Isabella of France

Isabella of France (1295 – August 22, 1358), sometimes described as the She-Wolf of France (), was the Queen of England as the wife of King Edward II, and regent of England from 1327 until 1330. She was the youngest surviving child and only surviving daughter of Philip IV of France and Joan I of Navarre. Isabella was notable in her lifetime for her diplomatic skills, intelligence, and beauty. She became a "femme fatale" figure in plays and literature over the years, usually portrayed as a beautiful but cruel and manipulative figure.
Isabella arrived in England at the age of 12 during a period of growing conflict between the King and the powerful baronial factions. Her new husband was notorious for the patronage he lavished on his favourite, Piers Gaveston, but the queen supported Edward during these early years, forming a working relationship with Piers and using her relationship with the French monarchy to bolster her own authority and power. After the death of Gaveston at the hands of the barons in 1312, however, Edward later turned to a new favourite, Hugh Despenser the Younger, and attempted to take revenge on the barons, resulting in the Despenser War and a period of internal repression across England. Isabella could not tolerate Hugh Despenser and by 1325 her marriage to Edward was at a breaking point. In one instance however, Roger Mortimer demanded that the Despensers be banished from England; the king at first refused, but when the queen fell to her knees and begged him to reconsider, he banished the Despensers on behalf of her.
Travelling to France on a diplomatic mission, Isabella may have begun an affair with Roger Mortimer, and the two may possibly have agreed at this point to depose Edward and oust the Despenser family. The Queen returned to England with a small mercenary army in 1326, moving rapidly across England. The King's forces deserted him. Isabella deposed Edward, becoming regent on behalf of her son, Edward III. Some believe that Isabella then arranged the murder of Edward II. Isabella and Mortimer's regime began to crumble, partly because of her lavish spending, but also because the Queen successfully, but unpopularly, resolved long-running problems such as the wars with Scotland.
In 1330, aged 18, Edward III forcibly asserted his authority, and Mortimer was executed. Isabella lost her regency and was put under arrest for two years, but afterwards she lived for many years in considerable style; though she did not reside at court, she often visited to see her grandchildren.
==See also==
* Hundred Years' War
==Notes==
==Sources==
* Ainsworth, Peter. (2006) Representing Royalty: Kings, Queens and Captains in Some Early Fifteenth Century Manuscripts of Froissart's Chroniques. in Kooper (ed) 2006.
* 
* Boutell, Charles. (1863) A Manual of Heraldry, Historical and Popular. London: Winsor & Newton.
* Carpenter, David. (2007a) "What Happened to Edward II?" London Review of Books. Vol. 29, No. 11. 7 June 2007.
* Carpenter, David. (2007b) "Dead or Alive." London Review of Books. Vol. 29, No. 15. 2 August 2007.
* 
* Doherty, P.C. (2003) Isabella and the Strange Death of Edward II. London: Robinson. .
* Ewan, Elizabeth. "Braveheart." American Historical Review. Vol. 100, No. 4. October 1995.
* Given-Wilson, Chris. (ed) (2002) Fourteenth Century England. Prestwich: Woodbridge.
* Holmes, George. (2000) Europe, Hierarchy and Revolt, 1320–1450, 2nd edition. Oxford: Blackwell.
* Kibler, William W. (1995) Medieval France: an Encyclopedia. London: Routledge.
* Kooper, Erik (ed). (2006) The Medieval Chronicle IV. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
* Lord, Carla. (2002) Queen Isabella at the Court of France. in Given-Wilson (ed) (2002).
* Mortimer, Ian. (2004) The Greatest Traitor: The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, Ruler of England 1327–1330. London: Pimlico Press.
* Mortimer, Ian. (2006) The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation. London: Vintage Press. .
* Myers, A. R. (1978) England in the Late Middle Ages. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
* Neillands, Robin. (2001) The Hundred Years War. London: Routledge.
* Sumption, Jonathan. (1999) The Hundred Years War: Trial by Battle. Philadelphia: Pennsylvania University Press.
* Weir, Alison. (1999) Britain's Royal Family: A Complete Genealogy. London: The Bodley Head.
* Weir, Alison. (2006) Queen Isabella: She-Wolf of France, Queen of England. London: Pimlico Books. .
==External links==
* Heidi Murphy Isabella of France (1295–1358), Britannia biographical series
Category:1290s births
Category:1350s deaths
Category:13th-century French people
Category:14th-century French people
Category:14th-century English people
Category:13th-century French women
Category:14th-century English women
Category:14th-century French women
Category:14th-century women rulers
Category:Duchesses of Aquitaine
Category:Edward II of England
Category:English rebels
Category:English royal consorts
Category:Founders of English schools and colleges
Category:French princesses
Category:French royalty
Category:French expatriates in England
Category:French Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns
Category:House of Capet
Category:Irish royal consorts
Category:People from Paris
Category:Poor Clares
Category:Women in 14th-century warfare
Category:Women in medieval European warfare
Category:Women in war in France
Category:Daughters of kings