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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Earl Chatham is in Earldoms of England Alphabetically, Earldoms of England Chronologically, Extinct Earldoms of England.
Summary
4th August 1766. William "The Elder" Pitt 1st Earl Chatham [aged 57] created.
11th May 1778. Son John Pitt 2nd Earl Chatham [aged 21] succeeded.
24th September 1835. John Pitt 2nd Earl Chatham extinct.
On 4th August 1766 William "The Elder" Pitt 1st Earl Chatham [aged 57] was created 1st Earl Chatham. Hester Granville Countess Chatham [aged 45] by marriage Countess Chatham.
On 11th May 1778 William "The Elder" Pitt 1st Earl Chatham [aged 69] died. His son John [aged 21] succeeded 2nd Earl Chatham. He was initally bured at Hayes. After an address by the Commons to the king praying that the deceased statesman might be buried with the honours of a public funeral a sum was voted for a public monument which was erected over a new grave in Westminster Abbey. The monument, by the sculptor John Bacon, has a figure of Pitt above statues of Britannia and Neptune with figures representing Prudence, Fortitude, the Earth and also a sea creature. See Photograph by John Benjamin Stone
On 10th July 1783 John Pitt 2nd Earl Chatham [aged 26] and Mary Elizabeth Townshend Countess Chatham were married. She by marriage Countess Chatham. He the son of William "The Elder" Pitt 1st Earl Chatham and Hester Granville Countess Chatham [aged 62]. They were half fifth cousin once removed.
On 24th September 1835 John Pitt 2nd Earl Chatham [aged 78] died. Earl Chatham, Baron Chatham of Chatham in Kent extinct.