Sayfadaki görseller
PDF
ePub
[graphic][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][subsumed]

THE MARRIAGE LICENCE DOCUMENTS

L

ACCORDING to an entry in Bishop Whitgift's register,1 a licence was granted on November 27th, 1582, for a marriage between William Shaxpere and Anne Whateley of Temple Grafton. On the next day a bond 2 was entered into by Fulk Sandells and John Richardson on the issue of a marriage licence to William Shagspere and Anne Hathwey of Stratfordupon-Avon. Although at first sight this want of agreement appears to justify the opinion that different transactions are referred to, there are good reasons for the belief that both of the records relate to the licence for the poet's marriage, and that the entry in the bishop's register is incorrect, all the available evidence being in favour of the accuracy of the bond upon the points respecting which the descriptions are at variance. As the arguments to be used in support of these views are mainly based upon the ancient regulations, it will be necessary to make a brief reference to the somewhat obscure subject of the practice in vogue at the Worcester Episcopal Registry in Elizabethan times, so far as it throws any light upon the questions raised by various authors.

The common licence, as then issued by the Bishop of

1 Register No. XXXII., folio 436. John Whitgift was Bishop of Worcester from 1577 to 1583, when he was translated to Canterbury. As archbishop he was again brought into connection with Shakespeare's affairs. See Appendix, No. VI.

For descriptions and copies of these documents, see Appendix, Nos. VII., VIII., and XVI. A facsimile of the Shaxpere-Whateley entry is given at p. 21.

Worcester,1 dispensed with the full publication of banns,2 and was generally addressed to the rector, vicar, or curate,3 occasionally by name, of the church designated for the marriage, which was not necessarily in the parish of one of the parties. Shakespeare's licence, so far as can be ascertained, was one of this kind. In three cases recorded in the episcopal registers between 1530 and 1573, licences with special privileges were granted. One of these was issued on July 3rd, 1571, to members of two well-known Roman Catholic families-Francis Throckmorton, son and heir of John Throckmorton, Knight, and Anne Sutton, alias Dudley, one of the heirs of Edward Sutton (Lord Dudley), who received permission to marry, without the proclamation of banns, in any church, chapel, or oratory in the diocese, by any fit priest.6

8

The second licence of this class was granted on December 11th, 1573,7 for the marriage of Thomas Lucy and Dorothy Arnold in the nave or doorway of any church, chapel, or oratory in the diocese of Worcester to be chosen by them. One proclamation of banns was required. According to the parish register of Charlecote, the marriage was solemnized there on January 27th, 1573-4.

The only other case in which special privileges were granted appears in a mandate issued on September 15th, 1571, to "all and singular Rectors, Vicars, etc.," for the marriage, after

The Archbishop of Canterbury granted common as well as special licences in his Province.

2 For the various conditions as to banns inserted in these licences, see Appendix, No. IX.

3 The example of a licence given in the Constitutions of 1597 is addressed to the persons licensed. See Cardwell, Synodalia, i. 161.

• After 1573 these particulars are not given in the bishop's register. 'Oratories or private chapels were licensed for Divine service by the bishop. On September 30th, 1445, Thomas Rouse and Elizabeth, his wife, obtained a licence for an oratory (Licencia celebrandi et oratorio) in their house at RouseLench. Bishop Carpenter's register, No. XXII., folio 25a.

6

Bishop Bullingham's register, No. XXXII., folio 3b. I have not succeeded in finding the record of this marriage, which may have been first solemnized according to the rites of the old faith.

7

Bishop Bullingham's register, folio 9a.

Son and heir of Sir Thomas Lucy, of Charlecote. He afterwards married Constance Kingsmill.

THE COMMON LICENCE

II

one publication of banns, of Richard Jones, of Areley, clerk, and Joan Wylkes, of Mytton.1

Upon the issue of a common licence, the following documents were probably prepared :

(a) An allegation, to which the applicant was sworn, stating the name, residence, and occupation of each of the parties and of the parents, guardians, or friends giving consent, and the reason why the full publication of banns was to be dispensed with, or why permission was required to marry in a parish which was not the ordinary residence of the bride or bridegroom.

(b) A bond to indemnify the bishop and his officials from any action or suit arising out of the grant of the licence.

(c) A letter from some person of position known to the bishop or his officials and to the parties and their friends, certifying that no impediment existed and that the licence could safely be granted. The assurance of consent was sometimes included in this certificate.3

(d) The licence addressed to the minister of the church in which the ceremony was to be performed.

For biographical purposes the allegation was by far the most important of the series, and it is unfortunate that no record of this kind for a date earlier than 1660-14 has been preserved in the Worcester muniment rooms, which have been too thoroughly searched to encourage the hope that any such document or much of the information it contained will now be recovered. The form of marriage licence in use in 1582 has not come under my notice. The conditions upon which it

1 Bishop Bullingham's Register, folio 4b. See Appendix, No. X., for notes on the certificate as to the character of the wives of ministers.

2 The earliest marriage allegation preserved at Worcester is dated 1661, but there can be little doubt that similar documents were prepared for the signature of the applicants during Bishop Whitgift's episcopate.

For references to and examples of this certificate, see Appendix, No. XXIV.

⚫ Personal search or enquiry has been made at all the episcopal registries in the Province of Canterbury, but I have discovered no earlier allegations than those at the London Diocesan Registry, which commence in 1597. Some of the records at Canterbury are not indexed, and earlier dates may be represented there.

See Appendix, No. XI.

was usually granted at that period have been gathered from the brief entries in the bishop's registers and from the Constitutions and Canons of 1585, 1597, and 1603. Many of the clauses in the example of a licence set forth in the Canons of 1597 were taken without change from the forms already in use.1

These and other allied records, such as the "Act," "Deposition," and "Visitation" Books 2 of the Worcester Consistory Court and the London allegations and "Vicar General's Books," have been of great service in clearing up some of the doubtful points connected with Shakespeare's marriage, more particularly the questions raised by the contradictory terms of the bond and register entry. Although the issue of marriage dispensations commenced in England at an early date, very few were entered in the episcopal registers at Worcester before the Reformation, and no attempt to give a complete record appears to have been made until 1579, when a separate list of all licences granted by Bishop Whitgift was commenced.5

According to these entries, the grants increased from 35 in 1571 to 98 in 1582; but, as there are many bonds for which no corresponding entries are found, it is evident that all have not been placed on record. The numbers obtained from the two series are, however, sufficiently accurate to show

1 Cardwell says that the Convocation of 1597 "determined to republish the canons of 1585 " (Synodalia, i. 147-8). Gibson says of the Canons of 1603: "They are generally taken (and in many places word for word) from Canons and Constitutions which had been made in the reign of Queen Elizabeth: and which being confirmed only for herself, and not expressly for her heirs, are thought to have lost their authority by her death 'till many of 'em had new life given them in these canons of 1603" (Codex Juris Ecclesiastici, 1713, i. x.). For descriptions of these records, see Appendix, No. XI.

3 The "Vicar General's Books" contain a part of the official acts of the Bishops of London from 1520 to 1684, and are in some respects similar to the Worcester episcopal registers. The London volumes were transferred with the wills to the Principal Probate Registry at Somerset House in 1858.

See Appendix, No. XII.

For particulars of other licences entered in these lists, see Appendix, No. VII.

In 1573 forty-five bonds are filed, and only two licences are entered in the register. In 1582 there are only six bonds for which no licences have been recorded.

« ÖncekiDevam »