Add Ch 77738

Marriage contract between Prince Edward of England (the future King Edward III, r. 1327-1377), and Philippa of Hainault (b. c. 1314, d. 1369), daughter of Count William of Hainault (b. c. 1286, d. 1337) and Joan of Valois (b. c. 1294, d. 1352).

The contract was issued two years prior to the official ceremony, which took place in 1328 after Edward’s accession to the English throne. In the marriage contract, Prince Edward agreed to grant Philippa a dower and to request papal dispensation for the marriage, and he promised not to form a similar agreement with anyone else, pledging to Philippa’s father a sum of £10,000 if the terms of the contract were broken. The marriage between Edward and Philippa was arranged by Edward’s mother, Isabella of France (b. c. 1295, d. 1358), in order to secure support from Count William and John of Hainault, Philippa’s uncle, in her mission to dethrone King Edward II (r. 1307-1327), her husband, and to replace him with their son, Prince Edward.

Given at Mons, Hainault (modern-day Belgium), 27 August 1326.

Endorsed: in a 19th-century hand, ‘Mariages, Angleterre, Hainaul. 1326, le mercredi après St. Barthelemi, à Mons’; previous reference, ‘27724’.

Affixed with Prince Edward’s white seal, attached by a vellum tongue, the obverse featuring Prince Edward’s figure mounted, armoured and heraldically-surcoated facing to the left, the reverse featuring the central part of his heraldic shield.