Isabella of France

Isabella of France (1295 – 22 August 1358), sometimes described as the She-Wolf of France, is Queen of England as the wife of Edward II.

She is the youngest surviving child and only surviving daughter of Philip IV of France and Joan I of Navarre.

Queen Isabella is notable at this time for her beauty, diplomatic skills, and intelligence.

Isabella arrives in England at the age of twelve during a period of growing conflict between the king and the powerful baronial factions.

Her new husband is notorious for the patronage he lavished on his favorite, Piers Gaveston, but the queen supportdEdward 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 eventually turns to a new favorite, Hugh Despenser the younger, and attempts to take revenge on the barons, resulting in the Despenser War and a period of internal repression across England.

Isabella cannot tolerate Hugh Despenser and by 1325 her marriage to Edward is at a breaking point.

Traveling to France under the guise of a diplomatic mission, Isabella begins an affair with Roger Mortimer, and the two agree to depose Edward and oust the Despenser family.

The Queen returns to England with a small mercenary army in 1326, moving rapidly across England.

The King's forces desert him.

Isabella deposes Edward, becoming regent on behalf of her son, Edward III.

Many have believed that Isabella then arranged the murder of Edward II.

Isabella and Mortimer’s regime begins to crumble, partly because of her lavish spending, but also because the Queen successfully, but unpopularly, resolves long-running problems such as the wars with Scotland.

In 1330, Isabella’s son Edward III deposs Mortimer in turn, taking back his authority and executing Isabella’s lover.

The Queen is not punished, however, and lives for many years in considerable style—although not at Edward III’s court—until her death in 1358.

Isabella becomse a popular "femme fatale" figure in plays and literature over the years, usually portrayed as a beautiful but cruel, manipulative figure.

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