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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Paternal Family Tree: Somery
Around 1181 [his father] Ralph Somery 1st Baron Dudley [aged 25] and [his mother] Margaret Gras Baroness Dudley were married.
Around 1190 Roger Somery 2nd Baron Dudley was born to [his father] Ralph Somery 1st Baron Dudley [aged 34] and [his mother] Margaret Gras Baroness Dudley.
On 29th September 1194 [his father] Ralph Somery 1st Baron Dudley [aged 38] was created 1st Baron Dudley of Somery. [his mother] Margaret Gras Baroness Dudley by marriage Baroness Dudley of Somery.
In 1211 [his father] Ralph Somery 1st Baron Dudley [aged 55] died at Dudley, Staffordshire. His son Roger [aged 21] succeeded 2nd Baron Dudley of Somery.
Before 1218 [his brother-in-law] Thomas Berkeley 4th Baron Berkeley [aged 47] and [his sister] Joan Somery Baroness Berkeley [aged 22] were married. The difference in their ages was 25 years.
In 1220 Robert Berkeley 3rd Baron Berkeley [aged 55] died. His brother [his brother-in-law] Thomas [aged 50] succeeded 4th Baron Berkeley Feudal. [his sister] Joan Somery Baroness Berkeley [aged 25] by marriage Baroness Berkeley Feudal.
Around 1225 [his daughter] Margaret Somery Baroness Basset Drayton was born to Roger Somery 2nd Baron Dudley [aged 35] and [his future wife] Nicole D'Aubigny Baroness Dudley [aged 15] in Dudley, Worcestershire. She a great x 4 granddaughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England. She married (1) Ralph Basset and had issue (2) in or after 1292 Ralph Cromwell and had issue.
Around 1227 [his daughter] Mabel Somery was born to Roger Somery 2nd Baron Dudley [aged 37] and [his future wife] Amabilia Chaucombe Baroness Dudley at Dudley, Staffordshire.
In 1232 [his daughter] Joan Somery was born to Roger Somery 2nd Baron Dudley [aged 42] and [his future wife] Nicole D'Aubigny Baroness Dudley [aged 22] at Dudley, Staffordshire. She a great x 4 granddaughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England. She married John Strange and had issue.
Jean de Waurin's Chronicle of England Volume 6 Books 3-6: The Wars of the Roses
Jean de Waurin was a French Chronicler, from the Artois region, who was born around 1400, and died around 1474. Waurin’s Chronicle of England, Volume 6, covering the period 1450 to 1471, from which we have selected and translated Chapters relating to the Wars of the Roses, provides a vivid, original, contemporary description of key events some of which he witnessed first-hand, some of which he was told by the key people involved with whom Waurin had a personal relationship.
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In or before 1237 [his daughter] Matilda Somery was born to Roger Somery 2nd Baron Dudley [aged 46] and [his future wife] Nicole D'Aubigny Baroness Dudley [aged 26]. She a great x 4 granddaughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England.
Before 1240 Roger Somery 2nd Baron Dudley [aged 49] and Nicole D'Aubigny Baroness Dudley [aged 29] were married. She by marriage Baroness Dudley of Somery. The difference in their ages was 20 years. She the daughter of William D'Aubigny 3rd Earl Lincoln 3rd Earl of Arundel and Mabel Gernon Countess Lincoln and Arundel.
Around 1240 [his wife] Nicole D'Aubigny Baroness Dudley [aged 30] died at Dudley Castle [Map].
After 1240 Roger Somery 2nd Baron Dudley [aged 50] and Amabilia Chaucombe Baroness Dudley were married. She by marriage Baroness Dudley of Somery.
In 1250 [his son] John Somery was born to Roger Somery 2nd Baron Dudley [aged 60] and [his wife] Amabilia Chaucombe Baroness Dudley at Dudley, Staffordshire.
On 24th June 1255 [his son] Roger Somery 3rd Baron Dudley was born to Roger Somery 2nd Baron Dudley [aged 65] and [his wife] Amabilia Chaucombe Baroness Dudley at Dinas Powys. He married before March 1279 Agnes Unknown Baroness Dudley and had issue.
In 1262 Roger Somery 2nd Baron Dudley [aged 72] rebuilt Dudley Castle [Map].
On 31st October 1266 the Dictum of Kenilworth was issued. The Dictum was a peace agreement between King Henry III of England [aged 59] and the rebels who were besieged in the impregnable Kenilworth Castle [Map]. The committee included: Bishop Walter Branscombe [aged 46], Archbishop Walter Giffard [aged 41], Bishop Nicholas Ely, Gilbert de Clare 8th Earl Gloucester 7th Earl Hertford, Humphrey Bohun 2nd Earl Hereford 1st Earl Essex [aged 62], Philip Basset [aged 82], John Balliol [aged 58], Robert Walerand, Alan Zouche [aged 63], Roger Somery 2nd Baron Dudley [aged 76], and Warin Bassingbourne.
Robert Ferrers 6th Earl of Derby [aged 27] and Henry Hastings [aged 31] were fined seven times their annual income. The Dictum, however, required the rebels to pay their fines before being restored to their lands; something of a Catch-22 since if they weren't restored to their lands, they would have no income to pay the fine.
In 1267 [his daughter] Cecilia Somery was born to Roger Somery 2nd Baron Dudley [aged 77] and [his wife] Amabilia Chaucombe Baroness Dudley.
In 1270 [his daughter] Katherine Somery was born to Roger Somery 2nd Baron Dudley [aged 80] and [his wife] Amabilia Chaucombe Baroness Dudley at Dudley, Staffordshire.
On 26th August 1273 Roger Somery 2nd Baron Dudley [aged 83] died at Dudley Castle [Map]. His son Roger [aged 18] succeeded 3rd Baron Dudley of Somery. Agnes Unknown Baroness Dudley by marriage Baroness Dudley of Somery.
[his son] Ralph Somery was born to Roger Somery 2nd Baron Dudley and Nicole D'Aubigny Baroness Dudley at Dudley, Staffordshire. He a great x 4 grandson of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England. He married Margaret Unknown and had issue.
Queen Anne Boleyn of England [2]
Catherine Parr Queen Consort England [2]
Queen Catherine Howard of England [1]
Maximilian Habsburg Spain II Holy Roman Emperor [1]
Jane Grey I Queen England and Ireland [3]
Maximilian "The Great" Wittelsbach I Duke Bavaria I Elector Bavaria [1]
Maria Anna Wittelsbach Holy Roman Empress [1]
Marie de Medici Queen Consort France [1]
Ferdinand of Spain II Holy Roman Emperor [2]
George Wharton [13]
Margaret of Austria Queen Consort Spain [2]
Anna of Austria Holy Roman Empress [2]
John George Wettin Elector Saxony [1]
Frederick William "Great Elector" Hohenzollern Elector Brandenburg [1]
Eleonora Gonzaga Queen Consort Bohemia [2]
Maria Leopoldine Habsburg Spain Queen Consort Bohemia [2]
Hedwig Eleonora Queen Consort Sweden [1]
Charlotte Amalie Hesse-Kassel Queen Consort Denmark and Norway [1]
Louise of Mecklenburg Güstrow Queen Consort Denmark and Norway [1]
Maria Anna Neuburg Queen Consort Spain [2]
Joseph I Holy Roman Emperor [2]
Charles Habsburg Spain VI Holy Roman Emperor [2]
Adolph Frederick King Sweden [1]
King George III of Great Britain and Ireland [2]
Charlotte Mecklenburg Strelitz Queen Consort England [1]
Caroline Matilda Hanover Queen Consort Denmark and Norway [2]
Marie Sophie Hesse-Kassel Queen Consort Denmark and Norway [3]
Caroline of Brunswick Queen Consort England [2]
Frederick William III King Prussia [1]
Frederica Mecklenburg Strelitz Queen Consort Hanover [2]
Queen Fredrika Dorotea Vilhelmina [2]
King Christian I of Norway and VIII of Denmark [3]
Frederick William IV King Prussia [2]
Frederick VII King of Denmark [5]
Queen Louise Hesse-Kassel of Denmark [6]
King Christian IX of Denmark [3]
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom [4]
Queen Sophia of Sweden and Norway [5]
Victoria Empress Germany Queen Consort Prussia [11]
King Edward VII of the United Kingdom [11]
Maria Christina of Austria Queen Consort Spain [3]
Brigadier-General Charles Fitz-Clarence [57]
Victoria Mary Teck Queen Consort England [6]
Frederick Charles I King Finland [6]
Alexandrine Mecklenburg-Schwerin Queen Consort Denmark [8]
Victoria Eugénie Mountbatten Queen Consort Spain [14]
Louise Mountbatten Queen Consort Sweden [17]
Ingrid Bernadotte Queen Consort Denmark [13]
Philip Mountbatten Duke Edinburgh [20]
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom [221]
Carl XVI King Sweden [27]
Queen Consort Camilla Shand [83]