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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On 24th September 1869 Maud Cunnington née Pegge was born.
In 1889 Benjamin Howard Cunnington (age 28) and Maud Cunnington née Pegge (age 19) were married.
Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine 1907 V35 Pages 1-20. Notes on the Opening of a Bronze Age Barrow at Manton [Manton Barrow aka Preshute G1a [Map]], near Marlborough By Mrs M E Cunnington (age 37).
Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine 1910 V36 Pages 311-317. Notes On Barrows [King's Play Hill Long Barrow [Map], King's Play Hill Round Barrow 1 [Map], King's Play Hill Round Barrow 2 [Map]] On King's Play Down, Heddington.1 By Maud E. Cunnington (age 40).
Note 1. The three barrows here described were opened by Mr. B. H. Cunnington and myself in August, 1907, by kind permission of Captain Spicer, of Spye Park and of his tenant, Mr. Peak-Garland.
Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine 1910 V36 Pages 300-310. The Discovery Of A Chamber In The Long Barrow At Lanhill [Lanhill Long Barrow aka Hubba's Low [Map]], Near Chippenham. By Maud E. Cunnington (age 40).
Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine 1913 V38 Pages 1-11. June 1913. The Re-Erection of Two Fallen Stones [Longstones Cove aka Devil's Quoits [Map]], and Discovery of an Interment with Drinking Cup, At Avebury.1 By Mrs. M. E. Cunnington (age 43).
Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine 1913 V38 Pages 379-414. June 1914. List Of The Long Barrows Of Wiltshire. By Mrs. M. E. Cunnington (age 44).
[Referred to in the previous List of Prehistoric Antiquities, pp. 153—378, as "Appendix, Long Barrows."]
Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine 1925 V43 Pages 48-58. Figsbury Rings [Map]. An Account Of Excavations In 19241. By Mrs. M. E. Cunnington (age 55).
Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine 1930 V45 Pages 300-335. The "Sanctuary" [Map] On Overton Hill, Near Avebury. By M. E. Cunnington (age 60). Being an account of excavations carried out by Mr. and Mrs. B. H, Cunnington in 1930.
In 1950 [her husband] Benjamin Howard Cunnington (age 89) died.
This is a translation of the 'Memoires of Jacques du Clercq', published in 1823 in two volumes, edited by Frederic, Baron de Reissenberg. In his introduction Reissenberg writes: 'Jacques du Clercq tells us that he was born in 1424, and that he was a licentiate in law and a counsellor to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in the castellany of Douai, Lille, and Orchies. It appears that he established his residence at Arras. In 1446, he married the daughter of Baldwin de la Lacherie, a gentleman who lived in Lille. We read in the fifth book of his Memoirs that his father, also named Jacques du Clercq, had married a lady of the Le Camelin family, from Compiègne. His ancestors, always attached to the counts of Flanders, had constantly served them, whether in their councils or in their armies.' The Memoires cover a period of nineteen years beginning in in 1448, ending in in 1467. It appears that the author had intended to extend the Memoirs beyond that date; no doubt illness or death prevented him from carrying out this plan. As Reissenberg writes the 'merit of this work lies in the simplicity of its narrative, in its tone of good faith, and in a certain air of frankness which naturally wins the reader’s confidence.' Du Clercq ranges from events of national and international importance, including events of the Wars of the Roses in England, to simple, everyday local events such as marriages, robberies, murders, trials and deaths, including that of his own father in Book 5; one of his last entries.
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On 28th February 1951 Maud Cunnington née Pegge (age 81) died.
Longstones Cove aka Devil's Quoits [Map], aka Adam and Eve, Longstone Cove, Devil's Coits, describe two large upright sarsen stones in a field to the south-west of the Avebury Henge. One of the stones fell and was re-erected in 1911. During the course of its re-erection husband and wife Benjamin and Maud Cunnington discovered a crouched skeleton with beaker ware at its foot. When re-erected the larger stone, known as Adam, was rotated by around 45 degress clockwise from its original position.
Antiquity 2022 Volume 96.2: References. Cunnington, M. 1929. Woodhenge. Devizes: privately published.