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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Paternal Family Tree: Holles
Around 1471 William Holles was born to [his father] Thomas Holles.
On 17th September 1499 William Holles [aged 28] admitted as Worshipful Company of Mercers.
Before 1509 William Holles [aged 37] and Elizabeth Scopham were married.
In 1510 [his son] William Holles was born to William Holles [aged 39] and [his wife] Elizabeth Scopham. He married 20th May 1535 Anne Denzell and had issue.
In 1527 William Holles [aged 56] was appointed Sheriff of London.
In 1528 William Holles [aged 57] was appointed Master of the Company of Mercers.
In 1533 William Holles [aged 62] was knighted by Henry VIII [aged 41].
On 20th May 1535 [his son] William Holles [aged 25] and [his daughter-in-law] Anne Denzell were married.
Wriothesley's Chronicle [1508-1562]. 18th October 1537. This yeare, on Sainct Edwardes dalea, at the election of the maire, the Kinges letter was sent to electe and chose Mr. Richard Gressame [aged 52]b, mercer, for maire for the yeare following, which was donne at the Kinges commandment; howbeit the Commens grudged, because he had bene alderman but one yeare; for that tyme they would have had Mr. Holes [aged 66]c, which had beene put of three yeares by the Kinges letter.
Note a. October 18th.
Note b. Father of Sir Thomas Greaham [aged 18].
Note c. Afterwards Sir William Holies, chosen Lord Major in 1539.
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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On 13th October 1539 William Holles [aged 68] was appointed Lord Mayor of London.
On 3rd January 1540 Anne of Cleves [aged 24] arrived at Blackheath, Greenwich [Map]. Henry Grey 1st Duke of Suffolk [aged 23] carried the Sword of State. William Holles [aged 69], Charles Brandon 1st Duke of Suffolk [aged 56], Robert Radclyffe 1st Earl of Sussex [aged 57], John de Vere 15th Earl of Oxford [aged 69], John de Vere 16th Earl of Oxford [aged 24], Bishop Robert Parfew aka Warton and Catherine Willoughby Duchess Suffolk [aged 20] were present.
On 13th October 1542 William Holles [aged 71] died. He was buried at St Helen's Church, Bishopsgate.
On 13th March 1543 [his former wife] Elizabeth Scopham died. She was buried at St Helen's Church, Bishopsgate.
[his daughter] Joanna Holles was born to William Holles and Elizabeth Scopham.
[his daughter] Anna Holles was born to William Holles and Elizabeth Scopham.