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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St Andrew Undershaft Church, Aldgate Ward is in Aldgate Ward, Churches in City of London.
In 1329 Geoffrey Denny was born at St Andrew Undershaft Church, Aldgate Ward [Map].
St Andrew Undershaft Church, Aldgate Ward [Map] is so named because of the Maypole that was erected each year opposite the church until 1517.
Henry Machyn's Diary. 16th April 1554. The xvj day of Aprell was sett up in sant Androwes Undershafft [Map] for master Kyrtun, alderman of London and marchand tayller of London, and marchand of the stapull of Calles, with a cote armur, iij penons of armes, goodly ons, and sett up over ys tombe.
Note. P. 60. Funeral ensigns of alderman Kyrton. Stephen Kirton, member of the Merchant-taylors in 1534. He was never sheriff or lord mayor. He bore four coats quarterly, 1. Argent, a fess and chevronel in chief gules; 2. Argent, a crescent and bordure sable; 3. Paly, argent and gules, a fess between three leopard's heads, all counterchanged; 4. Argent, a fesse between three butterflies gules. (Lord Mayors, &c. by Wm. Smith, Rouge-Dragon.)
On 19th October 1556 Bishop Henry Man died. He was buried at St Andrew Undershaft Church, Aldgate Ward [Map].
Henry Machyn's Diary. 22nd October 1556. The xxij day of October was bered doctur [Man], sumtime the pryor of Shen the charterhowse, and after mad bysshope of Man by kyng Edward the vjth; [and] was mared [married]; and bered at sant Andrews hundershaft [Map], London, and ded at master Whetheley('s) marchand tayller.
Note. P. 116. Burial of bishop Man at St. Andrew's Undershaft. "Henry Man, doctor of divinity in the university of Oxenford, and sometime bishop of Man, which Henry departed this life the 19. day of October, An. Do. 1556, and lyeth buried under this stone."—"before the doore within the chancell." (Stowe.) The letters patent of his appointment by Henry VIII. dated 22 Jan. 1545–6 are printed in Rymer's Fœdera, xv. 85.
Henry Machyn's Diary. 9th December 1560. The ix day of Desember was bered in sant Andrews undershaft [Map] mastores Lusun wedow, the wyff of master Lusun merser and stapoler and late shreyff of London, with a lx in blake gownes, and her plase and the chyrche hangyd with blake and armes, and a xxiiij clarkes syngyng; and she gayff xl gownes to men and women of brod cloth, and evere woman had nuw raylles, and ther was a sermon, and a iiij dosen of skochyons of armes; and after a gret dole, and after a grett dener.
Note. P. 245. Funeral of mistress Luson or Leveson. This was the widow of "Nicholas Leveson, mercer, sheriff 1535. Buried at St. Andrew's Undershaft." Arms, Azure, a fess undy argent and sable, between three leaves or. (List by Wm. Smith, Rougedragon.)
In 1582 Thomas Offley (age 82) died. He was buried at St Andrew Undershaft Church, Aldgate Ward [Map].
On 10th June 1610 John Craven 1st Baron Craven was baptised at St Andrew Undershaft Church, Aldgate Ward [Map].
On 18th July 1618 William Craven (age 70) died. He was buried at St Andrew Undershaft Church, Aldgate Ward [Map].
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 28th November 1626 Captain Lewes Roberts (age 30) and Anne Williamott were married at St Andrew Undershaft Church, Aldgate Ward [Map].
On 11th November 1641 Christopher Clitherow (age 63) died. He was buried at St Andrew Undershaft Church, Aldgate Ward [Map].
On 17th December 1656 Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet (age 69) and Alice Hastings Lady Clifton (age 50) were married at St Andrew Undershaft Church, Aldgate Ward [Map]. She by marriage Lady Clifton of Clifton in Nottinghamshire. She the daughter of Henry Hastings 5th Earl Huntingdon and Elizabeth Stanley Countess Huntingdon.
John Evelyn's Diary. 2nd December 1657. Dr. Raynolds (age 58) (since Bishop of Norwich) preached before the company at St. Andrew Under-shaft [Map], on Nehemiah xiii. 31, showing, by the example of Nehemiah, all the perfections of a trusty person in public affairs, with many good precepts apposite to the occasion, ending with a prayer for God's blessing on the company and the undertaking.
In 1671 John Dethick died at his estate in Tottenham [Map]. He was buried at St Andrew Undershaft Church, Aldgate Ward [Map].
On or before 5th August 1672, the date he was buried at St Andrew Undershaft Church, Aldgate Ward [Map], William Wight (age 70) died.