secret marriage

When there’s snow at midsummer….

Jun 23, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, heraldry

bigamy, Castell Du, Coventry, cults, Edmund of Rutland, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, Edward V, Elizabeth Wydeville, First Battle of St. Albans, George Duke of Clarence, Gervase la Vallee, Henry Duke of Somerset, Henry VI, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Lancastrians, Ludlow Castle, manticore, Margaret of Anjou, mermaids, Micklegate Bar, Midsummer Day, Mortimer’s Cross, poachers, pre-contract, Richard Duke of York, Richard of Warwick, Royal deer forests, secret marriage, stag hunting, Towton, Wakefield, Welsh Marches, witchcraft

A short story by Sandra Heath Wilson (viscountessw) Please remember, ladies and gentlemen, that this story is fiction. The great midsummer bonfire crackled and roared, and sparks billowed high into the dark sky. It was encircled by thirteen hooded black-robed figures, and the face of the youngest was pale as he accepted the carved wooden…
Also found in St. Albans …

Jun 5, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion

Charles Earl Spencer, JD Wetherspoon, John Churchill Duke of Marlborough, pubs, Sarah Jennings, secret marriage, Sir Henry Winston, Sir John Jennings, St. Albans, Water End Barn, Winston Churchill

… is the Water End Barn, now the city‘s JD Wetherspoon but originally the property of Sir John Jennings. Sarah Jennings, his granddaughter and later the favourite of Queen Anne, married John Churchill in secret (which nobody else ever did, of course) and they became the first Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. As you can…
The quiet Woodville….

Apr 6, 2023

anniversaries, buildings, genealogy, law, religion, sources

Abbey of St. James, books, Duston, Edward IV, Elizabeth I, executions, illegitimate children, Jacquette, Katherine Wydeville, Knights of the Bath, Lord Mayors of London, Northampton, Richard Earl Rivers, Richard III, Richard Woodville, secret marriage, Sir Anthony Wydeville, Thomas Grey Marquess of Dorset, Victoria History of Northamptonshire, William Caxton

Whenever we hear the name Woodville (various spellings) we’re inclined to think of Elizabeth Woodville and her grasping relatives. We’re told they had goodies thrust upon them by Edward IV, and that they were foisted in marriage onto almost all the leading families of the realm. One couldn’t go anywhere without encountering Woodvilles in…
Elisabeth Brooke, Marchioness of Northampton.

Apr 2, 2023

anniversaries, genealogy, law, religion

Anne Bourchier, Anne Bray, annulment, attainder, bigamy, cancer, Catherine Parr, Constance of York, Despensers, divorce proceedings, Edward Seymour Duke of Somerset, Edward VI, Elizabeth Brooke, Elizabeth I, executions, George Brooke Lord Cobham, Henry VIII, Isabelle Despencer, Jane, John Dudley Duke of Northumberland, Katherine Howard, King’s Council, Lord Protector of the Realm, Marquessate of Norfolk, Mary I, Netherlands, Richard Beauchamp, Richard Beauchamp Earl of Warwick, Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester, royal attendants, secret marriage, separation, Sir William Parr, Thomas Despenser

Elisabeth Brooke had a very eventful life! My attention was drawn to her as she was a descendant of Constance of York and Thomas Despenser through their daughter Isabelle’s first marriage to Richard Beauchamp – the Richard Beauchamp who became Earl of Worcester as opposed to her second husband, also Richard Beauchamp, the Earl of…
Edward IV knew he’d made a big mistake with Elizabeth Woodville….?

Jan 26, 2023

anniversaries, law, religion, sources

Anne of Brittany, bigamy, Brittany, Duke Francis II, Edward IV, Edward V, Elizabeth Wydeville, Jehan de Wavrin, Maid Marian, Robin Hood, secret marriage

The following sentence makes me want to smack Edward IV! Again. I fear I’ve wanted to smack him a great deal recently. Still, perhaps in this instance meant that he’d realised the damage that could ensue from a stupid marriage. Certainly he didn’t want the ‘error’ repeated. Not that he ever revealed the true extent…
Some minor problems with Thomas More’s account.

Dec 31, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, law, religion, sources

“Princes”, “withered arm”, Anne Beauchamp, Anthony Wydville, Beaulieu Abbey, bigamy, discrepancies, Edward IV, executions, Henry VI, Henry VII, illegitimacy, Jane Shore, Lady Elizabeth Lucy, Lord Chancellor, marriage ceremony, mediaeval canon law, More, Pontefract Castle, pre-contract, Ralph Shaa, Richard III, secret marriage, Sheriff of Glamorgan, Sir James Tyrrell, Sir Richard Grey, Sir Richard Ratcliffe, Sir Robert Brackenbury, Sir Thomas Vaughan, Tewkesbury, Thomas Dighton, Tower of London, Vice-Constable, Westminster, William Catesby, witchcraft

King Edward, of that name the fourth, after that he had lived fifty and three years, seven months, and six days, and thereof reigned two and twenty years, one month, and eight days, died at Westminster the ninth day of April. King Edward was born 28 April 1442 and died 9 April 1483. He was…
Rebellion in the Middle Ages

Dec 19, 2022

anniversaries, battles, Book Reviews, buildings, law, religion

Archbishop of Canterbury, Arthur of Brittany, Azincourt, Bannockburn, Barons’ War, Battle of Evesham, Battle of Hastings, Battle of Lewes, Battle of Shrewsbury, Black Death, Blackheath, Boroughbridge, Canterbury Cathedral, Crusades, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edward I, Edward II, Eleanor of Aquitaine, executions, First Battle of St. Albans, France, Geoffrey of Brittany, Henry Cardinal Beaufort, Henry II, Henry III, Henry IV, Henry the Young King, Henry V, Henry VI, Hereward the Wake, House of Lancaster, Hugh Despencer, Hugh Despencer the Younger, Humphrey of Gloucester, insanity, Isabelle de France, Isle of Ely, Jack Cade, John, John Ashdown-Hill, John Earl of Shrewsbury, Lord Protector of the Realm, Lords Ordainers, Magna Carta, Matilda, Matt Lewis, murder, Parliament, Peasants’ Revolt, Peterborough Abbey, Piers Gaveston, rebellions, Richard Duke of York, Richard I, Richard II, Robert of Gloucester, Roger Mortimer, Royal Marriage Secrets, Scarborough Castle, secret marriage, Southampton plot, St. Thomas Becket, Stephen, The Anarchy, Thomas of Lancaster, Tower of London, usurpation, Wakefield, Wars of the Roses, William Duke of Suffolk, William I, William Marshall

This is the latest of Matthew Lewis’ books and covers a longer period than any of the others, from Hereward the Wake’s emergence after Hastings to the beginning of the Wars of the Roses, almost as long a period as this book. Lewis is already an expert on “The Anarchy” (chapter 2) and the Roses…
The art of marrying in secret

Oct 4, 2022

art, buildings, law, religion

Adele, Andre Previn, artists, Beatrice, Cardinal Bibbieni, clues, convent of Sant’ Appolonia, Dan Snow, Ed Sheeran, Edward IV, Emma Bunton, John Lennon, King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, La Fornarini, Louis XIV, Margareta Luti, Maria Bibbieni, mediaeval canon law, nuns, Raphael, secret marriage

So now we examine the case of the artist Raphael (d’Urbino), who lived from 1483-1520. He was officially betrothed, in 1514, to Maria Bibbiena, the niece of a Cardinal (left, painted in 1516), which implies the need for some propriety in the relationship. Canon law would definitely apply and the chance of secretly marrying her…
The Case of Mary Blandy: Guilty or Innocent?

Aug 16, 2022

law, religion

arsenic, Henley, Mary Blandy, murder, Oxford Castle, Oxfordshire, secret marriage, William Cranstoun

Originally posted on Giaconda's Blog: Mary Blandy “Alas! the record of her page will tellThat one thus madden’d, lov’d, and guilty fell.Who hath not heard of Blandy’s fatal fame,Deplor’d her fate, and sorrow’d o’er her shame?”~”Henley,” anonymous 1827 poem The case of Mary Blandy divides opinion even today. Was she an innocent victim of…
More Royal ancestry

Apr 8, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion, Science, television reviews, The play’s the thing

actresses, Alexander Armstrong, Arthur Capell Baron Hadham, astronomy, Barings Bank, Battle of Surbiton, bigamy, burials, Careys, Clare Balding, comedians, Dame Judi Dench, Danny Dyer, Dartmoor, Denmark, Duke of Hamilton, Edict of Nantes, Edward IV, Elsinore, English Civil War, executions, France, Frank Gardner, Groom of the Stool, Guildenstern, Hamlet, Henry Earl of Holland, Henry VIII, Hugenots, illegitimacy, Ireland, Joe Sugg, Josh Widdicombe, Lettice Knollys, Mark Wright, Mary Boleyn, Military Cross, Normandy, Ophelia, religious persecution, Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester, Rosencrantz, royal palaces, Sabine Baring-Gould, secret marriage, Tom Stoppard, Trenchard Manor, Tycho Brahe, Westminster Abbey, Who do you think you are?, Will Kemp, William Shakespeare

Who do you think you are? has now completed eighteen series as British television’s predominant genealogy programmes. In that time, with an average of eight episodes per series, they have uncovered many celebrities with interesting lineage and some unexpected royal descendants, including Alexander Armstrong, Clare Balding, Danny Dyer, Frank Gardner and Sir Matthew Pinsent. Now…