The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy
The Gesta Normannorum Ducum [The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy] is a landmark medieval chronicle tracing the rise and fall of the Norman dynasty from its early roots through the pivotal events surrounding the Norman Conquest of England. Originally penned in Latin by the monk William of Jumièges shortly before 1060 and later expanded at the behest of William the Conqueror, the work chronicles the deeds, politics, battles, and leadership of the Norman dukes, especially William’s own claim to the English throne. The narrative combines earlier historical sources with firsthand information and oral testimony to present an authoritative account of Normandy’s transformation from a Viking settlement into one of medieval Europe’s most powerful realms. William’s history emphasizes the legitimacy, military prowess, and governance of the Norman line, framing their expansion, including the conquest of England, as both divinely sanctioned and noble in purpose. Later chroniclers such as Orderic Vitalis and Robert of Torigni continued the history, extending the coverage into the 12th century, providing broader context on ducal rule and its impact. Today this classic work remains a foundational source for understanding Norman identity, medieval statesmanship, and the historical forces that reshaped England and Western Europe between 800AD and 1100AD.
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Paternal Family Tree: Cecil
On 11th July 1857 [his father] Robert Gascoyne-Cecil [aged 27] and [his mother] Georgina Anderson [aged 30] were married. He the son of [his grandfather] James Brownlow William Gascoyne-Cecil 2nd Marquess Salisbury [aged 66] and [his grandmother] Frances Mary Gascoyne Marchioness Salisbury.
On 14th September 1864 Edgar Gascoyne-Cecil 1st Viscount Cecil was born to Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 3rd Marquess Salisbury [aged 34] and Georgina Anderson [aged 37].
On 12th April 1868 [his grandfather] James Brownlow William Gascoyne-Cecil 2nd Marquess Salisbury [aged 76] died. His son [his father] Robert [aged 38] succeeded 3rd Marquess Salisbury in Wiltshire, 9th Earl Salisbury. [his mother] Georgina Anderson [aged 41] by marriage Marchioness Salisbury in Wiltshire.
On 27th October 1883 [his brother-in-law] William Palmer 2nd Earl Selborne [aged 24] and [his sister] Beatrix Maud Gascoyne-Cecil Countess Selborne [aged 25] were married. She the daughter of [his father] Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 3rd Marquess Salisbury [aged 53] and [his mother] Georgina Alderson Marchioness of Salisbury [aged 56]. He the son of Roundell Palmer 1st Earl Selborne [aged 70] and Laura Waldegrave Countess Selborne [aged 62].
On 17th May 1887 [his brother] James Gascoyne-Cecil 4th Marquess Salisbury [aged 25] and [his sister-in-law] Cicely Anne Gore Marchioness Salisbury [aged 19] were married. She the daughter of Arthur Saunders Gore 5th Earl Arran [aged 48] and Edith Jocelyn. He the son of [his father] Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 3rd Marquess Salisbury [aged 57] and [his mother] Georgina Alderson Marchioness of Salisbury [aged 60].
On 22nd January 1889 Edgar Gascoyne-Cecil 1st Viscount Cecil [aged 24] and Eleanor Lambton Viscountess Cecil [aged 21] were married. She the daughter of George Frederick D'Arcy Lambton 2nd Earl Durham and Beatrix Frances Hamilton Countess Durham. He the son of Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 3rd Marquess Salisbury [aged 58] and Georgina Alderson Marchioness of Salisbury [aged 62].
On 3rd May 1895 George Robert Charles Herbert 13th Earl Pembroke 10th Earl Montgomery [aged 44] died in Frankfurt. His brother Sidney [aged 42] succeeded 14th Earl Pembroke, 11th Earl Montgomery, 3rd Baron Herbert Lea. [his sister-in-law] Beatrix Louisa Lambton Countess Pembroke and Montgomery [aged 36] by marriage Countess Pembroke, Countess Montgomery.
On 4th May 1895 Roundell Palmer 1st Earl Selborne [aged 82] died. His son [his brother-in-law] William [aged 35] succeeded 2nd Earl Selborne, 2nd Viscount Wolmer of Blackmoor in Hampshire, 2nd Baron Selborne of Selborne in Hampshire. [his sister] Beatrix Maud Gascoyne-Cecil Countess Selborne [aged 37] by marriage Countess Selborne.
On 23rd December 1895 George Godolphin Osborne 9th Duke Leeds [aged 67] died at Hornby Castle [Map]. His son George [aged 33] succeeded 10th Duke Leeds, 10th Earl of Danby, 10th Viscount Osborne, 10th Viscount Latimer, 10th Baron Osborne of Kinderton, 11th Baronet Osborne of Kiveton, 4th Baron Godolphin of Farnham Royal in Buckinghamshire. [his sister-in-law] Katherine Frances Lambton Duchess Leeds [aged 33] by marriage Duchess Leeds.
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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On 20th November 1899 [his mother] Georgina Alderson Marchioness of Salisbury [aged 72] died.
On 22nd August 1903 [his father] Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 3rd Marquess Salisbury [aged 73] died. Monument at St Etheldreda's Church, Hatfield [Map] by William Goscombe John [aged 43]. His son [his brother] James [aged 41] succeeded 4th Marquess Salisbury in Wiltshire, 10th Earl Salisbury. [his sister-in-law] Cicely Anne Gore Marchioness Salisbury [aged 36] by marriage Marchioness Salisbury in Wiltshire. Note the St George Pendant signifying his being a Knight of the Garter.
Cicely Anne Gore Marchioness Salisbury: On 15th July 1867 she was born to Arthur Saunders Gore 5th Earl Arran and Edith Jocelyn. On 17th May 1887 James Gascoyne-Cecil 4th Marquess Salisbury and she were married. She the daughter of Arthur Saunders Gore 5th Earl Arran and Edith Jocelyn. He the son of Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 3rd Marquess Salisbury and Georgina Alderson Marchioness of Salisbury. On 5th February 1955 Cicely Anne Gore Marchioness Salisbury died.
1919. William Orpen [aged 40]. Portrait of Edgar Gascoyne-Cecil 1st Viscount Cecil [aged 54].
1922. Philip de László [aged 52]. Portrait of Edgar Gascoyne-Cecil 1st Viscount Cecil [aged 57].
On 28th December 1923 Edgar Gascoyne-Cecil 1st Viscount Cecil [aged 59] was created 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood of East Grinstead in Sussex. [his wife] Eleanor Lambton Viscountess Cecil [aged 55] by marriage Viscountess Cecil of Chelwood of East Grinstead in Sussex.
On 18th September 1928 [his brother-in-law] John George Lambton 3rd Earl Durham [aged 73] died. His brother Frederick [aged 73] succeeded 4th Earl Durham; he died four months later. Beatrix Bulteel Countess Durham [aged 69] by marriage Countess Durham.
On 31st January 1929 [his brother-in-law] Frederick Lambton 4th Earl Durham [aged 73] died having held the Earldom for only four months. His son John [aged 44] succeeded 5th Earl Durham.
The Times. 2nd February 1929. Obituary. We regret to announce that Elisabeth Lady Carnarvon [deceased] died yesterday morning at Portofino, to which place she had just come from Albania, the country of which she was so great a benefactor. During the War she was in Egypt and was given special powers of visiting all hospital ships and distributing comforts to the patients. During the last few years she had been living in Albania, where she established hospitals, schools, and anti-malaria clinics, for which she also provided supplies of quinine, which it had been before impossible to secure. She did good work among the people who came down from Northern Albania at the time of the famine, and established a village for refugees, which was called Herbert, after her son, Colonel Aubrey Herbert. She established Boy Scout troops, visited the prisons, and one of the last things she did was to found a library at Tirana. She made an appeal in The Times last August for the Albanian Educational Fund, of which she and Lord Cecil of Chelwood [aged 64] were hon. treasurers, asking for books for the students' library and for money to found Albanian studentships abroad. The whole idea in her mind was to continue the work of her son and to forward peace in the Balkans. She was assisted in her work in Albania by Miss Durham and Mrs. Bennington. Lady Carnarvon was Elizabeth Catharine, eldest daughter of Mr. Henry Howard, of Greystoke. She married, in 1878, as his second wife, the fourth Earl of Carnarvon, a states man who, as Colonial Secretary and as Lord Lieuteniant of Ireland, played a notable part in the politics of his day. He died in 1890. Her elder son, Colonel Aubrey Herbert, M.P., traveller, diplomnatist, soldier, and politiciau, who died in September, 1923, was a man of an extraordinarily attractive personality, less rare a century ago perhaps than it is to-day, whose short life was crowded with adventure. His death was a great blow to his innumerable friends; what it meant to his mother can be judged to some extent by her constant devotion to the little country of which he was so faithful a friend. Lady Carnarvon was also a strong supporter of the Vocal Therapy Society, established on Armistice Day, 1918, to provide qualified teachers for ex-Servicemenu in pensions hospitals, and to form them into choirs called King's Services' Choirs. The benefit to the men by the exercise of the healing art of song has been most marked, and Lady Carnarvon was accustomed to appeal for support periodically by interesting letters in The Times. Lady Carnarvon leaves a son, the Hon. Mervyn Herbert [aged 46], late of the Diplomatic Service and the Foreign Office. She was the stepmother of Baroness Burghelere [aged 65], Lady Margaret Duckworth [aged 58], and Lady Victoria Herbert [aged 54].
On 12th March 1944 [his sister-in-law] Beatrix Louisa Lambton Countess Pembroke and Montgomery [aged 85] died.
On 4th April 1947 [his brother] James Gascoyne-Cecil 4th Marquess Salisbury [aged 85] died. His son [his nephew] Robert [aged 53] succeeded 5th Marquess Salisbury in Wiltshire, 11th Earl Salisbury. Elizabeth Vere Cavendish Marchioness Salisbury [aged 52] by marriage Marchioness Salisbury in Wiltshire.
The True Chronicles of Jean le Bel Volume 1 Chapters 1-60 1307-1342
The True Chronicles of Jean le Bel offer one of the most vivid and immediate accounts of 14th-century Europe, written by a knight who lived through the events he describes, and experienced some of them first hand. Covering the early decades of the Hundred Years’ War, this remarkable chronicle follows the campaigns of Edward III of England, the politics of France and the Low Countries, and the shifting alliances that shaped medieval warfare. Unlike later historians, Jean le Bel writes with a strong sense of eyewitness authenticity, drawing on personal experience and the testimony of fellow soldiers. His narrative captures not only battles and sieges, but also the realities of military life, diplomacy, and the ideals of chivalry that governed noble society. A key source for Jean Froissart, Le Bel’s chronicle stands on its own as a compelling and insightful work, at once historical record and literary achievement. This translation builds on the 1905 edition published in French by Jules Viard, adding extensive translations from other sources Rymer's Fœdera, the Chronicles of Adam Murimuth, William Nangis, Walter of Guisborough, a Bourgeois of Valenciennes, Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke and Richard Lescot to enrich the original text and Viard's notes.
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On 27th April 1950 [his sister] Beatrix Maud Gascoyne-Cecil Countess Selborne [aged 92] died.
On 6th December 1952 [his sister-in-law] Katherine Frances Lambton Duchess Leeds [aged 90] died.
On 10th December 1956 [his brother] Hugh Gascoyne-Cecil 1st Baron Quickswood [aged 87] died unmarried. Baron Quickswood of Clothall in Hertfordshire extinct.
On 24th November 1958 Edgar Gascoyne-Cecil 1st Viscount Cecil [aged 94] died. Viscount Cecil of Chelwood of East Grinstead in Sussex extinct.
On 24th April 1959 [his former wife] Eleanor Lambton Viscountess Cecil [aged 91] died.
Kings Wessex: Great x 22 Grand Son of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England
Kings Gwynedd: Great x 19 Grand Son of Owain "Great" King Gwynedd
Kings Seisyllwg: Great x 23 Grand Son of Hywel "Dda aka Good" King Seisyllwg King Deheubarth
Kings Powys: Great x 20 Grand Son of Maredudd ap Bleddyn King Powys
Kings Godwinson: Great x 23 Grand Son of King Harold II of England
Kings England: Great x 12 Grand Son of King Edward IV of England
Kings Scotland: Great x 19 Grand Son of King David I of Scotland
Kings France: Great x 15 Grand Son of King Philip IV of France
Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 26 Grand Son of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine
Kings Spain: Great x 19 Grand Son of Alfonso VII King Castile VII King Leon
Great x 4 Grandfather: James Cecil 4th Earl Salisbury 
9 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: James Cecil 5th Earl Salisbury 10 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Frances Bennett Countess of Salisbury
Great x 2 Grandfather: James Cecil 6th Earl of Salisbury 8 x Great Grand Son of King Edward IV of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Tufton 6th Earl of Thanet 9 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Anne Tufton Countess of Salisbury 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward IV of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Catherine Cavendish Countess Isle Thanet 
6 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward IV of England
Great x 1 Grandfather: James Cecil 1st Marquess Salisbury 9 x Great Grand Son of King Edward IV of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Edward Keet of Canterbury
Great x 2 Grandmother: Elizabeth Keet Countess of Salisbury
GrandFather: James Brownlow William Gascoyne-Cecil 2nd Marquess Salisbury 10 x Great Grand Son of King Edward IV of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Michael Hill
Great x 3 Grandfather: Trevor Hill 1st Viscount Hillsborough
Great x 4 Grandmother: Anne Trevor 
Great x 2 Grandfather: Wills Hill 1st Marquess Downshire
Great x 1 Grandmother: Mary Amelia Hill Marchioness Salisbury 10 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Robert Fitzgerald 
7 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Robert Fitzgerald 19th Earl of Kildare 8 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Mary Clotworthy 
Great x 2 Grandmother: Margaretta Fitzgerald 9 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: William O'Brien 3rd Earl Inchiquin 11 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Mary O'Brien Countess Kildare 11 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Mary Villiers Countess Inchiquin 
10 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Father: Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 3rd Marquess Salisbury 11 x Great Grand Son of King Edward IV of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Crisp Gascoyne
Great x 2 Grandfather: Bamber Gascoigne "The Elder"
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Bamber of Mincing Lane
Great x 3 Grandmother: Margaret Bamber
Great x 1 Grandfather: Bamber "The Younger" Gascoyne
Great x 3 Grandfather: Issac Green of Lancashire
Great x 2 Grandmother: Mary Green
Great x 3 Grandmother: Mary Aspinwall
GrandMother: Frances Mary Gascoyne Marchioness Salisbury
Great x 2 Grandfather: Chase Price
Great x 1 Grandmother: Sarah Bridget Frances Price
Great x 4 Grandfather: George Evelyn
Great x 3 Grandfather: William Evelyn Glanville
Great x 2 Grandmother: Susan Evelyn
Edgar Gascoyne-Cecil 1st Viscount Cecil 12 x Great Grand Son of King Edward IV of England
Mother: Georgina Alderson Marchioness of Salisbury