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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Paternal Family Tree: Bohemia
Around 1233 Ottokar "Iron King" II King Bohemia was born to [his father] King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia (age 28).
On 25th October 1251 Ottokar "Iron King" II King Bohemia (age 18) and Kunigunda Rostislavna Přemyslovna (age 6) were married.
On 11th February 1252 Ottokar "Iron King" II King Bohemia (age 19) and Margarete von Babenberg (age 48) were married. The difference in their ages was 29 years; she, unusually, being older than him.
In 1253 Ottokar "Iron King" II King Bohemia (age 20) was appointed II King Bohemia.
On 23rd September 1253 [his father] King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia (age 48) died.
In 1262 [his son] Henry Přemyslid was born to Ottokar "Iron King" II King Bohemia (age 29) and [his wife] Kunigunda Rostislavna Přemyslovna (age 17). He died aged one in 1263.
In 1263 [his son] Henry Přemyslid (age 1) died.
In January 1265 [his son] Kunigundem Boleslaus II Přemyslid was born to Ottokar "Iron King" II King Bohemia (age 32) and [his wife] Kunigunda Rostislavna Přemyslovna (age 20).
On 29th October 1266 [his wife] Margarete von Babenberg (age 62) died.
On 5th September 1269 [his daughter] Agnes Přemyslid Duchess Austria was born to Ottokar "Iron King" II King Bohemia (age 36) and [his wife] Kunigunda Rostislavna Přemyslovna (age 24). She married 1289 Rudolf Habsburg II Duke Austria and had issue.
On 17th September 1271 [his son] King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia and Poland was born to Ottokar "Iron King" II King Bohemia (age 38) and [his wife] Kunigunda Rostislavna Přemyslovna (age 26). He married 24th January 1285 Queen Judith of Bohemia and Poland and had issue.
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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On 26th August 1278 Ottokar "Iron King" II King Bohemia (age 45) died. His son Wenceslaus (age 6) succeeded II King Bohemia.
On 9th September 1285 [his former wife] Kunigunda Rostislavna Přemyslovna (age 40) died.
Kings Wessex: Great x 12 Grand Son of King Alfred "The Great" of Wessex
Kings Godwinson: Great x 5 Grand Son of King Harold II of England
Kings Franks: Great x 14 Grand Son of Louis "Pious" King Aquitaine I King of the Franks
Kings France: Great x 7 Grand Son of Robert "Pious" II King of the Franks
Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 12 Grand Son of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine
GrandFather: King Ottokar I of Bohemia
Father: King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia
Great x 2 Grandfather: King Géza II of Hungary
Great x 1 Grandfather: King Béla III of Hungary
Great x 4 Grandfather: Vladimir Rurikid
Great x 3 Grandfather: Mstislav I of Kiev
Great x 4 Grandmother: Gytha Godwinson
Great x 2 Grandmother: Euphrosyne of Kiev
GrandMother: Constance of Hungary
Great x 2 Grandfather: Raynald of Châtillon
Great x 1 Grandmother: Agnes of Antioch
Great x 4 Grandfather: Prince Bohemond I of Antioch
Great x 3 Grandfather: Prince Bohemond II of Antioch
Great x 4 Grandmother: Constance Capet Countess Champagne 
Great x 2 Grandmother: Princess Constance of Antioch
Great x 4 Grandfather: Baldwin II King Jerusalem
Great x 3 Grandmother: Alice of Antioch