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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Standard

Standard is in Armour.

Standard. Chain-mail that covers the neck.

On 30th May 1499 John Cheney 1st Baron Cheyne [aged 57] died. Baron Cheyne extinct. Fluted Period. Alabaster Monument at Salisbury Cathedral [Map].

Fluted armour typified by having no headwear, being clean shaven, a breastplate in two pieces and the neck protected by a Standard. Damaged angel, its head removed, holding the cushion on which his head rests. He wearing a Lancastrian Esses Collar with large Esses. Ringed fingers.

Detail of the heavily graffitied Shoulder Garter.

Detail of the heavily graffitied Leg Garter and Poleyn.

Mutilated Lion at his feet with its head missing. The figure beneath his right foot appears to be a Bedesman. That beneath his left foot may be the remains of the means by which a bedesman was originally fixed to the foot. What appears to be a birds foot lying across the lions body is the tail of the lion.

In or after 1526. St Mary's Church, Ruabon [Map]. Monument [Map] to John ap Ellis Eyton. Alabaster Monument. Lancastrian Esses Collar. Possibly Harpur and Moorecock of Burton on Trent.

John ap Ellis Eyton: In 1526 he died.

Chest with Angels with Rounded Wings holding Shields indicative of Harpur and Moorecock of Burton on Trent.

Detail of his head. Categorised as Fluted Period. Note the absence of headwear, his being clean shaven and the Standard protecting the neck all of which define the Fluted Period.

Before it was damaged this was a dog chewing at the hem of her dress; also indicative of Harpur and Moorecock of Burton on Trent.

She wearing a Gabled Headress.

Tudor Roses on his sword pommel.

Bedesman and Swirling Tail both indicative of Harpur and Moorecock of Burton on Trent.

A curious lion at his feet. Unlikely the carver had ever seen a lion.

Lancastrian Esses Collar.

Detail of the orle, mantling and what remains of the crest on his Great Helm. Difficult to tell what it was originally.

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