Adam Murimuth's Continuation and Robert of Avesbury’s 'The Wonderful Deeds of King Edward III'
This volume brings together two of the most important contemporary chronicles for the reign of Edward III and the opening phases of the Hundred Years’ War. Written in Latin by English clerical observers, these texts provide a vivid and authoritative window into the political, diplomatic, and military history of fourteenth-century England and its continental ambitions. Adam Murimuth Continuatio's Chronicarum continues an earlier chronicle into the mid-fourteenth century, offering concise but valuable notices on royal policy, foreign relations, and ecclesiastical affairs. Its annalistic structure makes it especially useful for establishing chronology and tracing the development of events year by year. Complementing it, Robert of Avesbury’s De gestis mirabilibus regis Edwardi tertii is a rich documentary chronicle preserving letters, treaties, and official records alongside narrative passages. It is an indispensable source for understanding Edward III’s claim to the French crown, the conduct of war, and the mechanisms of medieval diplomacy. Together, these works offer scholars, students, and enthusiasts a reliable and unembellished account of a transformative period in English and European history. Essential for anyone interested in medieval chronicles, the Hundred Years’ War, or the reign of Edward III.
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Paternal Family Tree: Blount
1509 Marriage and Coronation of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon
1520 Field of the Cloth of Gold
1522 Henry VIII Meeting with Charles V Holy Roman Emperor
1526 Creation of Garter Knights
Around 1477 [his father] John Blount 3rd Baron Mountjoy [aged 27] and [his mother] Lora Berkeley Countess Ormonde were married. She by marriage Baroness Mountjoy.
Around 1478 William Blount 4th Baron Mountjoy was born to [his father] John Blount 3rd Baron Mountjoy [aged 28] and [his mother] Lora Berkeley Countess Ormonde at Barton Blount, Derbyshire [Map].
On 12th October 1485 [his father] John Blount 3rd Baron Mountjoy [aged 35] died. His son William [aged 7] succeeded 4th Baron Mountjoy.
After 12th October 1485 [his step-father] Thomas Montgomery and [his mother] Lora Berkeley Countess Ormonde were married.
Before 1495 William Browne [aged 26] and [his future wife] Alice Keble Baroness Mountjoy were married.
After 2nd January 1495 [his step-father] Thomas Butler 7th Earl Ormonde [aged 69] and [his mother] Lora Berkeley Countess Ormonde were married. She by marriage Countess Ormonde. He the son of James "White Earl" Butler 4th Earl Ormonde and Joan Beauchamp Countess Ormonde.
Around 1497 William Blount 4th Baron Mountjoy [aged 19] and Elizabeth Saye Baroness Mountjoy [aged 18] were married. She by marriage Baroness Mountjoy. He the son of John Blount 3rd Baron Mountjoy and Lora Berkeley Countess Ormonde.
Around 1498 [his daughter] Mary Blount was born to William Blount 4th Baron Mountjoy [aged 20] and [his wife] Elizabeth Saye Baroness Mountjoy [aged 19]. She married 1536 Henry Bourchier 2nd Earl Essex 3rd Count of Eu.
Around 1498 [his future son-in-law] Henry Bourchier 2nd Earl Essex 3rd Count of Eu and [his sister-in-law] Mary Saye Countess Essex and Eu [aged 24] were married. She by marriage Countess Essex, Countess Eu.
Anne Boleyn. Her Life as told by Lancelot de Carle's 1536 Letter.
In 1536, two weeks after the execution of Anne Boleyn, her brother George and four others, Lancelot du Carle, wrote an extraordinary letter that described Anne's life, and her trial and execution, to which he was a witness. This book presents a new translation of that letter, with additional material from other contemporary sources such as Letters, Hall's and Wriothesley's Chronicles, the pamphlets of Wynkyn the Worde, the Memorial of George Constantyne, the Portuguese Letter and the Baga de Secrets, all of which are provided in Appendices.
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In or before 1503 [his daughter] Gertrude Blount Marchioness of Exeter was born to William Blount 4th Baron Mountjoy [aged 24] and [his wife] Elizabeth Saye Baroness Mountjoy [aged 23]. She married 25th October 1519 Henry Courtenay 1st Marquess Exeter, son of William Courtenay 1st Earl Devon and Catherine York Countess Devon, and had issue.
On 21st July 1506 [his wife] Elizabeth Saye Baroness Mountjoy [aged 27] died at Essendon, Hertfordshire.
Around 1509 Robert Willoughby 2nd Baron Willoughby 10th Baron Latimer [aged 37] and [his future wife] Dorothy Grey Baroness Mountjoy, Willoughby and Latimer [aged 29] were married. She by marriage Baroness Willoughby Broke, Baroness Latimer of Corby. She the daughter of Thomas Grey 1st Marquess Dorset and [his future mother-in-law] Cecily Bonville Marchioness Dorset [aged 48]. They were half fourth cousins. She a great x 4 granddaughter of King Edward III of England.
On 23rd June 1509 King Henry VIII of England and Ireland [aged 17] created Knights of the Bath..
Robert Radclyffe 1st Earl of Sussex [aged 26]
Henry Scrope 7th Baron Scrope of Bolton [aged 27]
George Fitzhugh 7th Baron Fitzhugh [aged 23]
William Blount 4th Baron Mountjoy [aged 31]
Henry Daubeney 1st Earl Bridgewater [aged 15]
Thomas Brooke 8th Baron Cobham [aged 39]
Henry Clifford 1st Earl of Cumberland [aged 16]
Maurice Berkeley 4th Baron Berkeley [aged 42]
Thomas Knyvet [aged 24]
Andrew Windsor 1st Baron Windsor [aged 42]
Thomas Parr [aged 26]
Thomas Boleyn 1st Earl Wiltshire and Ormonde [aged 32]
Richard Wentworth 5th Baron Despencer [aged 29]
Henry Ughtred 6th Baron Ughtred
Francis Cheney [aged 28]
Henry Wyatt [aged 49]
George Hastings 1st Earl Huntingdon [aged 22]
Sir Thomas Metham of Metham, Yorkshire
Sir Thomas Bedingfield
John Shelton [aged 32]
Either Giles Alington [aged 26] or his son Giles Alington [aged 10].
Sir John Trevanion
Sir William Crowmer
Sir John Heydon of Baconsthorpe in Norfolk
Henry Sacheverell [aged 34].
Before 30th July 1509 William Blount 4th Baron Mountjoy [aged 31] and Inez Venegas Baroness Mountjoy were married. She by marriage Baroness Mountjoy. He the son of John Blount 3rd Baron Mountjoy and Lora Berkeley Countess Ormonde.
In February 1515 William Blount 4th Baron Mountjoy [aged 37] and Alice Keble Baroness Mountjoy were married. She by marriage Baroness Mountjoy. He the son of John Blount 3rd Baron Mountjoy and Lora Berkeley Countess Ormonde.
Around 1518 [his daughter] Catherine Blount was born to William Blount 4th Baron Mountjoy [aged 40] and [his wife] Alice Keble Baroness Mountjoy. She married (1) John Champernowne (2) after 1541 her sixth cousin Maurice Berkeley and had issue.
On 28th June 1518 [his son] Charles Blount 5th Baron Mountjoy was born to William Blount 4th Baron Mountjoy [aged 40] and [his wife] Alice Keble Baroness Mountjoy at Tournai [Map]. He married in or before 1533 Anne Willoughby Baroness Mountjoy, daughter of Robert Willoughby 2nd Baron Willoughby 10th Baron Latimer and Dorothy Grey Baroness Mountjoy, Willoughby and Latimer, and had issue.
On 25th October 1519 [his son-in-law] Henry Courtenay 1st Marquess Exeter [aged 23] and [his daughter] Gertrude Blount Marchioness of Exeter [aged 16] were married. She by marriage Countess Devon. He the son of William Courtenay 1st Earl Devon and Catherine York Countess Devon [aged 40].
In June 1520 Henry VIII [aged 28] hosted Field of the Cloth of Gold at Balinghem [Map].
[his future brother-in-law] Thomas Grey 2nd Marquess Dorset [aged 42] carried the Sword of State.
Bishop John Stokesley [aged 45] attended as Henry VIII's chaplain.
Edmund Braye 1st Baron Braye [aged 36], Gruffydd ap Rhys ap Thomas Deheubarth [aged 42], Anthony Poyntz [aged 40], William Coffin [aged 25], William "Great" Courtenay [aged 43], Robert Radclyffe 1st Earl of Sussex [aged 37], William Paston [aged 41], William Denys [aged 50], Richard Cecil [aged 25], William Parr 1st Baron Parr of Horton [aged 37], Ralph Neville 4th Earl of Westmoreland [aged 22], John Mordaunt 1st Baron Mordaunt [aged 40], Henry Guildford [aged 31], Marmaduke Constable [aged 40], William Compton [aged 38], William Blount 4th Baron Mountjoy [aged 42], Thomas Cheney [aged 35], Henry Willoughby [aged 69], John Rodney [aged 59], John Marney 2nd Baron Marney [aged 36], William Sidney [aged 38], John de Vere 14th Earl of Oxford [aged 20], John de Vere 15th Earl of Oxford [aged 49], Edmund Walsingham [aged 40], William Skeffington [aged 55] and Thomas West 8th Baron De La Warr 5th Baron West [aged 63] attended.
William Carey [aged 20] jousted.
William Sandys 1st Baron Sandys of the Vyne [aged 50] organised.
Jane Parker Viscountess Rochford [aged 15] attended.
Thomas Brooke 8th Baron Cobham [aged 50], Robert Willoughby 2nd Baron Willoughby 10th Baron Latimer [aged 48], Anthony Wingfield [aged 33], William Scott [aged 61], Thomas Wriothesley [aged 32], Bishop Thomas Ruthall [aged 48], Margaret Dymoke aka Mistress Coffin [aged 20] and Edward Chamberlayne [aged 36] were present.
On 8th June 1521 [his wife] Alice Keble Baroness Mountjoy died.
In May 1522 Henry VIII [aged 30] met with Charles V Holy Roman Emperor [aged 22] at Dover, Kent [Map]. William Blount 4th Baron Mountjoy [aged 44], William Compton [aged 40], John Marney 2nd Baron Marney [aged 38], William Scott [aged 63] and John de Vere 15th Earl of Oxford [aged 51] were present. Henry VIII Meeting with Charles V Holy Roman Emperor.
On 29th July 1523 William Blount 4th Baron Mountjoy [aged 45] and Dorothy Grey Baroness Mountjoy, Willoughby and Latimer [aged 43] were married. She by marriage Baroness Mountjoy. She the daughter of Thomas Grey 1st Marquess Dorset and Cecily Bonville Marchioness Dorset [aged 63]. He the son of John Blount 3rd Baron Mountjoy and Lora Berkeley Countess Ormonde.
In 1526, probably around St George's Day, 23rd April 1526, King Henry VIII of England and Ireland [aged 34] created four new Knights of the Garter:
289th. William Blount 4th Baron Mountjoy [aged 48].
290th. William Fitzwilliam 1st Earl of Southampton [aged 36].
291st. Henry Guildford [aged 37].
292nd. King Francis I of France [aged 31].
William of Worcester's Chronicle of England
William of Worcester, born around 1415, and died around 1482 was secretary to John Fastolf, the renowned soldier of the Hundred Years War, during which time he collected documents, letters, and wrote a record of events. Following their return to England in 1440 William was witness to major events. Twice in his chronicle he uses the first person: 1. when writing about the murder of Thomas, 7th Baron Scales, in 1460, he writes '… and I saw him lying naked in the cemetery near the porch of the church of St. Mary Overie in Southwark …' and 2. describing King Edward IV's entry into London in 1461 he writes '… proclaimed that all the people themselves were to recognize and acknowledge Edward as king. I was present and heard this, and immediately went down with them into the city'. William’s Chronicle is rich in detail. It is the source of much information about the Wars of the Roses, including the term 'Diabolical Marriage' to describe the marriage of Queen Elizabeth Woodville’s brother John’s marriage to Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, he aged twenty, she sixty-five or more, and the story about a paper crown being placed in mockery on the severed head of Richard, 3rd Duke of York.
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Around 1527 [his daughter] Mary Blount was born to William Blount 4th Baron Mountjoy [aged 49] and [his wife] Dorothy Grey Baroness Mountjoy, Willoughby and Latimer [aged 47]. She married 4th April 1552 Robert Denys and had issue.
Letters and Papers Foreign and Domestic Henry VIII 1529. After 28th June 1529. Cott. App. XXVII. 141. B. M. 5774. Catharine of Arragon.
11. Deposition of William Lord Mountjoy [aged 51].
Is 52 years of age or thereabout.
To the 1st and 2nd articles, agrees with Lord Darcy. To the 3rd and 4th, was present at the marriage of Arthur and Catharine, at St. Paul's. Believes Arthur was more than 14 years of age. Knows nothing of Catharine's age, nor of the consummation, except from report. To the 5th, agrees with Thomas marquis of Dorset as to cohabitation, offspring, and reputation, but cannot depose about the marriage. To the 6th and 7th, cannot depose. To the 8th, never heard of any great murmur or scandal in consequence of this marriage, among either the clergy or laity. The 9th contains the truth. To the 10th, 11th and 12th, cannot depose. Is not influenced by fear, &c.
On 10th October 1530 [his brother-in-law] Thomas Grey 2nd Marquess Dorset [aged 53] died. His son Henry [aged 13] succeeded 3rd Marquess Dorset, 3rd Earl Huntingdon, 9th Baron Ferrers of Groby, 9th Baron Harington, 4th Baron Bonville.
In or before 1533 [his son] Charles Blount 5th Baron Mountjoy [aged 14] and [his daughter-in-law] Anne Willoughby Baroness Mountjoy were married. She by marriage Baroness Mountjoy.
Wriothesley's Chronicle [1508-1562]. Around 8th April 1533. And the Wednesdaie before the good Queene Katherinf was deposed at Hanthill [Map]a by the Duke of Norfolke [aged 60], the Duke of Suffolke [aged 49], and Lord [his son-in-law] Marques of Exceter [aged 37], my Lorde of Oxforde [aged 62], Lord Chamberlaine of the Kinges howse, Mr. Treasorer and Mr. Controwler of the Kinges howse. And from that dale after to be called Ladie Catherin, wife of Prince Arthur, dowarie of Englande,b she to have by yearelie pencion for her dowarie eight thousand poundes sterlinge.
Note f. The general opinion in England was distinctly adverse to the divorce. See Calendar of State Papers preserved in the Archives of Venice, vol. iv. 1532-3.
Note a. Ampthill [Map], in Bedfordshire, to which place Queen Katharine retired while the question of her dirorce was under discussion. This castle had been erected by Lord Fanhope, and reverted with the manor to the Crown in the reign of Edward IV, by whom it was conferred on Lord Grey of Ruthin, Earl of Kent, from whose descendants it passed again to the Crown about 1530, and became a palace of Henry VIII [aged 41].
Note b. Princess Dowager of Wales, which designation was displeasing to the ex-queen, who refused to resign herself to the judgment passed. She went so far as to obliterate with her own pen the words "Princess Dowager" whererer they had been written by her Chamberlain, Mountjoy [aged 55], in his report to the King.
Calendar of State Papers of Spain. 15th April 1533. 1061. Eustace Chapuys [aged 43] to the Emperor [aged 33].
On Wednesday the said Duke [aged 60], and the others of whom I wrote to Your Majesty in my last despatch, called upon the Queen [aged 47] and delivered their message, which was in substance as follows: "She was to renounce her title of Queen, and allow her case to be decided here, in England. If she did, she would confer a great boon on the kingdom and prevent much effusion of blood, and besides the King [aged 41] would treat her in future much better than she could possibly expect." Perceiving that there was no chance of the Queen's agreeing to such terms, the deputies further told her that they came in the King's name to inform her that resistance was useless (quelle se rompist plus la teste), since his marriage with the other Lady had been effected more than two months ago in the presence of several persons, without any one of them having been summoned for that purpose. Upon which, with much bowing and ceremony, and many excuses for having in obedience to the king's commands fulfilled so disagreeable a duty, the deputies withdrew. After whose departure the lord Mountjoy [aged 55], the Queen's chamberlain, came to notify to her the King's intention that in future she should not be called Queen, and that from one month after Easter the King would no longer provide for her personal expenses or the wages of her servants. He intended her to retire to some private house of her own, and there live on the small allowance assigned to her, and which, I am told, will scarcely be sufficient to cover the expenses of her household for the first quarter of next year. The Queen resolutely said that as long as she lived she would entitle herself Queen; as to keeping house herself, she cared not to begin that duty so late in life. If the King thought that her expenses were too great, he might, if he chose, take her own personal property and place her wherever he chose, with a confessor, a physician, an apothecary, and two maids for the service of her chamber; if that even seemed too much to ask, and there was nothing left for her and her servants to live upon, she would willingly go about the world begging alms for the love of God.
Though the King is by nature kind and generously inclined, this Anne has so perverted him that he does not seem the same man. It is, therefore, to be feared that unless Your Majesty applies a prompt remedy to this evil, the Lady [aged 32] will not relent in her persecution until she actually finishes with Queen Catharine, as she did once with cardinal Wolsey, whom she did not hate half as much. The Queen, however, is not afraid for herself; what she cares most for is the Princess [aged 17].
On 8th November 1534 William Blount 4th Baron Mountjoy [aged 56] died. His son Charles [aged 16] succeeded 5th Baron Mountjoy.
In 1552 [his former wife] Dorothy Grey Baroness Mountjoy, Willoughby and Latimer [aged 72] died.
[his son] John Blount was born to William Blount 4th Baron Mountjoy and Dorothy Grey Baroness Mountjoy, Willoughby and Latimer.
[his daughter] Dorothy Blount was born to William Blount 4th Baron Mountjoy and Dorothy Grey Baroness Mountjoy, Willoughby and Latimer. She married John Blewett.
Kings Wessex: Great x 14 Grand Son of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England
Kings Gwynedd: Great x 15 Grand Son of Maredudd ab Owain King Deheubarth King Powys King Gwynedd
Kings Seisyllwg: Great x 17 Grand Son of Hywel "Dda aka Good" King Seisyllwg King Deheubarth
Kings Powys: Great x 15 Grand Son of Maredudd ab Owain King Deheubarth King Powys King Gwynedd
Kings England: Great x 8 Grand Son of King John of England
Kings Scotland: Great x 13 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 14 Grand Son of Hugh I King of the Franks
Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 18 Grand Son of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine
Great x 4 Grandfather: Walter Blount 
Great x 3 Grandfather: John Blount
Great x 4 Grandmother: Joanna Sodington
Great x 2 Grandfather: Walter Blount 8 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Beauchamp 2nd Baron Beauchamp Somerset 
7 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Eleanor Beauchamp 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret St John Baroness Beauchamp Somerset 
6 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 1 Grandfather: Thomas Blount 9 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Diego Gómez Toledo
Great x 2 Grandmother: Sancha Toledo
GrandFather: Walter Blount 1st Baron Mountjoy 10 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Thomas Gresley 
Great x 1 Grandmother: Margaret Gresley
Father: John Blount 3rd Baron Mountjoy 11 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Richard Byron of Clayton 
Great x 3 Grandfather: James Byron
Great x 2 Grandfather: Richard Byron
Great x 1 Grandfather: John Byron
GrandMother: Helena Byron Baroness Mountjoy
William Blount 4th Baron Mountjoy 8 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Maurice Berkeley 7th and 2nd Baron Berkeley 
2 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Thomas Berkeley 8th and 3rd Baron Berkeley 3 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Eva Zouche 
Great x 2 Grandfather: John Berkeley 4 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Clivedon
Great x 3 Grandmother: Katherine Clivedon Baroness Berkeley
Great x 1 Grandfather: Maurice Berkeley 5 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Elizabeth Bettershorne
GrandFather: Edward Berkeley 6 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Hugh Fitzhugh 
Great x 3 Grandfather: Hugh Fitzhugh 2nd Baron Fitzhugh
Great x 2 Grandfather: Henry Fitzhugh 3rd Baron Fitzhugh
Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry Scrope 1st Baron Scrope of Masham 
Great x 3 Grandmother: Joan Scrope Baroness Fitzhugh
Great x 4 Grandmother: Joan Unknown
Great x 1 Grandmother: Lora Fitzhugh 6 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Grey 1st Baron Grey 
3 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Robert Grey 4 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Avice Marmion Baroness Grey Rotherfield 
3 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Elizabeth Grey Baroness Fitzhugh 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Mother: Lora Berkeley Countess Ormonde 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England