Maria, Lady Thynne born Maria Tuchet nicknamed "Mall" (1578 – 1611) was an English gentlewoman whose marriage was against her and her husband's family's wishes and this led to a long legal dispute. It is possible that this story influenced

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

to start to rewrite the Italian story of

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

. Maria and her mother-in-law's correspondence is extant and gives an insight into their disagreement.

Life

Thynne was born in 1578 she was the second daughter of Lucy and

Lord Audley Baron Audley is a title in the Peerage of England first created in 1313, by writ to the Parliament of England, for Sir Nicholas Audley of Heighley Castle, a member of the Anglo-Norman Audley family of Staffordshire. The third Baron, the last ...

. Her grandfather was Sir James Marvin or Mervyn. In May 1594, at the age of sixteen she served at the court of Queen Elizabeth. There she met and married Thomas Thynne at an inn at

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, west-northwest of central London and south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High W ...

. In the 1500s it was possible for a couple to marry by just saying "“I (name) take thee (name) to my wedded wife/husband and there unto I plight my troth” to each other and with witnesses this was legally binding. Thynne was the son and heir of

Sir John Thynne Sir John Thynne (c. 1515 – 21 May 1580) was the steward to Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (c. 1506 – 1552), and a member of parliament. He was the builder of Longleat House, and his descendants became Marquesses of Bath. Early life ...

Longleat Longleat is an English stately home and the seat of the Marquesses of Bath. A leading and early example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, it is adjacent to the village of Horningsham and near the towns of Warminster and Westbury in Wiltshire, ...

, a knight of the shire. The two were married on the day they first met and for some time kept their marriage secret because their fathers were bitterly opposed to each other, continuing a feud which had begun in the previous generation. When their story became known, Thynne's parents and

Joan Thynne Joan, Lady Thynne, born Joan Hayward (1558 – 3 March 1612) was an English gentlewoman. She took an active role in managing property including Caus Castle which was captured by force; she then managed and defended it. The secret marriage of her s ...

in particular, tried unsuccessfully to have the marriage

annulled Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost ...

. The dispute over the marriage was resolved in 1601 by

Daniel Donne Sir Daniel Donne (or Dunn) (died 1617) was an English jurist. Life He was the son of Robert Donne and descended from John Dwnn of Radnorshire, was educated at Oxford, where he was a member of All Souls College, and was admitted to the degree of ...

who was the

Dean of the Court of Arches The Dean of the Arches is the judge who presides in the provincial ecclesiastical court of the Archbishop of Canterbury. This court is called the Arches Court of Canterbury. It hears appeals from consistory courts and bishop's disciplinary tribuna ...

, who ruled against Joan Thynne's claim. When Joan's husband John died in 1604 Longleat went into the hands of Maria (her enemy). Joan was not beaten and in 1605 she, on behalf of her daughters, took her son to the chancery court. Longleat_house

These events may have provided the impetus (or not), the next year, for

to produce the play

, based on an earlier Italian story that begins with a similar clandestine marriage between feuding families. Thamas and Maria Thynne had three sons, before she died in childbirth. Two of these sons survived childhood,

James Thynne Sir James Thynne (1605 – 12 October 1670) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1640 and 1670. Life Thynne was born in 1605, the eldest son of Maria and Sir Thomas Thynne, of Longleat, ...

(died 1670) and Sir Thomas Thynne.Charles Mosley, ed., ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage'', 106th edition (Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999), vol. 1, p. 212Alison D. Wall, ed., ''Two Elizabethan Women: correspondence of Joan and Maria Thynne, 1575–1611'' (

Wiltshire Record Society The Wiltshire Record Society is a text publication society in Wiltshire, England, which edits and publishes historic documents concerned with the history of Wiltshire. History In 1937, Ralph Pugh was the chief mover in a proposal to found the rec ...

, vol. 38, 1983) Thomas's mother did not forgive him for his marriage and she took out a court case on behalf of her daughter against Thomas. Eventually her husband, who had since been knighted, inherited his father's estates, including

Longleat House Longleat is an English stately home and the seat of the Marquesses of Bath. A leading and early example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, it is adjacent to the village of Horningsham and near the towns of Warminster and Westbury in Wiltshire, ...

. During his frequent absences, Maria managed the estates, including forestry and livestock. She hired servants and negotiated with tenants and retainers. She accepted the leases and reported to her husband about late payers. In 1609 and 1610 she took over the financial management of the purchase of the Manor of Warminster from her brother Mervyn Tuchet. Thynne's surviving correspondence between 1595 and 1611 was published by the

in 1983 as part of the title ''Two Elizabethan Women: correspondence of Joan and Maria Thynne''. After the death of Maria in 1611, her husband married secondly Catherine Howard, a daughter of Hon. Charles Howard, son of the first Viscount Howard and niece of Lord Howard of Bindon. With her he had further sons, including Sir Henry Frederick Thynne, 1st Baronet (1615–1680), ancestor of the

Marquesses of Bath A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thynne, Maria, Lady 1578 births 1611 deaths Thynne family