Adam Murimuth's Continuation and Robert of Avesbury’s 'The Wonderful Deeds of King Edward III'
This volume brings together two of the most important contemporary chronicles for the reign of Edward III and the opening phases of the Hundred Years’ War. Written in Latin by English clerical observers, these texts provide a vivid and authoritative window into the political, diplomatic, and military history of fourteenth-century England and its continental ambitions. Adam Murimuth Continuatio's Chronicarum continues an earlier chronicle into the mid-fourteenth century, offering concise but valuable notices on royal policy, foreign relations, and ecclesiastical affairs. Its annalistic structure makes it especially useful for establishing chronology and tracing the development of events year by year. Complementing it, Robert of Avesbury’s De gestis mirabilibus regis Edwardi tertii is a rich documentary chronicle preserving letters, treaties, and official records alongside narrative passages. It is an indispensable source for understanding Edward III’s claim to the French crown, the conduct of war, and the mechanisms of medieval diplomacy. Together, these works offer scholars, students, and enthusiasts a reliable and unembellished account of a transformative period in English and European history. Essential for anyone interested in medieval chronicles, the Hundred Years’ War, or the reign of Edward III.
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Eloped is in General Things.
In 1541 Anne Bourchier 7th Baroness Bourchier [aged 24] eloped with John Lyngfield.
On 23rd December 1543 Henry VIII [aged 52] enobled his new wife's [aged 31] brother [aged 31] and uncle [aged 60] at ceremony in the Presence Chamber, Hampton Court Palace [Map]. Henry Grey 1st Duke of Suffolk [aged 26] and Edward Stanley 3rd Earl of Derby [aged 34] were present. Christopher Barker read the Patents.
William Parr 1st Baron Parr of Horton was created 1st Baron Parr of Horton. William was sixty with five daughters. He died four years later at which time the Barony became extinct.
William Parr 1st Marquess Northampton was created 1st Earl Essex. His estranged wife Anne Bourchier 7th Baroness Bourchier [aged 26] was daughter of the last Earl of Essex of the Fifth Creation. A somewhat curious choice given his wife had eloped the year previous year with John Lyngfield, the prior of Tandbridge, Surrey [Map], by whom she had an illegitimate child.
On 29th January 1667 John Wilmot 2nd Earl Rochester [aged 19] and Elizabeth Malet Countess Rochester [aged 16] were married at Knightsbridge Chapel. She by marriage Countess Rochester. They having eloped and married against her families wishes. Two years previously he had abducted her for which he spent three weeks in prison. Her father being dead it isn't clear whose ward she was. He the son of Henry Wilmot 1st Earl Rochester and Anne St John Countess Rochester [aged 52].
In 1712 Edward Wortley-Montagu [aged 33] and Mary Wortley-Montagu née Pierrepont [aged 22] were married after they eloped together to avoid her marriage to Clotworthy Skeffington 4th Viscount Massereene. She the daughter of Evelyn Pierrepont 1st Duke Kingston upon Hull [aged 57] and Mary Fielding Countess Kingston upon Hull.
In 1734 Philip Medows [aged 26] and Frances Pierrepont [aged 21] were married. On the day of her 21st birthday she attended the opera. During the interval she eloped much to the disapproval of her aunt Mary Wortley-Montagu née Pierrepont [aged 44] who had eloped in 1712.
In 1737 Elizabeth Folkes Lady Hamner [aged 37], wife of Thomas Hanmer 4th Baronet [aged 59], eloped with Thomas Hervey [aged 37]. In 1739 she made a will bequeathing to Hervey the reversion of her estates in Cambridgeshire, Middlesex, Anglesey and Caernarvonshire, which had been settled 'after death of me and my husband and failure of issue of my body to the use of such person or persons as I should appoint'.
In 1742 Captain Philip Thicknesse [aged 23] eloped with Maria Lanove, a wealthy heiress, whom he abducted from a street in Southampton.
On 1st March 1752 Allan Ramsay [aged 38] and Margaret Lindsay [aged 26] at Canongate Kirk without the approval of her parents having eloped together. Her father never forgave her for marrying an artist.
Before 22nd June 1776 William Byron [aged 26] and Juliana Elizabeth Byron were married having eloped to Gretna Green, Dumfrieshire. They were first cousins.
Before 8th February 1812 George Coventry 8th Earl Coventry [aged 27] and Sophia Dubochet [aged 17] eloped together. Discovered after only one night both claimed nothing untoward had happened.
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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In 1815 Archibald Primrose 4th Earl Rosebery [aged 31] divorced Harriett Bouverie Countess Camden [aged 24] after she eloped with Henry St John-Mildmay 4th Baronet [aged 27] who had previously been married to her sister Charlotte Bouverie who had died in childbirth five years previously.
On 24th June 1829 Georgiana Carolina Dashwood Lady Astley [aged 33] eloped with Captain Thomas Garth [aged 28].
On 2nd June 1840 Archibald William Douglas 8th Marquess Queensberry [aged 22] and Caroline Clayton Marchioness Queensbury [aged 19] were married at Gretna Green, Dumfrieshire having eloped against the wishes of his father. They had five sons and two daughters. He the son of John Douglas 7th Marquess Queensberry [aged 61].
On 16th July 1864 Henry Weysford Charles Plantagenet Rawdon-Hastings 4th Marquess Hastings [aged 21] and Florence Cecilia Paget Marchioness Hastings [aged 21] were married. The marriage created a scandal as the bride had been engaged to Henry Chaplin [aged 23] and had eloped with her husband the day before her planned wedding to Chaplin. Chaplin later got his revenge by outbidding Hastings for the horse Hermit which went on to win the 1867 Derby and against which Hastings had bet heavily. The loss led Hastings into heavy debt and drinking. He died some four years later in poverty. She the daughter of Henry Paget 2nd Marquess Anglesey [aged 67] and Henrietta Bagot Marchioness Anglesey. He the son of George Augustus Francis Rawdon-Hastings 2nd Marquess Hastings and Barbara Yelverton Marchioness Hastings.
In 1872 Edward Thynne [aged 64] eloped with Anne Elizabeth Clementina Duff Marchioness Townshend [aged 24] wife of John Townshend 4th Marquess Townshend. She being some forty years younger than Edward Thynne.