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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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Ghent is in Flanders.
See: Prinsenhof Palace [Map].
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 880. This year went the army from Cirencester [Map] into East-Anglia, where they settled, and divided the land. The same year went the army over sea, that before sat at Fulham [Map], to Ghent [Map] in Frankland, and sat there a year.
On 25th May 1008 Matilda Billung Countess Flanders (age 68) died at Ghent [Map].
Around 1290 Jacob van Artevelde was born in Ghent [Map].
On 29th August 1298 Eleanor Plantagenet (age 29) died at Ghent [Map]. She was buried at Westminster Abbey [Map].
On 4th December 1340 Bishop Henry Burghesh (age 48) died at Ghent [Map]. He was buried in the St Catherine Chantry at Lincoln Cathedral [Map].
In 1414 Catherine Valois Countess Vertus (age 23) died at Ghent [Map].
On 18th August 1477 Maximilian Habsburg I Holy Roman Emperor (age 18) and Mary Valois Duchess Burgundy (age 20) were married at Ghent [Map]. She the daughter of Charles "Bold" Valois Duke Burgundy and Isabella Bourbon. He the son of Frederick "Peaceful or Fat" Habsburg III Holy Roman Emperor (age 61) and Eleanor Aviz Holy Roman Empress. They were second cousins. He a great x 3 grandson of King Edward III of England. She a great x 3 granddaughter of King Edward III of England.
On 24th February 1500 Charles V Holy Roman Emperor was born to Philip "Handsome Fair" King Castile (age 21) and Joanna "The Mad" Trastámara Queen Castile (age 21) at Ghent [Map]. He a great x 4 grandson of King Edward III of England. Coefficient of inbreeding 2.88%. He married 10th March 1526 his first cousin Isabel Aviz Queen Consort Spain, daughter of Manuel "Fortunate" I King Portugal and Maria Trastámara Queen Consort Portugal, and had issue.
Around 1512 Adrian Poynings was born illegitimately to Edward Poynings (age 53) at Ghent [Map].
On 20th January 1526 Isabella of Austria Queen Consort Denmark and Norway (age 24) died at Ghent [Map].
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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John Evelyn's Diary. 8th October 1641. At near eleven o'clock, I repaired to his Majesty's (age 40) agent. Sir Henry De Vic (age 42), who very courteously received me, and accommodated me with a coach and six horses, which carried me from Brussels [Map] to Ghent [Map], where it was to meet my Lord of Arundel (age 56), Earl Marshal of England, who had requested me when I was at Antwerp [Map] to send it for him, if I went not thither myself.
John Evelyn's Diary. 8th October 1641. Thus taking leave of Brussels [Map] and a sad Court, yet full of gallant persons, (for in this small city, the acquaintance being universal, ladies and gentlemen, I perceived, had great diversions and frequent meetings,) I hasted towards Ghent [Map]. On the way, 1 met with divers little waggons, prettily contrived and full of peddling merchandises, dravm by mastiff-dogs, harnessed completely like so many coachhorses; in some four, in others six, as in Brussels [Map] itself I had observed. In Antwerp [Map] I saw, as I remember, four dogs draw five lusty children in a chariot: the master commands them whither he pleases, crying his wares about the streets. After passing through Ouse, by six in the evening, I arrived at Ghent [Map]. This is a city of so great a circumference, that it is reported to be seven leagues round; but there is not half of it now built, much of it remaining in fields and desolate pastures even within the walls, which have strong gates towards the west, and two fair churches.
In March 1686 George Fitzroy 1st Duke Northumberland (age 20) and Catherine Wheatley were married. Soon after the marriage Northumberland and his brother, Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton (age 22), allegedly attempted to privately convey her abroad to an English convent in Ghent [Map], Belgium. He the illegitmate son of King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland and Barbara Villiers 1st Duchess of Cleveland (age 45).
On 18th January 1702 Petrus Johannes van Reysschoot was born at Ghent [Map].
On 6th March 1340 John of Gaunt 1st Duke Lancaster was born to King Edward III of England (age 27) and Philippa of Hainaut Queen Consort England (age 29) at the Prinsenhof Palace [Map] in Ghent aka Gaunt. Coefficient of inbreeding 3.00%. He married (1) his half second cousin once removed Blanche Duchess of Lancaster, daughter of Henry of Grosmont 1st Duke Lancaster and Isabel Beaumont Duchess Lancaster, and had issue (2) 21st September 1371 his half third cousin twice removed Constance of Castile Duchess of Lancaster and had issue (3) 13th January 1396 Katherine Swynford aka Roet Duchess Lancaster and had issue.
John Evelyn's Diary. 8th October 1641. Here I beheld the Palace [Map] wherein John of Gaunt and Charles V were born; whose statue stands in the market-place, upon a high pillar, with his sword drawn, to which (as I was told) the magistrates and burghers were wont to repair upon a certain day every year with ropes about their necks, in token of submission and penance for an old rebellion of theirs; but now the hemp is changed into a blue ribbon. Here is planted the basilisco, or great gun, so much talked of. The Lys and the Scheldt meeting in this vast city, divide it into twenty-six islands, which are united by many bridges, somewhat resembling Venice. This night I supped with the Abbot of Andoyne, a pleasant and courteous priest.