In 1494 a London woman named Cecily Clerk sued William Huntingfeld for defamation. Four men who came forth as witnesses detailed Huntingfeld’s campaign of harassment against Clerk conducted across a multitude of venues, stemming perhaps (as one witness suggested) from a quarrel between Huntingfeld and Cecily’s husband John over the election of ward officials. HuntingfeldContinue reading “Cecily Clerk c. William Huntingfeld”
Tag Archives: Adultery
Elizabeth Pernell c. Elizabeth Pecoke
This is a somewhat curious case. It starts out straightforwardly with a witness saying that she heard the defendant, Elizabeth Pecoke, defaming the plaintiff, Elizabeth Pernell, with a rumour of sexual impropriety: Pecoke allegedly told the witness that Pecoke was being “kept” by a married man in the country. But there is only one witnessContinue reading “Elizabeth Pernell c. Elizabeth Pecoke”
Agnes Moyne and Margaret Broke c Christopher Kechyn
Christopher Kechyn, a carpenter of mature years, was busy in 1496, contracting marriage with at least three young women. This brought him in early 1497 before both the Consistory – where two of those women, Agnes Moyne and Margaret Broke, sued him to enforce the contracts they claim to have made with him – andContinue reading “Agnes Moyne and Margaret Broke c Christopher Kechyn”
Consistory 