The town of Stanford Rivers, Essex, saw a drama of thwarted love and premarital pregnancy in 1489 and 1490. Christian Hilles and Robert Padley, two servants who worked for the same employer, courted seriously with one another between March and October 1489, exchanging gifts and talk of marriage. According to local rumour, they had aContinue reading “Christian Hilles c. Robert Padley“
Tag Archives: Premarital pregnancy
Joan Munden c. John Fynke
In this case from the town of Walthamstow in Essex, Joan Munden sued John Fynke to enforce a contract of marriage she claimed he made with her but which he refused to honour. As the testimony indicates, the meaning of gifts and sex in a relationship between an unmarried man and woman were ambiguous. Legally,Continue reading “Joan Munden c. John Fynke”
Consistory 