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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Rhoslan Burial Mound is in Criccieth, Prehistoric Wales Neolithic Burials.
Archaeologia Cambrensis 1869 Page 118-147 Cromlechs in North Wales. At no great distance is another cromlech [Rhoslan Burial Mound [Map]] (cut No. 9), of a very different character from the last, in having a capstone of unusual thickness, 3¼ feet, if the other proportions of the stone are taken into consideration. It stands due east and west; the eastern entrance being formed by two uprights, on which the capstone rests, and which, therefore, could not have been removed for any subsequent interment. The opposite end of the capstone is supported by only one upright; but whether this was the original arrangement or not, must be mere speculation. The structure at present consists only of four stones, without reckoning the cap, namely the three supporters and one long slab which forms the northern side of the chamber, the side given in the cut. The whole of the southern side has been removed. It is situated on a farm called Plas Issa, near Criccieth.