Despite the preachings of the Church, illegitimacy was no great barrier to success in medieval England, particularly if you were descended from royalty. Many royal bastards achieved great prominence in their day, and several played vital roles in the history of England, becoming earls, archbishops, abbots, and the wives of foreign kings. Honored by their fathers, they were both part of the magic circle of power and wealth and outside it because of their inability to inherit. In this history, the authors chart the lives of medieval royal bastards against the background of political developments and changing ideas about morality and the family. They describe how the Church gradually began to formulate more definite views on sexual and marital customs, resulting in a decline in the status of illegitimate children--a situation that held sway until the early 16th century, when royal bastards once again made their way into the peerage.

 
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