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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Biography of King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia and Poland 1271-1305

Paternal Family Tree: Bohemia

On 25th October 1251 [his father] Ottokar "Iron King" II King Bohemia (age 18) and [his mother] Kunigunda Rostislavna Přemyslovna (age 6) were married.

On 11th February 1252 [his father] Ottokar "Iron King" II King Bohemia (age 19) and Margarete von Babenberg (age 48) were married. The difference in their ages was 29 years; she, unusually, being older than him.

On 17th September 1271 King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia and Poland was born to [his father] Ottokar "Iron King" II King Bohemia (age 38) and [his mother] Kunigunda Rostislavna Přemyslovna (age 26).

On 26th August 1278 [his father] Ottokar "Iron King" II King Bohemia (age 45) died. His son Wenceslaus (age 6) succeeded II King Bohemia.

On 24th January 1285 King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia and Poland (age 13) and Queen Judith of Bohemia and Poland (age 13) were married. She the daughter of Rudolph I King Romans (age 66) and Gertrude Hohenburg. He the son of Ottokar "Iron King" II King Bohemia and Kunigunda Rostislavna Přemyslovna (age 40).

On 9th September 1285 [his mother] Kunigunda Rostislavna Přemyslovna (age 40) died.

In 1289 [his brother-in-law] Rudolf Habsburg II Duke Austria (age 19) and [his sister] Agnes Přemyslid Duchess Austria (age 19) were married. She by marriage Duchess Austria. She the daughter of [his father] Ottokar "Iron King" II King Bohemia and [his mother] Kunigunda Rostislavna Přemyslovna. He the son of [his father-in-law] Rudolph I King Romans (age 70) and Gertrude Hohenburg.

On 6th October 1289 [his son] King Wenceslaus III of Bohemia, Hungary and Poland was born to King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia and Poland (age 18) and [his wife] Queen Judith of Bohemia and Poland (age 18).

On 15th July 1291 [his father-in-law] Rudolph I King Romans (age 73) died at Speyer. He was buried at Speyer Cathedral. His son [his brother-in-law] Albert (age 36) succeeded I Duke Austria.

On 20th January 1292 [his daughter] Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia was born to King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia and Poland (age 20) and [his wife] Queen Judith of Bohemia and Poland (age 20). She married before 8th July 1313 King John I of Bohemia, son of Henry Luxemburg VII Holy Roman Emperor and Margaret Brabant Countess Luxemburg and Namur, and had issue.

On 17th May 1296 [his sister] Agnes Přemyslid Duchess Austria (age 26) died.

On 18th June 1297 [his wife] Queen Judith of Bohemia and Poland (age 26) died at Prague.

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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On 21st June 1305 King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia and Poland (age 33) died.