Memoires of Jacques du Clercq

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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River Ouse

Confluence of the Rivers Ure and Swale Cawood, North Yorkshire Selby, North Yorkshire Goole Whitgift Ferry, East Yorkshire Trent Falls Aldwark Toll Bridge River Aire River Don River Nidd River Swale River Ure River Wharfe

River Ouse is in Humber Estuary.

The River Ouse is formed by the confluence of the River Ure and River Swale around 900m south-west of Myton-on-Swale [Map]; there are other theories as to where it starts. Thereafter it flows broadly south-east through York [Map], past Cawood, North Yorkshire [Map], Selby, North Yorkshire [Map], Goole [Map] and the location of the former Whitgift Ferry, East Yorkshire [Map] before joining the Humber Estuary at Trent Falls [Map].

The River Ouse appears to start at the Aldwark Toll Bridge [Map], or therabouts, before which it is known as the River Ure. It isn't clear why it changes its name? An alternative view is that the River Ouse begins at the Confluence of the Rivers Ure and Swale [Map].

On 3rd December 1614 brothers John Sheffield, Edmund Sheffield (age 25) and Philip Sheffield (age 21) were drowned whilst attempting to cross the flooded River Ouse at the Whitgift Ferry, East Yorkshire [Map].

River Aire

River Calder

The River Calder rises on Heald Moor near Todmorden [Map] after which it passes Hebden Bridge [Map], Mytholmroyd [Map], Sowerby Bridge [Map], Dewsbury [Map], Sandal Castle [Map], under Wakefield Bridge [Map] before joining the River Aire at Castleford [Map].

River Don

The River Don rises at Dunford Bridge [Map] after which it flows broadly east through Penistone [Map] then south through Oughtibridge [Map], Sheffield [Map] then east through Rotherham [Map], past Conisbrough Castle [Map], Doncaster [Map] and Stainforth [Map] before joining the River Ouse at Goole [Map]. Originally the River Don was a tributary of the River Trent forming the northern boundary of the Isle of Axholme [Map] but was re-engineered by Cornelius Vermuyden as the Dutch River in the 1620s.

Between 43AD and 68AD an earth and wood Roman fort was first built at Templeborough [Map]. It was later rebuilt in stone. It is thought to have been occupied until the Roman withdrawal from Britain c. 410. Icknield Street crossed the River Don near the fort.

River Rother

The River Rother rises at Clay Cross, Derbyshire [Map] then flows through Chesterfield, Derbyshire [Map] and Sheffield [Map] after which it joins the River Don which then flows through Rotherham [Map] to which the River Rother gives its name.

River Nidd

River Swale

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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Around 70AD a fort was commissioned at Cataractonium [Map] by Julius Agricola. During the first century a large bank was created north of the River Swale with an associated gate across Dere Street to control access.

The initial fort appears to have gone out of use by about AD 120 but there were further forts at the site during the next 300 years.

River Ure

River Wharfe