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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Duke Rutland is in Dukedoms of England Alphabetically, Dukedoms of England Chronologically, Extant Dukedoms of England.
Summary
29th March 1703. John Manners 1st Duke Rutland [aged 64] created.
10th January 1711. Son John Manners 2nd Duke Rutland [aged 34] succeeded.
22nd February 1721. Son John Manners 3rd Duke Rutland [aged 24] succeeded.
29th May 1779. Grandson Charles Manners 4th Duke Rutland [aged 25] succeeded.
24th October 1787. Son John Henry Manners 5th Duke Rutland [aged 9] succeeded.
20th January 1857. Son Charles Manners 6th Duke Rutland [aged 41] succeeded.
3rd March 1888. Brother John Manners 7th Duke Rutland [aged 69] succeeded.
5th August 1906. Son Henry John Brinsley Manners 8th Duke Rutland [aged 54] succeeded.
8th May 1925. Son John Henry Montagu Manners 9th Duke Rutland [aged 38] succeeded.
22nd April 1940. Son Charles John Robert Manners 10th Duke Rutland [aged 20] succeeded.
4th January 1999. Son David Manners 11th Duke of Rutland [aged 39] succeeded.
On 29th March 1703 John Manners 1st Duke Rutland [aged 64] was created 1st Duke Rutland, 1st Marquess Grandby. Catherine Noel Duchess Rutland [aged 46] by marriage Duchess Rutland.
On 10th January 1711 John Manners 1st Duke Rutland [aged 72] died at Belvoir Castle [Map]. His son John [aged 34] succeeded 2nd Duke Rutland, 2nd Marquess Grandby, 10th Earl of Rutland, 2nd Baron Manners of Haddon in Derbyshire. Catherine Russell Duchess Rutland [aged 34] by marriage Duchess Rutland.
On 1st January 1713 John Manners 2nd Duke Rutland [aged 36] and Lucy Sherard Duchess Rutland [aged 28] were married. She by marriage Duchess Rutland. He the son of John Manners 1st Duke Rutland and Catherine Noel Duchess Rutland [aged 56].
On 22nd February 1721 John Manners 2nd Duke Rutland [aged 44] died. His son John [aged 24] succeeded 3rd Duke Rutland, 3rd Marquess Grandby, 11th Earl of Rutland, 3rd Baron Manners of Haddon in Derbyshire. Bridget Sutton Duchess Rutland [aged 21] by marriage Duchess Rutland.
On 29th May 1779 John Manners 3rd Duke Rutland [aged 82] died. His grandson Charles [aged 25] succeeded 4th Duke Rutland, 4th Marquess Grandby, 12th Earl of Rutland, 4th Baron Manners of Haddon in Derbyshire. Mary Isabella Somerset Duchess Rutland [aged 22] by marriage Duchess Rutland.
On 24th October 1787 Charles Manners 4th Duke Rutland [aged 33] died at Phoenix Park Lodge, Phoenix Park, Dublin. His son John [aged 9] succeeded 5th Duke Rutland, 5th Marquess Grandby, 13th Earl of Rutland, 5th Baron Manners of Haddon in Derbyshire.
On 22nd April 1799 John Henry Manners 5th Duke Rutland [aged 21] and Elizabeth Howard Duchess Rutland [aged 18] were married. She by marriage Duchess Rutland. She the daughter of Frederick Howard 5th Earl Carlisle [aged 50] and Margaret Caroline Leveson-Gower Countess Carlisle. He the son of Charles Manners 4th Duke Rutland and Mary Isabella Somerset Duchess Rutland [aged 42]. They were fourth cousins.
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.
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On 20th January 1857 John Henry Manners 5th Duke Rutland [aged 79] died. His son Charles [aged 41] succeeded 6th Duke Rutland, 6th Marquess Grandby, 14th Earl of Rutland, 6th Baron Manners of Haddon in Derbyshire.
On 3rd March 1888 Charles Manners 6th Duke Rutland [aged 72] died unmarried at Belvoir Castle [Map]. His brother John Manners [aged 69] succeeded 7th Duke Rutland, 7th Marquess Grandby, 15th Earl of Rutland, 7th Baron Manners of Haddon in Derbyshire. Janetta Hughan [aged 51] by marriage Duchess Rutland.
On 5th August 1906 John Manners 7th Duke Rutland [aged 87] died at Belvoir Castle [Map]. His son Henry [aged 54] succeeded 8th Duke Rutland, 8th Marquess Grandby, 16th Earl of Rutland, 2nd Baron Roos of Belvoir in Leicestershire. Violet Lindsay Duchess Rutland [aged 50] by marriage Duchess Rutland.
On 8th May 1925 Henry John Brinsley Manners 8th Duke Rutland [aged 73] died. His son John [aged 38] succeeded 9th Duke Rutland, 9th Marquess Grandby, 17th Earl of Rutland, 9th Baron Manners of Haddon in Derbyshire, 3rd Baron Roos of Belvoir in Leicestershire. Kathleen Tennant Duchess Rutland [aged 30] by marriage Duchess Rutland.
On 22nd April 1940 John Henry Montagu Manners 9th Duke Rutland [aged 53] died of pneumonia at Belvoir Castle [Map]. His son Charles [aged 20] succeeded 10th Duke Rutland, 10th Marquess Grandby, 18th Earl of Rutland, 10th Baron Manners of Haddon in Derbyshire, 4th Baron Roos of Belvoir in Leicestershire.
On 27th April 1946 Charles John Robert Manners 10th Duke Rutland [aged 26] and Anne Bairstow Cumming Bell Duchess of Rutland were married at St Margaret's Church, Westminster [Map]. She by marriage Duchess Rutland. He the son of John Henry Montagu Manners 9th Duke Rutland and Kathleen Tennant Duchess Rutland [aged 51].
On 15th May 1958 Charles John Robert Manners 10th Duke Rutland [aged 38] and Frances Helen Sweeny Duchess of Rutland [aged 21] were married. She by marriage Duchess Rutland. She the daughter of Charles Francis Sweeny [aged 48] and Margaret Whigham Duchess of Argyll [aged 45]. He the son of John Henry Montagu Manners 9th Duke Rutland and Kathleen Tennant Duchess Rutland [aged 63].
On 4th January 1999 Charles John Robert Manners 10th Duke Rutland [aged 79] died. His son David [aged 39] succeeded 11th Duke Rutland, 11th Marquess Grandby, 19th Earl of Rutland, 11th Baron Manners of Haddon in Derbyshire, 5th Baron Roos of Belvoir in Leicestershire.