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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Around 1480 Conn O'Neill 1st Earl Tyrone was born.
In or before 1530 Conn O'Neill 1st Earl Tyrone (age 49) and Alice Fitzgerald Countess Tyrone were married. She the daughter of Gerald Fitzgerald 8th Earl of Kildare and Alice Fitzeustace Countess Kildare.
Around 1530 [his son] Shane O'Neill was born to Conn O'Neill 1st Earl Tyrone (age 50). His mother is unclear; either [his wife] Alice Fitzgerald Countess Tyrone or Sorcha O'Neill, daughter of Hugh Oge O'Neill, chief of the O'Neills of Clandeboye.
In 1542 Conn O'Neill 1st Earl Tyrone (age 62) was created 1st Earl Tyrone. [his wife] Alice Fitzgerald Countess Tyrone by marriage Countess Tyrone.
Chronicle of Greyfriars. 1542. And this year came in the Earl of Desmond and the great O'Neill (age 62), and was created Earl of Tyrone and his [his son] son (age 12) Baron of Dungannon.
In 1559 Conn O'Neill 1st Earl Tyrone (age 79) died.
Chronicle of Edward Hall [1496-1548]. In this yere James erle of Desmond came to the kyng and was honourably entertained and wel rewarded. And in September the great Onele [Conn O'Neill 1st Earl Tyrone] came to the kyng to Grenewyche, where he and a capitaine of the North partes of Irelande called Magannysse and the Byshop of Cloar, made their submission in writing, confessyng their offences, and promisyng to serve the kyng and his Jheires truely: whiche submission by the kyng consydered, he upon the first daie of October created at Grenewyche the saied sir Eustace Onele called greate Onele (because he was the chiefe of his linage called Onele) Erle of Tereowen, commonly called Tyron and gave hym a great chayne, and made Magannysse and his cosyn knightes and gave them both chaynes, and he gave to the lord Mathias sonne to the erle, the Barony of Duncan.