Do the Herefordshire Carpenters have royal descent? If we accept the Dutch historian Jean le Carpentier’s lineage of the English Carpenters back to Flanders, and all the real historical evidence I have seen thus far supports his views, we are taken back to the Lords of Gouy in the 11th century. In modern times well after Jean le Carpentier’s day, an ancient manuscript was discovered which altered the history of medieval French literature. This document was a chanson de geste or epic narrative entitled RAOUL DE CAMBRAI, a work that was built over time upon basic factual historical events in the 10th century. Raoul was a Lord of Gouy. He was one of the sons of Baldwin III the Count of Flanders who died in 962. The real Raoul de Gouy engaged in a battle with the sons of Count Herbert of Vermandois in 943 over his (Raoul ’s) legal patrimony, the entire incident becoming the subject matter of the literary romance. Jean le Carpentier had no idea of the existence of this literary-historical work and naturally did not mention Raoul de Gouy in his History of Cambrai. One more interesting note is that Count Baldwin was one of the great commercial and industrial innovators of his day. He established the first weavers and fullers in the city of Ghent. He also was responsible for the first commercial fairs in Ypres and Bruges. Sound familiar? The Raoul de Cambrai book is good reading. Try it, because he may be an old friend. Bruce Carpenter