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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St Mary's Church, Bury St Edmunds is in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk [Map].
1467. The Cadaver tomb of John Baret at St Mary's Church, Bury St Edmunds. His tomb, which he had made before his death, once stood between the arch of the nave and his chantry. The roof painted with motto Grace me Govern and his SS collar is in wonderful preservation.
Around 1500. The nave roof at St Mary's Church, Bury St Edmunds is of single hammer-beam constructions, with eleven pairs of life-sized angels. The angels show a procession in honour of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In 1501 William Carew died. He was buried at St Mary's Church, Bury St Edmunds.
William Carew: he was born to Nicholas Carew and Joan Courtenay. He a great x 4 grandson of King Edward I of England.
On 1st March 1536 Robert Drury (age 82) died. He was buried at St Mary's Church, Bury St Edmunds where he has a monument with him and his wife Anne Calthorpe represented.
Robert Drury: In 1454 he was born to Roger Drury of Hawstead in Suffolk at Hawstead, Suffolk. Before 1494 Robert Drury and Anne Calthorpe were married. On 15th October 1495 he was appointed Speaker of the House of Commons during the 5th Parliament of Henry VII. After 12th November 1529 Robert Drury and Anne Jerningham were married. The difference in their ages was 50 years.
During the dissolution, around 4th November 1539, the remains of Mary Tudor Queen Consort France were reburied at St Mary's Church, Bury St Edmunds.
26th February 1852. Memorial at St Mary's Church, Bury St Edmunds to the fifty-five men of the Suffolk Regiment who drowned during the sinking of HMS Birkenhead from which the "Birkenhead Drill" i.e. women and children first, is named.
Rudyard Kipling's 1893 poem:
To take your chance in the thick of a rush, with firing all about,
Is nothing so bad when you've cover to 'and, an' leave an' likin' to shout;
But to stand an' be still to the Birken'ead drill is a damn tough bullet to chew,
An' they done it, the Jollies – 'Er Majesty's Jollies – soldier an' sailor too!
Their work was done when it 'adn't begun; they was younger nor me an' you;
Their choice it was plain between drownin' in 'eaps an' bein' mopped by the screw,
So they stood an' was still to the Birken'ead drill, soldier an' sailor too!