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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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Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch -1559

Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch was born to William Cawarden Cloth-Fuller.

In 1542 Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch was elected MP Bletchingley.

In 1542 Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch and Elizabeth Unknown were married.

In 1543 Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch was appointed Keeper of Nonsuch Palace [Map] which post he held until Nov 1556.

In 1544 Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch was appointed Master of the Revels and Master of the Tents.

In September 1544 Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch was knigted at Boulogne sur Mer [Map] during the Siege of Boulogne.

In 1547 Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch was appointed High Sheriff of Surrey and High Sheriff of Sussex.

In 1547 Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch was elected MP Bletchingley.

On 7th April 1547 Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch came into the possession of Bletchingley, Surrey [Map]. Anne of Cleves Queen Consort England [aged 31] had formerly owned it.

In 1550 Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch was appointed Keeper of Hampton Court Palace, Richmond [Map].

On 19th July 1553 Jane Grey I Queen England and Ireland [aged 17] requested tents from Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch.

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Anne Boleyn. Her Life as told by Lancelot de Carle's 1536 Letter.

In 1536, two weeks after the execution of Anne Boleyn, her brother George and four others, Lancelot du Carle, wrote an extraordinary letter that described Anne's life, and her trial and execution, to which he was a witness. This book presents a new translation of that letter, with additional material from other contemporary sources such as Letters, Hall's and Wriothesley's Chronicles, the pamphlets of Wynkyn the Worde, the Memorial of George Constantyne, the Portuguese Letter and the Baga de Secrets, all of which are provided in Appendices.

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Around November 1558 Edward Warner [aged 47] was re-appointed Lieutenant of the Tower of London with Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch.

Around November 1558 Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch was appointed Lieutenant of the Tower of London with Edward Warner [aged 47]

On 1st January 1559 Queen Mary I of England and Ireland ordered her officers to collect arms and armour from Cawarden's house to counter Wyatt's rebellion.

On 25th August 1559 Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch died at East Horsley, Surrey [Map] or Nonsuch Palace [Map].

Henry Machyn's Diary. 25th August 1559. The xx .. day of August ded at Non-shyche [Map] ser Thomas Carden knyght, devyser of all bankettes [banquets] and bankett-howses [banquet-houses], and the master of reyvelles and serjant of the tenttes.

Note. P. 208. Death and funeral of sir Thomas Cawarden. Knighted by Henry VIII. at the siege of Boulogne in 1544, a gentleman of the king's privy chamber in 1546, and in his latter years master of the revels, tents, and pavilions. His altar-tomb remains in Bletchingley church, but without inscription. (Manning and Bray's Surrey, ii. 300.) Among other documents relating to sir Thomas Cawarden and his office, published in the Loseley Manuscripts, edited by A. J. Kempe, esq. F.S.A. 1835, Svo. are (p. 175) his will dated St. Bartholomew's day 1559, and (p. 179) the charges of his obsequies, amounting to 96l. 15s. 1½d. and the funeral feast to 32l. 16s. 8d. The death of his wife shortly followed, and the charges of her funeral are also stated.

Henry Machyn's Diary. 5th September 1559. The v day of September was bered at [Bletchingley] ser Thomas Karden knyght, with a standard and .... of armes and a cot of armes, a helmet, targat, .... with the mantylls and crest, and a iij [3] dosen of skochyons of armes, the wyche he had mony goodly offeses in ....

Before 23rd February 1560 [his former wife] Elizabeth Unknown died.

Henry Machyn's Diary. 23rd February 1560. The xxiij day of Feybruary was cared from (Black) frers over the water to Parys garden, and ther was a hors-lytter rede to care her to Blechyng-led, [my] lade Carden, the wyff of ser Thomas Carden, to be bered.