Lady Eleanor Talbot

Lady Eleanor Talbot , also known by her married name Eleanor Butler, was a daughter of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury. After the death of Edward IV of England it was claimed by his brother Richard, the future Richard III, that she had had a legal precontract of marriage to Edward, which invalidated the kings later marriage to Elizabeth Woodville. According to Richard, this meant that he, rather than Edwards sons, was the true heir to the throne. Richard took the crown and imprisoned Edwards sons, who subsequently disappeared.

Other historians have been more sceptical. John A. Wagner states that most modern historians believe the precontract to be a fabrication devised to give Richard IIIs usurpation a veneer of legitimacy. The betrothal cannot be documented beyond the account rehearsed in Titulus Regius, and Richard never attempted to have the precontract authenticated by a church court, the proper venue for such a case. Anne Crawford takes the view that any actual precontract with Eleanor Talbot is unlikely. If it had occurred before her marriage to Thomas Butler it would have been invalidated by the marriage. She suggests that the story may have originated with discussions between Edwards father Richard, Duke of York and Elizabeths father John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury of a possible marriage, while both men were serving in France. But even that seems hardly likely. Any valid precontract would most likely have been made in the early phase of Edwards reign, but the fact that Eleanor did not come forwar

Source: Wikipedia