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: Egmont
Maternal Family Tree: Margaret of Silesia Duchesa Lowwer Bavaria 1342-1386
Adolf Egmont 2nd Duke Guelders was appointed Order of the Golden Fleece.
On 23rd July 1423 [his father] Arnold Egmont Duke Guelders [aged 13] and [his mother] Catherine de la Marck [aged 6] were married. She the daughter of [his grandfather] Adolph de la Marck I Duke Cleves [aged 49] and [his grandmother] Marie Valois Duchess Cleves [aged 30].
On 12th February 1438 Adolf Egmont 2nd Duke Guelders was born to [his father] Arnold Egmont Duke Guelders [aged 27] and [his mother] Catherine de la Marck [aged 20] at Grave.
On 3rd July 1449 [his brother-in-law] King James II of Scotland [aged 18] and [his sister] Mary of Guelders Queen Consort Scotland [aged 15] were married at Holyrood Abbey, Holyrood. She the daughter of [his father] Arnold Egmont Duke Guelders [aged 38] and [his mother] Catherine de la Marck [aged 32]. He the son of King James I of Scotland and Joan Beaufort Queen Consort Scotland. They were fourth cousin once removed. He a great x 2 grandson of King Edward III of England.
On 3rd July 1449 [his sister] Mary of Guelders Queen Consort Scotland [aged 15] was crowned Queen Consort Scotland.
In 1463 Adolf Egmont 2nd Duke Guelders [aged 24] and Catherine Bourbon Duchess Guelders [aged 23] were married. She by marriage Duchess Guelders. She the daughter of Charles Bourbon I Duke Bourbon and Agnes Valois Duchess Bourbon [aged 56]. He the son of Arnold Egmont Duke Guelders [aged 52] and Catherine de la Marck [aged 45]. They were first cousin once removed. She a great x 5 granddaughter of King Edward I of England.
On 1st December 1463 [his sister] Mary of Guelders Queen Consort Scotland [aged 29] died at Roxburgh Castle. She was buried at Holyrood Abbey [Map].
In 1465 Adolf Egmont 2nd Duke Guelders [aged 26] was appointed Count Zutphen.
In 1467 [his daughter] Philippa Egmont Duchess of Bar Duchess Lorraine was born to Adolf Egmont 2nd Duke Guelders [aged 28] and [his wife] Catherine Bourbon Duchess Guelders [aged 27]. Coefficient of inbreeding 3.51%. She married 1485 her fourth cousin René Lorraine II Duke Lorraine Duke of Bar, son of Frederick Lorraine Count Vaudémont and Yolande Valois Anjou, and had issue.
In 1467 [his son] Charles Egmont 3rd Duchess Guelders was born to Adolf Egmont 2nd Duke Guelders [aged 28] and [his wife] Catherine Bourbon Duchess Guelders [aged 27]. Coefficient of inbreeding 3.51%.
On 21st May 1469 [his wife] Catherine Bourbon Duchess Guelders [aged 29] died.
On 23rd February 1473 [his father] Arnold Egmont Duke Guelders [aged 62] died. His son Adolf [aged 35] succeeded 2nd Duke Guelders.
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 27th June 1477 Adolf Egmont 2nd Duke Guelders [aged 39] died at Tournai [Map]. He was buried at Tournai Cathedral [Map]. His son Charles [aged 10] succeeded 3rd Duke Guelders.
Kings Wessex: Great x 13 Grand Son of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England
Kings Godwinson: Great x 13 Grand Son of King Harold II of England
Kings England: Great x 6 Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Kings Scotland: Great x 12 Grand Son of King Duncan I of Scotland
Kings Franks: Great x 18 Grand Son of Charles "Charlemagne aka Great" King of the Franks King Lombardy Holy Roman Emperor
Kings France: Great x 5 Grand Son of Philip V King France I King Navarre
Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 17 Grand Son of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine
Mary of Guise Queen Consort Scotland [1]
Louise Lorraine Queen Consort France [1]
Maximilian "The Great" Wittelsbach I Duke Bavaria I Elector Bavaria [1]
Maria Anna Wittelsbach Holy Roman Empress [1]
Marie Françoise Élisabeth of Savoy Queen Consort of Portugal [1]
Victor Amadeus King Sardinia [1]
Great x 2 Grandfather: John Egmont
Great x 1 Grandfather: Arnold Egmont
GrandFather: John Egmont
Father: Arnold Egmont Duke Guelders
Adolf Egmont 2nd Duke Guelders 6 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Adolph II Count de la Marck
Great x 1 Grandfather: Adolph de la Marck 6 x Great Grand Son of King Stephen I England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Dietrich Cleves VII Count Cleves
Great x 3 Grandfather: Dietrich Cleves VIII Count Cleves
Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret Kiburg Laufenburg Countess Cleves
Great x 2 Grandmother: Margaret Cleves Countess de la Marck 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Stephen I England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Reginald I Count Guelders 3 x Great Grand Son of King Stephen I England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Margaret Guelders Countess Cleves 4 x Great Grand Daughter of King Stephen I England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret Dampierre Duchess Brabant 
5 x Great Grand Daughter of King William "Conqueror" I of England
GrandFather: Adolph de la Marck I Duke Cleves 7 x Great Grand Son of King Stephen I England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Gerhard Jülich V Count Jülich 3 x Great Grand Son of King Stephen I England
Great x 3 Grandfather: William Jülich V Duke Jülich 4 x Great Grand Son of King Stephen I England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elisabeth Brabant Countess Jülich
Great x 2 Grandfather: Gerhard Jülich VI Count Berg and Ravensberg 5 x Great Grand Son of King Stephen I England
Great x 1 Grandmother: Margaret Jülich Countess Cleves and Mark 6 x Great Grand Daughter of King Stephen I England
Mother: Catherine de la Marck 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: King Philip "Fortunate" VI of France 
4 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: King John "The Good" II of France 4 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Joan "Lame" Burgundy Queen Consort France 3 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Philip "Bold" Valois II Duke Burgundy 5 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: King John I of Bohemia 
6 x Great Grand Son of King William "Conqueror" I of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Bonne Luxemburg Queen Consort France 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King William "Conqueror" I of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia
Great x 1 Grandfather: John "Fearless" Valois Duke Burgundy 3 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Louis Dampierre II Count Nevers I Count Flanders 7 x Great Grand Son of King William "Conqueror" I of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Louis of Male III Count Nevers II Count Flanders 6 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret Capet Countess Nevers amd Flanders 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Margaret Dampierre Duchess Burgundy 2 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Brabant III Duke Brabant Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Margaret of Brabant Countess Nevers and Flanders Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Marie Évreux Duchess of Brabant 2 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry III of England
GrandMother: Marie Valois Duchess Cleves 4 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Louis "Strict" Wittelsbach II Duke Upper Bavaria 
2 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Louis Wittelsbach IV Holy Roman Emperor 3 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Matilda Habsburg Duchess Bavaria
Great x 2 Grandfather: Albert Wittelsbach I Duke Lower Bavaria 4 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: William of Avesnes I Count Hainaut III Count Avesnes III Count Holland II Count Zeeland 4 x Great Grand Son of King Stephen I England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Margaret Hainaut Holy Roman Empress 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Stephen I England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Joan Valois Countess Zeeland Holland Avesnes and Hainaut 4 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 1 Grandmother: Margaret Wittelsbach Duchess Burgundy 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Margaret of Silesia Duchesa Lowwer Bavaria