Is This a True Marriage?

There are also questions about whether this marriage story is even true. At the time, it was common for couples to do what is known as a pre contract before witnesses. They would promise to get married, and then afterward they would consummate the marriage. Some sources describe edward's purported marriage to eleanor as a precontract only. But a number of contemporary sources flatly disbelieved this entire thing and dismissed it as something that richard had made up to undermine his nephew.