Fair Maid of Kent

Katy said:

"William Montague, Earl of Salisbury, agreed to go along with the
highly unlikely story that his wife, Joan (later called Fair Maid of Kent)came up with, that she had secretly married Thomas Holland when she was 12 years old, because when William returned from France, Joan was already pregnant with Holland's child. If William had not allowed his marriage to Joan to be annulled, and she gave birth to a boy (which she did) while still married to him, his heir would have been another man's son."

http://groups.yahoo.com/group//message/15570

But why would William Montague, Earl of Salisbury, agree to go along with the highly unlikely story please?

Thanks,

PG

--- In , "phaetongraph" <phaetongraph@...> wrote:
>
> Katy said:
>
> "William Montague, Earl of Salisbury, agreed to go along with the
> highly unlikely story that his wife, Joan (later called Fair Maid of Kent)came up with, that she had secretly married Thomas Holland when she was 12 years old, because when William returned from France, Joan was already pregnant with Holland's child. If William had not allowed his marriage to Joan to be annulled, and she gave birth to a boy (which she did) while still married to him, his heir would have been another man's son."
>
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group//message/15570
>
> But why would William Montague, Earl of Salisbury, agree to go along with the highly unlikely story please?


Weds writes:

1. To save William and Joan's public reputation -- so he wouldn't be known as a cuckold and she as a...you know?

2. As stated, so the bastard son born to Joan wouldn't be considered William's heir, as it sounds like the boy was his wife's firstborn child? Was the law then like the law now -- if you're married, any child born of the union is legally the father's (unless, of course, he disowns it [then] or DNA testing says otherwise [today])?

I wonder if Joan subsequently went on to live in sin with Thomas Holland. Oh, what a tangled web....

~Weds