12. Extract from the Royal Marriages Act 1772.11
… No descendant of the body of his late Majesty King George the Second, male or female, (other than the issue of princesses who have married, or may hereafter marry into foreign families,) shall be capable of contracting matrimony without the previous consent of his Majesty, his heirs or successors, signified under the great seal, and declared in council (which consent, to preserve the memory thereof, is hereby directed to be set out in the licence and register of marriage, and to be entered in the books of the Privy Council); and that every marriage, or matrimonial contract, of any such descendant, without such consent first had and obtained, shall be null and void to all intents and purposes whatsoever.
Provided always that in case any such descendant of the body of his late Majesty King George the Second, being above the age of twenty-five years, shall persist in his or her resolution to contract a marriage disapproved of, or dissented from, by the King, his heirs or successors; that then such descendant, upon giving notice to the King’s Privy Council, which notice is hereby directed to be entered in the books thereof, may, at any time from the expiration of twelve calendar months after such notice given to the Privy Council as aforesaid, contract such marriage; and his or her marriage with the person before proposed and rejected, may be duly solemnized, without the previous consent of his Majesty, his heirs or successors; and such marriage shall be good, as if this Act had never been made, unless both Houses of Parliament shall, before the expiration of the said twelve months, expressly declare their disapprobation of such intended marriage.
APPENDIX 4
THE MYSTERY OF
LAURA CULME-SEYMOUR’S
DEATH CERTIFICATE
The following correspondence was received from the Public Registry in Malta:
Acknowledgement of the author’s request for a full death certificate
Sent: Monday, August 20, 2012 6:16 AM
Subject: Confirmation of order received by Certifikati.gov.mt
Dear Customer,
Thank you for ordering with Certifikati.gov.mt.
This email is an acknowledgement of receipt of your order which has been passed to our Civil Status staff to be processed.
Please keep the following order information as reference of your order.
Order Reference: 46866
Reference: 46866-71660-49115
Certificate: Death
Details: Laura Grace Culme-Seymour
Format: Full
Item Price: 9.32
Quantity: 1
App. Cost: 9.32
Delivery Method: Europe – Post
Delivery Cost: 1.30
A total of 10.62 will be deducted from credit/debit card.
Transaction Ref.: T46866
If you have any queries in relation to the above order please contact us at: https://secure2.gov.mt/certifikati/Contact.aspx
Please note that by receiving this email, you are accepting our payment terms and conditions, a copy of which can be found on the website at: https://secure2.gov.mt/certifikati/Conditions.aspx
Rejection of the author’s request for a full death certificate
Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2012 8:51 AM
Subject: Certifikati.gov.mt – Application Rejected
We are sorry but your application with reference #46866-71660-49115 has been rejected for the following reason: No certificate could be found matching the details as entered by the applicant from the year 1895 to the year 1896.
regards
iii) Rejection of a colleague’s request for a full death certificate
Date: 11 October 2012 11:21:40 GMT+02:00
Subject: Certifikati.gov.mt – Application Rejected
We are sorry but your application with reference #48953-61144-51366 has been rejected for the following reason: No certificate could be found matching the details as entered by the applicant from the year 1894 to the year 1896.
Regards
iv) Acceptance of a colleague’s request for an ‘extract’ death certificate
Date: 05 October 2012 10:15:59 GMT+02:00
Subject: Certifikati.gov.mt – Order Settled
Your order for certificates with reference #48696 has been processed and payment has been settled by the Public Registry. Your certificate copies have been sent by mail.
v) Contents of ‘extract’ death certificate 0247941 received from the Maltese Public Registry
Name and surname of the deceased Whether married or unmarried, widower or widow Occupation and age (years) Place of birth Name and surname of parents Place and date of death
LAURA GRACE CULME-SEYMOUR SPINSTER NO OCCUPATION
21 BLETCHINGTON OXFORDSHIRE ENGLAND MICHAEL CULME-SEYMOUR (ALIVE)
MARY CULME-SEYMOUR NEE WATSON (ALIVE) SLIEMA MALTA
Fri 22 NOVEMBER 1895
NOTES
INTRODUCTION
1 William II (Rufus), Edward V (assuming he died c.1483), Edward VI and perhaps Elizabeth I. The Stuart pretender, ‘Henry IX’ (Cardinal Duke of York and Bishop of Frascati), was also unmarried.
2 Reputedly homosexual English monarchs include William II, Richard I, Edward II, Richard II, and James I. Homosexual preferences have also been alleged in the case of ‘Henry IX’. But with the exceptions of William II and ‘Henry IX’, all of these kings married. Robert Mills and Randolph Trumbach argue, for cogent reasons, that it is inappropriate to call them ‘gay’ (M Cook et al., A Gay History of Britain, Oxford 2007, Chapter 1). But while the word ‘gay’ and its modern connotations are certainly anachronistic in a medieval context, these kings seem to have enjoyed – and perhaps preferred – same-sex relationships.
3 In modern English the titles ‘prince’ and ‘princess’ are generally applied to the children and grandchildren of a sovereign. This usage dates only from the early eighteenth century. (Previously the styles ‘lord’ and ‘lady’ were used instead.) However, ‘prince’ and ‘princess’ are applied here to earlier periods, even though strictly speaking that is an anachronism.
4 J. Ashdown-Hill, Eleanor the Secret Queen, Stroud, The History Press, 2009.
5 This study is mainly concerned with English legislation and practice in respect of marriage. In one case, however, Scottish law will be the key element.
6 This point was stated very clearly many years ago by the great nineteenth-century historian James Gairdner in his History of the Life and Reign of Richard the Third, Cambridge, CUP, 1898, p. 91.
1 THE EVOLUTION OF MARRIAGE
1. http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/marriage?q=marriage (January 2012).
2. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/marriage (January 2012).
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage (January 2012). Present writer’s emphasis.
4. 97 per cent.
5. http://blog.theukweddingshows.co.uk/wedding-industry/2008-uk-wedding-industry-statistics-43/ (January 2012).
6. The legitimacy of royal offspring is probably also still important – though the issue has not yet been put to the test.
7. Quoted in http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12744146 (January 2012). The marriage of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville is explored in much more detail below – see Chapter 9.
8. 14 November 1501.
9. Pre-sixteenth-century English sovereigns were Catholics. From the mid-sixteenth century they have been Anglicans. Since the end of the seventeenth century marriage with Catholics has been forbidden to members of the royal family, and this remains the case today. During the seventeenth century, however, although the Stuart kings were generally Anglican, Catholic consorts were acceptable – even normal. All the Stuart queens consort of England were Catholic. Anne of Denmark, wife of James I, is thought to have converted to Catholicism. So did James II’s first wife, Anne Hyde – though she died before becoming queen.
10. There were public processions, but the nuptial mass itself was private.
11. This is no longer the case today. Under Catholic canon 1081 a priest must
now be present at the marriage.
12. Though by this date there was beginning to be a clear ecclesiastical trend in favour of making it so, precisely because experience had proved the prevailing lack of formal regulation to constitute very dangerous ground. See below.
13. L. Stone, The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500–1800, Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1979, 1990, p. 383.
14. A present tense promise: ‘I marry you’.
15. A future tense promise: ‘I shall marry you’.
16. C.N.L. Brooke, The Medieval Idea of Marriage, Oxford 1989, p. 169; P. Coss, The Lady in Medieval England, Stroud 1998, p. 87.
17. Stone, Family, Sex, Marriage, p. 386.
18. Notice of a couple’s intention to marry.
19. Coss, The Lady in Medieval England, p. 87. The Catholic Church abolished banns in 1983, but they are still published in the Anglican Church.
20. Stone, Family, Sex, Marriage, p. 383.
21. Anglican canon B 31.
22. Catholic canon 109.1.
23. In the Middle Ages similar rulings were sometimes specified – as for example in the case of Eleanor of Aquitaine (see Chapter 3).
2 MEDIEVAL MARRIAGE PRACTICE
1. B.J. Harris, English Aristocratic Women, 1450–1550, Oxford 2010, p. 45.
2. Catholic Encyclopedia, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04264a.htm (February 2012).
3. The sixpenny piece was reduced to 50 per cent silver content in 1920. In 1946 minting of silver coins ceased, silver being replaced by cupro-nickel. In 1967 decimal coinage was introduced and the sixpenny piece was discontinued.
4. See illustrations.
5. See illustrations.
6. J. Ashdown-Hill, ‘ “Al ful of fresshe floures whyte and reede”: The Jewellery of Margaret of York and Its Meaning’, Ricardian 17 2007, 56–72.
7. The picture of the wedding of Edward III’s daughter shows the bride with her head covered.
3 ROYAL MARRIAGES 1050–1330
1. This split was recent. The Great Schism (1054) divided the Church into two halves – Orthodox in the east and Catholic in the west.
2. Dowry was money or property settled on the bride by her birth family at the time of her marriage. Jointure refers to the provision which the groom’s family agreed to make for the bride if and when she became a widow.
3. William was drowned in the White Ship.
4. At 14, Count Geoffrey would have been too young, in the eyes of the Church, to consummate his marriage immediately. The medieval Church normally required a minor to be 16 years old before a marriage could be consummated.
5. The only children having been two daughters: Marie (b. 1145) and Alix (b. 1151).
6. Richard had two elder brothers, William, Count of Poitiers and Henry ‘the Young King’.
7. A similar situation is reported to have arisen in the case of Richard II, who also possibly preferred men to women. Richard II is said to have formally recognised as his heir his young cousin, Roger Mortimer, despite the fact that at the time Richard II himself was young, and married. See below.
8. Isabel is also called Hawise by some sources. She was the granddaughter of Robert Fiztroy, Earl of Gloucester, bastard son of Henry I.
9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_I,_Duke_of_Brittany (June 2012). The burial place referred to is the Abbey of Bec.
10. http://www.geni.com/people/Ranulf-de-Blundeville-4th-Earl-of-Chester/6000000002043244300 (June 2012).
11. See, for example, the illustration of the marriage of Edward II and Isabelle of France; BL, Royal 15 E iv f. 295v. Also Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, General Prologue, The Wife of Bath, line 460:’Housbondes at chirche dore she hadde fyve [She had five husbands at the church door]’ http://chschaucer.wetpaint.com/page/The+Wife+of+Bath+Translation (January 2012).
12. BL, MS Royal 14 C. vii, f. 124v.
13. A representation of this ritual can be seen in the film Le Retour de Martin Guerre. There, however, the ring is slipped on to the middle finger of the bride’s right hand, the word ‘Amen’ being omitted.
14. D. Anderson et al., Exploring the Middle Ages, New York 2006, pp. 420–21.
15. This is also the case in the Martin Guerre film (see above).
16. Eleanor was a granddaughter of Richard I’s sometime fiancée, Alys of France.
17. The church (cathedral from 1567) was destroyed in the French Revolution, when the miraculous image of Our Lady was burned. Later the nineteenth-century Basilica of Notre Dame was erected on the same site. This enshrines a small surviving fragment of the medieval image. Only the Romanesque crypt of the original cathedral still exists, and this houses a plaque commemorating the marriage of Edward II and Isabelle of France.
18. G.G. Sury, ‘Guillaume Ier (d’Avesnes) comte de Hainaut et sa fille Philippe’, in G.G. Sury, ed., Bayern Straubing Hennegau: la Maison de Bavière en Hainaut, XIVe – XVe s., Bruxelles, 2010 (2nd edition), p. 55 ; G. Wymans, Inventaire analytique du chartrier de la Trésorerie des comtes de Hainaut, Bruxelles, 1985, pp. 130, 131.
4 SUITABLE STATUS
1. Quoted in http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12744146 (January 2012).
2. Henry I, Matilda, Henry the Young King, Richard I, Edward I and Edward II.
3. See Appendix 1. N.B. Some monarchs married more than once.
4. English existed in the Middle Ages; however, it was not the modern form of the language, but Old English (the language of Beowulf) in the case of the Norman Kings, gradually evolving into Middle English (the language of Chaucer) by the reign of Edward III.
5. Adeliza’s original tomb was destroyed during the French Revolution, but her remains were found and reinterred in the restored abbey church in the nineteenth century.
6. She was originally interred at the Abbey of Bec-Hellouin, but her remains were transferred to Rouen Cathedral in 1847.
7. His undiscovered remains now lie somewhere in the vicinity of Pugin’s early nineteenth-century Norman-style Catholic Church of St James in Reading.
8. The existence of the Holy Roman Emperor, the unquestioned precedence which he notionally enjoyed over all European kings and the idea that he represented a continuation of the Roman Empire, of which the whole of Europe was still, in some sense, part, reflected at this period a somewhat muddled but nevertheless real perception of a common European history and heritage.
9. The marriage took place c.1204.
10. See below, Chapter 7.
11. All the children of Edward IV by Elizabeth Woodville were officially declared illegitimate by Parliament in 1484. See Chapter 9.
12. A. Carson, Richard III: The Maligned King, Stroud, The History Press, 2008, 2012, pp. 259–62; J. Ashdown-Hill, The Last Days of Richard III, Stroud, The History Press, 2010, p. 28 et seq.
13. In January 1121.
14. Edward I had seven surviving children by Eleanor of Castile. His second wife, Margaret of France, gave him three more surviving children.
15. She was the first consort not to be crowned since the Norman Conquest.
16. The Fitzalan-Howard family, Dukes of Norfolk, hold Arundel Castle to this day.
17. See Chapters 10 and 13.
5 IRREGULAR ROYAL AFFAIRS
1. http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/mistress?q=mistress (February 2012).
2. Collins World English Dictionary, quoted in http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mistress (February 2012).
3. C. Humphery-Smith in Beauclerk-Dewar & Powell, Royal Bastards, p. 260.
4. See, however, Cook et al, A Gay History of Britain, pp. 48–49, on dual desire.
5. Wardrobe account of 1322, quoted in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_FitzRoy (February 2012).
6. An Edith with no recorded surname is also mentioned as one of Henry I’s sexual partners, but she may be identical with Edith Fitzforne as her daughter was born in the same decade as Edith Fitzforne’s royal bastards.
7. A similar pattern can be seen in the cases of Richard III and Henry VII. See below.
8. See
Chapter 3.
9. Most – though not all – of Henry I’s illegitimate children bore the surname Fitzroy.
10. C. Humphery-Smith in Beauclerke-Dewar & Powell, Royal Bastards, p. 257.
11. Gesta Stephani, quoted in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert,_1st_Earl_of_Gloucester (February 2012).
12. For the case of James, Duke of Monmouth, son of Charles II, see Chapter 11.
13. See Chapter 2.
14. Alys did ultimately become an ancestress of the English royal family – through her granddaughter, Eleanor of Castile, first wife of Edward I.
15. Rosamund’s mother was Margaret Isabel de Tosny.
16. Other illegitimate children have been ascribed to him, but on very questionable evidence.
17. Geoffrey, Bishop of Lincoln, later Archbishop of York, Morgan, Provost of Beverley and Bishop-elect of Durham at the time of his death, and Matilda, Abbess of Barking.
18. John, the youngest son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, was born in 1167. Rosamund de Clifford was born before 1150 and died in 1176 – at about the same time as the birth of William Longspee.
19. The executed body of Hugh Despenser was recently identified as a set of mutilated remains excavated from the site of Hulton Abbey, Staffordshire. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1579006/Abbey-body-identified-as-gay-lover-of-Edward-II.html (February 2012).
20. W.M. Ormrod, ‘Alice Perrrers and John Salisbury’, http://ehr.oxfordjournals.org/content/CXXIII/501/379.full (February 2012).
21. Ibid.
Royal Marriage Secrets Page 29