mediaeval canon law
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Although the medieval practice of child marriage seems strange to us, if not repulsive, there were advantages that arose from it, particularly for the bride. For example, Anne of Gloucester, Richard II’s cousin and daughter of Thomas of Woodstock married the Earl of Stafford at a very early age. He died while she was still…
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As so often happens, acquiring a book for a specific reason leads to something else that is quite thought-provoking. In this case, the book is The Medieval Python: The Purposive and Provocative Work of Terry Jones, in which the subject of one of the eighteen contributions is Catherine of Aragon and her two marriages. Do not…
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Is Dan Jones beginning to understand …
Bertram Fields, bigamy, Catherine de Valois, Dan Jones, Edmund “Tudor”, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edward IV, G.L.Harriss, Henry Cardinal Beaufort, illegitimacy, John Ashdown-Hill, mediaeval canon law, Owen Tudor, pre-contract, questions of paternity, remarriage of royal stepmothers, Royal Blood, Royal Marriage Secrets… what is really likely to have happened in the fifteenth century (as Harriss, Ashdown-Hill and Fields strongly suspect)? At this rate, he will soon learn the fact of the pre-contract and how canon law works.
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More Royal marital irregularity
anniversaries, Avignon popes, Blackfriars, David Duke of Rothesay, david II, dispensations, Edward III, Edward IV, Elizabeth Mure, Euphemia Ross, executions, Falkland Palace, Guardian of Scotland, Henry V, Henry VII, House of Stewart, James I, James II, James IV, Jean Stewart, Joan “Beaufort”, Joan of the Tower, Legitimacy, Margaret “Tudor”, Margaret Drummond, mediaeval canon law, Murdoch Duke of Albany, Neville’s Cross, Paisley Abbey, Perth, Queen Mother, Robert Duke of Albany, Robert II, Robert III, royal marriages, Scotland, siege of Berwick, Sir John Lyon, torture, Tower of London, Treaty of Berwick, Walter Earl of AthollEdward IV was not the only British late mediaeval king to play fast and loose with canon law. The other case dates from a century and a quarter before 8 June 1461 and had consequences for that king’s heirs; in particular his grandson: Today in 1337, a first son, John, was born to Sir Robert…
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One of Cairo’s biggest trolls claimed, last week, that the Fourth Lateran Council banned secret weddings, thus Edward IV’s June 1461 marriage to the dark-haired, older, Lancastrian widow Lady Eleanor Talbot could not have been valid. There are only two problems with this claim, from the clown who confused “June” with “youth”, had Katherine de…
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When comparing the descent of two people who wished to marry each other, it was necessary to investigate their ancestry as far back as their great-great-grandparents. If an ancestor was common to both, they would require a dispensation before marrying. Now if only every mediaeval Pope had a laptop and access to this simple Consanguinity…
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Fabricating Precontracts: Richard III vs Henry VIII
3rd Duke of Norfolk, adultery, Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, Annette Carson, Archbishop Cranmer, attainder, bigamy, canon law, Catherine Howard, Claire Ridgway, Crowland, Earl of Northumberland, Edward IV, Edward V, executions, Francis Dereham, Francis of Lorraine, Henry VIII, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Lord High Constable, Lord Protector of the Realm, Mary Boleyn, mediaeval canon law, pre-contract, Richard III, Robert Stillington, Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Howard, treasonOn 10 and 11 June 1483, Richard duke of Gloucester wrote to his affinity in the North and asked for troops to support him against the Woodvilles who, he claimed, were plotting his destruction. On 22 June Ralph Shaa preached his “bastard slips” sermon, followed by similar speeches by the duke of Buckingham, and on…
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A Time for Truth, a Time for Lies…or for Pretended Obliviousness and Bullying Tactics
Annette Carson, Bona of savoy, Commines, Constable of England, Countess of Shrewsbury, Croyland, denialists, Edward IV, Edward V, Elizabeth I, Elizabeth Woodville, evidence, fire, Frank Harris, Henry VI, homophobia, Jacquetta of Luxembourg, John Ashdown-Hill, John Earl of Shrewsbury, John Russell, Keeper of the Privy Seal, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Lion King, Lord Chancellor, Lord Protector of the Realm, Mancini, Matt Lewis, mediaeval canon law, Medieval, Middleham, Oscar Wilde, Palace of Westminster, Parliament, petition to Richard III, pre-contract, PreContract, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Robert Stillington, Thomas More, Three Estates, Titulus RegiusMy thanks to everyone at Murrey & Blue who helped with this article. It was very much a team effort, and you know who you are. An Elizabethan Professor Introduced Me to Richard A long time ago, at a university far away, I took a class on medieval history from a professor who thought Elizabeth…
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