Adam Murimuth's Continuation and Robert of Avesbury’s 'The Wonderful Deeds of King Edward III'
This volume brings together two of the most important contemporary chronicles for the reign of Edward III and the opening phases of the Hundred Years’ War. Written in Latin by English clerical observers, these texts provide a vivid and authoritative window into the political, diplomatic, and military history of fourteenth-century England and its continental ambitions. Adam Murimuth Continuatio's Chronicarum continues an earlier chronicle into the mid-fourteenth century, offering concise but valuable notices on royal policy, foreign relations, and ecclesiastical affairs. Its annalistic structure makes it especially useful for establishing chronology and tracing the development of events year by year. Complementing it, Robert of Avesbury’s De gestis mirabilibus regis Edwardi tertii is a rich documentary chronicle preserving letters, treaties, and official records alongside narrative passages. It is an indispensable source for understanding Edward III’s claim to the French crown, the conduct of war, and the mechanisms of medieval diplomacy. Together, these works offer scholars, students, and enthusiasts a reliable and unembellished account of a transformative period in English and European history. Essential for anyone interested in medieval chronicles, the Hundred Years’ War, or the reign of Edward III.
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Paternal Family Tree: Cecil
Before 1495 [his father] David Cecil [aged 34] and [his mother] Alice Dicons were married.
Around 1495 Richard Cecil was born to [his father] David Cecil [aged 35] and [his mother] Alice Dicons.
Before 1520 Richard Cecil [aged 24] and Jane Heckington were married.
After 1520 Richard Cecil [aged 25] was appointed Groom of the Robes and Constable of Warwick Castle.
In June 1520 Henry VIII [aged 28] hosted Field of the Cloth of Gold at Balinghem [Map].
Thomas Grey 2nd Marquess Dorset [aged 42] carried the Sword of State.
Bishop John Stokesley [aged 45] attended as Henry VIII's chaplain.
Edmund Braye 1st Baron Braye [aged 36], Gruffydd ap Rhys ap Thomas Deheubarth [aged 42], Anthony Poyntz [aged 40], William Coffin [aged 25], William "Great" Courtenay [aged 43], Robert Radclyffe 1st Earl of Sussex [aged 37], William Paston [aged 41], William Denys [aged 50], Richard Cecil [aged 25], William Parr 1st Baron Parr of Horton [aged 37], Ralph Neville 4th Earl of Westmoreland [aged 22], John Mordaunt 1st Baron Mordaunt [aged 40], Henry Guildford [aged 31], Marmaduke Constable [aged 40], William Compton [aged 38], William Blount 4th Baron Mountjoy [aged 42], Thomas Cheney [aged 35], Henry Willoughby [aged 69], John Rodney [aged 59], John Marney 2nd Baron Marney [aged 36], William Sidney [aged 38], John de Vere 14th Earl of Oxford [aged 20], John de Vere 15th Earl of Oxford [aged 49], Edmund Walsingham [aged 40], William Skeffington [aged 55] and Thomas West 8th Baron De La Warr 5th Baron West [aged 63] attended.
William Carey [aged 20] jousted.
William Sandys 1st Baron Sandys of the Vyne [aged 50] organised.
Jane Parker Viscountess Rochford [aged 15] attended.
Thomas Brooke 8th Baron Cobham [aged 50], Robert Willoughby 2nd Baron Willoughby 10th Baron Latimer [aged 48], Anthony Wingfield [aged 33], William Scott [aged 61], Thomas Wriothesley [aged 32], Bishop Thomas Ruthall [aged 48], Margaret Dymoke aka Mistress Coffin [aged 20] and Edward Chamberlayne [aged 36] were present.
On 13th September 1520 [his son] William Cecil 1st Baron Burghley was born to Richard Cecil [aged 25] and [his wife] Jane Heckington at Bourne. He married (1) 1541 Mary Cheke and had issue (2) 21st December 1546 Mildred Cooke Baroness Burghley and had issue.
Around 1522 [his daughter] Margaret Cecil was born to Richard Cecil [aged 27] and [his wife] Jane Heckington. She married 24th November 1561 Roger Cave of Stanford and had issue.
In 1539 Richard Cecil [aged 44] was appointed High Sheriff of Rutlandshire.
In September 1540 [his father] David Cecil [aged 80] died. He was buried at St George's Church, Stamford.
In 1541 [his son] William Cecil 1st Baron Burghley [aged 20] and [his daughter-in-law] Mary Cheke were married.
Jean de Waurin's Chronicle of England Volume 6 Books 3-6: The Wars of the Roses
Jean de Waurin was a French Chronicler, from the Artois region, who was born around 1400, and died around 1474. Waurin’s Chronicle of England, Volume 6, covering the period 1450 to 1471, from which we have selected and translated Chapters relating to the Wars of the Roses, provides a vivid, original, contemporary description of key events some of which he witnessed first-hand, some of which he was told by the key people involved with whom Waurin had a personal relationship.
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On 21st December 1546 [his son] William Cecil 1st Baron Burghley [aged 26] and [his daughter-in-law] Mildred Cooke Baroness Burghley [aged 20] were married.
On 19th March 1553 Richard Cecil [aged 58] died at Canon Row. He was buried at St Margaret's Church, Westminster [Map].
After 19th March 1553. St Martin's Church, Stamford [Map]. Monument to Richard Cecil [deceased] and his wife Jane Heckington. Kneeling figures under an elaborate cornice. Attributed to Cornelius Cure. Elizabethan Period.
Jane Heckington: she was born to William Heckington. Before 1520 Richard Cecil and she were married. On 10th March 1587 she died.
Henry Machyn's Diary. 22nd March 1553. The xxij day of Marche was bered master Syssylle [deceased] sqwyr, and gentyllman of the kynges robes, and the father unto sir [his son] Hare Sysselle [aged 32] knyght, and bered at saynt Margates at Westmynster [Map], with cote armur and ys penon of armes; and he had a-nodur cote armur, and a penon, was mad and cared in-to the contrey wher he dwelt.
Note. Funeral of Richard Cecil esquire. This was the father of the great lord Burghley, whom our diarist on this occasion erroneously calls "sir Harry" instead of sir William Cecil. There is a monument to him, with kneeling effigies of himself, wife, and three daughters, (recently very carefully repaired,) in the church of Saint Martin at Stamford [Map]: an engraving of which is in Peck's History of that town, fol. 1727, p. 69, and in Peck's Desiderata Curiosa, vol. i. p. 4. In the inscription he is said to have died on 19th May, 1552. Lord Burghley in his Diary states the date on the 19th March 1553, with which Machyn's entry agrees.
On 10th March 1587 [his former wife] Jane Heckington died.
[his daughter] Elizabeth Cecil was born to Richard Cecil and Jane Heckington.
[his daughter] Anne Cecil was born to Richard Cecil and Jane Heckington.
Great x 1 Grandfather: Philip Cecil 
GrandFather: Richard Cecil
Father: David Cecil
Mother: Alice Dicons