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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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Holinshed's Chronicle 1421

Holinshed's Chronicle 1421 is in Holinshed's Chronicle.

After that done, he made great pu[...]ueyance for the coronation of his Q. & spouse, the faire Lady Katherine, whiche was done the daye of S. Mathie, beeing the 24. of February [1421], with all such Ceremonies and princelyke solemnitie as apperteined, and as in ye Chronicles of Robert Fabian is at large expressed. After the solemne feast of the Coronation once ended, the King as well to visit certayne places for devotion, by way of pilgrimage, as also to see in what state and ord[...]r diners parts of his Realm stoode, departed from the Q. appointing day and place where she should meete hym, and so journeyed forthe from place to place, thorough sundry Countreys, as well of Wales as Englande, and in every quarter where he came, hee heard with diligent eare the complaintes of sutors, & tooke order for the administration of justice both to high and lowe, causing manie mysdemeanors to be reformed. At length he came to the town of Leycester, where he foud the Quene according to the appointment before taken.