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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Before 1329 [her future husband] John Clinton 3rd Baron Clinton (age 2) and Joan Limbury Baroness Clinton were married. She by marriage Baroness Clinton.
Around 1347 Elizabeth Plaunche Baroness Clinton Baroness Grey Rotherfield was born to [her father] William Plaunche.
Around 1350 [her future husband] John Clinton 3rd Baron Clinton (age 23) and Idonea Saye Baroness Clinton were married. She by marriage Baroness Clinton.
After 4th June 1375 Bartholomew Grey 3rd Baron Grey (deceased) died. His brother [her future husband] Robert (age 26) succeeded 4th Baron Grey of Rotherfield.
Before 30th July 1386 [her future husband] Robert Grey 4th Baron Grey (age 37) and Joan Unknown Baroness Grey of Rotherfield (age 29) were married. She by marriage Baroness Grey of Rotherfield.
After 30th July 1386 Robert Grey 4th Baron Grey (age 37) and Elizabeth Plaunche Baroness Clinton Baroness Grey Rotherfield (age 39) were married. She by marriage Baroness Grey of Rotherfield.
In January 1387 [her husband] Robert Grey 4th Baron Grey (age 38) died at Rotherfield Greys, Oxfordshire. His daughter [her step-daughter] Joan succeeded 5th Baroness Grey of Rotherfield.
Before 8th September 1398 John Clinton 3rd Baron Clinton (age 72) and Elizabeth Plaunche Baroness Clinton Baroness Grey Rotherfield (age 51) were married. She by marriage Baroness Clinton. The difference in their ages was 20 years.
On 8th September 1398 [her husband] John Clinton 3rd Baron Clinton (age 72) died at Maxstoke, Warwickshire. His grandson William (age 20) succeeded 4th Baron Clinton.
In September 1423 Elizabeth Plaunche Baroness Clinton Baroness Grey Rotherfield (age 76) died.
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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John Russell and Elizabeth Plaunche Baroness Clinton Baroness Grey Rotherfield were married.
John Bermingham and Elizabeth Plaunche Baroness Clinton Baroness Grey Rotherfield were married.