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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On 26th February 1622 Bishop Robert was born.
Samuel Pepys' Diary. 10th October 1666. Thence with him to Westminster, to the parish church, where the Parliament-men, and Stillingfleete [aged 31] in the pulpit. So full, no standing there; so he and I to eat herrings at the Dog taverne [Map]. And then to church again, and there was Mr. Frampton [aged 44] in the pulpit, they cry up so much, a young man, and of a mighty ready tongue. I heard a little of his sermon, and liked it; but the crowd so great, I could not stay.
Samuel Pepys' Diary. 20th January 1667. Having done with him, home mightily satisfied with my being with him, and coming home I to church, and there, beyond expectation, find our seat, and all the church crammed, by twice as many people as used to be: and to my great joy find Mr. Frampton [aged 44] in the pulpit; so to my great joy I hear him preach, and I think the best sermon, for goodness and oratory, without affectation or study, that ever I heard in my life. The truth is, he preaches the most like an apostle that ever I heard man; and it was much the best time that ever I spent in my life at church. His text, Ecclesiastes xi., verse 8th - the words, "But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all, yet let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity". He done, I home, and there Michell and his wife, and we dined and mighty merry, I mightily taken more and more with her.
Samuel Pepys' Diary. 27th January 1667. Lord's Day. Up betimes, and leaving my wife to go by coach to hear Mr. Frampton [aged 44] preach, which I had a mighty desire she should, I down to the Old Swan [Map], and there to Michell and staid while he and she dressed themselves, and here had a 'baiser' or two of her, whom I love mightily; and then took them in a sculler (being by some means or other disappointed of my own boat) to White Hall, and so with them to Westminster, Sir W. Coventry [aged 39], Bruncker [aged 47] and I all the morning together discoursing of the office business, and glad of the Controller's business being likely to be put into better order than formerly, and did discourse of many good things, but especially of having something done to bringing the Surveyor's matters into order also.
John Evelyn's Diary. 25th February 1672. To London, to speak with the Bishop, and Sir John Cutler [aged 69], our patron, to present Mr. Frampton [aged 49] (afterward Bishop of Gloucester).
John Evelyn's Diary. 27th October 1672. I went to hear that famous preacher, Dr. Frampton [aged 50], at St. Giles's, on Psalm xxxix. 6. This divine had been twice at Jerusalem [Map], and was not only a very pious and holy man, but excellent in the pulpit for the moving affections.
In 1673 Bishop Robert [aged 50] was appointed Dean of Gloucester.
In 1681 Bishop Robert [aged 58] was appointed Bishop of Gloucester Cathedral.
John Evelyn's Diary. 7th March 1686. Dr Frampton, Bp. of Gloucester [aged 64], preach'd on 44 Psalm, 17, 18, 19, shewing the severall afflictions of the Church of Christ from the primitives to this day, applying exceedingly to the present conjuncture, when many were wavering in their minds, and greate temptations appearing thro' the favour now found by the Papists, so as the people were full of jealousies and discouragement. The Bp. magnified the Church of England, exhorting to constancy and perseverance.
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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John Evelyn's Diary. 19th April 1691. The Archbishop of Canterbury [aged 74], and Bishops of Ely [aged 53], Bath and Wells [aged 53], Peterborough [aged 63], Gloucester [aged 69], and the rest who would not take the oaths to King William [aged 40], were now displaced; and in their rooms, Dr. Tillotson [aged 60], Dean of St. Paul's, was made Archbishop: Patrick [aged 64] removed from Chichester to Ely; Cumberland [aged 59] to Gloucester. Note. A mistake. Bishop Edward Fowler was made Bishop of Gloucester. Bishop Richard Cumberland [aged 59] was made Bishop of Peterborough.
On 25th May 1708 Bishop Robert [aged 86] died.