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The Language of Tokens and the Making of Marriage1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2009

Diana O'hara
Diana O'hara
Affiliation:
University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.
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Extract

In the study of popular culture, the significance of gifts and tokens in the making of marriage has not been given the attention it deserves. The surviving artefacts alone merit closer examination and the role of such objects in dramatic and pictorial representations has yet to be adequately explored. If their full social and symbolic importance is to be understood, however, a close examination is necessary of acts of giving in precisely defined historical contexts. The richly detailed evidence of ecclesiastical depositions surviving for the diocese of Canterbury permits just such an examination. This evidence provides examples from rural communities in woodland, downland, marshland and lowland pays in Kent to the south and east of the River Medway, and shows their connections with local towns. And among these, the case of Divers v. Williams provides unusually extensive information.

Type
Research Article
Information
Rural History , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , April 1992 , pp. 1 - 40
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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References

Notes

2. Causes of ‘jactitation of matrimony’, although less common, were often directly associated with the more familiar type of spousal suits which were contested; Ingram, Martin, Church Courts, Sex amd Marriage in England, 1570–1640 (Cambridge, 1987), p. 191.Google Scholar Matrimonial litigation was at times further complicated by the interests and claims of other relevant parties; in this case, Jerman Seliborne. See Canterbury Cathedral Archives and Library, Canterbury (hereafter C.C.A.L.), MS. X.11.3, ff. 18–20. The following account of the case of Divers v. Williams has been pieced together from the depositions, loose cause papers, and act books: C.C.A.L., MSS. X. 11. 5, ff. 223–5, 233v.–4, 248v.–9, 258 and v.; J/J 3, 37 and 38; Y.3.15, f. 271v., Y.3.2, f. 42.

3. It has been shown that the prime concern in most matrimonial causes lay in enforcing an alleged contract. It was inevitably the ‘clandestine’, unsolemnised marriages which were most vulnerable and disposed to contention; a phenomenon accounted for by the survival of traditional, secular practices, and ‘difficulties of proof and interpretation’. Such characteristic suits apparently experienced a long–term decline between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries, with the trend more rapidly manifested in N. France: Helmholz, Richard H., Marriage Litigation in Medieval England (Cambridge, 1974), pp. 25–6, 30–4, 166–8Google Scholar; Houlbrooke, Ralph A., Church Courts and the People During the English Reformation, 1520–1570 (Oxford, 1979), pp. 55–6, 66Google Scholar; Houlbrooke, R., ‘The making of marriage in mid-Tudor England: evidence from the records of matrimonial contract litigation’, Journal of Family History 10 (1985), 339–40CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Ingram, , Church Courts, pp. 189, 192–6, 206Google Scholar; Donahue, C. Jr, ‘The policy of Alexander the Third's consent theory of marriage’, in Kuttner, S. (ed.), Proceedings of the Fourth International Congress of Medieval Canon Law (Rome, 1976), pp. 260–1Google Scholar; Donahue, C. Jr., ‘The canon law on the formation of marriage and social practice in the later middle ages’, Journal of Family History 8 (1983), 144–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar The early sixteenth century may, however, have been exceptional. Matrimonial suits tended to increase again after 1500 in the diocese of Canterbury. See Woodcock, Brian L., Medieval Ecclesiastical Courts in the Diocese of Canterbury (London, 1952), pp. 82–5, 109–10.Google Scholar

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5. It should be stressed that the survival of an exceptional document does not necessarily imply that the social circumstances themselves were unique. Indeed the argument of this paper will be to suggest the contrary. Furthermore, if depositions are regarded as incomplete summaries of social facts and conditions, it is equally possible to infer that the accounts in the fourth article of gifts exchanged, were likewise incomplete.

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16. Berkowitz, D.S. and Thorne, S.E. (eds.), Classics of English Legal History in the Modern Era: Garland Series (New York and London, 1978):Google ScholarSwinburne, Henry, Treatise of Spousals or Matrimonial Contracts (London, 1686), pp. 1, 21, 27, 31–3, 39–43, 203–12, 229–30.Google Scholar

17. In addition to those cited above, deposition material has been used by others examining such topics as popular religion, illicit sex, defamation, migration and service: e.g. Thomas, Keith, Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century England (1971: Harmondsworth, Middx, 1973)Google Scholar; Quaife, G.R., Wanton Wenches and Wayward Wives: Peasants and Illicit Sex in Early Seventeenth-Century England (London, 1979)Google Scholar; Sharpe, J.A., ‘Defamation and sexual slander in early modern England: the church courts at York’, Borthwick Papers 58 (1980)Google Scholar; Goldberg, P.J.P., ‘Marriage, migration, servanthood and life-cycle in Yorkshire towns of the later Middle Ages: some York cause paper evidence’, Continuity and Change 1(2) (1986), 141–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar More recently, the value of the source in the construction of historical biography and community has been explored in: Butcher, A.F. (ed.), William Urry, Christopher Marlowe and Canterbury (London, 1988).Google Scholar The following 26 vols. of deposition material form the basis of this paper: C.C.A.L., MSS. X.10.2 – X.10.21, X.ll.l –X.11.6.

18. Helmholz, , Marriage Litigation, pp. 130–1, 181–2Google Scholar; Houlbrooke, , ‘The making of marriage’, p. 340.Google Scholar

19. It was theoretically considered desirable to limit the use of umpteen witnesses, and this was usually implemented in practice: Helmholz, , Marriage Litigation, p. 128.Google Scholar The latter is an extreme example of the complex ramifications of what was, ostensibly, a typical contract suit. The matrimonial cause of Edmund Coppyn of Canterbury v. Katherine Richard of Biddenden, escalated into a tortuous investigation into the reputation and, therefore, the credibility of the witness Agnes Butterwick who died during the course of the proceedings. See C.C.A.L. MSS. X.10.7 – X.10.8, passim, X.10.9, ff. 3–4; Butcher, A.F., ‘The honest and the lewd in sixteenth-century Canterbury: the case of Mrs. Butterwick’, paper delivered at the graduate research seminar, dept. of history, University of Kent (19 10 1983)Google Scholar, and forthcoming as The Reputation of Old Mother Butterwick.

20. Rushton, , ‘The testament of gifts’, p. 29Google Scholar, and ‘Property, power and family networks’, pp. 206–7Google Scholar; Gottlieb, , ‘Clandestine marriage’, p. 54Google Scholar; Houlbrooke, , ‘The making of marriage’, p. 350Google Scholar; Donahue, , ‘Policy of Alexander III’, p. 267Google Scholar; Sheehan, , ‘Formation and stability’, p. 231.Google Scholar

21. Ingram, , ‘Spousals litigation’, p. 45Google Scholar, and Church Courts, pp. 194–5Google Scholar; Rushton, , ‘Property, power and family networks’, pp. 215–16Google Scholar; Helmholz, , Marriage Litigation, pp. 160–1Google Scholar; Sheehan, , ‘Formation and stability’, p. 234Google Scholar; Woodcock, , Medieval Ecclesiastical Courts, pp. 104–6.Google Scholar

22. The procedure for producing and examining witnesses is given in: Conset, H., The Practice of the Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Courts (First edn. 1681: 3rd edn.London, 1708), pp. 140–6.Google Scholar See also, Helmholz, , Marriage Litigation, pp. 17–20, 112–13, 127–34Google Scholar; Houlbrooke, , Church Courts, pp. 40–2Google Scholar; Ingram, , Church Courts, pp. 20, 48–9, 198–9Google Scholar; Woodcock, , Medieval Ecclesiastical Courts, pp. 55–8.Google Scholar

23. Woodcock, , Medieval Ecclesiastical Courts, p. 4.Google Scholar

24. Helmholz, , Marriage Litigation, pp. 6–24Google Scholar, provides an excellent discussion of the sources, and pp. 112–40, of the general rules of procedure. Also, Houlbrooke, , Church Courts, pp. 38–54Google Scholar; Woodcock, , Medieval Ecclesiastical Courts, pp. 50–62Google Scholar; Ingram, , ‘Spousals litigation’, p. 36.Google Scholar

25. Woodcock, , Medieval Ecclesiastical Courts, pp. 4, 139–40.Google Scholar

26. Donahue, , ‘Policy of Alexander III’, p. 261Google Scholar; Ingram, , ‘Spousals litigation‘, p. 36.Google Scholar

27. Helmholz, , Marriage Litigation, pp 20–2Google Scholar; Ingram, , ‘Spousals litigation’, pp. 40–2.Google Scholar

28. Helmholz, , Marriage Litigation, pp. 135–8Google Scholar; Houlbrooke, , Church Courts, p. 67Google Scholar; Ingram, , ‘Spousals litigation’, p. 51Google Scholar; and Church Courts, pp. 207–8.Google Scholar

29. C.C.A.L., MSS. Y.3.15, f. 270v., X.11.5, f. 186, J/J2 139.

30. Houlbrook, , ‘The making of marriage’, pp. 348–9Google Scholar, and Church Courts, pp. 83–4Google Scholar; Ingram, , ‘Spousals litigation’, pp. 52Google Scholar, and Church Courts, pp. 208–9Google Scholar; Woodcock, , Medieval Ecclesiastical Courts, pp. 59–60.Google Scholar

31. See also Ingram, , Church Courts, p. 183.Google Scholar

32. Helmholz, , Marriage Litigation, pp. 154–9.Google Scholar

33. Ibid., p. 162.

34. The question of when a gift is a bribe is discussed by Noonan, John T. Jr., Bribes (New York, 1984)Google Scholar, passim. He isolates the importance of intention, form, the context of reciprocity, and the ‘relational aspects’, in identifying the moral difference.

35. One example of expected reward was the promise of a gown which was made to the infamous Agnes Butterwick for her efforts in securing the marriage between William Witherden and widow Starkey. In the event, she was denied the reward and told, instead, to ‘walk like a bawd’: C.C.A.L., MS. X.10.8, ff. 134–5v. Cf. the custom in Luxembourg, of rewarding the female matchmaker with a scarf or apron: Aspects of Folk Life in Europe, p. 221.Google Scholar

36. Conset, The Practice of the Ecclesiastical Courts, pp. 140, 268.Google Scholar

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38. Conset, The Practice of the Ecclesiastical Courts, pp. 146–51.Google Scholar

39. Burn, Richard, The Ecclesiastical Law (London, 1824, 8th edn.), ii. 487.Google Scholar

40. Helmholz, , Marriage Litigation, pp. 131–3.Google Scholar

41. Houlbrooke, , Church Courts, p. 61.Google Scholar His own conclusion, is that circumstantial details probably did not affect the verdict, but he admits the impossibility of demonstrating the matter either way with any certainty.

42. Brundage, J.A., ‘Concubinage and marriage in medieval cannon law’, Journal of Medieval History 1 (1975), 1–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

43. For a full discussion of marriage theory, see Helmholz, , Marriage Litigation, pp. 26–7Google Scholar; Sheehan, , ‘Formation and stability, pp. 229–30Google Scholar; Sheehan, M.M., ‘Choice of marriage partner in the middle ages: the development and mode of application of a theory of practice’, Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History n.s.l (1978), 3–33Google Scholar; Sheehan, M.M., ‘Marriage theory and practice in the conciliar legislation and diocesan statutes of medieval England’, Medieval Studies 40 (1978), 408–60CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Noonan, J. Jr., ‘Power to choose’, Viator 4 (1973), 419–34CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Donahue, , ‘Policy of Alexander III’, pp. 251–6Google Scholar; Donahue, , ‘The canon law’, pp. 144–58Google Scholar; Houlbrooke, , Church Courts, pp. 56–60.Google ScholarIngram, , ‘Spousals litigation’, pp. 37–42Google Scholar; The most complete digest of types of contract is, of course, found in Swinburne, Treatise of Spousals.

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45. Donahue, , ‘Policy of Alexander III’, pp. 252–3Google Scholar cites F.W. Maitland: that lovers were the least likely to distinguish between past and future tense.

46. Sheehan, , ‘Marriage theory and practice’, pp. 422–6, 459Google Scholar; Brundage, , ‘Concubinage and marriage’, p. 8Google Scholar; Gottlieb, , ‘The meaning of clandestine marriage’, pp. 49–53.Google Scholar

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50. Swinburne, , Treatise of Spousals, pp. 207–9Google Scholar; Roper, , ‘“Going to church and street”’, p. 81Google Scholar. Posies also alluded to the ring as ‘round and hath no end’. See Evans, English Posies, pp. xxi, 98.Google Scholar

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52. See also Houlbrooke, , Church Courts, pp. 60–2Google Scholar, and ‘The making of marriage’, pp. 344–6Google Scholar, who finds only one Norwich case of its conclusive effect.

53. Swinburne, , Treatise of Spousals, pp. 6–7, 21, 31–3, 41, 209Google Scholar; Conset, The Practice of the Ecclesiastical Courts, p. 255.Google Scholar

54. Swinburne, , Treatise of Spousals, pp. 203–5Google Scholar; Helmholz, , Marriage Litigation, pp. 33–4.Google Scholar

55. Houlbrooke, , Church Courts, pp. 60–2.Google Scholar

56. Rushton, , ‘The testament of gifts’, p. 28.Google Scholar

57. Ibid., p. 31, n. 23, citing Ingram.

58. Houlbrooke, , Church Courts, pp. 60–2Google Scholar; Houlbrooke, , ‘The making of marriage’, pp. 344–6Google Scholar; also Conset, The Practice of the Ecclesiastical Courts, p. 271.Google Scholar

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64. The figure is approximate because of circumstances of multi-contract, and because matrimony can only be inferred in certain cases. Cf. Rushton, , ‘The testament of gifts’, p. 25Google Scholar, where 29 out of 81 actual or inferred matrimony cases provided such testimonies, and Houlbrooke, , ‘The making of marriage’, pp. 344–6Google Scholar, where references to gifts were found in 25% of the cases. The early omissions of Canterbury cases at the time of writing should also be noted, but this is unlikely to affect the arguments of the paper. The proportion of male:female plaintiffs, and the varied circumstances of cases, have not been considered.

65. Ibid.

66. Gillis, , For Better, For Worse, pp. 6–7, 17.Google Scholar

67. C.C.A.L., MS. X.10.9, f. 64, Aunsell v. Courte, (1563?).

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70. Houlbrooke, , ‘The making of marriage’, p. 344.Google Scholar

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74. C.C.A.L., MS. X.10.12, ff. 280v. – 1, Longley v. Marchant, (1566).Google Scholar

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76. E.g. Evans, , English Posies, p. 85Google Scholar; ‘Not the guift, but the giver’ (1596).

77. C.C.A.L., MS. X.10.7, f. 74 and v., Bonham v. Ellet, (1560).Google Scholar

78. Ibid. MS. X.10.18, ff. 154v. – 5, More v. Stupple, (1579).Google Scholar

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80. C.C.A.L., MS. X.10.16, f. 277 and v., 283, Essex v. Culling, (1577)Google Scholar; also e.g. MS. X.10.18, ff. 213v.–14v., Balden v. Brokwell, (1580).Google Scholar

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82. Ibid. MS. X.10.12, f. 287v., Longley v. Marchant, (1566).Google Scholar

83. Ibid. MS. X.10.11, f. 183v., Kennet v. Dunnye, (1570).Google Scholar

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86. C.C.A.L., MS. X.10.11, f. 126, Hennikrev, . Sellar, (1569).Google Scholar

87. Above, Divers v. Williams.

88. C.C.A.L., MS. X.I 1.1, f. 2 and v., Terry v. Overie, (1585).Google Scholar

89. For sixteenth- and seventeenth-century usages, see O.E.D.

90. C.C.A.L., MS., X.10.19, f. 264, King v. Otway and Wood, (1584).Google Scholar

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92. Houlbrooke, , Church Courts, p. 60Google Scholar; Rushton, , ‘The testament of gifts’, pp. 26–7.Google Scholar

93. Rushton, , ‘The testament of gifts’, p. 26Google Scholar, concludes that there were no fixed rules regarding type, although rings were often given, and Houlbrooke, , ‘The making of marriage’, pp. 344–6Google Scholar, similarly cites the frequency of rings associated with pledge, but also the popularity of coins, ornaments, and trinkets.

94. Cf. the ‘orange’ cited from eighteenth-century Belgium in the form of a heart, being a sweet-dish in orange peel covered with paper mache: Aspects of Folk Life in Europe, p. 121.Google Scholar

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96. Wherever discrepancy exists, conservative estimates have been used throughout the analysis.

97. Gifts of ten shillings in this analysis have included angels and royals, except where otherwise stated.

98. C.C.A.L., MS. X.10.6, f. 213v., Short v. Essex, and e.g. MS. X. 10. 8, f. 205v., Marshe v. Gaunt, (1562?).Google Scholar

99. Ibid. MS. X.10.3, f. 25, Singer v. Smith, (1546).Google Scholar

100. Ibid. MS. X.10.18, f. 24 and v., Mantle v. Mereweath, (1577).Google Scholar

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102. Swinburne, , A Treatise of Spousals, pp. 178–89.Google Scholar

103. C.C.A.L., MS. X.10.14, f. 99 and v., Pynnocke v. Beeching, (1572).Google Scholar

104. Ibid. MS. X.10.7, ff. 299v.–300, Tusten v. Allen, (1568).Google Scholar

105. Macfarlane, , Marriage and Love in England, pp. 301–3.Google Scholar

106. Thompson, (ed.), Samuel Pepys' Penny Merriments, pp. 114–15.Google Scholar

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108. Aspects of Folk Life in Europe, pp. 172, 177, 210.Google Scholar

109. Ibid. pp. 149–50; Bloxham, and Picken, , Love and Marriage, pp. 22–3Google Scholar; Bradford, Roses are Red.

110. C.C.A.L., MS. X.10.2, f. 33, Savye v. Philpott, (1542).Google Scholar

111. Ibid. MS. X.10.15, f. 209 and v., Smyth v. Grey, (1567).Google Scholar

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113. Ibid. MS. X.10.12, f. 44v., Smyth v. Godfrey (1564).Google Scholar

114. Gillis, For Better, For Worse, p. 31.Google Scholar

115. Aspects of Folk Life in Europe, p. 185.Google Scholar

116. C.C.A.L., MS. X.10.12, f. 286v., Joyce v. Marchaunt, (1566).Google Scholar

117. Ibid. MS. X.10.12, ff. 151–2, Launsfeld v. Austen, (1565).Google Scholar

118. Gillis, , For Better, For Worse, p. 33Google Scholar; albeit unsubstantiated.

119. Rushton, , ‘The testament of gifts’, pp. 26–7.Google Scholar

120. C.C.A.L., MS. X.10.11, ff. 255v. 6, (1569?).

121. Woodward, (ed.), Henry Best, pp. 122–3.Google Scholar

122. E.g. Aspects of Folklife in Europe, p. 158Google Scholar; Bradford, (ed.), Roses are Red.Google Scholar

123. C.C.A.L., MS. X.10.18, ff. 276v.– 8, Ryeley v. Pitcher, (1580).Google Scholar

124. Ibid. MS. X.10.20, f. 176, Wanderton v. Wyld, (1583).Google Scholar

125. Ibid. MS. X.ll.l, f. 215 and v., Fookes v. Lowes, (1588).Google Scholar

126. Ibid. MS. X.10.17, f. 152v, Baxter v. Cotton, (1574).Google Scholar

127. Ibid. MS. X.10.12, f. 297, (1566).

128. Ibid. MS. X.10.12, f. 182 and v., Tusnothe v. Marden, (1565).Google Scholar

129. Ibid. MS. X.10.12, ff. 103v.–4, (1564).

130. See also Rushton, , ‘The testament of gifts’, p. 28Google Scholar; Gillis, , For Better, For Worse, pp. 32–3.Google Scholar

131. C.C.A.L., MS. X.10.9, f. 28, Rolf v. Fryer, (1563).Google Scholar

132. Ibid. MS. X.10.6, ff. 200v.–l, Symons v. Bedford, (1558).Google Scholar

133. Houlbrook, , Church Chourts, p. 60.Google Scholar

134. Swinburne, , Treatise of Spousals, pp. 229–31.Google Scholar

135. Bourdieu, , Outline of a Theory of Practice, pp. 5–8.Google Scholar

136. C.C.A.L., MS., X.10.16, ff. 56–8, Wood v. Swift, (1575).Google Scholar

137. For the goodwill of friends, see also D. O'Hara, ‘”Ruled by my friends”: aspects of marriage in the diocese of Canterbury, c. 1540–1570’, Continuity and Change 6, (1991), 9–41.Google Scholar

138. Ibid. MS. Y.3.14, f. 47v.; X. 11. 6, ff. 198v.–201, 215–17, 220v.–lv., 223–4, 227v.–8, 229v.–30, Tresse v. Tresse, (1593–1594).Google Scholar

139. Ibid. MS. X.10.15, ff. 161v.–2v.

140. For earnest money in the North Riding, see Gillis, , For Better, For Worse, p. 29.Google Scholar

141. C.C.A.L., MS. X.I 1.2, ff. 160v.–l, Small v. Newenden and Terenden, (1586–1587).Google Scholar

142. Ibid. MS. X.11.6, ff. 167–9v., (1593).

143. Gillis, , For Better, For Worse, p. 51Google Scholar; Strutt, A.Compleat View of the Manners, Customs, Arms, Habits and of the Inhabitants of England, iii. 151–8.Google Scholar

144. Swinburne, , Treatise of Spousals, pp. 229–31.Google Scholar

145. Thomas, , Religion and the Decline of Magic, pp. 277–9Google Scholar; Thompson, (ed.), Samuel Pepys' Penny Merriments, pp. 130–1Google Scholar; Aspects of Folk Life in Europe, pp. 19–23, 245, and passim.Google Scholar

146. E.g. Baker, , Folklore and Customs of Love and Marriage, pp. 15–18Google Scholar; Gillis, , For Better, For Worse, p. 33.Google Scholar

147. Swinburne, , Treatise of Spousals, pp. 207–8Google Scholar; Burn, , The Ecclesiastical Law, ii. 479Google Scholar; Van Gennep, , Rites of Passage, p. 134Google Scholar; Roper, , ‘“Going to church and street’”, p. 81.Google Scholar For sexual symbolism in the rite of bestowing the ring, see Segalen, , Love and Power in the Peasant Family, p. 27.Google Scholar

148. Bloxham, and Picken, , Love and Marriage, pp. 60–5Google Scholar; Evans, , English Posies and Posy Rings, passimGoogle Scholar; Bruy, , An Introduction to Rings, pp. 16, 33.Google Scholar

149. C.C.A.L., MS. J/J2 18, Colyer v. Porredge, (1596–1597).Google Scholar

150. Evans, , English Posies and Posy Rings pp. 2–3, 106Google Scholar; Bury, , An Introduction to Rings, p. 25.Google Scholar

151. See also e.g. Bloxham, and Picken, , Love and Marriage, pp. 32–41, 44–9Google Scholar; Bury, , An Introduction to Sentimental Jewellery, pp. 15–16, 28Google Scholar; Aspects of Folk Life in Europe, pp. 149–50Google Scholar, for a later vogue.

152. Aspects of Folk Life in Europe, e.g. pp. 172, 177, 185.Google Scholar

153. C.C.A.L., MS., X.10.3, f. 19, Monday v. Parker, (1546).Google Scholar

154. Also Macfarlane, , Marriage and Love in England, p. 301.Google Scholar

155. Bloxham, and Picken, , Love and Marriage, pp. 43, 76–82.Google Scholar

156. Ibid., pp. 18–19.

157. C.C.A.L., MS. X.10.18, ff. 144 and v., Nightingall v. Bridger, (1579).Google Scholar

158. Ibid. MS. X.10.11, ff. 183 and v., Kennet v. Dunnye, (1570).Google Scholar

159. See also Rushton, , ‘The testament of gifts’, p. 26Google Scholar which suggests that the custom of bending was optional.

160. Seen. 58.

161. C.C.A.L., MS. X.10.7, ff. 187 and v., (1567).

162. See n. 85.

163. C.C.A.L., MS. X.I 1.3, f. 5v., Alcocke v. Hordes, (1598)Google Scholar; Ibid., MS. Y.3.2, f. 66.

164. Ibid. MS. X.11.5, f. 255, Symons v. Spayne, (1598).Google Scholar

165. Ibid. MS. X.10.7, ff. 165v.–6v., (1560–1).