law

Trial by combat proved nothing in the end….

Mar 19, 2022

battles, films, law, sources

Charles VI, Crusades, duel, France, Froissart, Jacques le Gris, Jean de Carrouges, Knights, Marguerite de Carrouges, Otterburn, rape, Scotland, siege of Nicopolis, Trial by combat, Turks, witchcraft

Trial by combat was a last-ditch method of proving one’s case. Of course, it didn’t prove innocence or guilt, just that one or other of the combatants was luckier/stronger on the day. Nor did trial by water prove a woman innocent of witchcraft, because it killed her no matter what the outcome. If…
Joanna Fitzalan, Lady of Abergavenny

Mar 18, 2022

battles, buildings, genealogy, law, sources

Abergavenny Castle, Adam of Usk, Azincourt, Constance of York, Edward Duke of York, executions, House of Lords, Isabel le Despenser, Joanna Fitzalan, King’s Council, life jointure, Owain Glyn Dwr, Richard Earl of Arundel, Richard Earl of Worcester, Richard II, Thomas Earl of Gloucester, William Beauchamp Lord Bergavenny

Joanna was the daughter of that Richard Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel, who was executed by Richard II in 1397. In 1392, when she was about 17, she was married to William Beauchamp, Lord Bergavenny, younger brother of the Earl of Warwick, who was 55. They had a son, Richard, who eventually became Earl of Worcester,…
The death of Richard III’s consort….

Mar 16, 2022

anniversaries, battles, law, sources

“Tudor” propaganda, Anne Neville, Barrie Williams, Battle of Bosworth, Countess of Oxford, eclipse, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, Edward of Middleham, Elizabeth of York, George Duke of Clarence, Hastings Execution, Henry VI, Portuguese marriage plans, Richard III, royal deaths

Today in 1485 Anne Neville died, leaving the king a childless widower. Well, without legitimate children, for Richard had at least two illegitimate children, born before his marriage. The only trueborn child, Edward of Middleham had died almost exactly a year before, on 9 April 1484. Richard had to marry again after Anne—kings need…
One of the medieval knights who lived to be a centenarian….

Mar 15, 2022

art, buildings, heraldry, law, religion

arms, Bolton Abbey, Crediton, Dr. Bendor Grosvenor, Garter stalls, Grosvenors, heraldic disputes, Scrope/ Grosvenor case, Scropes of Bolton, Sir John Chydioke, Sir John de Sully, Sir Richard le Scrope, Sir Robert Grosvenor

We are inclined to think people in the medieval period didn’t live very long compared with this present age. Well, perhaps the very poor died younger, but those from the higher echelons were as likely as us to live on I to very old age. Proof of this can be found in the records…
The Sisters Neville – Isobel, Duchess of Clarence and Queen Anne Neville, Daughters to the Kingmaker.

Mar 14, 2022

anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, law, religion, sources

alcohol, Amboise Cathedral, Anne Beauchamp, Anne Neville, Annette Carson, Barnet, Baynard’s Castle, Beauchamp Pageant, Beaulieu Abbey, bigamy, Calais, Clarence Vault, Crowland Chronicle, dispensations, Edgecote, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, Edward of Middleham, Edward V, executions, Farleigh Hungerford, George Duke of Clarence, George Neville, Henry VI, Hicks, Honfleur, illegitimacy, Isabel Neville, John Ashdown-Hill, John Lord Wenlock, John Neville Marquis of Montagu, King’s Lynn, l’Erber, Lincolnshire rebellion, Louis XI, loyalty, Luton Guild Book, Margaret of Anjou, Paul Murray Kendall, Richard Earl Rivers, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Rous Roll, Royal College of Arms, royal marriages, Sir John Woodville, Sir Robert Welles, Southampton, St. Martin le Grand, St. Stephen’s Westminster, Tewkesbury, Tewkesbury Abbey, Tony Pollard, Tower of London, Warwick Castle

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri sparkypus.com Warwick Castle birthplace of both the Neville sisters. Photo with thanks to Scotty Rae @Flkr. Richard Neville and Anne Beauchamp, Earl and Countess of Warwick had in their long marriage just two daughters. If there were any initial disappointment about that there was always Plan B, that illustrious marriages could…
John of Gaunt by Kathryn Warner

Mar 6, 2022

anniversaries, genealogy, law, sources

biographies, Blanche of Lancaster, Caherine de Roet, character, Constanza of Castile, Edmund of Langley, Edward the Black Prince, generosity, greed, John of Gaunt, Kathryn Warner, Lancastrians, Lionel of Antwerp, Thomas of woodstock, translation, wills

This is a very valuable new biography of John of Gaunt. As usual with this author, the incredibly complex network of family relationships is successfully navigated. There is a fair amount of ‘correction of the record’. For example, Duchess Blanche did not die of plague in 1369, but of unknown causes in 1368. Duchess Constanza…
Marriage and the medieval Cistercian monk….

Mar 3, 2022

law, religion

bigamy, Cambridge, Cistercians, clerical marriage, ecclesiastical courts, Edward IV, Elizabeth Wydeville, Lady Eleanor Talbot, monks, pre-contract, precedent, Richard III, Robert C Palmer

To us the curious intricacies of medieval marriage seem endlessly complicated…and often cost a lot to those who disagreed with a certain situation. Contexts of Marriage in Medieval England: Evidence from the King’s Court circa 1300 by Robert C Palmer contains a fascinating instance with a twist. After all, we usually hear of women…
A meat-rich diet was to carry Satan’s price-tag for monks….

Feb 27, 2022

culture, law, religion

abbeys, digestion, English Heritage, Food, Kirkstall Abbey, meat, monks, Muchelney Abbey, papal law, quadrupeds, Somerset, The Guardian, Yorkshire

I’ve written before about the food eaten by medieval monks, and have now come upon another article, this time in The Guardian. It tells of the dire consequences that followed when monks eventually had a meat-rich diet. The Guardian article was prompted by English Heritage research into “the day-to-day lives and digestive troubles of…
The surnames of medieval noblemen’s illegitimate offspring….

Feb 22, 2022

genealogy, law, religion

annulment, Chichester Cathedral, Earls of Arundel, Eleanor of Lancaster, illegitimacy, Isabel le Despenser, Sir Edmund Arundel, surnames, titles

Well, I thought I’d sussed a “tradition” for the illegitimate offspring of medieval noblemen to be named after their father’s title, not given his surname. The family surname was reserved for legitimate children only. Think of Sir Edmund Arundel, who ceased to be Sir Edmund Fitzalan (and heir to a great earldom) when his father,…
Which Baron Hungerford was responsible….?

Feb 20, 2022

Alternative History, anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, law, religion

Barons Hungerford, Edward IV, English Heritage, executions, Farleigh Hungerford, murals, Salisbury Cathedral, Somerset, St. George, Towton, Walter Lord Hungerford

English Heritage has embarked upon the restoration of some wall murals in Farleigh Hungerford in Somerset. The photograph above shows an image of St George as a 15th-century knight, and has suffered over the centuries from damp conditions and misguided previous attempts to save it. You can read about the work here which describes it…