holy Roman Emperor [2]
George Wharton [1]
Margaret of Austria Queen Consort Spain [2]
Anna of Austria Holy Roman Empress [2]
John George Wettin Elector Saxony [1]
Frederick William "Great Elector" Hohenzollern Elector Brandenburg [1]
Eleonora Gonzaga Queen Consort Bohemia [2]
Maria Leopoldine Habsburg Spain Queen Consort Bohemia [2]
Hedwig Eleonora Queen Consort Sweden [1]
Charlotte Amalie Hesse-Kassel Queen Consort Denmark and Norway [1]
Louise of Mecklenburg Güstrow Queen Consort Denmark and Norway [1]
Maria Anna Neuburg Queen Consort Spain [2]
Joseph I Holy Roman Emperor [2]
Charles Habsburg Spain VI Holy Roman Emperor [2]
Adolph Frederick King Sweden [1]
King George III of Great Britain and Ireland [2]
Charlotte Mecklenburg Strelitz Queen Consort England [1]
Caroline Matilda Hanover Queen Consort Denmark and Norway [2]
Marie Sophie Hesse-Kassel Queen Consort Denmark and Norway [3]
Caroline of Brunswick Queen Consort England [2]
Frederick William III King Prussia [1]
Frederica Mecklenburg Strelitz Queen Consort Hanover [2]
Queen Fredrika Dorotea Vilhelmina [2]
King Christian I of Norway and VIII of Denmark [3]
Frederick William IV King Prussia [2]
Frederick VII King of Denmark [5]
Queen Louise Hesse-Kassel of Denmark [6]
King Christian IX of Denmark [3]
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom [4]
Queen Sophia of Sweden and Norway [5]
Victoria Empress Germany Queen Consort Prussia [11]
King Edward VII of the United Kingdom [11]
Maria Christina of Austria Queen Consort Spain [3]
Brigadier-General Charles Fitz-Clarence [5]
Victoria Mary Teck Queen Consort England [6]
Frederick Charles I King Finland [6]
Alexandrine Mecklenburg-Schwerin Queen Consort Denmark [8]
Victoria Eugénie Mountbatten Queen Consort Spain [14]
Louise Mountbatten Queen Consort Sweden [17]
Ingrid Bernadotte Queen Consort Denmark [13]
Philip Mountbatten Duke Edinburgh [20]
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom [6]
Carl XVI King Sweden [27]
GrandFather: William Pole 
Father: William Pole
Michael de la Pole 1st Earl Suffolk
GrandFather: Walter Norwich
Mother: Katherine Norwich