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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Maternal Family Tree: Mathilde Bethune 1264
In 1332 [his father] Adolph II Count de la Marck and [his mother] Margaret Cleves Countess de la Marck were married. She by marriage Countess de la Marck. She the daughter of [his grandfather] Dietrich Cleves VIII Count Cleves [aged 41] and [his grandmother] Margaret Guelders Countess Cleves.
Around 1334 Adolph de la Marck was born to [his father] Adolph II Count de la Marck and [his mother] Margaret Cleves Countess de la Marck.
In 1341 [his mother] Margaret Cleves Countess de la Marck died.
On 20th October 1347 [his father] Adolph II Count de la Marck died. His son [his brother] Engelbert [aged 14] succeeded III Count de la Marck.
In 1354 [his brother] Engelbert de la Marck III Count de la Marck [aged 20] and [his sister-in-law] Richardis Jülich Countess Mark were married. She by marriage Countess de la Marck. She the daughter of William Jülich V Duke Jülich [aged 55] and Joanna Hainaut Duchess Guelders [aged 39]. He the son of [his father] Adolph II Count de la Marck and [his mother] Margaret Cleves Countess de la Marck. They were third cousin once removed. She a great x 5 granddaughter of King Stephen I England.
On 16th November 1357 Adolph de la Marck [aged 23] was appointed Bishop Münster.
On 13th June 1363 Adolph de la Marck [aged 29] was appointed Archbishop Cologne.
In 1368 Adolph de la Marck [aged 34] succeeded I Count Cleves.
In 1369 Adolph de la Marck [aged 35] and Margaret Jülich Countess Cleves and Mark [aged 19] were married. She by marriage Countess Cleves. He the son of Adolph II Count de la Marck and Margaret Cleves Countess de la Marck. They were fourth cousins.
On 2nd August 1373 [his son] Adolph de la Marck I Duke Cleves was born to Adolph de la Marck [aged 39] and [his wife] Margaret Jülich Countess Cleves and Mark [aged 23]. He married (1) before March 1400 Agnes Wittelsbach (2) before 23rd February 1416 his half third cousin twice removed Marie Valois Duchess Cleves, daughter of John "Fearless" Valois Duke Burgundy and Margaret Wittelsbach Duchess Burgundy, and had issue.
In 1374 [his son] Dietrich de la Marck was born to Adolph de la Marck [aged 40] and [his wife] Margaret Jülich Countess Cleves and Mark [aged 24].
Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke
Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson.
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In 1375 [his daughter] Margaret de la Marck Duchess Bavaria was born to Adolph de la Marck [aged 41] and [his wife] Margaret Jülich Countess Cleves and Mark [aged 25]. She married 1394 her half fourth cousin once removed Albert Wittelsbach I Duke Lower Bavaria, son of Louis Wittelsbach IV Holy Roman Emperor and Margaret Hainaut Holy Roman Empress.
In 1378 [his daughter] Elisabeth de la Marck Duchess Bavaria was born to Adolph de la Marck [aged 44] and [his wife] Margaret Jülich Countess Cleves and Mark [aged 28]. She married 16th January 1401 Stephen "Magnificient Fop" Wittelsbach III Duke Bavaria, son of Stephen Wittelsbach II Duke Bavaria and Elisabeth Barcelona Duchess Bavaria.
In 1381 [his brother] Engelbert de la Marck III Count de la Marck [aged 47] and [his sister-in-law] Elisabeth Sponheim Countess Mark were married. She by marriage Countess de la Marck. He the son of [his father] Adolph II Count de la Marck and [his mother] Margaret Cleves Countess de la Marck.
In 1389 [his brother] Dietrich de la Marck Bishop of Liège was appointed Bishop of Liège.
On 22nd December 1391 Engelbert de la Marck III Count de la Marck [aged 58] died. His brother Adolph [aged 57] succeeded III Count de la Marck. Margaret Jülich Countess Cleves and Mark [aged 41] by marriage Countess de la Marck.
In 1394 [his son-in-law] Albert Wittelsbach I Duke Lower Bavaria [aged 57] and Margaret de la Marck Duchess Bavaria [aged 19] were married. She by marriage Duchess Lower Bavaria. The difference in their ages was 38 years. She the daughter of Adolph de la Marck [aged 60] and Margaret Jülich Countess Cleves and Mark [aged 44]. He the son of Louis Wittelsbach IV Holy Roman Emperor and Margaret Hainaut Holy Roman Empress. They were half fourth cousin once removed. He a great x 4 grandson of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England.
On 7th September 1394 Adolph de la Marck [aged 60] died.
On 10th October 1425 [his former wife] Margaret Jülich Countess Cleves and Mark [aged 75] died.
[his daughter] Engelberta de la Marck was born to Adolph de la Marck and Margaret Jülich Countess Cleves and Mark.
[his son] Gerhard de la Marck was born to Adolph de la Marck and Margaret Jülich Countess Cleves and Mark.
Kings Wessex: Great x 10 Grand Son of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England
Kings England: Great x 6 Grand Son of King Stephen I England
Kings Scotland: Great x 9 Grand Son of King Duncan I of Scotland
Kings Franks: Great x 15 Grand Son of Charles "Charlemagne aka Great" King of the Franks King Lombardy Holy Roman Emperor
Kings France: Great x 10 Grand Son of Hugh I King of the Franks
Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 14 Grand Son of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine
Agnes de la Marck Queen Consort Navarre [1]
Mary of Guelders Queen Consort Scotland [1]
Germaine Foix Queen Consort Aragon [1]
Anne of Cleves Queen Consort England [1]
Mary of Guise Queen Consort Scotland [1]
Louise Lorraine Queen Consort France [1]
Maximilian "The Great" Wittelsbach I Duke Bavaria I Elector Bavaria [1]
Maria Anna Wittelsbach Holy Roman Empress [1]
John George Wettin Elector Saxony [1]
Frederick William "Great Elector" Hohenzollern Elector Brandenburg [1]
Hedwig Eleonora Queen Consort Sweden [1]
Marie Françoise Élisabeth of Savoy Queen Consort of Portugal [1]
Charlotte Amalie Hesse-Kassel Queen Consort Denmark and Norway [1]
Victor Amadeus King Sardinia [1]
Louise of Mecklenburg Güstrow Queen Consort Denmark and Norway [1]
Maria Anna Neuburg Queen Consort Spain [2]
Joseph I Holy Roman Emperor [2]
Charles Habsburg Spain VI Holy Roman Emperor [2]
Francis I Holy Roman Emperor [1]
Adolph Frederick King Sweden [1]
Elisabeth Therese Lorraine Queen Consort Sardinia [1]
King George III of Great Britain and Ireland [2]
Charlotte Mecklenburg Strelitz Queen Consort England [1]
Caroline Matilda Hanover Queen Consort Denmark and Norway [2]
Marie Sophie Hesse-Kassel Queen Consort Denmark and Norway [3]
Caroline of Brunswick Queen Consort England [2]
Frederick William III King Prussia [1]
Frederica Mecklenburg Strelitz Queen Consort Hanover [2]
Queen Fredrika Dorotea Vilhelmina [2]
King Christian I of Norway and VIII of Denmark [3]
Frederick William IV King Prussia [2]
Frederick VII King of Denmark [5]
Queen Louise Hesse-Kassel of Denmark [6]
King Christian IX of Denmark [3]
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom [4]
Queen Sophia of Sweden and Norway [5]
Victoria Empress Germany Queen Consort Prussia [11]
King Edward VII of the United Kingdom [11]
Maria Christina of Austria Queen Consort Spain [3]
Victoria Mary Teck Queen Consort England [6]
Frederick Charles I King Finland [6]
Alexandrine Mecklenburg-Schwerin Queen Consort Denmark [8]
Victoria Eugénie Mountbatten Queen Consort Spain [14]
Louise Mountbatten Queen Consort Sweden [17]
Ingrid Bernadotte Queen Consort Denmark [13]
Philip Mountbatten Duke Edinburgh [20]
Carl XVI King Sweden [27]
Father: Adolph II Count de la Marck
Adolph de la Marck 6 x Great Grand Son of King Stephen I England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Dietrich Cleves IV Count Cleves
Great x 3 Grandfather: Dietrich Cleves V Count Cleves
Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret Gerulfing Countess Cleves 
Great x 2 Grandfather: Dietrich Cleves VI Count Cleves
Great x 4 Grandfather: Theodoric I Margrave of Meissen
Great x 3 Grandmother: Hedwig Meissen Countess Cleves
Great x 1 Grandfather: Dietrich Cleves VII Count Cleves
Great x 2 Grandmother: Alida d Henry I Sponheim Countess Cleves
GrandFather: Dietrich Cleves VIII Count Cleves
Great x 2 Grandfather: Everhard I Kiburg Laufenburg
Great x 1 Grandmother: Margaret Kiburg Laufenburg Countess Cleves
Mother: Margaret Cleves Countess de la Marck 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Stephen I England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Otto I Count Guelders
Great x 3 Grandfather: Gerard III Count Guelders
Great x 4 Grandmother: Richardis Wittelsbach Countess Guelders 
Great x 2 Grandfather: Otto II Count Guelders 2 x Great Grand Son of King Stephen I England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry Reginar VIII Duke Lower Lorraine I Duke Brabant
Great x 3 Grandmother: Margaret Reginar Countess Guelders Great Grand Daughter of King Stephen I England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Maud Metz Grand Daughter of King Stephen I England
Great x 1 Grandfather: Reginald I Count Guelders 3 x Great Grand Son of King Stephen I England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Alberic Dammartin
Great x 3 Grandfather: Simon Dammartin
Great x 4 Grandmother: Mathilde Clermont
Great x 2 Grandmother: Philippe Dammartin Countess Eu
Great x 4 Grandfather: William Montgomery IV Count Ponthieu
Great x 3 Grandmother: Marie Montgomery Countess Ponthieu
Great x 4 Grandmother: Alys Capet Countess Ponthieu 
GrandMother: Margaret Guelders Countess Cleves 4 x Great Grand Daughter of King Stephen I England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Guy Dampierre 
Great x 3 Grandfather: William Dampierre II Count Flanders
Great x 4 Grandmother: Mathilde Bouron
Great x 2 Grandfather: Guy Dampierre Count Flanders 4 x Great Grand Son of King William "Conqueror" I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Baldwin IX Count Flanders VI Count Hainaut
Great x 3 Grandmother: Margaret II Countess Flanders 3 x Great Grand Daughter of King William "Conqueror" I of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Marie Blois Countess Flanders 
2 x Great Grand Daughter of King William "Conqueror" I of England
Great x 1 Grandmother: Margaret Dampierre Duchess Brabant 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King William "Conqueror" I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: William "Red" Béthune II Lord Bethune
Great x 3 Grandfather: Robert VII Lord Bethune
Great x 2 Grandmother: Mathilde Bethune