Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough
A canon regular of the Augustinian Guisborough Priory, Yorkshire, formerly known as The Chronicle of Walter of Hemingburgh, describes the period from 1066 to 1346. Before 1274 the Chronicle is based on other works. Thereafter, the Chronicle is original, and a remarkable source for the events of the time. This book provides a translation of the Chronicle from that date. The Latin source for our translation is the 1849 work edited by Hans Claude Hamilton. Hamilton, in his preface, says: 'In the present work we behold perhaps one of the finest samples of our early chronicles, both as regards the value of the events recorded, and the correctness with which they are detailed; Nor will the pleasing style of composition be lightly passed over by those capable of seeing reflected from it the tokens of a vigorous and cultivated mind, and a favourable specimen of the learning and taste of the age in which it was framed.'
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On 28th May 1262 [his father] King Philip III of France and [his mother] Isabella Barcelona Queen Consort France were married. She the daughter of [his grandfather] James I King Aragon and [his grandmother] Violant Árpád Queen Consort Aragon. He the son of King Louis IX of France and Margaret Provence Queen Consort France.
In June 1268 King Philip IV of France was born to [his father] King Philip III of France and [his mother] Isabella Barcelona Queen Consort France.
On 25th August 1270 [his grandfather] King Louis IX of France died. [his father] King Philip III of France succeeded III King France: Capet. [his mother] Isabella Barcelona Queen Consort France by marriage Queen Consort France.
On 28th January 1271 [his mother] Isabella Barcelona Queen Consort France died.
On 22nd July 1274 Henry I King Navarre died. [his future wife] Joan Blois I Queen Navarre succeeded I Queen Navarre.
On 21st August 1274 [his father] King Philip III of France and [his step-mother] Maria of Brabant Queen Consort France were married. She by marriage Queen Consort of France. She the daughter of Henry Reginar III Duke Brabant and Adelaide Burgundy Duchess Brabant. He the son of [his grandfather] King Louis IX of France and [his grandmother] Margaret Provence Queen Consort France.
In 1284 [his brother] Charles Valois I Count Valois was created I Count Valois.
On 16th August 1284 King Philip IV of France and Joan Blois I Queen Navarre were married. She by marriage Queen Consort of France. She the daughter of Henry I King Navarre and Blanche Capet Queen Navarre. He the son of King Philip III of France and Isabella Barcelona Queen Consort France.
On 5th October 1285 [his father] King Philip III of France died of dysentery; see Annals of Dunstable. King Philip IV of France succeeded IV King France: Capet. [his wife] Joan Blois I Queen Navarre by marriage Queen Consort of France.
On 4th October 1289 [his son] Louis X King France I Navarre was born to King Philip IV of France and [his wife] Joan Blois I Queen Navarre. He married (1) Clementia Hungary Queen Consort France, daughter of Charles Martel King Hungary and Clementia Habsburg, and had issue (2) 21st September 1305 Margaret of Burgundy Queen Consort France, daughter of Robert II Duke Burgundy and Agnes Capet Duchess Burgundy, and had issue.
On 16th August 1290 [his brother] Charles Valois I Count Valois and [his sister-in-law] Margaret Capet Countess Valois were married. She by marriage Countess Valois. She the daughter of Charles II King Naples and Mary of Hungary Queen Consort Naples. He the son of [his father] King Philip III of France and [his mother] Isabella Barcelona Queen Consort France.
On 30th December 1292 [his brother-in-law] Henry Plantagenet 3rd Earl of Leicester 3rd Earl Lancaster and Maud Chaworth were married. He the son of Edmund "Crouchback" Plantagenet 1st Earl of Leicester 1st Earl Lancaster and [his mother-in-law] Blanche Capet Queen Navarre.
Around 1293 [his son] Philip V King France I King Navarre was born to King Philip IV of France and [his wife] Joan Blois I Queen Navarre. He married Joan of Burgundy Queen Consort France, daughter of Otto Ivrea IV Count Burgundy and Mahaut Artois Countess Burgundy, and had issue.
In 1294 [his brother-in-law] Thomas Plantagenet 2nd Earl of Leicester, 2nd Earl Lancaster, Earl of Salisbury and Lincoln and Alice Lacy Countess Leicester, and Lancaster 5th Countess of Salisbury 5th Countess Lincoln were married. She the daughter of Henry Lacy 4th Earl Lincoln, Earl Salisbury and Margaret Longespée 4th Countess of Salisbury and Lincoln. He the son of Edmund "Crouchback" Plantagenet 1st Earl of Leicester 1st Earl Lancaster and [his mother-in-law] Blanche Capet Queen Navarre.
On 19th June 1294 [his son] Charles IV King France I King Navarre was born to King Philip IV of France and [his wife] Joan Blois I Queen Navarre. He married (1) 1307 Blanche of Burgundy Queen Consort France, daughter of Otto Ivrea IV Count Burgundy and Mahaut Artois Countess Burgundy, and had issue (2) after 19th May 1322 Marie Luxemburg Queen Consort France, daughter of Henry Luxemburg VII Holy Roman Emperor and Margaret Brabant Countess Luxemburg and Namur, and had issue (3) 5th July 1324 Joan Évreux Queen Consort France, daughter of Louis I Count Évreux and Margaret Artois Countess Évreux, and had issue.
In 1295 [his daughter] Isabella of France Queen Consort England was born to King Philip IV of France and [his wife] Joan Blois I Queen Navarre. She married 28th January 1308 King Edward II of England, son of King Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile Queen Consort England, and had issue.
On 5th June 1296 Edmund "Crouchback" Plantagenet 1st Earl of Leicester 1st Earl Lancaster died at Bayonne. He was buried at Westminster Abbey. [his brother-in-law] Thomas Plantagenet 2nd Earl of Leicester, 2nd Earl Lancaster, Earl of Salisbury and Lincoln succeeded 2nd Earl of Leicester, 2nd Earl Lancaster. Alice Lacy Countess Leicester, and Lancaster 5th Countess of Salisbury 5th Countess Lincoln by marriage Countess of Leicester, Countess Lancaster.
In 1298 [his half-brother] Louis I Count Évreux was created I Count Évreux.
On 10th September 1299 [his brother-in-law] King Edward I of England and [his half-sister] Margaret of France Queen Consort England were married at Canterbury Cathedral. She by marriage Queen Consort England. The difference in their ages was 39 years. She the daughter of [his father] King Philip III of France and [his step-mother] Maria of Brabant Queen Consort France. He the son of King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence Queen Consort England.
Guy Beauchamp 10th Earl Warwick was present.
On 25th May 1300 [his brother-in-law] Rudolph Habsburg III Duke Austria and [his half-sister] Blanche Capet Duchess Austria were married. She by marriage Duchess Austria. She the daughter of [his father] King Philip III of France and [his step-mother] Maria of Brabant Queen Consort France. He the son of Albert Habsburg I Duke Austria and Elizabeth Carinthia Duchess Austria.
In 1302 [his brother] Charles Valois I Count Valois and [his sister-in-law] Catherine Courtenay Countess Valois were married. She by marriage Countess Valois. He the son of [his father] King Philip III of France and [his mother] Isabella Barcelona Queen Consort France.
In or before 1303 [his half-brother] Louis I Count Évreux and [his sister-in-law] Margaret Artois Countess Évreux were married. She by marriage Countess Évreux. He the son of [his father] King Philip III of France and [his step-mother] Maria of Brabant Queen Consort France.
On 1st March 1305 [his half-sister] Blanche Capet Duchess Austria died.
On 2nd April 1305 [his wife] Joan Blois I Queen Navarre died.
On 21st September 1305 Louis X King France I Navarre and Margaret of Burgundy Queen Consort France were married. She the daughter of Robert II Duke Burgundy and Agnes Capet Duchess Burgundy. He the son of King Philip IV of France and Joan Blois I Queen Navarre.
In 1307 Charles IV King France I King Navarre and Blanche of Burgundy Queen Consort France were married. She by marriage Queen Consort of France. She the daughter of Otto Ivrea IV Count Burgundy and Mahaut Artois Countess Burgundy. He the son of King Philip IV of France and Joan Blois I Queen Navarre.
In 1308 [his brother] Charles Valois I Count Valois and [his sister-in-law] Mahaut Chatillon Countess Valois were married. She by marriage Countess Valois. The difference in their ages was 22 years. She the daughter of Guy Chatillon IV Count Saint Pol and Marie Capet. He the son of [his father] King Philip III of France and [his mother] Isabella Barcelona Queen Consort France.
On 28th January 1308 [his son-in-law] King Edward II of England and Isabella of France Queen Consort England were married at Boulogne sur Mer. She the daughter of King Philip IV of France and Joan Blois I Queen Navarre. He the son of King Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile Queen Consort England.
Thomas Walsingham [~1422]. In the year of grace 1308, which is the second year from the Conquest of the reign of King Edward, not yet crowned, the second, the king kept Christmas at Wye, a manor of the Abbot of Battle, with a very large household. A few days after Christmas had passed, he crossed over into France to take as his wife Isabella, daughter of the King of France, who was a little over twelve years old. He entrusted the custody of the kingdom to the aforesaid Piers [Gaveston]; for which cause excessive murmuring arose among the magnates of the realm. The marriage in France at Boulogne-sur-Mer [28th January 1308], at which four kings were present, namely, the King of France, the son of the King of France, the King of Germany, and the King of Sicily, was solemnly celebrated. Then he returned to the kingdom of England with his wife. The magnates went out to meet their king and his new queen, and all strove to see who could show them greater honour. Among them came Piers himself, whom the king at once admitted into a most special embrace and regarded with the greatest familiarity. The magnates grew envious, but they put off their vengeance for another time.
Note 1. The four kings being King Philip IV of France, his son Louis, King of Navarre, Albert, King of Germany and Philip IV's brother Charles, King of Sicily.
Anno gratiæ millesimo trecentesimo octavo, qui est annus regni Regis Edwardi, nondum coronati, a Conquæstu Secundi, secundus, tenuit idem rex Natale apud Wy, manerium Abbatis de Bello, cum familia multa nimis. Paucis post Natale diebus transactis, transfretavit in Franciam, ut Regis Francorum filiam in uxorem duceret, nomine Isabellam, qua paulo plus annis duodecim habuit in ætate. Commisit autem regni custodiam Petro præfato; ob quam causam murmur immodicus inter proceres regni succrevit. Nuptiis in Francia apud Boloniam supra Mare, quibus quatuor Reges interfuerunt, videlicet Rex Franciæ, filius Regis Franciæ, Rex Alemanniæ, et Rex Siciliæ, celebratis solemniter, ad regnum Angliæ revertitur cum uxore. Igitur proceres occurrunt regi suo conjugique novæ; et a cunctis elaboratur, quis propensiorem honorem impendere possit illis. Occurrit inter cæteros ipse Petrus, quem mox Rex in amplexus specialius admittebat, et familiarins respiciebat. Invidebant ergo proceres, sed vindictam in tempus aliud differebant.
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Fine Rolls. On 7th February 1308 [his son-in-law] King Edward II of England and Isabella of France Queen Consort England returned from their wedding in Boulogne sur Mer to Dover, Kent.
7th February 1308. Be it remembered that on Wednesday after the Purification, Edward II, the king, returning from beyond seas, to wit, from Boulogne sur Mer, where he took to wife Isabel, daughter of the king of France, touched at Dover, Kent in his barge about the ninth hour [1500], Hugh le Despenser and the lord of Castellione of Gascony being in his company, and the Queen a little afterward touched there with certain ladies accompanying her, and because the great seal which had been taken with him beyond seas then remained in the keeping of the keeper of the wardrobe who could not arrive on that day, no writ was sealed from the hour of the king's coming until Friday following on which day the bishop of Chichester, chancellor, about the ninth hour [1500] delivered to the king in his chamber in Dover castle the seal used in England during the king's absence, and the king, receiving the same, delivered it to William de Melton, controller of the wardrobe, and forthwith delivered with his own hand to the chancellor the great seal under the seal of J. de Benstede, keeper of the wardrobe, and Master John Painter Fraunceis, in the presence of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, Peter, Earl of Cornwall, and Hugh le Despenser, William Martyn and William Inge, knights, and Adam de Osgodby, clerk; and the chancellor on that day after lunch in his room (hospicio) in God's House, Dover, sealed writs with the great seal.
On 29th November 1314 King Philip IV of France died. [his son] Louis X King France I Navarre succeeded X King France: Capet. [his daughter-in-law] Margaret of Burgundy Queen Consort France by marriage Queen Consort of France although she was in prison for adultery at the time and died four months later.
On 19th May 1322 [his son] Charles IV King France I King Navarre and [his daughter-in-law] Blanche of Burgundy Queen Consort France marriage annulled as a consequence of her adultery. In 1313 Isabella of France Queen Consort England gave gifts of coin-purses to her sisters-in-law Blanche of Burgundy Queen Consort France and Margaret of Burgundy Queen Consort France. The coin-purses were subsequently seen by Isabella to be in the possession of the Norman knights Gautier and Philippe d'Aunay. When Isabella visited her father King Philip IV of France again in 1314 she informed him she suspected the two sisters to be having affairs with the two knights. The two knights were arrested, confessed to adultery under torture, and were executed. The two women were sentenced to life imprisonment at Château Gaillard. Margaret's husband Louis X King France I Navarre became King in Nov 1314 whilst she was in prison; she became Queen of France by marriage. Somewhat conveniently she died five months later. Blanche of Burgundy Queen Consort France remained in prison until her husband Charles IV King France I King Navarre became King in 1322 at which time he had their marriage annulled.
John Evelyn's Diary. 3rd February 1644. The Palaise, as they call the upper part, was built in the time of Philip the Fair, noble and spacious. The great Hall annexed to it, is arched with stone, having a range of pillars in the middle, round which, and at the sides, are shops of all kinds, especially booksellers'. One side is full of pews for the clerks of the advocates, who swarm here (as ours at Westminster). At one of the ends stands an altar, at which mass is said daily. Within are several chambers, courts, treasuries, etc. Above that is the most rich and glorious Salle d'Audience, the chamber of St. Louis, and other superior Courts where the Parliament sits, richly gilt on embossed carvings and frets, and exceedingly beautified.