Stefan's Florilegium

Isabella-art

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Isabella-art - 2/18/98

"Isabella, the She-Wolf of France" by Jan van Seist. (humor)

NOTE: See also the files: Charlemagne-art, Joan-of-Arc-art, Lamoral-art,
Margaret-art, Otto-T-Great-art, War-o-t-Roses-art, Gaul-art, France-msg.

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NOTICE -

This article was submitted to me by the author for inclusion in this set
of files, called Stefanąs Florilegium.

These files are available on the Internet at:
http://www.florilegium.org

Copyright to the contents of this file remains with the author.

While the author will likely give permission for this work to be
reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first
or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file.

Thank you,
Mark S. Harris
AKA: Stefan li Rous
stefan@florilegium.org
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[NOTE - originally written for Storm Tidings, the newsletter of the Shire of
Adamastor (Cape Town) in the Kingdom of Drakenwald]

Isabella, the She-Wolf of France.
by Jan van Seist

History lessons place little emphasis on dates in these mundane times,
partly because they are often irrelevant, but mostly because they are rather
tedious. This is a pity as a passing knowledge of William Wallace's chronology
might have helped the director of the recent popular film, Braveheart. The
Wallace's somewhat extreme appendectomy took place in 1305. The film's love
interest, Isabella, was born in 1296 and did not arrive in Britain until 1308.
By all accounts, Isabella was a precocious child but I doubt that she was quite
as precocious as the film would suggest.

Leaving aside this petty pedantry, Isabella is one of the more interesting
ladies of our period. Eleanor of Aquitane may have been more influential and
Elizabeth of England more powerful but Isabella certainly gave mediaeval life
her best shot. She was the daughter of King Phillip IV of France (a.k.a.
Phillip the Fair) and was married at the tender age of 12 to the recently
crowned King Edward II of England. Phillip gave her a large quantity of
jewellery as a wedding present and the revenues of two French counties for
pocket money. Isabella was rather distressed when, on her arrival in England,
Edward gave most of her wedding jewellery to his (ahem) favourite, Piers
Gaveston. Piers was definitely not Isabella's favourite and, together with a
number of the senior barons, she prevailed upon Edward to banish him.

Unfortunately for Piers, Edward changed his mind. He not only recalled
him but gave him effective command of the English army. Some of Isabella's
friends (the Earls of Pembroke & Surrey) showed what they thought of that idea
by capturing Piers and making him sit down very hard on a large sharp pole.
Edward was not very happy about this. However, Piers had stirred up the Scots
before being rudely relieved of his command and the prospect of a good war
helped reconcile the king and his barons. So, in 1314, Edward & co. rode north
to teach the Scots a lesson. The campaign did not go entirely Edward's way*
and, after his somewhat hasty return to England, he choose to console himself
with two favourites, a father and son combination called Hugh le Despenser.

The Despensers became the effective rulers of England but were eventually
expelled by an army led by three barons, two called Roger Mortimer and one not.
Isabella was naturally grateful to the barons and it was widely rumoured that
she was rogering the younger Mortimer. At this point, Edward decided that the
Despensers were inDespensible. He recalled them and Roger Mortimer recalled
pressing duties elsewhere. Isabella was left to face the music.

Some years earlier, Isabella had inherited a vast amount of property
making her the richest woman in England. On their return, the Despensers
promptly accused her of treason and seized her estates, thus making themselves
the richest favourites in England and permanently removing their names from
Isabella's Christmas card list. The following year, a less than impressed
Isabella managed to persuade Edward to send her to France to help solve the
Gascony question. Isabella's answer to the question appears to have been: team
up with Mortimer, invade England and put the Despensers to death. It is
unlikely that this was Edward's preferred answer but it was certainly emphatic.

After seizing power, Isabella and Mortimer had Edward II declared
officially incompetent, Isabella's son declared king and themselves named as
regents. Shortly thereafter, Edward II was found impaled on a large stake in
suspicious circumstances but, as no one was brave enough to suspect the
culprits, no charges were laid.

The two regents ruled England for almost four years and it was during this
period that their happy and contented subjects gave Isabella her charming pet
name. Their reign would undoubtedly have been longer but for the impatience of
the young king. King Edward III, who by this stage was happily married to
Phillipa of Hainault and the proud father of a black prince, decided he was old
enough to be king in his own right. In one of the world's most sucessful
teenage rebellions, he used a secret underground passageway to sneak into
Nottingham castle at night and captured Mortimer. Edward promptly declared the
regency (and Mortimer) at an end.

Edward encouraged Isabella to retire from public life but, as he allowed
her to retain the revenues from her various estates, she was able to live
relatively comfortably in the country. When she eventually grew tired of being
incredibly wealthy, she joined a religious order, the Poor Clares, and retired
to an abbey where she died peacefully of old age in 1358.

* Bannockburn, Battle of,

Edward II had replaced Edward I in the war with Scotland during the half
time interval. In the first half, the Wallace had put the Scots in front at
Stirling but Edward I's equaliser at Falkirk and the suspension of the Wallace
had swung the war England's way. As Edward II had started his reign as the
recognised ruler of Scotland, all he really had to do was play for a draw.
Despite this, both Scotland and England kept up the aggression in the second
half and, in 1314, Robert the Bruce sliced through the English defence at
Bannockburn to win the war for Scotland and give the Scots independence up until
the end of history in 1600.**

** The SCA is an ideal home for Scottish nationalists as the more embarrassing
events of Scots history (its attempt to colonise South America, its subsequent
bankruptcy and the sale of Scotland to England) occurred in the 17th Century
and, therefore, didn't happen.

Mitrani Dept. of Desert Ecology
Blaustein Institute for Desert Research
Midreshet Ben-Gurion
84990 Israel

Permission is granted for republication in SCA-related publications,
provided the author is credited and receives a copy.

If this article is reprinted in a publication, I would appreciate a notice in
the publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also
appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being
reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.

<the end>