The history of the counts of Guines and lords of Ardres

the long version

"Consisting of 154 surviving chapters, Lambert's chronicle is just one of many local genealogies produced in Flanders during the high Middle Ages. It is extraordinarily rich and idiosyncratic, however, in its treatment of two competing families, longtime rivals until they were joined by marriage in the mid-twelfth century. In the first 96 chapters, Lambert, priest of the church of Ardres, traces the lineage of the counts of Guines from the seventh century to the present. Suddenly, narrative control is supposedly wrested away by the garrulous Walter LeClud, illegitimate son of Baldwin of Ardres, who tells the history of the other family for the next fifth chapters. At that point, Lambert's voice is finally restored, with an account of the now combined holdings of Guines and Ardres. With two story tellers recounting some of the same events from two different perspectives, the history is a particularly useful source for probing the medieval aristocratic family and aristocratic attitudes."--BOOK JACKET.