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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Chronicle of the Princes of Wales is in Late Medieval Books.
Brut y Tywysogion aka Chronicle of the Princes of Wales. Edited by the Reverend John Williams ab Ithel, M.A. Rector of Llanymowddy, Merionethshire. 1860.
1230. One thousand two hundred and thirty was the year of Christ, when king Henry, having with him a vast armed host, sailed for France, with the intention of obtaining his right as to Normandy and Anjou and Poictou. And soon after that, on account of a storm and mortality, being disappointed of his purpose, he returned to England. That year, William Canton of Cemaes died. Then young Llywelyn, son of Maelgwn, died, on his estate in Gwynedd, and was honourably buried at Aberconway [Map].
1230. That year, William Bruse (age 26) was hanged by Llywelyn (age 58), son of Iorwerth, having been caught in the chamber of the prince, with the princess Jannet (age 39), daughter of king John, and wife of the prince.