abduction

The peculiar mystery of the d’Aubrichecourt brothers….

Sep 29, 2024

anniversaries, battles, Book Reviews, buildings, religion

abduction, Anthony Goodman, Barbara Tuchman, Bridport, chastity, d’aubrichet brothers, dower lands, Earls of Kent, Edward the Black Prince, Elizabeth de Juliers, Epiphany Rising, evidence, executions, Froissart, Gascony, Henry IV, marauding, Medieval Free Company, Michaelmas, Normandy, Order of the Garter, Penny Lawne, Phillippa of Hainault, Poitiers, Prince Philip, richard barber, Richard II, sir john hawkwood, Thomas Holand, Treaty of Bretigny, usurpation, waverley abbey

I have written articles on this blog about the disgraceful way many 14th-century knights abducted women and married them by force. These men’s prey were usually widows with attractive fortunes that could provide their callous bridegrooms with the comfortable later life said scoundrels hadn’t bothered to prepare for during their careers (often as soldiers). Even…
Elizabeth de Clare, the lady who took on a king and his favourites….

Sep 16, 2023

anniversaries, Book Reviews, buildings, genealogy

abduction, Clare, Despensers, East Anglian Daily Times, Edward II, forced marriage, Isabelle de France, Joan Bridges, John Sandys, Minories, Roger Mortimer, Romsey Abbey, Usk

“Elizabeth de Clare was born on this day, 16th September 1295, the granddaughter of King Edward I. The 11th Lady of Clare, she was the heiress to the lordships of Clare in England and Usk in Wales.” So starts this article about a very remarkable lady, also known as Elizabeth de Burgh, who took on…
A pedant writes…

May 15, 2022

culture

abduction, Anglo-Saxons, chivalry, copyhold, Geoffrey Chaucer, John, Magna Carta, marriage, Norman conquest, Norman-French, Normans, novels, pedantry, poetry, property, Richard II, serfdom, slavery, tenants in chief

In the aftermath of certain historical novels I have read recently, I should like to give the following information, in the hope it will be helpful to authors, editors (if they still exist) and indeed readers. SLAVERY – Although slavery was quite common in England in Anglo-Saxon times, it was became less usual after the…
Another medieval scoundrel who abducted a woman….!

Oct 23, 2021

anniversaries, battles, law

abduction, blindness, Cornwall, Countess of Cambridge, Edmund of Langley, forced marriage, Guy Lord Bryan, History of Parliament, Ireland, Isabel Moun, John Duke of Exeter, Marshalsea Prison, MPs, mutiny, pardons, Portugal, Roding, Sir Henry Ilcombe

I’ve written before, more than once, about the abominable practice of medieval men abducting women and forcing them into marriage in order to lay hands on their estates. It was a capital way for impoverished, unprincipled knights to improve their status and finances. In this they were only too usually aided and abetted by…
Another abduction and forced marriage aided and abetted in high places….

Jul 31, 2021

law

abduction, de Veres, Henry IV, John Pelham, Margaret Shardelow, Sir John Shardelowe, Sussex, violence

And here we have ANOTHER case of a man who fancied stealing a woman to enjoy her fortune…and then getting away with it because of a male protector in very high places in 14th-century England! This time Henry of Bolingbroke, the future Henry IV! “…John Pelham in Search of a Wife… “…John Pelham may…
The runaway nun who married four—or five?—times….!

Jul 13, 2021

buildings, law, religion

abduction, Battle of Bosworth, Elizabeth Tilney, Joan Bridges, Lady Elizabeth Talbot, Long Melford, Margaret Beauchamp, marriage, Mary Fulton, Minories, nuns, Romsey Abbey, Thomas Earl of Surrey, Thomas of woodstock

Well, we’ve all heard of the “Abbey of the Minoresses of St. Clare without Aldgate known also variously as the ‘Abbey of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Aldgate’ or the ‘House of Minoresses of the Order of St Clare of the Grace of the Blessed Virgin Mary’ or the ‘Minoresses without Aldgate’ or ‘St Clare outside Aldgate’…
Ralph, 3rd Baron Cromwell was unbelievably cruel and bullying to an innocent woman….

Jun 10, 2021

anniversaries, buildings, heraldry

abduction, Bartholomew Whitfield, Catley Abbey, Elizabeth Swillington, executions, Henry VI, lawsuits, Ralph Baron Cromwell, Tattershall Castle, Thomas Cromwell

Examples of the atrocious treatment meted to women “of property” by voracious, conscienceless men continue to flow, and this time the name Cromwell is to the fore. In the 1430s a certain Elizabeth Whitfield, née Swillington fell into the clutches of Ralph, 3rd Baron Cromwell, as follows: From this link :- “….Pa L 2: Extract…
Sir John Dalton and the wealthy widow….

Apr 7, 2021

anniversaries, buildings, law, religion, sources

abduction, Aldworth, alice of norfolk, Baron Poynings, Beaumys Castle, Bipsham, Bungay, Constable of the Tower, Edmund Bacon, Edward III, edward montacute, Gerard Lord de l’Isle, Lancashire, Margery de Poynings, Maude Holland, murder, Nicholas Lord de la Beche, Prior of Burscough, Priors of Upholland, Scotland, Seneschal of Gascony, Sir John Dalton, Sir Robert Dalton, Thomas Aderne, Thomas of Brotherton, Wallingford

I have seen the above painting used an an illustration for the abduction of Guinevere. All that’s lacking are the fluffy kittens with pink satin bows. If it was really a medieval abduction, it wouldn’t be anything resembling this idyllic springtime scene, but much more likely to be as the illustration below! I’ve posted…
Medieval monks often lacked all trace of holiness….

Oct 18, 2019

anniversaries, buildings, law, religion

abduction, Bury St. Edmunds, Byland Abbey, Cistercians, Edward Coleman, History Today, monastery, monks, murder

It is a fact that the medieval Church was ruthless in its acts and ambitions. We all know of particular popes, cardinals and archbishops who would stop at nothing to achieve their own personal and political ends, but it came as a surprise to me to discover just how brutal the Church could be on…
The abduction of Jane Sacherverell in November 1485….

Mar 22, 2018

battles, buildings, law

abduction, Battle of Bosworth, Henry VII, Jane Sachaverell, law change, Margery Ruyton, Markyate Priory, mediaeval women, pre-contract, William Willoughby

Stealing women (and also male wards) was a shamefully common event, especially in the 14th century, as I wrote yesterday. But it was still going on in the 15th century. Richard legislated on behalf of women, but so did Henry VII, with a 1487 “Acte against taking awaye of Women against theire Willes”. The following…