Adam Murimuth's Continuation and Robert of Avesbury’s 'The Wonderful Deeds of King Edward III'
This volume brings together two of the most important contemporary chronicles for the reign of Edward III and the opening phases of the Hundred Years’ War. Written in Latin by English clerical observers, these texts provide a vivid and authoritative window into the political, diplomatic, and military history of fourteenth-century England and its continental ambitions. Adam Murimuth Continuatio's Chronicarum continues an earlier chronicle into the mid-fourteenth century, offering concise but valuable notices on royal policy, foreign relations, and ecclesiastical affairs. Its annalistic structure makes it especially useful for establishing chronology and tracing the development of events year by year. Complementing it, Robert of Avesbury’s De gestis mirabilibus regis Edwardi tertii is a rich documentary chronicle preserving letters, treaties, and official records alongside narrative passages. It is an indispensable source for understanding Edward III’s claim to the French crown, the conduct of war, and the mechanisms of medieval diplomacy. Together, these works offer scholars, students, and enthusiasts a reliable and unembellished account of a transformative period in English and European history. Essential for anyone interested in medieval chronicles, the Hundred Years’ War, or the reign of Edward III.
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Died from childbirth is in Childbirth.
On 14th March 1190 twin boys Robert Capet and Philip Capet were born to King Philip II of France [aged 24] and Isabelle Flanders Queen Consort France [aged 19]. The eldest Robert died the same day, the youngest Philip died three days later. Their mother Isabelle Flanders Queen Consort France died from childbirth the day after the birth.
Around 21st September 1411 Anne Mortimer [aged 20] died from childbirth.
On 22nd December 1476 Isabel Neville Duchess Clarence [aged 25] died from childbirth at Warwick Castle [Map]. The cause of death uncertain but likely a consequence of the birth of her fourth child Richard in early October. She was buried in Tewkesbury Abbey [Map]. The Founders Book of Tewkesbury Abbey Folio 39v records her death. George York 1st Duke of Clarence [aged 27] believed she had been murdered by Ankarette Hawkeston aka Twynyho. See Trial and Execution of Ankarette Twynyho.
On 2nd February 1503 Katherine Tudor was born to King Henry VII of England and Ireland [aged 46] and Elizabeth York Queen Consort England [aged 36] at the Tower of London [Map]. She died eight days later on 11th February 1503.
On 11th February 1503 (her birthday) Elizabeth York Queen Consort England died from childbirth.
On the night of the 24th and 25th October 1537 Queen Jane Seymour [aged 28] died around two in the morning at Hampton Court Palace [Map] as a result of complications arising from childbirth.
On 12th August 1545 Maria Aviz [aged 17] died from childbirth one month after giving birth to her son Carlos Habsburg Spain.
On 5th September 1548 Catherine Parr Queen Consort England [aged 36] died from childbirth having given birth to her daughter Mary Seymour six days before. She was buried at Sudeley Castle [Map]. William Harvey [aged 38] as Somerset Herald of Arms in Ordinary was the only herald to attend her funeral.
Around 23rd August 1557 Mary Fitzalan Duchess Norfolk [aged 17] died from childbirth at Arundel House [Map].
On 20th January 1606 Sibylla Elisabeth of Württemberg [aged 21] died from childbirth after the birth of a stillborn son.
Around 24th November 1610 Sophie Hohenzollern [aged 28] died from childbirth four weeks after the birth of her only child Jacob Kettler.
In February 1649 Elizabeth Wenman Baroness Latimer and Willoughby Broke died from childbirth. Her husband had died a month before. Their son Greville Verney 17th Baron Latimer 9th Baron Willoughby was born posthumously on 26 Jan 1649. She was buried at Compton Verney Chapel [Map].
Anne Boleyn. Her Life as told by Lancelot de Carle's 1536 Letter.
In 1536, two weeks after the execution of Anne Boleyn, her brother George and four others, Lancelot du Carle, wrote an extraordinary letter that described Anne's life, and her trial and execution, to which he was a witness. This book presents a new translation of that letter, with additional material from other contemporary sources such as Letters, Hall's and Wriothesley's Chronicles, the pamphlets of Wynkyn the Worde, the Memorial of George Constantyne, the Portuguese Letter and the Baga de Secrets, all of which are provided in Appendices.
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On 12th September 1709 Charles Noel Somerset 4th Duke Beaufort was born to Henry Somerset 2nd Duke Beaufort [aged 25] and Rachel Noel Duchess Beaufort [aged 22]. His mother Rachel Noel Duchess Beaufort died from childbirth the next day. He married 1st May 1740 Elizabeth Berkeley Duchess Beaufort and had issue.
On 20th November 1713 Elizabeth Harley [aged 24] died from childbirth at at Wimbledon, Surrey, having given birth to Thomas Osborne 4th Duke Leeds two weeks before.
In July 1723 Mercy Wright died from childbirth having given birth to her son Lionel Wright Vane-Fletcher 1st Baronet a month before.
On 22nd July 1746 Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain [aged 20] died from childbirth three days after having given birth to her daughter Princess Marie Thérèse of France.
On 10th February 1750 Frances Scudamore Duchess Norfolk was born to Charles Fitzroy-Scudamore [aged 37] and Frances Scudamore 3rd Duchess Beaufort [aged 39]. Her mother died from childbirth six dys later when she inherited Holme Lacy House, Herefordshire [Map]. She a great x 2 granddaughter of King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland. She married 6th April 1771 Charles Howard 11th Duke of Norfolk, son of Charles Howard 10th Duke of Norfolk and Catherine Brockholes Duchess Norfolk.
On 9th April 1755 Catherine Winn [aged 23] died from childbirth.
Before 1st May 1755 Beatrix Copley [aged 34] died from childbirth. On 1st May 1755 she was buried.
On 19th May 1755 Elizabeth Nightingale died from childbirth ten days after giving birth to her only child Wilmot Vaughan 2nd Earl Lisburne.
In 1757 Rhoda Delaval [aged 31] died from childbirth following the birth of her son Francis.
On 7th July 1770 Amelia Watts [aged 19] died from childbirth one month after the birth of her son Robert Jenkinson 2nd Earl Liverpool .
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 25th March 1772 George Greville was born to George Greville 2nd Earl Warwick and Brooke [aged 25] and Georgiana Peachey. His mother died from childbirth a few days later on 3rd April 1772. He a great x 3 grandson of King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland.
On 24th January 1783 Sarah Gurney [aged 26] died from childbirth ten days after the birth of her son Samuel Hoare.
On 22nd August 1785 Hester Lyttelton died from childbirth giving birth to her second child who also died.
In 1786 Harriet Pitt [aged 28] died from childbirth five days after giving birth to her only child.
On 1st February 1786 Mary Shuttleworth Lady Turner and Gascoigne [aged 35] died from childbirth having given birth to a son, Thomas Charles Gascoigne, in the previous month.
On 10th September 1797 Mary Wollstonecraft [aged 38] died from childbirth eleven days after the birth of Mary Godwin aka Shelley.
On 30th May 1806 Frances Bagot [aged 20] died from childbirth six days after the birth of her son Reverend Francis Paget.
On 20th September 1822 Georgiana Elizabeth Mundy Duchess Newcastle under Lyne [aged 33] died from childbirth. She had given birth to twins one of whom was stillborn, one survived thirteen days. Her 12th and 13th child. In 1823 her husband Henry [aged 37], the 4th Duke, commissioned Robert Smirke, a celebrated architect, to design a Mausoleum at Milton. The building was consecrated in 1833 by the Archbishop of York and given the dedication of All Saints.
Monument in Milton Mausoleum, Markham Clinton [Map] sculpted by Richard Westmacott [aged 47].
Georgiana Elizabeth Mundy Duchess Newcastle under Lyne: On 1st June 1789 she was born to Edward Miller Mundy. On 18th July 1807 Henry Pelham-Clinton 4th Duke Newcastle-under-Lyne and she were married in Lambeth Palace [Map]. She by marriage Duchess Newcastle under Lyme. He the son of Thomas Pelham-Clinton 3rd Duke Newcastle-under-Lyne and Anna Maria Stanhope Countess Lincoln.
On 3rd August 1829 Mathewana Onslow [aged 21] died from childbirth at Calwich Hall [Map] three months after giving birth to a daughter. Memorial at St Peter's Church, Ellastone.
Mathewana Onslow: Around 1808 she was born to Matthew Richard Onslow. On 28th June 1828 Bernard Granville and she were married.
On 4th October 1829 Arabella Hamlyn-Williams died from childbirth shortly after the birth of her fourth child Catherine Hamilton Noel.
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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On 17th January 1831 Ellen Turner [aged 19] died from childbirth at Lyme Hall, Cheshire [Map].
On 28th March 1831 Anne-Elizabeth Hodgson [aged 28] died from childbirth eleven days after giving birth to a daughter.
On 28th February 1848 Jessie Dalrymple Goddard [aged 23] died from childbirth a few weeks after the birth of their only child Ernest Ambrose Vivian 2nd Baron Swansea.
On 7th April 1854 Catherine Louise Georgina Marlay [aged 23] died from childbirth three weeks after giving birth to her daughter Edith Katherine Manners [deceased] who had died at twelve days old. She was buried at Highgate Cemetery on 15th April 1854. Monument by William Calder Marshall [aged 41] erected in 1862 in a chapel at St Katherine's Church, Rowsley [Map] built for the purpose commissioned by her husband John Manners [aged 35], the future 7th Duke of Rutland.
On 30th March 1855 Duchess Maria Dorothea of Württemberg [aged 57] died from childbirth having given birth to twins the day before.
On 12th April 1855 Elizabeth Margaret HIbbert Lady Holland [aged 21] died from childbirth.
On 4th January 1858 Elizabeth Sophia Hawkins Whitshed died from childbirth.
On 22nd May 1858 Margaret Compton [aged 28] died from childbirth. Monument at Church of St Mary Magdalen, Castle Ashby [Map] erected by her husband Edward Frederick Leveson-Gower [aged 39]. Sculpted by Baron Pietro Carlo Marochetti [aged 53].
Margaret Compton: On 14th March 1830 she was born to Spencer Compton 2nd Marquess Northampton and Margaret Douglas-Maclean-Clephane Marchioness Northampton in Rome, Italy [Map]. On 1st June 1851 Edward Frederick Leveson-Gower and she were married at St Margaret's Church, Westminster [Map]. She the daughter of Spencer Compton 2nd Marquess Northampton and Margaret Douglas-Maclean-Clephane Marchioness Northampton. He the son of Granville Leveson-Gower 1st Earl Granville and Harriet Cavendish Countess Granville. They were half fifth cousin once removed.
On 24th August 1860 Jane Maria Baker Lady Simeon [aged 41] died from childbirth.
On 15th July 1861 Joanna Mary Boyce [aged 29] died from childbirth shortly after the birth of her third child.
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 February 1862 Captain Charles Barrington Balfour was born to Charles Balfour [aged 38] and Adelaide Barrington [aged 23]. His mother died from childbirth three days later. He married 12th April 1888 Helena McDonnell, daughter of Mark Kerr aka McDonnell 5th Earl of Antrim and Jane Macan Countess of Antrim, and had issue.
On 1st February 1863 Maria Thérese Lister died from childbirth a day after giving birth to her second son Lewis Vernon-Harcourt 1st Viscount Harcourt.
On 7th October 1871 Louise Blanche Howard [aged 29] died from childbirth six weeks after the birth of a child who had died the same or next day after birth. The Foljambe Tomb. Monument in St Mary's Church Tickhill Doncaster [Map] commissioned by her husband Cecil George Savile Foljambe 1st Earl Liverpool [aged 24] who had numerous monuments erected in her memory in places associated with her. Sculpted by William Calder Marshall [aged 58].
Louise Blanche Howard: On 22nd February 1842 she was born to Frederick Howard and Fanny Cavendish. On 22nd July 1869 Cecil George Savile Foljambe 1st Earl Liverpool and she were married. On 21st February 1877 Cecil George Savile Foljambe 1st Earl Liverpool and Susan Louisa Cavendish Countess Liverpool were married. She was a first cousin of his first wife Louise Blanche Howard.
On 8th October 1881 Florence Chaplin was born to Henry Chaplin 1st Viscount Chaplin [aged 40] and Florence Sutherland Leveson-Gower [aged 26]. Florence Sutherland Leveson-Gower died from childbirth two days later. She was buried in the churchyard of St Oswald's Church, Blankney. Her husband's account of her last days .... Lady Florence's second daughter was born on Saturday, and her birth was followed by convulsions from which she never recovered consciousness. Through the night Dr. Brook and her husband watched by her, and on Sunday there was a slight improvement which continued throughout the day. "At that time ", says Mr. Chaplin," my spirit had revived, and I allowed myself, foolishly perhaps, to become quite sanguine—only, alas, to be bitterly disappointed." On Sunday evening the breathing again became more rapid, and on Monday afternoon "my darling passed away, with her head resting on my shoulder, and with the most beautiful expression on her face as she died".
In 1886 Octavia Laura Mary Tennant [aged 24] died from childbirth.
On 3rd May 1891 Ralph Beckett 3rd Baron Grimthorpe was born to Ernest William Beckett 2nd Baron Grimthorpe [aged 34] and Lucy Tracy Lee. His mother died from childbirth six days later. He married 3rd September 1914 Mary Alice Archdale Baroness Beckett and had issue.
On 23rd December 1894 William Grosvenor 3rd Duke Westminster was born to Henry George Grosvenor [aged 33] and Dora Mina Erskine-Wemyss [aged 38]. On 25th December 1894 his mother died from childbirth. He a great x 2 grandson of King William IV of the United Kingdom.
On 28th July 1923 Doreen Buxton Duchess Grafton [aged 25] died from childbirth after giving birth to her third child Charles Oliver Edward Fitzroy on 13th July 1923.