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: Ros
In or before 1236 Robert Ros was born to William Ros [aged 35] and Lucy Fitzpiers [aged 35].
Before 1237 [his father] William Ros [aged 36] and [his mother] Lucy Fitzpiers [aged 36] were married.
Around 4th September 1242 William de Albini [aged 54] died. His daughter [his future wife] Isabel de Albini [aged 9] and her husband Robert Ros [aged 6] inherited Belvoir Castle [Map].
Around 1243 Robert Ros [aged 7] and Isabel de Albini [aged 10] were married. They were fourth cousins.
Around 1247 [his mother] Lucy Fitzpiers [aged 47] died.
Around 1250 [his daughter] Mary Ros Baroness de Braose was born to Robert Ros [aged 14] and [his wife] Isabel de Albini [aged 17]. She married before 1290 her fifth cousin William de Braose 1st Baron de Braose 9th Baron Bramber, son of John "Tadody aka Fatherless" Braose 8th Baron Bramber and Margred verch Llewellyn Baroness Clifford, and had issue.
Around 1255 [his son] William Ros 1st Baron Ros Helmsley was born to Robert Ros [aged 19] and [his wife] Isabel de Albini [aged 22]. He married before 1287 Maud Vaux Baroness Ros and had issue.
In 1260 [his daughter] Joan Ros Baroness Lovel was born to Robert Ros [aged 24] and [his wife] Isabel de Albini [aged 27] at Helmsley Castle, Yorkshire [Map]. She married before 1280 John Lovell 1st Baron Lovel and had issue.
In 1265 [his father] William Ros [aged 65] died. He was buried at Kirkham North Yorkshire.
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 1265 [his son] Robert Ros was born to Robert Ros [aged 29] and [his wife] Isabel de Albini [aged 32] at Helmsley Castle, Yorkshire [Map]. He married Erneburga Constable and had issue.
Before 1280 [his son-in-law] John Lovell 1st Baron Lovel [aged 25] and [his daughter] Joan Ros Baroness Lovel [aged 19] were married.
Around 1280 Robert Ros [aged 44] commissioned the extension of St Mary the Virgin Church, Bottesford, Leicestershire [Map] adding the nave and aisles in the Decorated style.
On 13th May 1285 Robert Ros [aged 49] died. His son William Ros 1st Baron Ros Helmsley [aged 30] inherited Belvoir Castle [Map].
On 15th June 1301 [his former wife] Isabel de Albini [aged 68] died.
Archaeologia Volume V32 1847 Appendix. 5th March, 1846. William Bromet, Esq., M.D., F.S.A., exhibited Rubbings from an incised memorial in Bottesford Church, originally at Belvoir Priory, in Leicestershire, and a sepulchral Brass in the chapel of Eton College.
The first is a Slab, commemorative of Robert de Roos, of Hamlake, who died 1285, and Isabella de Albini, his wife, heiress of Belvoir, who died 1301. It was removed to Bottesford at the dissolution of the neighbouring Priory. The inscription, into the text of which three armorial escucheons are introduced in a singular manner, records the interment of the heart of De Roos. The heraldic peculiarities exbibited by these escucheons are remarkable; the bearings are - 1, de Roos impaling de Albini; 2, de Albini dimidiated with de Roos; 3, de Roos quartering Badlesmere, with a blank impalement. Robert de Roos left a son, William, who had livery of his father's lands, but, as Dr. Bromet was disposed to conclude, did not become possessed of the honours and lands of Belvoir until the death of his mother. He was succeeded, in 1316, by his son William, who received immediate livery of the whole inheritance, and married Margery, sister and co-heir of Giles de Badlesmere. Dr. Bromet supposed that their great-grandson, John de Roos, who succeeded in 1384 and died in 1393 without issue, caused this memorial to his ancestors to be placed in the church of Belvoir. He noticed the singular marshalling of the bearing of Isabella, on the dexter side of the second escucheon, which may have arisen from her having retained possession of the honours of her parental barony of Belvoir, after the decease of her husband, as shewn by various documents cited by Dr. Bromet. That barony was also much more important than that of de Roos, and the bearing may on this account have been placed on the more honourable side of the escutcheon. The third escutcheon with the blank impalement may possibly be regarded as a shield of expectation ( according to the term used in Spain ), and attributed to John de Roos, who does not appear to have been married; it is obviously to be assigned to a date later than the demise of Margery de Badlesmere, in 1363, as until that event her arms could not with propriety have been quartered with those of de Roos.
[his daughter] Lucy Ros was born to Robert Ros and Isabel de Albini. She married William Rhyther and had issue.
[his son] John Ros was born to Robert Ros and Isabel de Albini.
[his daughter] Isabel Ros Baroness Fauconberg was born to Robert Ros and Isabel de Albini. She married before 24th June 1290 Walter Fauconberg 2nd Baron Fauconberg, son of Walter Fauconberg 1st Baron Fauconberg and Agnes Bruce, and had issue.
[his son] Peter Ros was born to Robert Ros and Isabel de Albini.
[his son] Nicholas Ros was born to Robert Ros and Isabel de Albini.
Kings Wessex: Great x 6 Grand Son of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England
Kings Scotland: Great Grand Son of King William I of Scotland
Kings France: Great x 7 Grand Son of Hugh I King of the Franks
Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 11 Grand Son of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine
Queen Anne Boleyn of England [1]
Catherine Parr Queen Consort England [3]
Jane Grey I Queen England and Ireland [1]
George Wharton [10]
President George Washington [2]
Brigadier-General Charles Fitz-Clarence [40]
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom [163]
Queen Consort Camilla Shand [69]
GrandFather: Robert Ros 
Father: William Ros Grand Son of King William I of Scotland
Great x 4 Grandfather: King Malcolm III of Scotland 
Son of King Duncan I of Scotland
Great x 3 Grandfather: King David I of Scotland Son of King Malcolm III of Scotland
Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret Wessex Queen Consort Scotland Grand Daughter of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Henry Dunkeld 3rd Earl Huntingdon 1st Earl of Northumbria Son of King David I of Scotland
Great x 4 Grandfather: Waltheof Northumbria 1st Earl of Northampton 1st Earl Huntingdon
Great x 3 Grandmother: Maud Queen Consort Scotland 6 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward "Elder" of the Anglo Saxons
Great x 4 Grandmother: Judith Flanders Countess Huntingdon 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward "Elder" of the Anglo Saxons
Great x 1 Grandfather: King William I of Scotland Grand Son of King David I of Scotland
Great x 4 Grandfather: William Warenne 1st Earl of Surrey 
Great x 3 Grandfather: William Warenne 2nd Earl of Surrey
Great x 4 Grandmother: Gundred Countess of Surrey
Great x 2 Grandmother: Ada Warenne Countess Huntingdon and Northumbria 3 x Great Grand Daughter of Hugh I King of the Franks
Great x 4 Grandfather: Hugh "Great" Capet 
Great Grand Son of Hugh I King of the Franks
Great x 3 Grandmother: Elizabeth Capet Countess Leicester, Meulan and Surrey 2 x Great Grand Daughter of Hugh I King of the Franks
Great x 4 Grandmother: Adelaide I Countess Vermandois 8 x Great Grand Daughter of Charles "Charlemagne aka Great" King of the Franks King Lombardy Holy Roman Emperor
GrandMother: Isabella Mac William Dunkeld Daughter of King William I of Scotland
Great x 1 Grandmother: Isabel d'Avenel Abenel
Robert Ros Great Grand Son of King William I of Scotland
Great x 1 Grandfather: Herbert Fitzherbert 
GrandFather: Piers Fitzherbert
Mother: Lucy Fitzpiers