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.

Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.

Stonehenge Mesolithic

Blick Mead Encampment Stonehenge Car Park Post Holes A Stonehenge Car Park Post Holes B Stonehenge Car Park Post Holes C Stonehenge Car Park Tree Throw

Stonehenge Mesolithic is in Stonehenge Chronologically. See Mesolithic Stonehenge.

See: Stonehenge Car Park Post Holes.

Blick Mead [Map] is a chalkland spring in Wiltshire, near to the River Avon. Excavation since 2005 indicates that there was continuous human habitation from 8000BC to 6000BC. 35,000 worked flints and 2400 animal bones, some cooked, mostly from Bos Longifrons, have been found at the site.

In 2017 a tooth from a domesticated dog was found. The tooth was from around 5000BC, and originally from Yorkshire.

Carbon Date. 7130BC. Mesolithic Carbon Dates

Report: charcoal; from hole A (depth 0.76m), half way between the top (natural chalk) and the base, at the edge of the hole.

ID: 17859, C14 ID: HAR 455 Date BP: 9130 +/- 180, Start Date BP: 9310, End BP: 8950

Abstract: Stonehenge, 20th Century: Car Park 1966; 1973-74

Reference Name: Jordan, D, Haddon-Reece, D, Bayliss, A 1994 'Radiocarbon dates: from samples funded by English Heritage and dated before 1981', London: English Heritage

Council for British Archaeology (2012) Archaeological Site Index to Radiocarbon Dates from Great Britain and Ireland [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1017767

Carbon Date. 6880BC. Mesolithic Carbon Dates

Report: Charcoal, id as Pinus, from postpit WA 9580 at Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England. Comment (subm): see ref.

ID: 8028, C14 ID: GU-5109 Date BP: 8880 +/- 120, Start Date BP: 8760, End BP: 9000

OS Letter: SU, OS East: 123, OS North: 422

Archaeologist Name: F Vatcher & L Vatcher

Reference Name: Cleal, R M J et al, 'Stonehenge in its landscape: 20th century excavations' (Engl Heritage Archaeol Rep, 10, 1995), 47, 511; Archaeometry, 38, 1996, 401-7

Council for British Archaeology (2012) Archaeological Site Index to Radiocarbon Dates from Great Britain and Ireland [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1017767

Become a Member via our Buy Me a Coffee page to read more.

Carbon Date. 6880BC. Mesolithic Carbon Dates

Report: charcoal; from the base of the secondary fill of postpit 9580, at c 0.7m depth (context 9582). The pit was cut into the chalk, with chalk rubble fill.

ID: 17861, C14 ID: GU 5109 Date BP: 8880 +/- 120, Start Date BP: 9000, End BP: 8760

Abstract: Stonehenge, 20th Century: Car Park 1988; 1990-91

Reference Name: Bayliss et al forthcoming 'Radiocarbon dates: from samples funded by English Heritage between 1988 and 1993', Swindon: English Heritage

Council for British Archaeology (2012) Archaeological Site Index to Radiocarbon Dates from Great Britain and Ireland [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1017767

Carbon Date. 6400BC. Mesolithic Carbon Dates

Report: charcoal:Pinus sp

ID: 6096, C14 ID: OxA-4920 Date BP: 8400 +/- 100, Start Date BP: 8300, End BP: 8500

Abstract: Stonehenge, England

Archaeologist Name: Allen

Reference Name: Archaeometry 38(2), 1996, 391-415

Council for British Archaeology (2012) Archaeological Site Index to Radiocarbon Dates from Great Britain and Ireland [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1017767

Become a Member via our Buy Me a Coffee page to read more.

Carbon Date. 6090BC. Mesolithic Carbon Dates

Report: charcoal; from hole B, depth 0.91m from the surface of the natural chalk.

Abstract: Stonehenge, 20th Century: Car Park 1966; 1973-74

ID: 17860, C14 ID: HAR 456 Date BP: 8090 +/- 140, Start Date BP: 8230, End BP: 7950

Reference Name: Jordan, D, Haddon-Reece, D, Bayliss, A 1994 'Radiocarbon dates: from samples funded by English Heritage and dated before 1981', London: English Heritage

Council for British Archaeology (2012) Archaeological Site Index to Radiocarbon Dates from Great Britain and Ireland [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1017767

Stonehenge Car Park Post Holes