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: Clarges
On 4th July 1653 Walter Clarges 1st Baronet was born to Thomas Clarges [aged 35] in Kingsey, Buckinghamshire.
Samuel Pepys' Diary. 4th May 1660. In the afternoon came a minister on board, one Mr. Sharpe, who is going to the King; who tells me that Commissioners are chosen both of Lords and Commons to go to the King; and that [his father] Dr. Clarges [aged 42]1 is going to him from the Army, and that he will be here to-morrow. My letters at night tell me, that the House did deliver their letter to Sir John Greenville, in answer to the King's [aged 29] sending, and that they give him £500 for his pains, to buy him a jewel, and that besides the £50,000 ordered to be borrowed of the City for the present use of the King, the twelve companies of the City do give every one of them to his Majesty, as a present, £1000.
Note 1. Thomas Clarges, physician to the army, created a baronet2, 1674, died 1695. He had been previously knighted; his sister Anne married General Monk [aged 51]. "The Parliament also permitted General Monk to send Mr. Clarges, his brother-in-law, accompanied with some officers of the army, to assure his Majesty of the fidelity and obedience of the army, which had made publick and solemn protestations thereof, after the Letter and Declaration was communicated unto them by the General". Sir William Lowers Relation... of the Voiage and Residence which... Charles the II Hath made in Holland, Hague, 1660, folio.
Note 2. Twenty Trees. Appears to be a mistake. It was Thomas Clarge's son Walter Clarges 1st Baronet [aged 6] who was created a baronet in 1674.
On 3rd February 1671 Walter Clarges 1st Baronet [aged 17] was educated at Merton College, Oxford University.
On 30th October 1674 Walter Clarges 1st Baronet [aged 21] was created 1st Baronet Clarges of St Martin's in the Fields in Middlesex.
Before 25th July 1688 Walter Clarges 1st Baronet [aged 35] and Jane Herbert were married.
On 25th July 1688 [his son] Thomas Clarges 2nd Baronet was born to Walter Clarges 1st Baronet [aged 35] and [his wife] Jane Herbert. He married before 1721 his fifth cousin once removed Frances Berkeley, daughter of John Berkeley 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge and Barbara Villiers Viscountess Fitzhardinge, and had issue.
In 1690 [his wife] Jane Herbert died.
Around 1695 [his daughter] Anne Clarges was born to Walter Clarges 1st Baronet [aged 41]. She married before 18th August 1720 Laurence Shirley, son of Robert Shirley 1st Earl Ferrers and Elizabeth Washington Baroness Ferrers Chartley, and had issue.
On 4th October 1695 [his father] Thomas Clarges [aged 77] died.
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough
A canon regular of the Augustinian Guisborough Priory, Yorkshire, formerly known as The Chronicle of Walter of Hemingburgh, describes the period from 1066 to 1346. Before 1274 the Chronicle is based on other works. Thereafter, the Chronicle is original, and a remarkable source for the events of the time. This book provides a translation of the Chronicle from that date. The Latin source for our translation is the 1849 work edited by Hans Claude Hamilton. Hamilton, in his preface, says: 'In the present work we behold perhaps one of the finest samples of our early chronicles, both as regards the value of the events recorded, and the correctness with which they are detailed; Nor will the pleasing style of composition be lightly passed over by those capable of seeing reflected from it the tokens of a vigorous and cultivated mind, and a favourable specimen of the learning and taste of the age in which it was framed.'
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John Evelyn's Diary. 10th May 1700. The great trial between Sir Walter Clarges [aged 46] and Mr. Sherwin concerning the legitimacy of the late Duke of Albemarle, on which depended an estate of £1,500 a year; the verdict was given for Sir Walter, 19th. Serjeant Wright [aged 46] at last accepted the Great Seal.
In March 1706 Walter Clarges 1st Baronet [aged 52] died. His son Thomas [aged 17] succeeded 2nd Baronet Clarges of St Martin's in the Fields in Middlesex.
[his son] Walter Clarges was born to Walter Clarges 1st Baronet. He married Elizabeth Shirley, daughter of Robert Shirley 1st Earl Ferrers and Elizabeth Washington Baroness Ferrers Chartley.
GrandFather: John Clarges
Father: Thomas Clarges