Talk:Gunhild of Wessex

In the novel?
"In the novel King's Blood . . ." - can we say who wrote this? AndrewJFulker (talk) 12:11, 30 September 2011 (UTC)

Issue?
Did she have any issue - it doesn't mention either way?

We don't know. Richard Sharpe argued in his Haskins Journal article "King Harold's Daughter" (available as a PDF by download from Oxford University) that Gunhild and Count Alan were the parents of Matilda the wife of Walter d'Aincourt. On onomastic grounds, I'm not convinced: Matilda and Walter's sons were William, Ralph and Walter. This lends support to one of Trevor Foulds' suggestions, namely that Matilda d'Aincourt was Princess Matilda, an older daughter of William the Conqueror and Queen Matilda. William d'Aincourt is known to have had royal descent: the main question is from which King? Zoetropo (talk) 03:26, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

Common law marriage
The concept of a common law marriage is relatively recent, and seriously misunderstood. I doubt that there was a common law marriage in Anglo Saxon times. Is there any authority for this claim?Royalcourtier (talk) 07:02, 19 March 2014 (UTC)

Please elaborate your concern. The Wikipedia article on Marriage cites two sources for the proposition that in Rome there were two distinct forms of marriage: one in which the wife became part of the husband's family and lost her rights of inheritance, and another in which she remained part of her father's family and continued to be a part-heir of his property. Zoetropo (talk) 03:19, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

ODNB says first wife or mistress. I have amended accordingly. Dudley Miles (talk) 10:31, 19 March 2014 (UTC)