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Isabella
Queen consort of England
Tenure	24 August 1200 – 19 October 1216
Coronation	9 October 1200
Countess of Angoulême
Tenure	16 June 1202 – 31 May 1246
Predecessor	Aymer
Successor	Hugh II (X of Lusignan)
Spouse	John Lackland, King of England (1200- 1216) Hugh X of Lusignan (1220- 1246)
Issue
Henry III of Winchester, King of England Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall Joan, Queen of Scots Isabella, Holy Roman Empress Eleanor, Countess of Pembroke Hugh XI of Lusignan Aymer de Valence Alice le Brun de Lusignan William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke
House	House of Taillefer (by birth) House of Plantagenet (by first marriage) House of Lusignan (by second marriage)
Father	Aymer, Count of Angoulême
Mother	Alice of Courtenay
Born	1188
Died	31 May 1246 (aged c. 57–58) Fontevraud Abbey, France
Burial	Fontevraud Abbey

Isabella of Angoulême (French: Isabelle d'Angoulême, IPA: [izabɛl d‿ɑ̃ɡulɛm]; 1188^[1] – 31 May 1246) was suo jure Countess of Angoulême and queen consort of England as the second wife of King John. She was queen from 24 August 1200 until John's death on 19 October 1216. She had five children by the king including his heir Henry who succeeded John as Henry III of England. In 1220, Isabella married secondly the man to whom she had been originally betrothed, Hugh X of Lusignan, Count of La Marche, by whom she had another nine children. Hugh had been promised to her eldest daughter, Joan, but the latter was instead married to King Alexander II of Scotland.

In 1241, Isabella formed a conspiracy against King Louis IX of France, after being publicly snubbed by his mother, Blanche of Castile for whom she had a deep-seated hatred.^[2] 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 at the age of about 58.

Queen of England

She was the only daughter and heir of Aymer Taillefer, Count of Angoulême, by Alice of Courtenay. Her paternal grandparents were William IV of Angoulême, Count of Angoulême and Marguerite de Turenne. Her maternal grandparents were Pierre de Courtenay and Elizabeth de Courtenay. Her maternal great-grandfather was King Louis VI of France. She became Countess of Angoulême 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, at Bordeaux, a year after he annulled his first marriage to Isabel of Gloucester. She was crowned queen in an elaborate ceremony on 9 October at Westminster Abbey in London. Isabella was originally betrothed to Hugh 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 12-year-old Isabella was already renowned for her beauty^[4] and has sometimes been called the Helen of the Middle Ages by historians.^[5] However, her marriage to John cannot be said to have been successful, in part because she was much younger than her husband and possessed a volatile temper to match his own. King John, however, was deeply infatuated with his young, beautiful wife; he neglected his state affairs to spend time with Isabella, often remaining in bed with her until noon, although it was the custom for kings to rise at five o'clock in the morning to commence their duties. The common people began to term her a "siren" or "Messalina", although they were pleased with her beauty.^[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, 1st Earl of Cornwall, King of the Romans; and three daughters, Joan, Isabella, 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 Angoulême, which had belonged to her suo jure since 1202.

In the spring of 1220, she married Hugh X of Lusignan, "le Brun", Seigneur de Luisignan, Count of La Marche, 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 the Princess Joan in France (she had not yet departed for England); and after furious letters sent by the Council to the Pope, signed by Isabella's son, King Henry, which urged the Pontiff to excommunicate the Count and Countess, the Council, in order to placate the King of Scotland, who was eager to receive his future bride, came to terms with Isabella. She was granted, in compensation for the her dower lands in Normandy, the stannaries in Devon and the revenue of Aylesbury for a period of four years. She also received £3000 pounds 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 Angoulême in 1249.

Rebellion and death

Described as "vain, capricious, and troublesome",^[12] Isabella could not reconcile herself to the necessary loss in rank which resulted after her marriage to the Count of La Marche. Isabella had been a Queen of England and deeply resented having to give precedence to women who were now of higher rank than she, a mere Countess of Angoulême and La Marche.^[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] 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.^[15] Before Isabella could be taken into custody, she fled to Fontevraud Abbey, where she died on 31 May 1246.

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Joan (22 July 1210 – 1238), the wife of King Alexander II of Scotland. Her marriage was childless.
4. Isabella (1214–1241), the wife of Emperor Frederick II, by whom she had issue.
5. 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, the Count of La Marche: nine children, all of whom survived into adulthood, including:

1. Hugh XI of Lusignan (1221–1250), Count of La Marche and Count of Angoulême. Married Yolande de Dreux, Countess of Penthièvre and of Porhoet, by whom he had issue.
2. Aymer de Valence (1222–1260), Bishop of Winchester
3. Agnès de Lusignan (1223–1269). Married William II de Chauvigny
4. Alice le Brun de Lusignan (1224 – 9 February 1256). Married John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey, by whom she had issue.
5. Guy de 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).
6. Geoffrey de Lusignan (c. 1226 – 1274). Married in 1259 Jeanne, Viscountess of Châtellerault, by whom he had issue.
7. William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke (c. 1228 – 1296). Married Joan de Munchensi, by whom he issue.
8. Marguerite de Lusignan (c. 1229 – 1288). Married firstly in 1243 Raymond VII of Toulouse; secondly c. 1246 Aimery IX de Thouars, Viscount of Thouars
9. Isabelle de Lusignan (1234 – 14 January 1299). Married Geoffrey de Rancon

Ancestry

Notes

1. ^ The Complete Peerage
2. ^ Thomas B. Costain, The Magnificent Century, pp. 144-45, Doubleday and Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1959
3. ^ Hugues X of Lusignan
4. ^ Thomas B. Costain, The Conquering Family, pp.251-52, Doubleday and Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1949, 1962
5. ^ Costain, The Conquering Family, p.306
6. ^ Costain, The Conquering Family, pp.253-54
7. ^ Thomas B. Costain, The Conquering Family, p.246
8. ^ Costain, The Magnificent Century, p.11
9. ^ Costain, The Conquering Family, p.341
10. ^ Costain, The Magnificent Century, p.38-39
11. ^ Costain, The Magnificent Century, pp.38-39
12. ^ Costain, The Magnificent Century, p.149
13. ^ Costain, The Magnificent Century, p.144
14. ^ Costain,The Magnificent Century pp.145-46
15. ^ Costain, The Magnificent Century, p.149

External links

• FMG on Isabelle d’Angoulême
• COMTES d'ANGOULÊME et de la MARCHE (LUSIGNAN) in English
• ThePeerage on Isabella d'Angoulême

References

• Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis, Lines: 1-25, 80-29, 117-27, 153A-28, 154-28, 258-27, 260-29, 275-27
• Isabelle d'Angoulême, Reine d'Angleterre, by Sophie Fougère
• The Conquering Family, by Thomas B. Costain, Doubleday and Company, Inc., Graden City, New York, 1949, 1962
• The Magnificent Century, by Thomas B. Costain, Doubleday and Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1959

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