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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Paternal Family Tree: Reginar aka Percy
Maternal Family Tree: Margaret Markham
In or before 1528 [his father] Thomas Percy [aged 23] and [his mother] Eleanor Harbottle [aged 23] were married. He the son of [his grandfather] Henry Percy 5th Earl of Northumberland and [his grandmother] Katherine Spencer Countess Northumberland [aged 50]. They were third cousins. He a great x 4 grandson of King Edward III of England. She a great x 5 granddaughter of King Edward III of England.
In 1532 Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland was born to [his father] Thomas Percy [aged 28] and [his mother] Eleanor Harbottle [aged 28].
On 2nd June 1537 [his father] Thomas Percy [aged 33], Francis Bigod [aged 29], and John Bulmer and Ralph Bulmer were hanged at Tyburn [Map].
On 2nd June 1537 [his uncle] Henry Percy 6th Earl of Northumberland [aged 35] died. Richard Layton visited him on 29 June 1537 and says that he found him "languens in extremis, sight and speech failed, his stomach swollen so great as I never see none, and his whole body as yellow as saffron." Earl of Northumberland, Baron Percy of Alnwick, Baron Percy of Topcliffe, Baron Poynings forfeit. His brother [his father] Thomas Percy [aged 33] should have succeeded but he had been attainted.
After 2nd June 1537 Richard Holland of Denton in Lancashire and [his mother] Eleanor Harbottle [aged 33] were married.
On 30th April 1557 [his brother] Thomas Percy 7th Earl of Northumberland [aged 29] was created 1st Baron Percy of Alnwick.
On 1st May 1557 [his brother] Thomas Percy 7th Earl of Northumberland [aged 29] was restored 7th Earl of Northumberland, 10th Baron Percy of Alnwick, 18th Baron Percy of Topcliffe, 9th Baron Poynings.
On 22nd June 1558 [his brother] Thomas Percy 7th Earl of Northumberland [aged 30] and [his sister-in-law] Anne Somerset Countess Northumberland [aged 20] were married. She by marriage Countess of Northumberland. She the daughter of Henry Somerset 2nd Earl of Worcester and Elizabeth Browne Countess of Worcester [aged 56]. They were third cousins. He a great x 5 grandson of King Edward III of England. She a great x 5 granddaughter of King Edward III of England.
On 11th May 1560 Thomas Wendy [aged 60] died. He was buried at All Saints Church, Haslingfield [Map].
In his will he left his [his brother] Thomas Percy [aged 32], nephew of his former employer, in his will a silver ewer and basin "in remembrance of such benefits which I have received at the hands of my very good lord and late master the late earl of Northumberland his uncle".
He left Anne Preston Baroness Geneville Beaudasert and Parr Kendal his lands at Coton and Whitwell, Cambridgeshire 'as a poor token of the good will which I have ever borne to her ladyship and in remembrance that in that place she had her first acquaintance with my lord her husband [aged 54]'.
He also remembered Anthony Browne [aged 51], Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland [aged 28], Humphrey Radclyffe [aged 51] and Richard Weston [aged 33].
Henry Machyn's Diary. 14th May 1560. The xiiij day of May the Quen('s) [aged 26] grace removyd from Westmynster by water unto Grenwyche [Map], and as her grace was gohyng by water not so farre as ..., cam by water to her grace master Henry Perse [aged 28] owt of F[rance,] with serten tydynges.
Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke
Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson.
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In January 1562 Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland [aged 30] and Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland [aged 17] were married. She by marriage Countess of Northumberland. They were third cousin once removed. He a great x 5 grandson of King Edward III of England.
On 27th April 1564 [his son] Henry "Wizard Earl" Percy 9th Earl of Northumberland was born to Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland [aged 32] and [his wife] Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland [aged 19] at Tynemouth Castle, Northumberland [Map]. He married 1594 his third cousin once removed Dorothy Devereux Countess Northumberland, daughter of Walter Devereux 1st Earl Essex and Lettice Knollys Countess Essex and Leicester, and had issue.
In or before 1566 Thomas Cecil 1st Earl Exeter [aged 23] and [his sister-in-law] Dorothy Neville Countess Exeter [aged 17] were married.
In 1567 [his mother] Eleanor Harbottle [aged 63] died.
On 22nd August 1572 Thomas Percy 7th Earl of Northumberland [aged 44] was beheaded at The Pavement in York. He was buried at St Crux Church, York [Map]. His brother Henry [aged 40] succeeded 8th Earl of Northumberland, 11th Baron Percy of Alnwick, 19th Baron Percy of Topcliffe, 2nd Baron Percy of Alnwick, 10th Baron Poynings.
On 22nd April 1577 [his father-in-law] John Neville 4th Baron Latimer of Snape [aged 57] died. He was buried at St Michaels Church, Well. Baron Latimer of Snape abeyant between daughters [his wife] Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland [aged 32], [his sister-in-law] Dorothy Neville Countess Exeter [aged 29], Lucy Neville [aged 28] and Elizabeth Neville [aged 27].
On 4th September 1580 [his son] George Percy was born to Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland [aged 48] and [his wife] Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland [aged 35]. He married Anne Floyd and had issue.
In 1583 [his daughter] Eleanor Percy Baroness Herbert was born to Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland [aged 51] and [his wife] Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland [aged 38]. She married before 1598 her half third cousin once removed William Herbert 1st Baron Powis and had issue.
In September 1583 Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland [aged 51] and brothers Charles Paget [aged 37] and Thomas Paget 3rd Baron Paget Beaudasert [aged 39] met at Petworth House to discuss.
In December 1584 Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland [aged 52] was imprisoned in the Tower of London [Map] for a third time.
On 21st June 1585 Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland [aged 53] committed suicide at Tower of London [Map]. He was found dead in his bed in his cell, having been shot through the heart. A jury was at once summoned, and returned a verdict of suicide. He was buried in St Peter ad Vincula Church, Tower of London [Map]. His son Henry [aged 21] succeeded 9th Earl of Northumberland, 12th Baron Percy of Alnwick, 20th Baron Percy of Topcliffe, 3rd Baron Percy of Alnwick, 11th Baron Poynings. Dorothy Devereux Countess Northumberland [aged 21] by marriage Countess of Northumberland.
In 1588 Francis Fitton and [his former wife] Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland [aged 43] were married. She the widow of Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland.
On 28th October 1596 [his former wife] Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland [aged 51] died.
Brief Lives: Charles Danvers 1568 1601. [711]Sir Charles Danvers [aged 33] was beheaded on Tower-hill [Map] with Robert, earle of Essex [aged 35], February the 6th, 1600[712]. I find in the register of the Tower chapell [Map] only the sepulture of Robert, earl of Essex, that yeare; wherfore I am induced to beleeve that his body was carryed to Dantesey[CX] in Wilts to lye with his ancestors. Vide Stowe's Chronicle, where is a full account of his and the earle's deportment at their death on the scaffold.
With all their faylings, Wilts cannot shew two such[713] brothers.
His familiar acquaintance were...[714], earl of Oxon [aged 50]; Sir Francis [aged 40] and Sir Horace Vere [aged 36]; Sir Walter Ralegh [aged 47], etc.-the heroes of those times.
Quaere my lady viscountesse Purbec and also the lord Norris for an account of the behaviour and advice of Sir Charles Danvers in the businesse of the earl of Essex, which advice had the earle followed he had saved his life.
[715]Of Sir Charles Danvers, from my lady viscountesse Purbec:-Sir Charles Danvers advised the earle of Essex, either to treat with the queen-hostages..., whom Sir Ferdinando Gorges [aged 36] did let goe; or to make his way through the gate at Essex house, and then to hast away to Highgate, and so to Northumberland (the earl of Northumberland maried his [his former sister-in-law] mother's [aged 51] [his former wife] sister), and from thence to the king of Scots, and there they might make their peace; if not, the queen was old and could not live long. But the earle followed not his advice, and so they both lost their heads on Tower-hill.
Note 711. MS. Aubr. 8, fol. 25v.
Note 712. i.e. 1600/1.
Note 713. Dupl. with 'shew the like two brothers,' scil. as Sir Charles Danvers and his brother Henry, earl of Danby.
Note 714. Edward Vere, seventeenth earl of Oxford.
[CX] In MS. Aubr. 3, fol. 46, Aubrey writes, in reference to burials at Dantesey, 'quaere, if Sir Charles Danvers that was beheaded?-He was buryed in the Tower chapell.' Aubrey's description of the burial-place of the Danvers family (MS. Aubr. 3, fol. 46), with the inscriptions, is printed in J. E. Jackson's Aubrey's Wiltshire Collections, pp. 223-225; the pedigree of Danvers is there given at p. 216.
Before 9th December 1641 Anthony Van Dyck [aged 42]. Portrait of Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland.
Samuel Pepys' Diary. 16th October 1665. Up about seven o'clock; and, after drinking, and I observing Mr. Povy's [aged 51] being mightily mortifyed in his eating and drinking, and coaches and horses, he desiring to sell his best, and every thing else, his furniture of his house, he walked with me to Syon [Map]1, and there I took water, in our way he discoursing of the wantonnesse of the Court, and how it minds nothing else, and I saying that that would leave the King [aged 35] shortly if he did not leave it, he told me "No", for the King do spend most of his time in feeling and kissing them naked... But this lechery will never leave him.
Note 1. Sion House [Map], granted by Edward VI to his uncle, the Duke of Somerset. After his execution, 1552, it was forfeited, and given to John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. The duke being beheaded in 1553, it reverted to the Crown, and was granted in 1604 to Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland. It still belongs to the Duke of Northumberland.
The History of William Marshal was commissioned by his son shortly after William’s death in 1219 to celebrate the Marshal’s remarkable life; it is an authentic, contemporary voice. The manuscript was discovered in 1861 by French historian Paul Meyer. Meyer published the manuscript in its original Anglo-French in 1891 in two books. This book is a line by line translation of the first of Meyer’s books; lines 1-10152. Book 1 of the History begins in 1139 and ends in 1194. It describes the events of the Anarchy, the role of William’s father John, John’s marriages, William’s childhood, his role as a hostage at the siege of Newbury, his injury and imprisonment in Poitou where he met Eleanor of Aquitaine and his life as a knight errant. It continues with the accusation against him of an improper relationship with Margaret, wife of Henry the Young King, his exile, and return, the death of Henry the Young King, the rebellion of Richard, the future King Richard I, war with France, the death of King Henry II, and the capture of King Richard, and the rebellion of John, the future King John. It ends with the release of King Richard and the death of John Marshal.
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John Evelyn's Diary. 13th July 1683. The fatal news coming to Hicks's Hall upon the article of my Lord Russell's [aged 43] trial, was said to have had no little influence on the Jury and all the Bench to his prejudice. Others said that he had himself on some occasions hinted that in case he should be in danger of having his life taken from him by any public misfortune, those who thirsted for his estate should miss of their aim; and that he should speak favorably of that Earl of Northumberland, and some others, who made away with themselves; but these are discourses so unlike his sober and prudent conversation that I have no inclination to credit them. What might instigate him to this devilish act, I am not able to conjecture. My Lord Clarendon, his brother-in-law, who was with him but the day before, assured me he was then very cheerful, and declared it to be the effect of his innocence and loyalty; and most believe that his Majesty [aged 53] had no severe intentions against him, though he was altogether inexorable as to Lord Russell and some of the rest. For my part, I believe the crafty and ambitious Earl of Shaftesbury had brought them into some dislike of the present carriage of matters at Court, not with any design of destroying the monarchy (which Shaftesbury had in confidence and for unanswerable reasons told me he would support to his last breath, as having seen and felt the misery of being under mechanic tyranny), but perhaps of setting up some other whom he might govern, and frame to his own platonic fancy, without much regard to the religion established under the hierarchy, for which he had no esteem; but when he perceived those whom he had engaged to rise, fail of his expectations, and the day past, reproaching his accomplices that a second day for an exploit of this nature was never successful, he gave them the slip, and got into Holland, where the fox died, three months before these unhappy Lords and others were discovered or suspected. Every one deplored Essex [aged 51] and Russell, especially the last, as being thought to have been drawn in on pretense only of endeavoring to rescue the King from his present councilors, and secure religion from Popery, and the nation from arbitrary government, now so much apprehended; while the rest of those who were fled, especially Ferguson and his gang, had doubtless some bloody design to get up a Commonwealth, and turn all things topsy-turvy. Of the same tragical principles is Sydney.
[his daughter] Lucy Percy was born to Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland and Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland.
[his son] Thomas Percy was born to Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland and Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland.
[his son] Joscelyne Percy was born to Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland and Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland.
[his son] William Percy was born to Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland and Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland.
[his son] Charles Percy was born to Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland and Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland.
[his daughter] Anne Percy was born to Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland and Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland.
[his son] Alan Percy was born to Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland and Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland. He married 1608 Mary Fitz.
[his son] Richard Percy was born to Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland and Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland.
Kings Wessex: Great x 15 Grand Son of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England
Kings Gwynedd: Great x 12 Grand Son of Owain "Great" King Gwynedd
Kings Seisyllwg: Great x 18 Grand Son of Hywel "Dda aka Good" King Seisyllwg King Deheubarth
Kings Powys: Great x 13 Grand Son of Maredudd ap Bleddyn King Powys
Kings Godwinson: Great x 15 Grand Son of King Harold II of England
Kings England: Great x 5 Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Kings Scotland: Great x 14 Grand Son of King Duncan I of Scotland
Kings Franks: Great x 21 Grand Son of Charles "Charlemagne aka Great" King of the Franks King Lombardy Holy Roman Emperor
Kings France: Great x 16 Grand Son of Hugh I King of the Franks
Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 19 Grand Son of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine
Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry "Hotspur" Percy 3 x Great Grand Son of King Henry III of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Henry Percy 2nd Earl of Northumberland 2 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Mortimer Baroness Camoys 
Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Henry Percy 3rd Earl of Northumberland 2 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Ralph Neville 1st Earl of Westmoreland 
5 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Eleanor Neville Countess Northumberland Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Joan Beaufort Countess of Westmoreland 
Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 1 Grandfather: Henry Percy 4th Earl of Northumberland 3 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Robert Poynings 4th Baron Poynings 
9 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Richard Poynings 5 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Eleanor Grey Baroness Poynings 
4 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Eleanor Poynings Countess Northumberland 6 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Berkeley 
4 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Eleanor Berkeley Countess Arundel 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Bettershorne
GrandFather: Henry Percy 5th Earl of Northumberland 4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: William ap Thomas "Blue Knight of Gwent" Herbert 
Great x 2 Grandfather: William Herbert 1st Earl Pembroke
Great x 4 Grandfather: Dafydd Gam Brecon
Great x 3 Grandmother: Gwladys ferch Dafydd Gam "Star of Abergavenny" Brecon
Great x 1 Grandmother: Maud Herbert Countess Northumberland 9 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Walter Devereux 
6 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Walter Devereux 7 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Agnes Crophull 6 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Anne Devereux 8 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Elizabeth Merbury
Father: Thomas Percy 4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Spencer 
Great x 3 Grandfather: Robert Spencer
Great x 2 Grandfather: John Winstone Churchill Spencer
Great x 1 Grandfather: Robert Spencer of Spencer Combe
GrandMother: Katherine Spencer Countess Northumberland 3 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: John of Gaunt 1st Duke Lancaster Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: John Beaufort 1st Marquess Somerset and Dorset 
Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Katherine Swynford aka Roet Duchess Lancaster 
Great x 2 Grandfather: Edmund Beaufort 1st or 2nd Duke of Somerset Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Holland 2nd Earl Kent Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Margaret Holland Duchess Clarence 
2 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Alice Fitzalan Countess Kent 
2 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry III of England
Great x 1 Grandmother: Eleanor Beaufort Countess Ormonde 2 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Beauchamp 12th Earl Warwick 
5 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Richard Beauchamp 13th Earl Warwick 4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret Ferrers Countess Warwick 
3 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Eleanor Beauchamp Duchess Somerset 4 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Berkeley 10th and 5th Baron Berkeley, Baron Lisle 2 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Elizabeth Berkeley Countess Warwick 3 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret Lisle Baroness Berkeley 3rd Baroness Lisle 
7 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England
Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland 5 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Bertram Harbottle
Great x 1 Grandfather: Ralph Harbottle 9 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Lumley 
6 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Thomas Lumley 1st Baron Lumley 7 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Felicia Wodecok
Great x 2 Grandmother: Joan Lumley 8 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: James Harrington 
Great x 3 Grandmother: Margaret Harrington Baroness Knightley
GrandFather: Guiscard Harbottle 4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry "Hotspur" Percy 3 x Great Grand Son of King Henry III of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Henry Percy 2nd Earl of Northumberland 2 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Mortimer Baroness Camoys Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Ralph Percy 2 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Ralph Neville 1st Earl of Westmoreland 5 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Eleanor Neville Countess Northumberland Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Joan Beaufort Countess of Westmoreland Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 1 Grandmother: Margaret Percy 3 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Eleanor Acton
Mother: Eleanor Harbottle 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Edmund Willoughby 
6 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Hugh Willoughby 7 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Isabel Annesley
Great x 2 Grandfather: Robert Willoughby 8 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Baldwin Freville
Great x 3 Grandmother: Margaret Freville
Great x 1 Grandfather: Henry Willoughby 9 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Margaret Griffith
GrandMother: Jane Willoughby 10 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Robert Markham
Great x 1 Grandmother: Margaret Markham