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.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
Earl Stafford is in Earldoms of England Alphabetically.
There have been two creations of Earl Stafford:
1st. 1351. Ralph Stafford 1st Earl Stafford. Forfeit. 17th May 1521. Trial and Execution of the Duke of Buckingham.
2nd. 5th October 1688. Mary Stafford Countess Stafford. Extinct. 1st April 1762.
Earl Stafford is also in Earldoms of England Chronologically, Forfeit Earldoms of England.
Summary
1351. Ralph Stafford 1st Earl Stafford (age 49) created. See 1351 Creation of Peers.
31st August 1372. Son Hugh Stafford 2nd Earl Stafford (age 36) succeeded.
16th October 1386. Son Thomas Stafford 3rd Earl Stafford (age 18) succeeded.
4th July 1392. Brother William Stafford 4th Earl Stafford (age 16) succeeded.
6th April 1395. Brother Edmund Stafford 5th Earl Stafford (age 17) succeeded.
21st July 1403. Son Humphrey Stafford 1st Duke of Buckingham succeeded. See Battle of Shrewsbury.
10th July 1460. Grandson Henry Stafford 2nd Duke of Buckingham (age 5) succeeded. See 1460 Battle of Northampton.
2nd November 1483. Son Edward Stafford 3rd Duke of Buckingham (age 5) succeeded. See Buckingham's Rebellion.
17th May 1521. Edward Stafford 3rd Duke of Buckingham forfeit. See Trial and Execution of the Duke of Buckingham.
In 1351 Henry of Grosmont 1st Duke Lancaster (age 41) was created 1st Duke Lancaster by King Edward III of England (age 38). Isabel Beaumont Duchess Lancaster (age 31) by marriage Duchess Lancaster.
Lionel of Antwerp 1st Duke of Clarence (age 12) was created 1st Earl of Ulster.
John of Gaunt 1st Duke Lancaster (age 10) was created 1st Earl Richmond.
Ralph Stafford 1st Earl Stafford (age 49) was created 1st Earl Stafford.
On 31st August 1372 Ralph Stafford 1st Earl Stafford (age 70) died. His son Hugh (age 36) succeeded 2nd Earl Stafford, 3rd Baron Stafford. Philippa Beauchamp Countess Stafford (age 38) by marriage Countess Stafford.
On 16th October 1386 Hugh Stafford 2nd Earl Stafford (age 50) died returning from his Pilgrimage to Jerusalem. His son Thomas (age 18) succeeded 3rd Earl Stafford, 4th Baron Stafford.
Around 1390 Thomas Stafford 3rd Earl Stafford (age 22) and Anne of Gloucester Plantagenet Countess Eu and Stafford (age 7) were married. She by marriage Countess Stafford. She would, eight years later marry his younger brother Edmund Stafford 5th Earl Stafford (age 11); an example of a Married to Two Siblings. She the daughter of Thomas of Woodstock 1st Duke of Gloucester (age 34) and Eleanor Bohun Duchess Gloucester (age 24). He the son of Hugh Stafford 2nd Earl Stafford and Philippa Beauchamp Countess Stafford (age 56). They were third cousin once removed. He a great x 3 grandson of King Edward I of England. She a granddaughter of King Edward III of England.
On 4th July 1392 Thomas Stafford 3rd Earl Stafford (age 24) died at Westminster [Map]. His brother William (age 16) succeeded 4th Earl Stafford, 5th Baron Stafford.
On 6th April 1395 William Stafford 4th Earl Stafford (age 19) died at Pleshey Castle [Map]. He was buried at Tonbridge, Kent [Map]. His brother Edmund (age 17) succeeded 5th Earl Stafford, 6th Baron Stafford.
On 28th June 1398 Edmund Stafford 5th Earl Stafford (age 20) and Anne of Gloucester Plantagenet Countess Eu and Stafford (age 15) were married. She by marriage Countess Stafford. She had, around eight years previously, married his brother Thomas Stafford 3rd Earl Stafford who had died in 1392; an example of Married to Two Siblings. She the daughter of Thomas of Woodstock 1st Duke of Gloucester and Eleanor Bohun Duchess Gloucester (age 32). He the son of Hugh Stafford 2nd Earl Stafford and Philippa Beauchamp Countess Stafford (age 64). They were third cousin once removed. He a great x 3 grandson of King Edward I of England. She a granddaughter of King Edward III of England.
On 21st July 1403 King Henry IV of England (age 36), with his son the future King Henry V of England (age 16), defeated the rebel army of Henry "Hotspur" Percy (age 39) at the Battle of Shrewsbury at the site now known as Battlefield, Shrewsbury [Map]. King Henry V of England took an arrow to the side of his face. John Stanley (age 53) was wounded in the throat. Thomas Strickland (age 36) fought and was awarded £38 and two of the rebel Henry's horses. Richard Beauchamp 13th Earl Warwick (age 21) fought for the King. Walter Blount (age 55), the King's Standard Bearer, was killed by Archibald Douglas 1st Duke Touraine (age 31).
Thomas Wendesley (age 59), Edmund Cockayne (age 47) and Robert Goushill were killed.
Edmund Stafford 5th Earl Stafford (age 25) was killed. His son Humphrey Stafford succeeded 6th Earl Stafford, 7th Baron Stafford.
Hugh Shirley (age 52) was killed; he was one of four knights dressed as King Henry IV of England.
Of the rebels, Henry "Hotspur" Percy, Madog Kynaston (age 43) and John Clifton were killed.
Thomas Percy 1st Earl of Worcester (age 60) was beheaded after the battle. Earl Worcester extinct.
Richard Vernon 11th Baron Shipbrook (age 48) was hanged. Baron Shipbrook forfeit.
John Rossall was killed. His sister Eleanor Rossall (age 26) inherited a half-share in the Rossall Shrewsbury [Map] estates.
John Massey (age 65) was killed.
Become a Member via our Buy Me a Coffee page to read more.
William of Worcester's Chronicle of England
William of Worcester, born around 1415, and died around 1482 was secretary to John Fastolf, the renowned soldier of the Hundred Years War, during which time he collected documents, letters, and wrote a record of events. Following their return to England in 1440 William was witness to major events. Twice in his chronicle he uses the first person: 1. when writing about the murder of Thomas, 7th Baron Scales, in 1460, he writes '… and I saw him lying naked in the cemetery near the porch of the church of St. Mary Overie in Southwark …' and 2. describing King Edward IV's entry into London in 1461 he writes '… proclaimed that all the people themselves were to recognize and acknowledge Edward as king. I was present and heard this, and immediately went down with them into the city'. William’s Chronicle is rich in detail. It is the source of much information about the Wars of the Roses, including the term 'Diabolical Marriage' to describe the marriage of Queen Elizabeth Woodville’s brother John’s marriage to Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, he aged twenty, she sixty-five or more, and the story about a paper crown being placed in mockery on the severed head of Richard, 3rd Duke of York.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
Before 18th October 1424 Humphrey Stafford 6th Earl Stafford (age 22) and Anne Neville Duchess Buckingham (age 16) were married. She by marriage Countess Stafford. She the daughter of Ralph Neville 1st Earl of Westmoreland (age 60) and Joan Beaufort Countess of Westmoreland (age 45). He the son of Edmund Stafford 5th Earl Stafford and Anne of Gloucester Plantagenet Countess Eu and Stafford (age 41). They were second cousins. He a great grandson of King Edward III of England. She a great granddaughter of King Edward III of England.
On 10th July 1460 the Yorkist army led by the future King Edward IV of England (age 18) and including Richard "Kingmaker" Neville Earl Warwick, 6th Earl Salisbury (age 31), Archbishop George Neville (age 28), William Neville 1st Earl Kent (age 55), Edward Brooke 6th Baron Cobham (age 45) and John Scrope 5th Baron Scrope of Bolton (age 22) defeated the Lancastrian army at the 1460 Battle of Northampton.
Edmund Grey 1st Earl Kent (age 43) had started the day as part of the Lancastrian army but did nothing to prevent the Yorkist army attacking.
King Henry VI of England and II of France (age 38) was captured.
Humphrey Stafford 1st Duke of Buckingham (age 57) was killed. His grandson Henry (age 5) succeeded 2nd Duke of Buckingham, 7th Earl Stafford, 8th Baron Stafford.
John Talbot 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury (age 42) was killed. His son John (age 11) succeeded 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury, 3rd Earl Waterford, 8th Baron Furnivall, 12th Baron Strange Blackmere, 9th Baron Talbot.
Thomas Percy 1st Baron Egremont (age 37) was killed. [Baron Egremont of Egremont Castle in Cumberland extinct. Some authoirities state, however, that he left a son, Sir John Percy, who never assumed the title.]
John Beaumont 1st Viscount Beaumont (age 50) was killed. His son William (age 22) succeeded 2nd Viscount Beaumont, 7th Baron Beaumont.
William Lucy (age 56) was killed apparently by servants of a member of the Stafford family who wanted his wife Margaret Fitzlewis (age 21).
Thomas Tresham (age 40) fought.
William Beaumont 2nd Viscount Beaumont and William Norreys (age 19) were knighted.
Thomas "Bastard of Exeter" Holland was executed following the battle.
The battle was fought south of the River Nene [Map] in the grounds of Delapré Abbey.
Become a Member via our Buy Me a Coffee page to read more.
On 2nd November 1483 Henry Stafford 2nd Duke of Buckingham (age 29) was beheaded in Salisbury Marketplace [Map] for his part in the rebellion. Duke of Buckingham forfeit. His son Edward (age 5) succeeded 8th Earl Stafford, 9th Baron Stafford.
On 17th May 1521 Edward Stafford 3rd Duke of Buckingham (age 43) was beheaded at Tower Hill [Map]. Duke of Buckingham, Earl Stafford and Baron Stafford forfeit.
He was executed for no specific reason other than his having a significant amount of Plantagenet blood and was, therefore, considered a threat by Henry VIII (age 29). He was posthumously attainted by Act of Parliament on 31 July 1523, disinheriting his children. He was buried at St Peter's Church, Britford [Map].
Earl Stafford is also in Earldoms of England Chronologically, Created Countesses of England, Extinct Earldoms of England.
Summary
5th October 1688. Mary Stafford Countess Stafford (age 68) created.
1719. Grandson William Stafford-Howard 2nd Earl Stafford (age 29) succeeded.
1734. Son William Mathias Stafford-Howard 3rd Earl Stafford (age 16) succeeded.
1751. Uncle John Paul Stafford-Howard 4th Earl Stafford (age 50) succeeded.
1st April 1762. John Paul Stafford-Howard 4th Earl Stafford extinct.
In 5th October 1688 Mary Stafford Countess Stafford (age 68) was created 1st Countess Stafford for life. Her former husband William Howard 1st Viscount Stafford had been executed in 1680.
In 1719 Henry Stafford-Howard 1st Earl Stafford (age 71) died. His nephew William (age 29) succeeded 2nd Earl Stafford, 3rd Baron Stafford. Anne Holman Countess Stafford by marriage Countess Stafford.
In 1734 William Stafford-Howard 2nd Earl Stafford (age 44) died. His son William (age 16) succeeded 3rd Earl Stafford, 4th Baron Stafford.
Before 1751 William Mathias Stafford-Howard 3rd Earl Stafford (age 32) and Henrietta Cantillon Countess Stafford (age 22) were married. She by marriage Countess Stafford, Baroness Stafford. He the son of William Stafford-Howard 2nd Earl Stafford and Anne Holman Countess Stafford.
In 1751 William Mathias Stafford-Howard 3rd Earl Stafford (age 33) died. His uncle John (age 50) succeeded 4th Earl Stafford, 5th Baron Stafford. Elizabeth Ewens Countess Stafford by marriage Countess Stafford.
On 1st April 1762 John Paul Stafford-Howard 4th Earl Stafford (age 61) died without issue. Earl Stafford extinct.His niece Anatasia (age 40) de jure 6th Baroness Stafford.