MyHeritage's Scribe AI decodes world's oldest love letter, reveals 15th century familial tensions

A remarkable piece of history has been brought to light thanks to the new Scribe AI technology from MyHeritage. The world's oldest love letter, penned in English in February 1477 by Margery Brews to her fiancé John Paston III, has been decoded, offering a vivid glimpse into 15th-century life and the complexities of arranged marriages.

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She ends the letter "with a very heavy heart," and asks Paston to keep it and its content a secret.

The letter details the significant familial pressure Brews faced concerning her dowry. Her mother urged her father to increase the sum for the wedding, but he refused, jeopardizing the union. Despite these financial hurdles and the potential for a reduced inheritance, Brews passionately declared her unwavering commitment to Paston, stating she would marry him even if he possessed only half his current wealth.

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Brews writes of her mother, who pleaded with her father to increase her dowry for the wedding, and of her father’s refusal to put down more money for the event, putting the wedding at risk.

This poignant correspondence, part of the renowned "Paston Letters" collection, not only reveals personal anxieties but also provides invaluable historical context. It sheds light on the delicate negotiations and emotional stakes involved in aristocratic marriages during the late Middle Ages, a period marked by the Wars of the Roses and the dawn of the Tudor era. Scribe AI's ability to transcribe, translate, and analyze such documents offers unprecedented access to the past for historians and the public alike.

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Despite this, Brews declared to Paston that she would still marry him even if he had “half the livelihood” he did.