This is a translation of the 'Memoires of Jacques du Clercq', published in 1823 in two volumes, edited by Frederic, Baron de Reissenberg. In his introduction Reissenberg writes: 'Jacques du Clercq tells us that he was born in 1424, and that he was a licentiate in law and a counsellor to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in the castellany of Douai, Lille, and Orchies. It appears that he established his residence at Arras. In 1446, he married the daughter of Baldwin de la Lacherie, a gentleman who lived in Lille. We read in the fifth book of his Memoirs that his father, also named Jacques du Clercq, had married a lady of the Le Camelin family, from Compiègne. His ancestors, always attached to the counts of Flanders, had constantly served them, whether in their councils or in their armies.' The Memoires cover a period of nineteen years beginning in in 1448, ending in in 1467. It appears that the author had intended to extend the Memoirs beyond that date; no doubt illness or death prevented him from carrying out this plan. As Reissenberg writes the 'merit of this work lies in the simplicity of its narrative, in its tone of good faith, and in a certain air of frankness which naturally wins the reader’s confidence.' Du Clercq ranges from events of national and international importance, including events of the Wars of the Roses in England, to simple, everyday local events such as marriages, robberies, murders, trials and deaths, including that of his own father in Book 5; one of his last entries.
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Effigy of A De L'Isle is in Monumental Effigies of Great Britain.
THERE were two families in England of this denomination; one deriving their appellative from the Isle of Wight [Map], the other from the Isle of Ely [Map]. Of the last was the subject of this effigy. The De Lisles possessed the manor of Rampton, in Cambridgeshire, from the reign of Henry the Third to that of the third Edward. They had from Edward the First a grant for a weekly market, and an annual fair in their manor of Rampton. A moated site, and some considerable ruins, near the church of that place, point out their residence. The effigy delineated is in the church. The mails on the hauberk of this figure appear to be effaced, and the mouth is sadly distorted by the carving of some idler. On the surcoat and shield is the coat of De Lisle, Or, a pale and two chevrons Sable, cotised Gules. The feet rest on a lion. Details. Plate 1. 1. Ornaments of the pillow. 2. Scroll-work on the chevron. 3. Pattern on the belt. 4. The figure as originally painted. Plate II. 1. Hood of the hauberk. 2. Rings of the mail. 3. Patterns on the waist-belt and appendages. 4. Heel of the spur, and straps.
