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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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In 1769 [his father] William Pierce Ashe à Court 1st Baronet (age 22) and Catherine Bradford were married.
In 1778 [his father] William Pierce Ashe à Court 1st Baronet (age 31) and [his mother] Laetitia Wyndham Lady à Court were married.
On 11th July 1779 William à Court 1st Baron Heytesbury was born to [his father] William Pierce Ashe à Court 1st Baronet (age 32) and [his mother] Laetitia Wyndham Lady à Court.
In 1795 [his father] William Pierce Ashe à Court 1st Baronet (age 48) was created 1st Baronet à Court. [his mother] Laetitia Wyndham Lady à Court by marriage Lady à Court.
On 3rd October 1808 William à Court 1st Baron Heytesbury (age 29) and Maria Rebecca Bouverie Baroness Heytesbury (age 24) were married at St George's Church, Hanover Square.
On 11th July 1809 [his son] William à Court-Holmes 2nd Baron Heytesbury was born to William à Court 1st Baron Heytesbury (age 30) and [his wife] Maria Rebecca Bouverie Baroness Heytesbury (age 25). He married 3rd October 1833 Elizabeth Holmes Baroness Heytesbury, daughter of Leonard Worsley-Holmes 9th Baronet, and had issue.
In 1812 William à Court 1st Baron Heytesbury (age 32) was elected MP Dorchester.
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 22nd July 1817 [his father] William Pierce Ashe à Court 1st Baronet (age 70) died. His son William (age 38) succeeded 2nd Baronet à Court. [his wife] Maria Rebecca Bouverie Baroness Heytesbury (age 33) by marriage Lady à Court.
In 1821 [his mother] Laetitia Wyndham Lady à Court died.
In 1828 William à Court 1st Baron Heytesbury (age 48) was created 1st Baron Heytesbury of Heytesbury in Wiltshire. [his wife] Maria Rebecca Bouverie Baroness Heytesbury (age 44) by marriage Baroness Heytesbury of Heytesbury in Wiltshire.
On 3rd October 1833 [his son] William à Court-Holmes 2nd Baron Heytesbury (age 24) and [his daughter-in-law] Elizabeth Holmes Baroness Heytesbury (age 18) were married.
On 6th October 1844 [his wife] Maria Rebecca Bouverie Baroness Heytesbury (age 61) died.
On 31st May 1860 William à Court 1st Baron Heytesbury (age 80) died. His son William (age 50) succeeded 2nd Baron Heytesbury of Heytesbury in Wiltshire, 3rd Baronet à Court.
Father: William Pierce Ashe à Court 1st Baronet
William à Court 1st Baron Heytesbury
GrandFather: Henry Wyndham
Mother: Laetitia Wyndham Lady à Court