392:, of a possible marriage, while both men were serving in France. But even that "seems hardly likely". Any valid precontract would most likely have been made in the early phase of Edward's reign, but the fact that Eleanor did not come forward when Edward married his queen militates against it. She also considers it odd that Eleanor's family did not support Richard's claims about the precontract. Since Edward was "not stupid enough" to have been unaware that any precontact would threaten his children's claim to the throne, if it had existed he could easily have applied to the Pope to free himself of it, which would have been the action of "any prudent king and his advisors". Michael Alexander argues that a precontract of marriage to Eleanor Talbot would not have affected the legitimacy of Edward's sons, since they were born after she died, her death negating any marriage.
239:
384:, and Richard never attempted to have the precontract authenticated by a church court, the proper venue for such a case". Anne Crawford takes the view that any actual precontract with Eleanor Talbot is unlikely. If it had occurred before her marriage to Thomas Butler it would have been invalidated by the marriage. She suggests that the story may have originated with discussions between Edward's father
349:, in his life of Richard III, states that Lucy was interrogated at the time of Edward's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, because Edward's mother was strongly opposed to the marriage and had suggested that Edward was pre-contracted to Lucy. But Lucy denied that any contract had been made. More says that Richard revived the claim after Edward's death.
273:
The bishop discovered to the Duke of
Gloucester that his brother king Edward had been formerly in love with a beautiful young lady and had promised her marriage upon condition that he might lie with her; the lady consented, and, as the bishop affirmed, he married them when nobody was present but they
395:
However, according to
Helmholz (1986), canon law in this situation would not mitigate the illegitimacy of Edward's sons as, if the pre-contract existed, it would have meant that adultery had taken place on the part of Edward with Elizabeth. As such the illegitimacy could not be overcome by the death
399:
Even if there was no formal precontract it is possible that
Eleanor Talbot's name was used because she was known to have been one of the king's lovers. According to Thomas More, Edward had three "concubines" to whom he referred as the "merriest", the "wiliest" and "the holiest harlot in the realm"
288:
And howe also, that at the tyme of contract of the same pretensed
Mariage, and bifore and longe tyme after, the seid King Edward was and stode maryed and trouth plight to oone Dame Elianor Butteler, Doughter of the old Earl of Shrewesbury, with whom the same King Edward had made a precontracte of
175:(informal sitting of parliament with the same members), who determined that Bishop Stillington's claim was valid. The finding rendered Edward IV's second secret marriage to Elizabeth Woodville bigamous, thereby making all seven children illegitimate, including Edward's sons, the so-called
650:
The "king would say that he had three concubines who in three diverse properties diversely excelled: one the merriest, another the wiliest, the third the holiest harlot in the realm, as one whom no man could get out of the church lightly but it were to his bed." Keith
Dockray (ed),
404:, but does not name the others because they were of higher social status ("somewhat greater personages"). It has been speculated that Elizabeth Lucy and Eleanor Talbot were the other two. Her loss of property after the death of her husband may have initiated the affair.
379:
Other historians have been more sceptical. John A. Wagner states that "most modern historians believe the precontract to be a fabrication devised to give
Richard III's usurpation a veneer of legitimacy. The betrothal cannot be documented beyond the account rehearsed in
293:
Opponents of
Richard declared that the precontract was fiction. Richard's leading enemy, Henry Tudor, allied himself with Elizabeth Woodville, promising to re-legitimise her children if Richard was overthrown. After Henry's army defeated and killed Richard at the
226:
on 4 March 1461. Her father-in-law Lord
Sudeley took back one of the two manors he had settled on her and her husband when they married, even though he did not have a licence for the transfer. Edward seized both properties after he became king.
371:
have also either accepted it as fact, or argued that
Richard sincerely believed it to be true. It is also commonly argued by Ricardians that Stillington was imprisoned by Edward IV in 1478 because he incautiously spoke of the precontract to
408:
suggests that King Edward was liable to give "benefits" in exchange for sex: "Three young widows, Eleanor Butler, Elizabeth Lucy and
Elizabeth Wydeville , may have bought concrete benefits from Edward IV with their sexual favours".
359:, was the first to identify Eleanor Talbot as the woman in question. Buck, a defender of Richard, accepted the validity of the precontract. His view has been followed by many defenders of Richard since, including
284:, which debarred Edward V from the throne and proclaimed himself as King Richard III. At a meeting held on 23 January 1484 the former king's marriage was declared illegal. The document states:
630:
R.H. Helmholz, 'The sons of Edward IV: a canonical assessment of the claim that they were illegitimate', in Richard III: Loyalty, Lordship and Law, ed P.W. Hammond (London, 1986, repr. 2000).
206:
was untrue. A few historians have agreed with this view. Supporters of Richard, however, have argued that the precontract was real and that it legitimised his accession to the throne.
274:
two and himself. His fortune depending on the court, he did not discover it, and persuaded the lady likewise to conceal it, which she did, and the matter remained a secret.
427:
191:. Edward's sons remained in the royal apartments in the Tower and subsequently disappeared. Various explanations for their appearance have been put forward.
432:
105:
639:
445:
373:
249:
After King Edward's death in 1483, his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was appointed protector to the as-yet-uncrowned king
125:
342:
289:
Matrimonie, longe tyyme bifore he made the said pretensed Mariage with the said Elizabeth Grey, in maner and fourme abovesaid.
750:
31:
745:
720:
389:
321:
It was suggested that Eleanor had given birth to a child, possibly fathered by King Edward IV, shortly before her death.
152:
115:
396:
of Eleanor before the birth of Elizabeth's sons, even if Edward and Elizabeth married 'again' after Eleanor's death.
269:. Stillington had been briefly imprisoned and fined for speaking out against Edward IV in 1478. Commines later wrote,
725:
385:
172:
715:
215:
499:
Philipe de Commines, '’The memoirs of Philip de Commines, lord of Argenton'’, Volume 1, H.G. Bohn, 1855, pp.396–7
39:
This article is about a noblewoman who married into the Butler family. For other people titled Lady Butler, see
486:
17:
306:
in parliamentary records to be destroyed, along with all others (one copy was later found to have survived).
509:
40:
405:
295:
266:
195:
368:
735:
710:
188:
400:(who was always in church when she wasn't in bed with the king). More names the "merriest" as
313:
against Henry in 1487. He was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower until his death in 1491.
740:
730:
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8:
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257:. He then proclaimed that they were illegitimate. According to the French chronicler
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Because Commines does not name the "beautiful young lady", and the official copy of
437:
364:
74:
453:
341:(also known as Elizabeth Wayte), the probable mother of Edward IV's bastard son,
254:
577:
Richard III: his life & character, reviewed in the light of recent research
441:
360:
338:
310:
280:
203:
184:
704:
334:
214:
In 1449, 13-year-old Eleanor married Sir Thomas Butler (or Boteler), son of
640:
Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)- Legitimation by William Henry Windsor Fanning
608:, "appeandix II, Edward IV's Possible Pre-Contract of Marriage", pp.179–80.
534:
352:
346:
164:
401:
179:. As the oldest male blood relative of Edward IV, his brother Richard,
590:
Eleanor, the Secret Queen: The Woman Who Put Richard III on the Throne
242:
156:
230:
Eleanor died in June 1468. She was interred on 30 June in Norwich.
92:
666:
Of virtue rare: Margaret Beaufort, matriarch of the House of Tudor
238:
171:. The evidence was examined and the Bishop was questioned by the
337:
historians confused Talbot with Edward's long-standing mistress
513:
619:
The First of the Tudors: A Study of Henry VII and His Reign
245:, alleged to have precontracted marriage to Eleanor Talbot
167:
to Edward, which invalidated the king's later marriage to
163:, Bishop of Bath and Wells, that she was legally married
253:. Richard placed Edward and his younger brother in the
436:(online) (online ed.). Oxford University Press.
151:), was an English noblewoman. She was a daughter of
692:English Political Culture in the Fifteenth Century
278:Richard then persuaded Parliament to pass an act,
702:
539:Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy
30:For other people named Lady Eleanor Butler, see
554:, Cambridge University Press, 1883, pp.61–2, 70
484:Muriel Smith, "Reflections on Lady Eleanor",
471:John A. Wagner, "Butler precontract (1483)",
143:– June 1468), also known by her married name
564:The Works of Horatio Walpole, Earl of Orford
298:on 22 August 1485, he came to the throne as
579:, London: Smith and Elder, 1906, pp.94–101.
309:Stillington later joined the rebellion of
428:"Talbot, John, first earl of Shrewsbury"
237:
218:. Thomas died at an unknown date before
600:
598:
433:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
425:
355:, who found the only surviving copy of
14:
703:
679:The Royal Bastards of Medieval England
606:The Yorkists: The History of a Dynasty
467:
465:
463:
343:Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle
324:
202:, used false propaganda to claim that
187:by the Three Estates to the throne as
566:, G. G. and J. Robinson, 1798, p.113.
473:Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses
159:of England in 1483 it was claimed by
595:
32:Lady Eleanor Butler (disambiguation)
677:Chris Given Wilson, Alice Curteis,
460:
390:John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury
153:John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury
116:John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury
24:
621:, Taylor & Francis, 1981, p.9.
552:More's History of king Richard III
333:in parliament had been destroyed,
194:After the death of Richard at the
25:
762:
694:, Routledge, New York, 2002, p.16
316:
72:June 1468 (aged 31–32)
510:"Titulus Regius – Original Text"
684:
671:
668:, Houghton Mifflin, 1982, p.58.
658:
644:
633:
624:
611:
582:
27:15th-century English noblewoman
617:Michael Van Cleave Alexander,
569:
557:
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478:
419:
233:
13:
1:
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261:he acted with the support of
209:
137:
59:
454:UK public library membership
7:
751:15th-century English people
216:Ralph Boteler, Lord Sudeley
10:
767:
746:15th-century English women
721:Daughters of British earls
592:, The History Press, 2009.
475:, ABC-CLIO, 2001, pp.42–3.
38:
29:
681:, Routledge, 1984, p. 12.
302:. He ordered the copy of
121:
111:
101:
91:
81:
68:
55:
48:
726:Daughters of Irish earls
490:, September 1998, no 142
374:George, Duke of Clarence
296:Battle of Bosworth Field
267:Bishop of Bath and Wells
196:Battle of Bosworth Field
716:Mistresses of Edward IV
653:Edward IV: a sourcebook
388:, and Eleanor's father
442:10.1093/ref:odnb/26932
426:Pollard, A.J. (2004).
291:
276:
246:
655:, Sutton, 1999, p.15.
575:Clements R. Markham,
386:Richard, Duke of York
286:
271:
241:
155:. After the death of
259:Philippe de Commines
222:'s overthrow of the
220:Edward IV of England
177:Princes in the Tower
86:Whitefriars, Norwich
588:John Ashdown-Hill,
516:on 1 September 2013
448:on 7 February 2019.
325:Views of historians
169:Elizabeth Woodville
134:Lady Eleanor Talbot
50:Lady Eleanor Talbot
263:Robert Stillington
247:
224:House of Lancaster
181:Duke of Gloucester
161:Robert Stillington
126:Margaret Beauchamp
550:J.R. Lumby (ed),
452:(Subscription or
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106:Sir Thomas Butler
16:(Redirected from
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382:Titulus Regius
361:Horace Walpole
357:Titulus Regius
339:Elizabeth Lucy
331:Titulus Regius
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317:Possible issue
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311:Lambert Simnel
304:Titulus Regius
281:Titulus Regius
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145:Eleanor Butler
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518:. Retrieved
514:the original
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93:Noble family
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741:1436 births
731:1468 deaths
535:Alison Weir
353:George Buck
347:Thomas More
234:Allegations
200:Henry Tudor
189:Richard III
165:precontract
141: 1436
63: 1436
41:Lady Butler
705:Categories
456:required.)
413:References
402:Jane Shore
369:Ricardians
210:Known life
300:Henry VII
243:Edward IV
157:Edward IV
102:Spouse(s)
77:, England
367:. Later
251:Edward V
520:21 June
185:elected
149:Boteler
75:Norwich
450:
183:, was
122:Mother
112:Father
97:Talbot
82:Buried
335:Tudor
522:2013
363:and
147:(or
69:Died
56:Born
438:doi
707::
597:^
537:,
462:^
430:.
376:.
345:.
265:,
198:,
138:c.
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440::
136:(
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