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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Earl Cornwall is in Earldoms of England Alphabetically.
In 1072 Brian Penthièvre 1st Earl Cornwall was created 1st Earl Cornwall.
After 1084 Brian Penthièvre 1st Earl Cornwall died. Earl Cornwall extinct. He may have resigned the title before this date when he returned to live in Brittany.
In 1072 Robert Mortain Count Mortain 1st Earl Cornwall was created 1st Earl Cornwall.
In 1090 Robert Mortain Count Mortain 1st Earl Cornwall died. William Mortain Count Mortain 2nd Earl Cornwall succeeded Count Mortain Mortagne, 2nd Earl Cornwall.
Before 1106 William Mortain Count Mortain 2nd Earl Cornwall forfeit 2nd Earl Cornwall for having attacked the Normandy castles of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England.
On 28th September 1106 King Henry I "Beauclerc" England defeated his older brother Robert Curthose III Duke Normandy at the Battle of Tinchebray at Tinchebray, Orne.
William Warenne 2nd Earl of Surrey and Robert Beaumont 1st Earl of Leicester Count Meulan. Elias I Count Maine commanded the reserve. The following fought for Henry:
Alan Canhiart IV Duke Brittany.
Raoul Tosny.
William "Pincerna aka Butler" D'Aubigny.
Robert Grandesmil, and.
William Normandy I Count Évreux.
Robert Curthose III Duke Normandy was captured and spent the next twenty-eight years in prison; never released.
William Mortain Count Mortain 2nd Earl Cornwall was also captured. He spent the next thirty or more years in prison before becoming a monk. Earl Cornwall forfeit.
King Edgar Ætheling II of England was captured and subsequently released; Henry had married to Edgar's niece Edith aka Matilda Dunkeld Queen Consort England in 1100.
Robert II Belleme 2nd Count Ponthieu 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury escaped.
Robert Stuteville was captured.
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In 1141 Reginald de Dunstanville Fitzroy 1st Earl Cornwall was created 1st Earl Cornwall.
On 1st July 1175 Reginald de Dunstanville Fitzroy 1st Earl Cornwall died at Chertsey, Surrey. He was buried at Reading Abbey, Berkshire. Earl Cornwall extinct. His son appears to have predeceaseed him by months.
In 1225 Richard of Cornwall 1st Earl Cornwall was created 1st Earl Cornwall.
On 30th March 1231 Richard of Cornwall 1st Earl Cornwall and Isabel Marshal Countess Cornwall, Gloucester and Hertford were married at Fawley, Lambourn. She by marriage Countess Cornwall. She the daughter of William Marshal 1st Earl Pembroke and Isabel Clare Countess Pembroke. He the son of King John of England and Isabella of Angoulême Queen Consort England.
On 23rd November 1243 Richard of Cornwall 1st Earl Cornwall and Sanchia Provence Queen Consort Germany were married at Westminster Abbey. She by marriage Countess Cornwall. She the daughter of Raymond IV Count Provence and Beatrice Savoy Countess Provence. He the son of King John of England and Isabella of Angoulême Queen Consort England.
On 16th June 1269 Richard of Cornwall 1st Earl Cornwall and Beatrice Falkenburg Countess Cornwall were married at Kaiserslautern. She by marriage Countess Cornwall. He the son of King John of England and Isabella of Angoulême Queen Consort England.
On 2nd April 1272 Richard of Cornwall 1st Earl Cornwall died at Berkhamsted Castle, Hertfordshire. He was buried at Hailes Abbey. Edmund "Almain" 2nd Earl Cornwall succeeded 2nd Earl Cornwall.
On 6th October 1272 Edmund "Almain" 2nd Earl Cornwall and Margaret Clare Countess Cornwall were married at the Ruislip. She by marriage Countess Cornwall. She the daughter of Richard de Clare 6th Earl Gloucester 5th Earl Hertford and Maud Lacy Countess Gloucester and Hertford. He the son of Richard of Cornwall 1st Earl Cornwall and Sanchia Provence Queen Consort Germany.
On 25th September 1300 Edmund "Almain" 2nd Earl Cornwall died. Earl Cornwall extinct. He was buried, heart and flesh, at Ashridge, Hertfordshire. His bones were interred at Hailes Abbey during a service attended by King Edward I of England.
On 6th August 1307 Piers Gaveston 1st Earl Cornwall was created 1st Earl Cornwall by King Edward II of England; Earl Cornwall usually reserved for the heir. The earldom gave Gaveston substantial landholdings over great parts of England, to the value of £4,000 a year. These possessions consisted of most of Cornwall, as well as parts of Devonshire in the south-west, land in Berkshire and Oxfordshire centred on the honour of Wallingford, most of the eastern part of Lincolnshire, and the honour of Knaresborough in Yorkshire, with the territories that belonged to it.
On 5th August 1309 Piers Gaveston 1st Earl Cornwall was restored 1st Earl Cornwall.
On 19th June 1312 Piers Gaveston 1st Earl Cornwall was taken to Blacklow Hill, Warwickshire where he was beheaded. Earl Cornwall extinct. Blacklow Hill, Warwickshire being outside of the lands of Guy Beauchamp 10th Earl of Warwick. Gaveston's body was left where it lay eventually being recovered by Dominican friars who took it to King's Langley Priory, Hertfordshire.
In 1330 John of Eltham 1st Earl Cornwall was created 1st Earl Cornwall.
On 30th September 1336 John of Eltham 1st Earl Cornwall died at Perth. Earl Cornwall extinct. He was buried at the east side of the doorway to the Chapel of St Edmund, Westminster Abbey. His monument comprises a head of the statue encircled by a coronet of large and small leaves, remarkable for being the earliest specimen of the kind. The details of plate-armour, surcoat, gorget, coroneted helmet, with other accessories, give great antiquarian interest to this work. It was formerly surmounted by a canopy, of which, however, no traces are now visible.