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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 Northumberland

MP Northumberland is in Member Parliament.

In 1459 Robert Manners (age 51) was elected MP Northumberland.

In 1529 Robert Collingwood was elected MP Northumberland.

In 1621 William Grey 1st Baron Grey Werke (age 27) was elected MP Northumberland.

In 1624 John Fenwick 1st Baronet (age 54) was elected MP Northumberland. He was re-elected in 1625, 1626 and 1628.

In April 1640 John Fenwick 1st Baronet (age 70) was elected MP Northumberland.

In 1642 John Fenwick 1st Baronet (age 72) was elected MP Northumberland.

In 1645 William Fenwick 2nd Baronet (age 28) was elected MP Northumberland which seat he held until 1648. He we re-elected in 1654, 1656, 1659, 1660 and 1661 which seat he held until 1676.

Cavalier Parliament

On 8th May 1661 King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland (age 30) summoned his second Parliament.

John Bennet 1st Baron Ossulston (age 44) was elected MP Wallingford.

James Thynne (age 56) was elected MP Wiltshire.

Adam Browne 2nd Baronet (age 35) was elected MP Surrey.

Henry Cavendish 2nd Duke Newcastle upon Tyne (age 30) was elected MP Northumberland.

William Compton (age 36) was elected MP Cambridge.

Thomas Coventry 1st Earl Coventry (age 32) was elected MP Camelford.

Charles Berkeley 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge (age 61) was elected MP Bath and Heytesbury.

Edward Hungerford (age 28) was elected MP Chippenham.

Robert Pierrepont (age 24) was elected MP Nottingham.

John Melbury Sampford Strangeways (age 75) was elected MP Weymouth.

Giles Strangeways (age 45) was elected MP Dorset.

John Strangeways (age 24) was elected MP Bridport.

William Wyndham 1st Baronet (age 29) was elected MP Taunton.

James Herbert (age 38) was elected MP Queenborough.

William Alington 1st and 3rd Baron Alington (age 21) was elected MP Cambridge.

William Bowes of Streatlam (age 4) was elected MP Durham.

Robert Brooke (age 24) was elected MP Aldeburgh.

Josiah Child (age 30) was elected MP Dartmouth.

Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet (age 73) was elected MP Nottinghamshire.

Thomas Crew 2nd Baron Crew (age 37) was elected MP Brackley.

Richard Jennings (age 42) was elected MP St Albans.

Robert Kemp 2nd Baronet (age 33) was elected MP Norfolk.

Edward Phelips (age 48) was elected MP Somerset.

Robert Robartes (age 27) was elected MP Bossiney.

Hender Robartes (age 25) was elected MP Bodmin.

Clement Fisher 2nd Baronet (age 48) was elected MP Coventry.

William Portman 6th Baronet (age 17) was elected MP Taunton.

John Robinson 1st Baronet (age 46) was elected MP Rye.

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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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In 1677 John Fenwick 3rd Baronet (age 32) was elected MP Northumberland.

In 1701 Ferdinando Forster (age 30) was elected MP Northumberland.

In 1708 General Thomas Forster of Adderstone (age 24) was elected MP Northumberland which seat he held until 1716 when he was attainted and expelled from Parliament.

In 1716 Francis Blake Delaval (age 23) was elected MP Northumberland at a by-election.

On 20th February 1723 William Wrightson of Cusworth (age 46) was elected MP Northumberland where his wife's family owned considerable estates. He was unseated on petition on 15th April 1724. He didn't stand again.

In 1748 Charles Bennet 3rd Earl Tankerville (age 31) was elected MP Northumberland.

In 1774 Algernon Percy 1st Earl Beverley (age 23) was elected MP Northumberland.

In 1780 Algernon Percy 1st Earl Beverley (age 29) was elected MP Northumberland.

Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough

A canon regular of the Augustinian Guisborough Priory, Yorkshire, formerly known as The Chronicle of Walter of Hemingburgh, describes the period from 1066 to 1346. Before 1274 the Chronicle is based on other works. Thereafter, the Chronicle is original, and a remarkable source for the events of the time. This book provides a translation of the Chronicle from that date. The Latin source for our translation is the 1849 work edited by Hans Claude Hamilton. Hamilton, in his preface, says: 'In the present work we behold perhaps one of the finest samples of our early chronicles, both as regards the value of the events recorded, and the correctness with which they are detailed; Nor will the pleasing style of composition be lightly passed over by those capable of seeing reflected from it the tokens of a vigorous and cultivated mind, and a favourable specimen of the learning and taste of the age in which it was framed.'

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In 1812 Charles Miles Lambert Monck 6th Baronet (age 32) was elected MP Northumberland which seat he held until 1820.