Jean de Waurin's Chronicle of England Volume 6 Books 3-6: The Wars of the Roses
Jean de Waurin was a French Chronicler, from the Artois region, who was born around 1400, and died around 1474. Waurin’s Chronicle of England, Volume 6, covering the period 1450 to 1471, from which we have selected and translated Chapters relating to the Wars of the Roses, provides a vivid, original, contemporary description of key events some of which he witnessed first-hand, some of which he was told by the key people involved with whom Waurin had a personal relationship.
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Florence, Tuscany is in Tuscany.
See: Bellosguardo, Florence, Cimitero degli Allori, Florence, English Cemetery, Florence, Hotel Paoli, Florence, San Pancrazio, Via Santo Spirito, Florence.
In 1397 Archbishop Thomas Fitzalan aka Arundel [aged 44] exiled to Florence, Tuscany for having opposed Kign Richard II.
In 1427 Francesco di Simone Tornabuoni was the sixth largest tax payer in Florence, Tuscany; 46,320 florins.
On 22nd June 1427 Lucrezia Tornabuoni was born to Francesco di Simone Tornabuoni in Florence, Tuscany. She married 3rd June 1444 Piero di Cosimo de Medici and had issue.
On 2nd June 1448 Domenico Ghirlandaio was born in Florence, Tuscany.
In 1472 Thomas Spinelli was born at Florence, Tuscany.
On 12th March 1479 Giuliano Medici Duke Nemours was born to Lorenzo de Medici [aged 30] and Clarice Orsini [aged 29] at Florence, Tuscany. He married 22nd February 1515 Philiberta of Savoy, daughter of Philip "Landless" Savoy II Duke Savoy and Claudine Brosse.
On 12th September 1492 Lorenzo de Medici Duke of Urbino was born to Piero "The Unfortunate" de Medici [aged 20] in Florence, Tuscany. He married 5th May 1518 Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne, daughter of Jean IV Count Auvergne and Jeanne Bourbon Duchess Bourbon, and had issue.
In 1562 Camilla Guicciardini was born to Vincenzo Guicciardini [aged 43] at Florence, Tuscany. She married Thomas Darcy and had issue.
Around 1590 Francesco Fanelli was born in Florence, Tuscany.
In January 1635 Charles Herbert [aged 16] died in Florence, Tuscany.
John Evelyn's Diary. 21st May 1645. We could not omit in our passage to re-visit the same, and other curiosities which we had neglected on our first being at Florence, Tuscany. We went, therefore, to see the famous piece of Andrea del Sarto, in the Annunciata. The story is, that the painter in a time of dearth borrowed a sack of corn of the religious of that convent, and repayment being demanded, he wrought it out in this picture, which represents Joseph sitting on a sack of corn, and reading to the Blessed Virgin; a piece infinitely valued. There fell down in the cloister an old man's face painted on the wall in fresco, greatly esteemed, and broke into crumbs; the Duke sent his best painters to make another instead of it, but none of them would presume to touch a pencil where Andrea had wrought, like another Apelles; but one of them was so industrious and patient, that, picking up the fragments, he laid and fastened them so artificially together, that the injury it had received was hardly discernible. Andrea del Sarto lies buried in the same place. Here is also that picture of Bartolomeo, who having spent his utmost skill in the face of the angel Gabriel, and being troubled that he could not exceed it in the Virgin, he began the body and to finish the clothes, and so left it, minding in the morning to work on the face; but, when he came, no sooner had he drawn away the cloth that was hung before it to preserve it from the dust, than an admirable and ravishing face was found ready painted; at which miracle all the city came in to worship. It is now kept in the Chapel of the Salutation, a place so enriched by devotees, that none in Italy, save Loretto, is said to exceed it. This picture is always covered with three shutters, one of which is of massy silver; methinks it is very brown, the forehead and cheeks whiter, as if it had been scraped. They report that those who have the honor of seeing it never lose their sight-happy then we! Belonging to this church is a world of plate, some whole statues of it, and lamps innumerable, besides the costly vows hung up, some of gold, and a cabinet of precious stones.
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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Before April 1671 Thomas Clifford [aged 19] died at Florence, Tuscany.
John Evelyn's Diary. 2nd April 1671. To Sir Thomas Clifford [aged 40], the Treasurer, to condole with him on the loss of his eldest son [deceased], who died at Florence, Tuscany.
In 1703 Andrea Soldi was born in Florence, Tuscany.
In August 1727 Willoughby Bertie 3rd Earl of Abingdon [aged 34] and Anna Maria Collins Countess Abingdon were married at Florence, Tuscany.
In February 1764 John Tylney 2nd Earl Tylney [aged 51] was in at Florence, Tuscany.
On 10th March 1772 María Teresa Fernández Silva Duchess Veragua Duchess Berwick was born to Pedro Fernández Silva 10th Duke Híjar at Florence, Tuscany. She married 24th January 1790 Jacobo Fitz James Stuart 10th Duke Veragua 5th Duke Berwick, son of Carlos Fitz James Stuart 10th Duke Veragua 4th Duke Berwick and Caroline Stolberg Gedern Duchess Veragua Duchess Berwick, and had issue.
In 1786 Thomas Wynn 1st Baron Newborough [aged 50] and Maria Stella Chiappini Baroness Newborough [aged 12] were married at Florence, Tuscany. She by marriage Baroness Newborough of Newborough in County Wexford. The difference in their ages was 37 years.
On 6th November 1786 Horace Mann 1st Baronet [aged 80] died unmarried at Florence, Tuscany. His nephew Horatio [aged 42] succeeded 2nd Baronet Mann of Linton in Kent.
In 1791 Louisa Pitt [aged 37] died of tuberculosis in Florence, Tuscany. She was buried in the Old English Cemetery.
On 10th April 1793 Charles Brudenell 1st Marquess Ailesbury [aged 20] and Henrietta Maria Hill were married in Florence, Tuscany. He the son of Thomas Brudenell 1st Earl Ailesbury [aged 63] and Susanna Hoare Countess Ailesbury.
On 10th May 1794 Charlotte Henrietta Brudenell was born to Charles Brudenell 1st Marquess Ailesbury [aged 21] and Henrietta Maria Hill at Florence, Tuscany.
In 1823 Charles Henry Ellice was born to Robert Charles Ellice [aged 38] and Eliza Courtenay [aged 30] in Florence, Tuscany.
On 29th January 1824 Louise Stolberg Gedern [aged 71] died at Florence, Tuscany.
The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy
The Gesta Normannorum Ducum [The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy] is a landmark medieval chronicle tracing the rise and fall of the Norman dynasty from its early roots through the pivotal events surrounding the Norman Conquest of England. Originally penned in Latin by the monk William of Jumièges shortly before 1060 and later expanded at the behest of William the Conqueror, the work chronicles the deeds, politics, battles, and leadership of the Norman dukes, especially William’s own claim to the English throne. The narrative combines earlier historical sources with firsthand information and oral testimony to present an authoritative account of Normandy’s transformation from a Viking settlement into one of medieval Europe’s most powerful realms. William’s history emphasizes the legitimacy, military prowess, and governance of the Norman line, framing their expansion, including the conquest of England, as both divinely sanctioned and noble in purpose. Later chroniclers such as Orderic Vitalis and Robert of Torigni continued the history, extending the coverage into the 12th century, providing broader context on ducal rule and its impact. Today this classic work remains a foundational source for understanding Norman identity, medieval statesmanship, and the historical forces that reshaped England and Western Europe between 800AD and 1100AD.
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On 5th May 1829 Grenville Temple 10th Baronet [aged 29] and Mary Baring [aged 17] were married in Florence, Tuscany.
On 12th January 1856 John Singer Sargent was born to Fitzwilliam Sargent [aged 36] and Mary Newbold Singer [aged 30] in Florence, Tuscany.
In 1880 John Roddam Spencer-Stanhope [aged 50] moved to Florence, Tuscany.
On 10th September 1916 D H Lawrence [aged 30] and Rosalind Thornycroft [aged 25] had supper on her terrace in Florence, Tuscany; the start of their affair.
On 2nd August 1908 John Roddam Spencer-Stanhope [aged 79] died at the Villa Nutti, Bellosguardo [Map]. He was buried in the Cimitero degli Allori, Florence.
On 1st September 1947 Alice Frederica Edmonstone aka Keppel [aged 79] died at the Villa dell'Ombrellino, Bellosguardo. She was buried at the English Cemetery, Florence.
The Cimitero degli Allori, Florence, "The Evangelical Cemetery at Laurels", as opened in 1877 when the non-Catholic communities of Florence could no longer bury their dead in the English Cemetery in Piazzale Donatello. It is named after the Allori farm where it was located.
On 2nd August 1908 John Roddam Spencer-Stanhope [aged 79] died at the Villa Nutti, Bellosguardo [Map]. He was buried in the Cimitero degli Allori, Florence.
On 21st January 1917 Francesca Alexander [aged 79] died of bronchial pneumonia at Florence, Tuscany. She was buried at the Cimitero degli Allori, Florence.
In December 1866 Fanny Waugh [aged 33] died either from childbirth or from cholera. She was buried at the English Cemetery, Florence next to Elizabeth Barrett Browning in a tomb sculpted by her husband William Holman Hunt [aged 39].
In 1867 Mary Spencer-Stanhope [aged 7] died of scarlet fever. She was buried at the English Cemetery, Florence. Her headstone was designed by her father.
On 1st September 1947 Alice Frederica Edmonstone aka Keppel [aged 79] died at the Villa dell'Ombrellino, Bellosguardo. She was buried at the English Cemetery, Florence.
The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy
The Gesta Normannorum Ducum [The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy] is a landmark medieval chronicle tracing the rise and fall of the Norman dynasty from its early roots through the pivotal events surrounding the Norman Conquest of England. Originally penned in Latin by the monk William of Jumièges shortly before 1060 and later expanded at the behest of William the Conqueror, the work chronicles the deeds, politics, battles, and leadership of the Norman dukes, especially William’s own claim to the English throne. The narrative combines earlier historical sources with firsthand information and oral testimony to present an authoritative account of Normandy’s transformation from a Viking settlement into one of medieval Europe’s most powerful realms. William’s history emphasizes the legitimacy, military prowess, and governance of the Norman line, framing their expansion, including the conquest of England, as both divinely sanctioned and noble in purpose. Later chroniclers such as Orderic Vitalis and Robert of Torigni continued the history, extending the coverage into the 12th century, providing broader context on ducal rule and its impact. Today this classic work remains a foundational source for understanding Norman identity, medieval statesmanship, and the historical forces that reshaped England and Western Europe between 800AD and 1100AD.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
On 31st December 1895 Hillyar George Edwin Hill-Trevor was born to George Edwyn Hill-Trevor at the Hotel Paoli, Florence in Florence.
On 6th September 1649 Robert Dudley [aged 75] died at Villa Rinieri. He was buried at San Pancrazio.
In 1847 Charles Francis Fuller [aged 17] joined the army, first with the 14th Foots and afterwards the 12th Lancers. In 1853 he resigned from the British army and traveled to Florence, where he studied with the American sculptor Hiram Powers; the only pupil Powers consented to accept. The London Art Journal reported that he made such progress under Powers that, "in a comparatively short space of time his own studio was much frequented by the English, who took an interest in his works." Fuller maintained his ties to England by exhibiting his works at the Royal Academy, but, like Powers and a group of other American and British expatriate sculptors, made Florence his home living at Casa Frescobaldi, Via Santo Spirito.