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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Sable is in Field.

Lewis Arms. Sable a chevron or three fleur de lys or. Source.

Loftus Arms. Sable, a chevron engrailed ermine, between three trefoils slipped argent. Source.

Mosley Arms. Sable a chevron between three pickaxes argent. Source.

Newton Arms. Sable, a skull and crossbones argent. Source

Oldham Arms. Sable, a chevron or between three owls argent on a chief of the second three roses gules. Possibly an example of canting arms where owl represents owl-dam. Source.

Paget Arms. Sable, on a cross engrailed between four eagles displayed argent, five lions passant guardant of the field. Source.

Conway Arms. Sable, on a bend cotised argent a rose gules between two annulets of the first. Source.

Palmer Carlton Arms. Sable a chevron or three crecents argent. Source.

Dymoke Arms. Sable, two lions passant in pale argent ducally crowned or. Source.

Parker Arms. Sable, a stag's head cabossed between two flaunches argent. Source.

Paulet Arms. Sable three swords pilewise points in base proper pomels and hilts or. Source.

Griffin Arms. Sable, a griffin segreant argent beak and forelegs or. Source.

Peyton Arms. Sable, a cross engrailed or a mullet in the first quarter argent.

Hood Arms. Sable, on a fess argent between three leopards passant guardant or spotted of the field as many escallops gules. Source.

Ridgeway Arms. Sable, a pair of wings conjoined and elevated argent. Source.

Riley Arms. Sable, on a pile or three crosses formy fitchy at the foot sable. Source.

Ayscough Arms. Sable, a fess or, between three asses passant argent, maned and unguled of the second. Source.

Buller Arms. Sable, on a cross argent quarter pierced of the field four eagles displayed of the first. Source.

Smith of Exeter Arms. Sable, a fess cotised between three martlets or. Source.

Compton Arms. Sable a lion passant guardant or between three Esquire's Helmets argent. Source.

Spelman Arms. Sable, ten plates between two flaunches argent.

Foljambe Arms. Sable a bend between six escallops or.

Hobart Arms. Sable, an estoile of six points or between two flaunches ermine.

Kitson Arms. Sable three fishes hauriant in fess argent a chief or. Source.

Bridgeman Arms. Sable, ten plates, four, three, two, and one, on a chief argent a lion passant ermines. Source

Lascelles Arms. Sable a cross patoncé within a Bordure or. Source.

Greville Arms. Sable a cross in a border Engrailed or with five roundels sable on the cross. Source.

Vaughan Arms. Sable a chevron between three fleurs-de-lys argent. Source.