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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On 19th December 1607 Remigius van Leemput was born.
Before 1661. Remigius van Leemput [aged 53]. Copy of Peter Lely [aged 42] portrait of Henry Hyde, Viscount Cornbury and his first wife Theodosia Capell.
Theodosia Capell: she was born to Arthur Capell 1st Baron Capell Hadham and Elizabeth Morrison Baroness Capell Hadham. In 1660 Henry Hyde 2nd Earl Clarendon and she were married. She died a year later. He the son of Edward Hyde 1st Earl Clarendon and Frances Aylesbury Countess Clarendon. On or after 28th November 1661 Theodosia Capell died.
1667. Remigius van Leemput [aged 59]. Copy (for which he received £150) of Hans Holbein's "Whitehall Mural" of King Henry VIII of England and Ireland, King Henry VII of England and Ireland, Elizabeth York Queen Consort England and Queen Jane Seymour. The original was destroyed in a fire in 1698.
Before 1675. Remigius van Leemput [aged 67]. Portrait of Barbara Villiers Countess Suffolk [aged 52].
On 4th November 1675 Remigius van Leemput [aged 67] died.
Minutes of the Society of Antiquaries. 11th March 1719. It was proposed that [?] noblemen and persons of quality as please to be members of the Society may be admitted by Ballot.
Ordered the same day a dividend of one print more of Ulphus's Horn to every member.
Resolved that Mr Vertue [aged 35] goe to Kensington Pallace to view the pictures of Holbein, copied there by Remy, the originals being burned in Whitehall.
Resolved that in Mr Samuel Gale's [aged 36] dissertation upon Ulphus's Horn be revised by Mr President [aged 58], Mr Roger Gale [aged 46], Mr Mickleton and Mr Holmes [aged 57], or any three of them, and then printed.
NB. Ten members were present when the last resolution was made.
