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.

Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.

Carreg Coetan Arthur Burial Chamber, Newport, Pembrokeshire, South West Wales, British Isles [Map]

Carreg Coetan Arthur Burial Chamber is in Newport, Pembrokeshire, Prehistoric Wales Neolithic Burials.

Carreg Coetan Arthur Burial Chamber [Map]. Coflein: "is the most coastal of the group of Nevern valley chambered tombs, often categorised as belonging to the Irish Sea portal dolmen tradition... In 1979-80 excavations were undertaken over three seasons to ensure that the full extent of the site was protected from an adjacent housing development... Excavations tested the extent of the preservation of the cairn and chamber interior. The site had been substantially disturbed by cultivation and human and rodent interference, but remnants of an old ground surface protected by a covering of redeposited subsoil survived outside the south and east side of the chamber, below which lay one complete quartz-tempered round-bottomed Developed Bowl inverted on a prepared 'paved' surface and associated with cremated bone and charcoal which gave a date of c. 3650-3020 cal. BC.' Edited from Rees, S. 2012. page 51."

Archaeologia Cambrensis 1872 Pages 81-143. If the cromlech [Carreg Coetan Arthur Burial Chamber [Map]] close to the town of Newport does not present so imposing an appearance, from its magnitude, it is not inferior in interest, from its well preserved condition. The chamber measures 5 ft. 6 ins, by 4 ft. 6 ins. The capstone is 10 ft. by nearly 9, and is from 3 to 3½ ft. thick. It stands only on two of the four upright stones. Remains of a tumulus or carn still exist. It is called "Careg Coetan," and is associated with the name of Arthur.