Isabelle of Angouleme, Queen of England

Isabelle of Angouleme, Queen of England

Female 1188 - 1246  (58 years)

Personal Information    |    Media    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    Event Map    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name Isabelle of Angouleme 
    Suffix Queen of England 
    Alt Birth ~1173  [1
    Birth 1188  Angouleme, France Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    • Aquitaine, Charente department...
    Gender Female 
    Alt Death 14 Oct 1217  [1, 3
    Death 31 May 1246  Fontevrault L'abbe, Maine-Ete-Loire, France Find all individuals with events at this location  [4
    Burial 31 May 1246  Fontevrault L'abbe, Maine-Ete-Loire, France Find all individuals with events at this location  [4
    Alt Death 4 Jun 1246  [2
    Person ID I37348  The Hennessee Family
    Last Modified 6 Nov 2019 

    Family 1 John I, King of England,   b. 24 Dec 1166, Beaumont Palace, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 19 Oct 1216, Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 49 years) 
    Marriage 26 Aug 1200  Cathedral of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France Find all individuals with events at this location  [5
    • Bordeaux Cathedral (Cathâedrale Saint-Andrâe de Bordeaux) is a Roman Catholic cathedral, seat of the Archbishop of Bordeaux-Bazas, located in Bordeaux.

      The cathedral was consecrated by Pope Urban II in 1096. Of the original Romanesque edifice, only a wall in the nave remains. The Royal Gate is from the early 13th century, while the rest of the construction is mostly from the 14th-15th centuries. The building is a national monument of France.

      In this church in 1137 the 13-year-old Eleanor of Aquitaine married the future Louis VII, a few months before she became Queen.


      Images, History & Source ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bordeaux_Cathedral
    Children 
     1. Henry III, King of England,   b. 1 Oct 1207, Winchester Castle, Hampshire, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 16 Nov 1272, Westminster Palace, Westminster, London, Middlesex, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 65 years)
     2. Sir Richard, Knight, 1st Earl of Cornwall,   b. 5 Jan 1209, Winchester Castle, Castle Ave, Winchester, Hampshire SO23 8PJ, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 2 Apr 1272, Berkhamsted Castle, Hertfordshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 63 years)
     3. Isabella,   b. 1214, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1 Dec 1241, Foggia, Italy Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 27 years)
     4. Lady Eleanor of England,   b. 1215, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 13 Apr 1275, Montargis Abbey, France Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 60 years)
    Family ID F13810  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 30 Apr 2023 

    Family 2 Sir Hugh of Lusignan, X, Knight, Count of La Marche,   b. ~ 1183, Angouleme, France Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 5 Jun 1249, Angouleme, France Find all individuals with events at this location (Age ~ 66 years) 
    Marriage 10 May 1220  (Angouleme) France Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Children 
     1. Sir William de Valence, Knight, 1st Earl of Pembroke,   b. 1225-1230, Cistercian Abbey, Valence, France Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 18 May 1296, Bayonne, Gascony, France Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 66 years)
     2. Alice de Lusignan
    Family ID F16621  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 30 Apr 2023 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 1188 - Angouleme, France Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 26 Aug 1200 - Cathedral of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 10 May 1220 - (Angouleme) France Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - 31 May 1246 - Fontevrault L'abbe, Maine-Ete-Loire, France Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBurial - 31 May 1246 - Fontevrault L'abbe, Maine-Ete-Loire, France Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Photos
    Queen Isabella of Angouleme (1188-1246)
    Queen Isabella of Angouleme (1188-1246)

    was queen consort of England as the second wife of King John from 1200 until John's death in 1216. She was also reigning Countess of AngoulĂŞme from 1202 until 1246.

    She had five children by the king including his heir, later Henry III. In 1220, Isabella married Hugh X of Lusignan, Count of La Marche, by whom she had another nine children.

    Some of her contemporaries, as well as later writers, claim that Isabella formed a conspiracy against King Louis IX of France in 1241, after being publicly snubbed by his mother, Blanche of Castile for whom she had a deep-seated hatred.[1] In 1244, after the plot had failed, Isabella was accused of attempting to poison the king, and to avoid arrest, sought refuge in Fontevraud Abbey where she died two years later, but none of this can be confirmed.


  • Notes 
    • Isabel of Gloucester (c. 1173 - 14 October 1217) was the first wife of John of England . She is known by an exceptionally large number of alternative names: Hadwisa, Hawisia, Hawise, Joan, Eleanor, Avise and Avisa.

      * [1]
    • Isabella of Angoulăeme (French: Isabelle d'Angoulăeme, IPA: [izab?l d?~gul?m]; c.1188 – 4 June 1246) was queen consort of England as the second wife of King John from 1200 until John's death in 1216. She was also reigning Countess of Angoulăeme from 1202 until 1246.

      She had five children by the king including his heir, later Henry III. In 1220, Isabella married Hugh X of Lusignan, Count of La Marche, by whom she had another nine children.

      Some of her contemporaries, as well as later writers, claim that Isabella formed a conspiracy against King Louis IX of France in 1241, after being publicly snubbed by his mother, Blanche of Castile for whom she had a deep-seated hatred.[1] In 1244, after the plot had failed, Isabella was accused of attempting to poison the king. To avoid arrest, she sought refuge in Fontevraud Abbey where she died two years later, but none of this can be confirmed.

      Queen of England

      She was the only daughter and heir of Aymer Taillefer, Count of Angoulăeme, by Alice of Courtenay, who was sister of Peter II of Courtenay, Latin Emperor of Constantinople and granddaughter of King Louis VI of France.

      Isabella became Countess of Angoulăeme in her own right on 16 June 1202, by which time she was already queen of England. Her marriage to King John took place on 24 August 1200, in Angoulăeme,[2] a year after he annulled his first marriage to Isabel of Gloucester. She was crowned queen in an elaborate ceremony on 8 October at Westminster Abbey in London. Isabella was originally betrothed to Hugh IX le Brun, Count of Lusignan,[3] son of the then Count of La Marche. As a result of John's temerity in taking her as his second wife, King Philip II of France confiscated all of their French lands, and armed conflict ensued.

      At the time of her marriage to John, the blonde and blue-eyed 12-year-old Isabella was already renowned by some for her beauty[4] and has sometimes been called the Helen of the Middle Ages by historians.[5] Isabella was much younger than her husband and possessed a volatile temper similar to his own. King John was infatuated with his young, beautiful wife; however, his acquisition of her had as much, if not more to do with spiting his enemies, than romantic love. She was already engaged to Hugh IX le Brun, when she was taken by John. It had been said that he neglected his state affairs to spend time with Isabella, often remaining in bed with her until noon. However, these were rumors, ignited by John's enemies to discredit him as being a weak and grossly irresponsible ruler. Given that at the time they were made John was engaging in a desperate war with King Phillip of France to hold on to the remaining Plantagenet dukedoms. The common people began to term her a "siren" or "Messalina", which spoke volumes as to common opinion .[6] Her mother-in-law, Eleanor of Aquitaine readily accepted her as John's wife.[7]

      On 1 October 1207 at Winchester Castle, Isabella gave birth to a son and heir who was named Henry after the King's father, Henry II. He was quickly followed by another son, Richard, and three daughters, Joan, Isabel, and Eleanor. All five children survived into adulthood, and would make illustrious marriages; all but Joan would produce offspring of their own.

      Second marriage

      When King John died in October 1216, Isabella's first act was to arrange the speedy coronation of her nine-year-old son at the city of Gloucester on 28 October. As the royal crown had recently been lost in The Wash, along with the rest of King John's treasure, she supplied her own golden circlet to be used in lieu of a crown.[8] The following July, less than a year after his crowning as King Henry III of England, she left him in the care of his regent, William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke and returned to France to assume control of her inheritance of Angoulăeme.

      In the spring of 1220, she married Hugh X of Lusignan, "le Brun", Seigneur de Luisignan, Count of La Marche, the son of her former fiancâe, Hugh IX, to whom she had been betrothed before her marriage to King John. It had been previously arranged that her eldest daughter Joan should marry Hugh, and the little girl was being brought up at the Lusignan court in preparation for her marriage. Hugh, however, upon seeing Isabella, whose beauty had not diminished,[9] preferred the girl's mother. Princess Joan was provided with another husband, King Alexander II of Scotland, whom she wed in 1221.

      Isabella had married Hugh without waiting to receive the consent of the King's council in England, which was the required procedure for a former Queen of England, as the Council had the power to not only choose the Queen Dowager's second husband, but to decide whether or not she should be allowed to marry at all. Isabella's flouting of this law caused the Council to confiscate her dower lands and stop the payment of her pension.[10] Isabella and her husband retaliated by threatening to keep Princess Joan, who had been promised in marriage to the King of Scotland, in France. The council first responded by sending furious letters, signed in the name of young King Henry, to the Pope, urging him to excommunicate Isabella and her husband, but then decided to come to terms with Isabella, as to avoid conflict with the Scottish king, who was eager to receive his bride. Isabella was granted, in compensation for her dower lands in Normandy, the stannaries in Devon and the revenue of Aylesbury for a period of four years. She also received ą3000 as payment for arrears in her pension.[11]

      By Hugh X, Isabella had nine more children. Their eldest son Hugh XI of Lusignan succeeded his father as Count of La Marche and Count of Angoulăeme in 1249.

      Isabella's children from her past marriage continued their lives in England.

      Rebellion and death[edit]
      Described by some contemporaries as "vain, capricious, and troublesome,"[12] Isabella could not reconcile herself with her less prominent position in France. Though Queen dowager of England, Isabella was now mostly regarded as a mere Countess of La Marche and had to give precedence to other women.[13] In 1241, when Isabella and Hugh were summoned to the French court to swear fealty to King Louis IX of France's brother, Alphonse, who had been invested as Count of Poitou, their mother, the Queen Dowager Blanche openly snubbed her. This so infuriated Isabella, who had a deep-seated hatred of Blanche due to the latter having fervently supported the French invasion of England during the First Barons' War in May 1216, that she began to actively conspire against King Louis. Isabella and her husband, along with other disgruntled nobles, including her son-in-law Raymond VII of Toulouse, sought to create an English-backed confederacy which united the provinces of the south and west against the French king.[14] She encouraged her son Henry in his invasion of Normandy in 1230, but then did not provide him the support she had promised.[15]

      In 1244, after the confederacy had failed and Hugh had made peace with King Louis, two royal cooks were arrested for attempting to poison the King; upon questioning they confessed to having been in Isabella's pay.[16] Before Isabella could be taken into custody, she fled to Fontevraud Abbey, where she died on 4 June 1246.[17]

      By her own prior arrangement, she was first buried in the Abbey's churchyard, as an act of repentance for her many misdeeds. On a visit to Fontevraud, her son King Henry III of England was shocked to find her buried outside the Abbey and ordered her immediately moved inside. She was finally placed beside Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Afterwards, most of her many Lusignan children, having few prospects in France, set sail for England and the court of Henry, their half-brother.

      Issue

      With King John of England: 5 children, all of whom survived into adulthood, including:
      King Henry III of England (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272). Married Eleanor of Provence, by whom he had issue, including his heir, King Edward I of England.
      Richard, Earl of Cornwall and King of the Romans (5 January 1209 – 2 April 1272). Married firstly Isabel Marshal, secondly Sanchia of Provence, and thirdly Beatrice of Falkenburg. Had issue.
      Joan (22 July 1210 – 1238), the wife of King Alexander II of Scotland. Her marriage was childless.
      Isabella (1214–1241), the wife of Emperor Frederick II, by whom she had issue.
      Eleanor (1215–1275), who would marry firstly William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke; and secondly Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, by whom she had issue.

      With Hugh X of Lusignan, Count of La Marche: nine children, all of whom survived into adulthood, including:

      Hugh XI of Lusignan (1221–1250), Count of La Marche and Count of Angoulăeme. Married Yolande de Dreux, Countess of Penthiáevre and of Porhoet, by whom he had issue.
      Aymer of Lusignan (1222–1260), Bishop of Winchester
      Agnáes de Lusignan (1223–1269). Married William II de Chauvigny (d. 1270), and had issue.
      Alice of Lusignan (1224 – 9 February 1256). Married John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey, by whom she had issue.
      Guy of Lusignan (c. 1225 – 1264), killed at the Battle of Lewes. (Tufton Beamish maintains that he escaped to France after the Battle of Lewes and died there in 1269).
      Geoffrey of Lusignan (c. 1226 – 1274). Married in 1259 Jeanne, Viscountess of Chăatellerault, by whom he had issue.
      Isabella of Lusignan (c.1226/1227 14 January 1299). Married firstly before 1244 Maurice IV, seigneur de Craon (1224–1250),[18] by whom she had issue; she married secondly, Geoffrey de Rancon.[19]
      William of Lusignan (c. 1228 – 1296). 1st Earl of Pembroke. Married Joan de Munchensi, by whom he had issue.
      Marguerite de Lusignan (c. 1229 – 1288). Married firstly in 1243 Raymond VII of Toulouse; secondly c. 1246 Aimery IX de Thouars, Viscount of Thouars and had issue [2]

  • Sources