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.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
Paternal Family Tree: Boleyn
Maternal Family Tree: Elizabeth Wychingham 1410-1451
Before 1442 [his father] Geoffrey Boleyn [aged 35] and [his mother] Ann Hoo [aged 16] were married.
In 1451 William Boleyn was born to [his father] Geoffrey Boleyn [aged 45] and [his mother] Ann Hoo [aged 26] at Blickling, Norfolk.
In 1457 [his father] Geoffrey Boleyn [aged 51] was appointed Lord Mayor of London.
In 1463 [his father] Geoffrey Boleyn [aged 57] died. He was buried at St Lawrence Jewry. His son William Boleyn [aged 12] inherited Hever Castle, Kent [Map].
In 1465 William Boleyn [aged 14] and Margaret Butler [aged 11] were married. She the daughter of Thomas Butler 7th Earl Ormonde [aged 39] and Anne Hankford Countess Ormonde [aged 34].
In 1475 [his son] Anthony Boleyn was born to William Boleyn [aged 24] and [his wife] Margaret Butler [aged 21].
On 18th November 1475 [his daughter] Anne Boleyn was born to William Boleyn [aged 24] and [his wife] Margaret Butler [aged 21] at Blickling, Norfolk. She married before 1503 John Shelton and had issue.
In 1476 [his daughter] Anna Boleyn was born to William Boleyn [aged 25] and [his wife] Margaret Butler [aged 22]. She died aged three in 1479.
Around 1477 [his son] Thomas Boleyn 1st Earl Wiltshire and Ormonde was born to William Boleyn [aged 26] and [his wife] Margaret Butler [aged 23] at Hever Castle, Kent [Map] at Hever Castle, Kent [Map]. He married 1498 his fourth cousin Elizabeth Howard Countess of Wiltshire and Ormonde, daughter of Thomas Howard 2nd Duke of Norfolk and Elizabeth Tilney Countess of Surrey, and had issue.
On 31st October 1479 Anna Boleyn [aged 3] died. Brass in St Andrew's Church, Blickling [Map]. Her incription reads "Hic iacet Anna Boleyn, filia Willi; Boleyn, Armigeri, Etatis trium Annorum undecem Mensum et tredecem Dierum, que obiit ultimo Die Mensis Octobr' Anno Domini Mcccclrrir cuius anime propicietur Deus Amen." i.e. "Here lies Anne Boleyn, daughter of Will; Boleyn, Squire, of the Age of Three Years, Eleven Months and Thirteen Days, who died on the last Day of the Month of October, in the Year of the Lord Mccclxxix, whose soul may God have mercy on him, Amen." The amorial shows her father's [aged 28] and mother's [aged 25] quartered.
Anna Boleyn: In 1476 she was born to William Boleyn and Margaret Butler.
William of Worcester's Chronicle of England
William of Worcester, born around 1415, and died around 1482 was secretary to John Fastolf, the renowned soldier of the Hundred Years War, during which time he collected documents, letters, and wrote a record of events. Following their return to England in 1440 William was witness to major events. Twice in his chronicle he uses the first person: 1. when writing about the murder of Thomas, 7th Baron Scales, in 1460, he writes '… and I saw him lying naked in the cemetery near the porch of the church of St. Mary Overie in Southwark …' and 2. describing King Edward IV's entry into London in 1461 he writes '… proclaimed that all the people themselves were to recognize and acknowledge Edward as king. I was present and heard this, and immediately went down with them into the city'. William’s Chronicle is rich in detail. It is the source of much information about the Wars of the Roses, including the term 'Diabolical Marriage' to describe the marriage of Queen Elizabeth Woodville’s brother John’s marriage to Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, he aged twenty, she sixty-five or more, and the story about a paper crown being placed in mockery on the severed head of Richard, 3rd Duke of York.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
In 1481 [his son] John Boleyn was born to William Boleyn [aged 30] and [his wife] Margaret Butler [aged 27]. He died aged three in 1484.
In 1484 [his son] John Boleyn [aged 3] died.
On 6th June 1484 [his mother] Ann Hoo [aged 59] died.
Around 1485 [his daughter] Jane Boleyn was born to William Boleyn [aged 34] and [his wife] Margaret Butler [aged 31]. She married before 1521 her fifth cousin once removed Philip Calthorpe and had issue.
In 1487 [his daughter] Alice Boleyn was born to William Boleyn [aged 36] and [his wife] Margaret Butler [aged 33]. She married in or before 1511 Robert Clere and had issue.
Around 1489 [his daughter] Margaret Boleyn was born to William Boleyn [aged 38] and [his wife] Margaret Butler [aged 35]. She married before 1507 her fifth cousin once removed John Sackville and had issue.
Around 1491 [his son] William Boleyn was born to William Boleyn [aged 40] and [his wife] Margaret Butler [aged 37].
In 1493 [his son] James Boleyn was born to William Boleyn [aged 42] and [his wife] Margaret Butler [aged 39]. He married in or before 1536 Elizabeth Wood aka Wode.
On 30th September 1493 [his son] Anthony Boleyn [aged 18] died. St Andrew's Church, Blickling [Map].
Anthony Boleyn: In 1475 he was born to William Boleyn and Margaret Butler.
Around 1496 [his son] Edward Boleyn was born to William Boleyn [aged 45] and [his wife] Margaret Butler [aged 42]. He married (1) 1515 Anne Tempest (2) before November 1520 his fourth cousin once removed Anne Tempest.
William of Worcester's Chronicle of England
William of Worcester, born around 1415, and died around 1482 was secretary to John Fastolf, the renowned soldier of the Hundred Years War, during which time he collected documents, letters, and wrote a record of events. Following their return to England in 1440 William was witness to major events. Twice in his chronicle he uses the first person: 1. when writing about the murder of Thomas, 7th Baron Scales, in 1460, he writes '… and I saw him lying naked in the cemetery near the porch of the church of St. Mary Overie in Southwark …' and 2. describing King Edward IV's entry into London in 1461 he writes '… proclaimed that all the people themselves were to recognize and acknowledge Edward as king. I was present and heard this, and immediately went down with them into the city'. William’s Chronicle is rich in detail. It is the source of much information about the Wars of the Roses, including the term 'Diabolical Marriage' to describe the marriage of Queen Elizabeth Woodville’s brother John’s marriage to Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, he aged twenty, she sixty-five or more, and the story about a paper crown being placed in mockery on the severed head of Richard, 3rd Duke of York.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
In 1498 [his son] Thomas Boleyn 1st Earl Wiltshire and Ormonde [aged 21] and [his daughter-in-law] Elizabeth Howard Countess of Wiltshire and Ormonde [aged 18] were married. She the daughter of Thomas Howard 2nd Duke of Norfolk [aged 55] and Elizabeth Tilney Countess of Surrey. They were fourth cousins.
Before 1503 [his son-in-law] John Shelton [aged 25] and [his daughter] Anne Boleyn [aged 27] were married.
On 10th October 1505 William Boleyn [aged 54] died. His son Thomas Boleyn [aged 28] inherited Hever Castle, Kent [Map].
Archaeologia Volume 3 Section V. 31st July 1515. I, [his former father-in-law] Thomas Butler [aged 89] knt. erle of Ormonda, do make this my last will and testament, &c.
Item I give and devise to my dar dame [his former sister-in-law] Anne St. Leger [aged 60] — to my dar dame Marg't. Bolin [aged 61], late the wife of Sir Wm. Bolin knt. my manor of Newhall in Essex
Item when my lorde my father, whose soul God affoile [?], left and delivered unto me a lytle whyte horne of ivory, garnished at both thendes with gold, and corse thereunto of whyte sylke, barred with barres of gold, and a tyret of golde thereupon, which was myn auncetours at fyrst time they were called to honourb, and hath sythen contynually remained in the same blode, for wych cause my seid lord and father commanded me upon his blessing, that I shuld doo my devoir to cause it to contynue still in my blode as far furth as that myght lye in me soo to be doone to the honor of the same blode. Therefore for the accomplishiment of my seid father's will, as farr as it is in me to execute the same, I will that my executors delyver unto Sir Tho. Boleyn [aged 38] knt. son and heir apparent of my said dar Margaret, the said lytle white horn and corse, he to keep the same to the use of the issuee male of his body lawfully begotten. And for lack of such issue the said horne to remayne and be delyvered to Sir George Seyntleger [aged 31] knt. son of my said dar Anne, and to the issue male which successively shall come of the body of the said George. And so to contynue in the issue male of the bodies of the same dame Margaret and dame Anne, as long as shall fortune any such issue male of their bodies to be. And alls for default of issue male of the body of any of my said daughters, the said horn to remaine, and to be delivered to the next issue male of my said auncetors, so that it may contynew styl in my blode hereafter as long as it shall please God, lyke as it hath doone hytherto to the honor of the same blode.
Note a. He was the 7th Ead of Ormond, and 3d son of James the 4th Earl. He was attainted by E. IV, but restored by H. VII. sworn of the privy-counci, and summoned as a baron to the English parliament by the title of Thomas Ormond de Rochford. He died 1515, and was buried in the church of Sir Thomas D'Acres, now Mercers Chapel, London. His two daughters married as above, Sir James St. Leger, ancestor to the family of Eggesford, in Devonshire, and Sir William Bullen, Knight of the Bath, and father of Tho. Viscount Rochford, [who was the father of] Queen Anne [aged 14], and Mary [aged 16] wife of Wm. Carey [aged 15], ancestor to the Lord Hunsdon.
Note b. Q. Whether, on Henry II's appointing Theobald, the first of this family, butler of Ireland, 1177, or on the creation of the first Earl of Ormond, by E. I, when the county of Tipperary was made palatine.
In 1537 [his former wife] Margaret Butler [aged 83] died.
Thomas Fiennes and [his mother] Ann Hoo were married.
Kings Wessex: Great x 14 Grand Son of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England
Kings Gwynedd: Great x 9 Grand Son of Owain "Great" King Gwynedd
Kings Seisyllwg: Great x 15 Grand Son of Hywel "Dda aka Good" King Seisyllwg King Deheubarth
Kings Powys: Great x 10 Grand Son of Maredudd ap Bleddyn King Powys
Kings England: Great x 8 Grand Son of King John of England
Kings Scotland: Great x 13 Grand Son of King Duncan I of Scotland
Kings Franks: Great x 20 Grand Son of Charles "Charlemagne aka Great" King of the Franks King Lombardy Holy Roman Emperor
Kings France: Great x 15 Grand Son of Hugh I King of the Franks
Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 18 Grand Son of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine
Great x 1 Grandfather: Thomas Boleyn 
GrandFather: Geoffrey Boleyn
Great x 2 Grandfather: John Bracton
Great x 1 Grandmother: Anne Jane Bracton
Father: Geoffrey Boleyn
Great x 2 Grandfather: John Bracton
Great x 1 Grandfather: John Bracton
GrandMother: Alice Bracton
William Boleyn 8 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Thomas Hoo
Great x 2 Grandfather: William Hoo
Great x 4 Grandfather: John St Leger of Offley 
Great x 3 Grandmother: Isabel St Leger
Great x 1 Grandfather: Thomas Hoo
GrandFather: Thomas Hoo 1st Baron Hoo and Hastings 9 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Robert Felton 1st Baron Felton
Great x 3 Grandfather: John Felton 2nd Baron Felton 6 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Hawise Strange 
5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Thomas Felton 7 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 1 Grandmother: Eleanor Felton 8 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Mother: Ann Hoo 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Nicholas Wychingham
Great x 1 Grandfather: Nicholas Wychingham of Norfolk 5 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Giles de de Braose 
2 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: John de de Braose 3 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Margaret Braose 4 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Robert Ufford 1st Baron Ufford 
Great x 3 Grandmother: Agnes Eva Ufford
Great x 4 Grandmother: Cecily Valoignes Baroness Ufford 
GrandMother: Elizabeth Wychingham 6 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England