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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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Effigy of Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford is in Monumental Effigies of Great Britain.
ROBERT, son of Aubrey de Vere, Earl of Oxford, succeeded his brother Aubrey in the honours and possessions of his family in 1214. He was one of the principal Barons who took up arms against King John, for which he was excommunicated by Pope Innocent the Third. On the accession of Henry the Third (age 14) he was received into favour, and became a Judge in the King's Courts. He married Isabella (age 48), the sister and inheritrix of Hugh de Bolebec, by whom he had a son and heir, Hugh. He died in the fifth year of the reign of Henry the Third, and was buried in the chancel of the Priory Church of Hatfield Broad Oak, in Essex. At the dissolution, Weever says, his tomb was removed into the parish church, and thus transcribes his epitaph:
Sire Robert de Veere le premier, Count de Oxenford ie tierz, git ci; Dieu de l'alme si luy plest face merci. Qi pur l'ame priera xl jors de pardonn avera. Pater Nostera.
This figure lies cross-legged, and is represented in the act of drawing his sword. The loose fit of the hauberk about the right-arm and neck is admirably expressed, and the mails are sculptured with great accuracy. The thighs appear to be covered with a gamboised or quilted defence, which reaches to the knees, the caps of which are defended by octangular pieces of plate-armour. The shield is curiously diapered with fleurs-de-lys and roses. The ground of the held in ancient bearings is often enriched with fanciful ornaments which have no relation whatever to the coat itself. De Vere bore, quarterly Or and Gules, in the first quarter a mullet Argent. This monument, from the costume, appears to have been erected about fifty years after the Earls decease.
Details. Diaper work on the shield enlarged. Band on the hood enlarged.
