Anglo-French matrimonial relations of the XIIIth century in the light of an unknown document from the Archive of the St. Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Abstract

This article is devoted to one unknown document from the collection 18 (England and Scotland. Acts and letters) belonged to academic N. P. Likhachev. The document was drawn up in Sens in 1251 or 1252. It represents a record of a court decision recognizing the marriage between the English King Henry III and Jeanne (Joanna) de Dammartin as invalid due to their kinship. The phrase
“Henry Johannam duceret in uxorem” gives some ground to believe that the marriage took place in reality. In fact it was realized “per interpositas personas”. Nevertheless, in case of the next Henry’s marriage by Eleanor of Provence it was organized in order to the ecclesiastical and secular rules i.e. in front of the church’s door with the participation of clergy. The marriage with Jeanne de Dammartin, in contrary, managed without such formalities. It is known that among the high nobility the old forms of
marriage still circulated in the XIII c. So, one could regard their marriage as valid. The alliance between Henry and Jeanne was very profitable for the former. Jeanne could in time inherit the counties Ponthieu and Aumale which territorially bordered with Normandy. which was captured by the Capetian dinasty in 1204. So, Henry could get a strong base to recover that lands.
With a high degree of certainty it was Blanch of Castile who destroyed his plans having written the letter to the Pope with reference to the kinship between Henry and Jeanne. They were in fore degree of consanguinity what Lateran council 1215 had forbidden. As a result of court decision promulgated by the Pope’s legate, the bishop of Hereford Peter, their marriage had never existed and Edward, the son of Henry, must be considered as valid successor of his father’s throne and his second legitimate wife Eleanor of Provence. The possible conflict within Plantagenet’s family was prevented. Our document was also compared with several similar ones in order to recreate the genetic connections between them. It can be stated with some degree of certainty that our document is the earliest original and served as sample both for the Hereford’s charter and Pope’s one. N. P. Likhachev could purchased our exemplar in France where it seems to be preserved. In any case, the further investigation would be desirable.