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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MP Liskeard is in Member Parliament.
In 1553 John Trelawny of Poole in Cornwall (age 49) was elected MP Liskeard.
In 1586 Richard Edgecumbe (age 16) was elected MP Liskeard.
In 1604 William Killigrew (age 49) was elected MP Liskeard.
In 1624 William Wrey 2nd Baronet (age 24) was elected MP Liskeard.
In 1625 William Coryton (age 45) was elected MP Liskeard.
In 1678 Bourchier Wrey 4th Baronet (age 25) was elected MP Liskeard whic seat he held until his death in 1694.
In 1678 Bourchier Wrey 4th Baronet (age 25) was elected MP Liskeard.
In 1715 John Trelawny 4th Baronet (age 23) was elected MP Liskeard
On 12th April 1722 Edward Eliot (age 38) was elected MP Liskeard which seat he held until his death five months later.
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 1802 William Eliot 2nd Earl St Germans (age 34) was elected MP Liskeard.
In 1824 Edward Granville Eliot 3rd Earl St Germans (age 25) was elected MP Liskeard.