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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Around 1747 Anne Mills Countess Manvers was born to [her father] William Mills of Richmond.
On 14th March 1774 Charles Medows aka Pierrepont 1st Earl Manvers [aged 36] and Anne Mills Countess Manvers [aged 27] were married at St Mary Magdalene Church, Richmond [Map].
On 18th January 1775 [her son] Evelyn Henry Frederick Pierrepont was born to [her husband] Charles Medows aka Pierrepont 1st Earl Manvers [aged 37] and Anne Mills Countess Manvers [aged 28].
On 11th August 1778 [her son] Charles Herbert Pierrepont 2nd Earl Manvers was born to [her husband] Charles Medows aka Pierrepont 1st Earl Manvers [aged 40] and Anne Mills Countess Manvers [aged 31]. He married 1804 Mary Laetitia Eyre Countess Manvers and had issue.
On 18th March 1780 [her son] Henry Manvers Pierrepont was born to [her husband] Charles Medows aka Pierrepont 1st Earl Manvers [aged 42] and Anne Mills Countess Manvers [aged 33]. He married 1818 Sophia Cecil, daughter of Henry Cecil 1st Marquess Exeter and Sarah Hoggins Countess Exeter, and had issue.
On 13th June 1786 [her son] Philip Sydney Pierrepont was born to [her husband] Charles Medows aka Pierrepont 1st Earl Manvers [aged 48] and Anne Mills Countess Manvers [aged 39]. He married 19th August 1810 Georgiana Browne.
On 26th August 1788 Elizabeth Chudleigh Duchess Kingston upon Hull [aged 67] died. Her estates, and those of her former husband Evelyn Pierrepont 2nd Duke Kingston upon Hull, passed to his sister [her mother-in-law] Frances' [aged 75] son Charles Medows aka Pierrepont 1st Earl Manvers [aged 50].
On 23rd July 1796 [her husband] Charles Medows aka Pierrepont 1st Earl Manvers [aged 58] was created 1st Viscount Newark, 1st Baron Pierrepont of Holme Pierrepoint. Anne Mills Countess Manvers [aged 49] by marriage Viscountess Newark.
On 22nd October 1801 [her son] Evelyn Henry Frederick Pierrepont [aged 26] died. Church of St Edmund, Holme Pierrepoint [Map].
Evelyn Henry Frederick Pierrepont: On 18th January 1775 he was born to Charles Medows aka Pierrepont 1st Earl Manvers and Anne Mills Countess Manvers.
In 1804 Charles Herbert Pierrepont 2nd Earl Manvers [aged 25] and Mary Laetitia Eyre Countess Manvers [aged 19] were married. He the son of Charles Medows aka Pierrepont 1st Earl Manvers [aged 66] and Anne Mills Countess Manvers [aged 57].
The London Gazette 15905. Whitehall, April 1, 1806.
The King has been pleased to grant the Dignity of an Earl of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and Ireland to the Right Honorable [her husband] Charles Viscount Newark [aged 68], and the Heirs Male of his Body lawfully begotten, by the Name, Stile, and Title as Earl Manvers. [Anne Mills Countess Manvers [aged 59] by marriage Countess Manvers]
The King has been pleased to grant the Dignity of an Earl of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to the Right Honorable Horatio Baron Walpole [aged 82], and the Heirs Male of his Body lawfully begotten, by the Name, Stile, and Title of Earl of Orford, in the County of Suffolk.
The King has been pleased to grant the Dignities of Viscount and Earl of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and Ireland to the Right Honorable Charles Lord Grey [aged 76], of Howick; Knight of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath, and General of His Majesty's Forces, and the Heirs Male of his Body lawfully begotten, by the Names, Stile, and Titles of Viscount Howick, in the County of Northumberland, and Earl Grey. [Note. Elizabeth Grey Countess Grey [aged 62] by marriage Countess Grey.]
Jean de Waurin's Chronicle of England Volume 6 Books 3-6: The Wars of the Roses
Jean de Waurin was a French Chronicler, from the Artois region, who was born around 1400, and died around 1474. Waurin’s Chronicle of England, Volume 6, covering the period 1450 to 1471, from which we have selected and translated Chapters relating to the Wars of the Roses, provides a vivid, original, contemporary description of key events some of which he witnessed first-hand, some of which he was told by the key people involved with whom Waurin had a personal relationship.
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On 19th August 1810 Philip Sydney Pierrepont [aged 24] and Georgiana Browne were married. He the son of Charles Medows aka Pierrepont 1st Earl Manvers [aged 72] and Anne Mills Countess Manvers [aged 63].
On 17th June 1816 [her husband] Charles Medows aka Pierrepont 1st Earl Manvers [aged 78] died. He was buried at Church of St Edmund, Holme Pierrepoint [Map]. His son Charles [aged 37] succeeded 2nd Earl Manvers, 2nd Viscount Newark, 2nd Baron Pierrepont of Holme Pierrepoint. Mary Laetitia Eyre Countess Manvers [aged 31] by marriage Countess Manvers.
In 1818 Henry Manvers Pierrepont [aged 37] and Sophia Cecil [aged 25] were married. She the daughter of Henry Cecil 1st Marquess Exeter and Sarah Hoggins Countess Exeter. He the son of Charles Medows aka Pierrepont 1st Earl Manvers and Anne Mills Countess Manvers [aged 71].
On 30th July 1821 [her son-in-law] Henry William Stephens and Frances Augusta Pierrepont were married. She the daughter of Charles Medows aka Pierrepont 1st Earl Manvers and Anne Mills Countess Manvers [aged 74].
On or before 30th August 1823 Anne Mills Countess Manvers [aged 76] died. She was buried at the Church of St Edmund, Holme Pierrepoint [Map].
In or after 1852 the contents of the Crypt of the Church of St Edmund, Holme Pierrepoint [Map] were listed with a diagram by the Reverend James Cleaver, Rector of Holme Pierrepont, as follows:
1. Robert Pierrepont 1st Earl Kingston
2. Gertrude Talbot Baroness Pierrepont Holme Pierrepoint
3. William Pierrepoint died 1719
4. Evelyn Pierrepont 2nd Duke Kingston upon Hull
5. Unknown
7. Robert Pierrepont 3rd Earl Kingston.
10. William Pierrepont 4th Earl Kingston
11. Evelyn Pierrepont 1st Duke Kingston upon Hull
13. Unknown
15. Evelyn Pierrepont 1st Duke Kingston upon Hull
16. Isabella Bentinck Duchess Kingston upon Hull
17. Francis Pierrepont, died Aug 13 1679.
18. [her former husband] Charles Medows aka Pierrepont 1st Earl Manvers.
19. Anne Mills Countess Manvers
20. Henry Pierrepont 1st Marquess Dorchester
21. Samuel Pierrepont aged 6, 1711.
22. Blank
23. Blank
24. [her son] Charles Herbert Pierrepont 2nd Earl Manvers [aged 73]
25. [her daughter-in-law] Mary Laetitia Eyre Countess Manvers [aged 67]
26. Annora Mary Pierrepont, daughter of Charles, Viscount Newark, 3 months, 1815.
27 - 31. Blank
33. Sophia Cecil.
35. Emily Littleton
36 - 41. Blank.
[her daughter] Frances Augusta Pierrepont was born to Charles Medows aka Pierrepont 1st Earl Manvers and Anne Mills Countess Manvers. She married 30th July 1821 Henry William Stephens.