Cecilia de Sandford wife of William de Gorham

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paul bulkley

Cecilia de Sandford wife of William de Gorham

Legg inn av paul bulkley » 24 jun 2006 18:29:02

Mathew Paris addresses the "death of the pious Cecilia
de Sandford" as follows:

On the 23rd of July this year (1251), at about a mile
from St Alban's died a most holy woman, named Cecilia
of Sandford, a widow of noble birth, and still more
enobled by her morals; she was the relict of William
de Gorham, a knight, and the mother of William de
Gorham the younger, also a knight; and after she had
been many years a widow,being learned and eloquent,
she was selected to be the mistress and instructress
of the King's (Henry III)sister Joanna, the widow of
William Marshall the younger; and afterwards of
Johanna, wife of W.de Valence.

This Lady Cecilia, in company with Joanna, counter of
Pembroke, then a widow, in the presence of St Edmund,
then archbishop of Canterbury, made a solemn vow of
observing perpetual continence and widowhood, and with
the ring of betrothal took the russetngarment, which
was worn as a sign of perpetual celibacy, as also did
her pupil, the Countess Joanna; but the latter,
afterwards wishing to become a mother, obtained an
indulgence from the pope, and was married to the Earl
of Leicester.

Later Mathew Paris advises on her death:

Her body, then, still with the ring on its finger, was
brought to St Albans, and, by reason of the privilege
granted in her celibacy and the nobility of her
family, was honourably buried in a stone vault before
the altar of St Andrew in that church.

At the performance of the burial solemnities were
present the abbat and brethen, and a great number of
knights and nobles of the family of the deceased lady;
amonst whom was Nicholas of Sandford, her brother,
who, owing to the great grief he felt for the death of
his noble sister, never afterwards prospered. He was
young, handsome in person, and second to no knight in
England for bravery; but, after passing some time in
sorrow, on the 20th January in the same year (1252) he
paid the debt of nature.

Mathew Paris's home base was St Albans which perhaps
explains his interest in the Sandford/Gorham families.

Sincerely Yours,

Paul Bulkley


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