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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: Carolingian
Maternal Family Tree: Matilda Ringelheim Queen Consort East Francia
Before 930 Gilbert Reginarids I Duke Lorraine (age 39) and [her mother] Gerberga Queen Consort West Francia were married. She the daughter of [her grandfather] Henry "Fowler" I King East Francia (age 53) and [her grandmother] Matilda Ringelheim Queen Consort East Francia. He the son of Reginar "Longneck" I Duke Lorraine.
In 939 [her father] Louis "Overseas" IV King West Francia (age 19) and [her mother] Gerberga Queen Consort West Francia were married. She by marriage Queen Consort West Francia. She the daughter of [her grandfather] Henry "Fowler" I King East Francia and [her grandmother] Matilda Ringelheim Queen Consort East Francia. He the son of [her grandfather] Charles "Simple" III King West Francia and [her grandmother] Eadgifu Wessex Queen Consort West Francia.
In 943 Mathilde Carolingian Queen Consort Burgundy was born to [her father] Louis "Overseas" IV King West Francia (age 23) and [her mother] Gerberga Queen Consort West Francia.
On 10th September 954 [her father] Louis "Overseas" IV King West Francia (age 34) died. His son [her brother] Lothair (age 13) succeeded III King West Francia.
In 964 Conrad I King Burgundy (age 39) and Mathilde Carolingian Queen Consort Burgundy (age 21) were married. She by marriage Queen Consort Burgundy. She the daughter of Louis "Overseas" IV King West Francia and Gerberga Queen Consort West Francia. He the son of Rudolph "Pious" II King Burgundy II King Italy and Bertha Swabia Queen Consort Italy. They were fourth cousin once removed.
In 964 [her daughter] Bertha Welf Queen Consort France was born to [her husband] Conrad I King Burgundy (age 39) and Mathilde Carolingian Queen Consort Burgundy (age 21). She married (1) 983 her sixth cousin Odo Blois I Count Blois, son of Theobald "Trickster" Blois I Count Blois and Luitgarde Vermandois Duchess Normandy, and had issue (2) 999 her second cousin Robert "Pious" II King of the Franks, son of Hugh I King of the Franks and Adelaide Poitiers Queen Consort France.
In 965 [her daughter] Gerberga Welf was born to [her husband] Conrad I King Burgundy (age 40) and Mathilde Carolingian Queen Consort Burgundy (age 22).
Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke
Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson.
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In 969 [her daughter] Matilda Welf was born to [her husband] Conrad I King Burgundy (age 44) and Mathilde Carolingian Queen Consort Burgundy (age 26).
In 971 [her son] Rudolph "Idle" III King Burgundy was born to [her husband] Conrad I King Burgundy (age 46) and Mathilde Carolingian Queen Consort Burgundy (age 28).
In 977 [her brother] Charles Carolingian Duke Lower Lorraine (age 23) was appointed Duke Lower Lorraine.
After 7th September 978 [her half-sister] Gerberge Reginarids Countess Vermandois (deceased) died.
Around 983 [her son-in-law] Odo Blois I Count Blois (age 33) and [her daughter] Bertha Welf Queen Consort France (age 19) were married. She by marriage Countess Blois. She the daughter of [her husband] Conrad I King Burgundy (age 58) and Mathilde Carolingian Queen Consort Burgundy (age 40). He the son of Theobald "Trickster" Blois I Count Blois and Luitgarde Vermandois Duchess Normandy. They were sixth cousins.
On 2nd March 986 [her brother] Lothair III King West Francia (age 45) died. His son [her nephew] Louis (age 19) succeeded V King West Francia. Adelaide Blanche Ingelger Queen Consort West Francia (age 46) by marriage Queen Consort West Francia.
On 12th June 991 [her brother] Charles Carolingian Duke Lower Lorraine (age 38) died.
On 27th January 992 Mathilde Carolingian Queen Consort Burgundy (age 49) died.
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.
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On 19th October 993 [her former husband] Conrad I King Burgundy (age 68) died. His son [her son] Rudolph (age 22) succeeded III King Burgundy.
Conrad I King Burgundy and Adelaide Bellay Queen Consort Burgundy were married. She by marriage Queen Consort Burgundy. He the son of Rudolph "Pious" II King Burgundy II King Italy and Bertha Swabia Queen Consort Italy.
Kings Wessex: Great Grand Daughter of King Edward "Elder" of the Anglo Saxons
Kings Franks: Great x 3 Grand Daughter of Louis "Pious" King Aquitaine I King of the Franks
Great x 4 Grandfather: Charles "Charlemagne aka Great" King of the Franks King Lombardy Holy Roman Emperor
Great x 3 Grandfather: Louis "Pious" King Aquitaine I King of the Franks
Great x 4 Grandmother: Hildegard Vinzgouw Queen Franks Queen Lombardy Holy Roman Empress
Great x 2 Grandfather: Charles "Bald" I King West Francia
Great x 4 Grandfather: Welf
Great x 3 Grandmother: Judith Welf Queen Consort Aquitaine Queen Consort Franks
Great x 4 Grandmother: Hedwig Saxony
Great x 1 Grandfather: Louis "Stammerer" II King Aquitaine III King West Francia
Great x 3 Grandfather: Odi Orléans 1st Count Orléans
Great x 2 Grandmother: Ermentrude Orléans Queen Consort West Francia
GrandFather: Charles "Simple" III King West Francia
Great x 2 Grandfather: Adalard Count of Paris
Great x 1 Grandmother: Adelaide Paris Queen Consort Aquitaine and West Francia
Father: Louis "Overseas" IV King West Francia
Great x 4 Grandfather: King Egbert of Wessex
Great x 3 Grandfather: King Æthelwulf of Wessex
Great x 2 Grandfather: King Alfred "The Great" of Wessex
Great x 4 Grandfather: Oslac
Great x 3 Grandmother: Osburgh Queen Consort Wessex
Great x 1 Grandfather: King Edward "Elder" of the Anglo Saxons
Great x 3 Grandfather: Æthelred Mucel Mercia Earldorman Gaini
Great x 2 Grandmother: Æalhswith of Mercia Queen Consort of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Eadburh of Mercia
GrandMother: Eadgifu Wessex Queen Consort West Francia
Great x 2 Grandfather: Æthelhelm Earldorman Wiltshire
Great x 1 Grandmother: Aelfflaed Wiltshire Queen Anglo Saxons
Mathilde Carolingian Queen Consort Burgundy
GrandFather: Henry "Fowler" I King East Francia
Mother: Gerberga Queen Consort West Francia
GrandMother: Matilda Ringelheim Queen Consort East Francia