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: Goring
Before 1501 William Goring of Burton in Sussex was born to John Goring of Burton in Sussex [aged 30].
On 16th October 1520 [his father] John Goring of Burton in Sussex [aged 50] died.
Before 1521 William Goring of Burton in Sussex [aged 20] and Elizabeth Covert [aged 19] were married.
In 1521 [his son] Henry Goring of Burton in Sussex was born to William Goring of Burton in Sussex [aged 20] and [his wife] Elizabeth Covert [aged 20].
Before 1533 William Goring of Burton in Sussex [aged 32] was appointed Master of the Horse.
In 1539 William Goring of Burton in Sussex [aged 38] was elected MP Sussex.
In 1540 [his son] George Goring of Danny Park was born to William Goring of Burton in Sussex [aged 39] and [his wife] Elizabeth Covert [aged 39].
In 1540 William Goring of Burton in Sussex [aged 39] was appointed Lord Chamberlain of the Household to Anne of Cleves Queen Consort England [aged 24] which office he held until 1546.
In 1542 William Goring of Burton in Sussex [aged 41] was elected MP Sussex.
Jean de Waurin's Chronicle of England Volume 6 Books 3-6: The Wars of the Roses
Jean de Waurin was a French Chronicler, from the Artois region, who was born around 1400, and died around 1474. Waurin’s Chronicle of England, Volume 6, covering the period 1450 to 1471, from which we have selected and translated Chapters relating to the Wars of the Roses, provides a vivid, original, contemporary description of key events some of which he witnessed first-hand, some of which he was told by the key people involved with whom Waurin had a personal relationship.
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In 1545 William Goring of Burton in Sussex [aged 44] was elected MP Sussex.
In 1547 William Goring of Burton in Sussex [aged 46] was elected MP Sussex.
On 2nd March 1554 William Goring of Burton in Sussex [aged 53] died.
Henry Machyn's Diary. 11th March 1554. The xj day of Marche was bered ser Wylliam [Goring] [deceased] knyght in Sussex, with a standard, a penon of armes, [with coat] armur, target, sward, and a helmet; and ther was a h[erse of] wax and viij dosen of penselles and viij dosen of sh[ocheons], ij whyt and branchys of wax, and iiij dosen of stay[ff] torchys, and a harold of armes master Chastur; and he ded .... owe, and cared in-to the contrey by water to Kyngstun [Map], [and] after by land to ys on contrey.
Note. P. 57. Funeral of sir William Goring. The name here deficient is supplied by the useful MS. Harl. 897, f. 8: "Sir William Goryng knight dyed at Westmynster the 4th of Marche 1553, and was conveyd to his howse called Burton, and there buryed the xijth of Marche." He was one of the gentlemen of the king's privy chamber, and his monument at Bodecton alias Burton, is described in Dallaway's Rape of Arundel, p. 253 (with an error of viij for iiij). His funeral at length is in Coll. Arm. I. 3, f. 102.
On 10th November 1558 [his former wife] Elizabeth Covert [aged 57] died.
Kings Wessex: Great x 21 Grand Son of King Alfred "The Great" of Wessex
Kings Gwynedd: Great x 19 Grand Son of Maredudd ab Owain King Deheubarth King Powys King Gwynedd
Kings Seisyllwg: Great x 21 Grand Son of Hywel "Dda aka Good" King Seisyllwg King Deheubarth
Kings Powys: Great x 19 Grand Son of Maredudd ab Owain King Deheubarth King Powys King Gwynedd
Kings England: Great x 13 Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Kings France: Great x 17 Grand Son of Hugh I King of the Franks
Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 21 Grand Son of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine
Great x 1 Grandfather: John Goring
GrandFather: John Goring of Burton in Sussex 11 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Ralph Radmylde
Great x 1 Grandmother: Margaret Ramylde 10 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Camoys 1st Baron Camoys 7 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Richard Camoys 8 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Louches Baroness Camoys
Great x 2 Grandmother: Margaret Camoys 9 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Father: John Goring of Burton in Sussex 12 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
William Goring of Burton in Sussex 13 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England