Isabella of England
Isabella of England | |
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Isabella, Countess of Angoulême |
Isabella of England (1214 – 1 December 1241) was an English princess of the
Life
Birth and early years
Isabella was born around 1214 as the fourth child and second daughter of John, King of England and his second wife Isabella of Angoulême.[1][2][3] Her exact date of birth is unknown, and the year is calculated based on the fact that Matthew Paris reported that the princess got married at the age of 21.[4] By the time Isabella was born, her parents' marriage had already started to unravel, and the princess spent most of the time with her mother. After the death of King John in 1216, Isabella remained in the full care of her mother and was with her until 1220, when Isabella of Angouleme remarried and left the English court.[5]
The princess was raised from an early age by the "nurse and governess" Margaret Biset, who received for her services from 1219, by order of her brother King Henry III, one penny a day[2] "from the hands of the Viscount Hereford";[6] she remained within Isabella's household and accompanied her to Germany sixteen years later, when the princess married.[2] The services of the rest of the princess's servants (cook, stableman and others) were also paid by her brother, and by his order, when some of Isabella's servants retired from her service, they were assigned a generous pension.[7] The first years of Isabella's life were spent in Gloucester Castle. Later, when the problems that accompanied the early years of her brother's reign ended, she was transported to the court, at first located at Woodstock Palace in Oxfordshire and later at Westminster. From time to time, the princess with her family visited other royal residences: Winchester, Marlborough, Northampton, York and others.[6]
Youth
In June 1220[7] or 1221 Isabella's older sister, Joan, was betrothed to King Alexander II of Scotland, and according to the marriage contract, if Joan did not have time to return to England by Michael's Day (29 September),[a] within two weeks after that, the Scottish King was to marry Isabella. Twice over the next ten years, King Henry III tried to marry off his sister (probably Isabella[b]):[2] first, in 1225, were negotiations for a marriage with King Henry (VII) of Germany (who ten years later became Isabella's stepson)[8][c] and then to King Louis IX of France.[2]
Once the princess got older, the more she loved privacy. In November 1229, with the permission of her brother, she departed for Marlborough Castle, which became her residence; at this time, reconstruction was being completed in the castle, and King Henry III ordered the constable of the castle to allow his sister to choose any quarters she wanted. The relationship between brother and sister was very warm, and the King visited Isabella several times: he visited Marlborough during the celebration of the wedding of "the maiden Catherine" who served Isabella, and also visited his sister in 1231 and 1232 at Gloucester Castle. On 13 November 1232, King Henry III sent his personal tailor to his sister to make her a new full wardrobe.[10] The King also celebrated Christmas with Isabella that year; he sent her three of the best dishes from his table and presented many gifts, and then for several months he sent her the items needed to equip the princess's own chapel. Provisions for Isabella and her guests were provided by "two or three worthy men" from Gloucester, while wine and venison were regularly sent to his sister by the King, who also provided one of his fish suppliers for use by Isabella. The royal chaplain, Warin, who served Isabella, was also granted to his sister by the King. In the summer of 1232, Isabella returned to Marlborough Castle.[11]
Marriage
In 1234, Isabella left seclusion and settled in the Tower of London.[11] In November, the twice-widowed Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor at a friendly meeting at Rieti, received the advice of Pope Gregory IX to ask Isabella's hand, and in February 1235 he sent an embassy to King Henry III headed by his chancellor Pietro della Vigna.[2][12] The marriage of Isabella and Emperor Frederick II was designed to strengthen the political alliance of England and the Holy Roman Empire against France.[13] After three days of discussion, King Henry III agreed to the marriage;[2] Isabella was brought from her quarters in the Tower to the Palace of Westminster,[14] where she met with the ambassadors, who "declared her the most worthy of the imperial brides", put a wedding ring on her finger and greeted her as their Empress.[2][15]
On 22 February 1235, an agreement was signed,[16] according to which King Henry III provided his sister with a dowry of 30,000 marks (an amount sought by the Emperor in order to fund his wars in northern Italy[17]), which was to be paid within two years, and as a wedding gift he gave her all the necessary utensils, jewelry, horses and rich clothes,[2] all made according to the latest German fashion;[18] also, the princess received patent letters from the Emperor, giving Isabella, as Queen of Sicily and Holy Roman Empress the possession of the lands due to her. On 27 February both parties signed the marriage contract:[16] the marriage of the English princess with the Holy Roman Emperor was greeted with enthusiasm by both King Henry III and by the common people, although the latter were greatly disappointed by the enormous "help" required of them on this occasion:[2] the King had to levy an unpopular tax of two marks of silver per hide in order to afford Isabella's dowry.[17]
In early May 1235, Archbishop
Empress
After a six-week wait, Emperor Frederick II summoned his bride to
Soon after the wedding, Emperor Frederick II was forced to leave and leave his wife in the care of his son Conrad. In early 1236, Isabella and her husband visited Ravenna; part of the year the imperial couple spent in Italy, after which they returned to Germany.[27] Already being married, Isabella continued to maintain a relationship with her brother King Henry III: they maintained a regular correspondence, in which they communicated as warmly as strict etiquette allowed.[28] Warm correspondence with the English king was conducted by the Emperor himself, but the name of his wife was mentioned in these letters occasionally and only regarding political issues.[29] In July, Emperor Frederick II was preparing for a military campaign and was forced to leave his wife in Germany for almost a year.[30]
By Michael's Day, Emperor Frederick II returned to Lombardy, where he summoned his wife and where he spent the winter with her.
Isabella died in childbirth at Foggia near Naples in 1241. Alison Weir dated Isabella's death between 1–6 December.[1] While Kate Norgate and Mary Anne Everett Green believe that she died on 1 December.[38][39] Frederick II at the time of his wife's death was in Faenza,[38][40] and Isabella's dying words were a request to her husband to continue to maintain friendly relations with her brother King Henry III.[38][39] Isabella was buried with full honors[39] at Andria Cathedral near Bari beside Frederick's previous wife, Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem.[38]
King Henry III was deeply saddened and shocked by his sister's death.[41] He ordered his almoner to distribute, "for the soul of the empress, our late sister," over £200 in alms at Oxford and Ospringe; the same amount was distributed in London and Windsor.[42] Matthew Paris lamented the death of Isabella, calling her "the glory and hope of England".[38][40]
Issue
Sources are at variance concerning Isabella's issue, including the number of children she had, their names, and their birth order:
- Kate Norgate names three children: House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.[38]
- Alison Weir names four children: Jordanus (born and died in 1236), Agnes (born and died in 1237), Henry (titular king of Jerusalem; 1238 - 1253) and Margaret (wife of the Landgrave Albert II of Thuringia; 1241-1270). Weir wrote about Isabella's death in childbirth, but does not report what happened to the child;[1] perhaps this child was Margaret —and this belief is the most commonly accepted among websites and genealogical investigations.
- Mary-Anne Everett Green also names four children: Jordanus (born and died in 1236),[27] Agnes (born and died in 1237),[43] Henry (born 18 February 1238)[44] and Margaret (born 1 December 1241).[39]
- James Panton writes about Isabella's giving birth to four or five children, but does not mention their names.[35]
Notes
- ^ Joan had previously been betrothed to Hugh X of Lusignan, whom her mother would eventually marry, and was in France.
- ^ Both sisters of the princess were already married: Joan to the Scottish King, and Eleanor to William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke.
- ^ The negotiations ended very quickly due to the fact that the father of the intended groom, Emperor Frederick II, spoke out against the marriage.[9]
- ^ Thomas Curtis Van Cleve's The Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen: Immutator Mundi (Oxford, 1972). Page 381:"Certainly there is some evidence that a son, Jordanus, was born in the year 1236, and died shortly afterwards, but the only son of Frederick II and Isabella of England whose birth can be firmly established was a second Henry, born in 1238, and named after his uncle, Henry III, the King of England." Ref supplied by Peter Stewart via soc.gen.med 20 Jan 2008.
References
- ^ a b c d Weir 2011, p. 72.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Norgate 1892, p. 62.
- ^ a b Panton 2011, p. 263.
- ^ Everett Green 1850, p. 1.
- ^ Everett Green 1850, pp. 1–2.
- ^ a b Everett Green 1850, p. 2.
- ^ a b Everett Green 1850, p. 3.
- ^ Everett Green 1850, p. 4.
- ^ Everett Green 1850, p. 4, 8.
- ^ Everett Green 1850, p. 5.
- ^ a b Everett Green 1850, p. 6.
- ^ Everett Green 1850, pp. 8–9.
- ^ Panton 2011, pp. 263–264.
- ^ Everett Green 1850, p. 9.
- ^ Everett Green 1850, p. 10.
- ^ a b Everett Green 1850, p. 11.
- ^ a b Goldstone 2007, p. 44.
- ^ Everett Green 1850, p. 14.
- ^ Everett Green 1850, pp. 16–18.
- ^ Everett Green 1850, p. 12.
- ^ Everett Green 1850, p. 18.
- ^ a b Everett Green 1850, p. 20.
- ^ Everett Green 1850, pp. 20–22.
- ^ Everett Green 1850, p. 22.
- ^ Everett Green 1850, p. 23.
- ^ a b Everett Green 1850, p. 24.
- ^ a b Everett Green 1850, p. 30.
- ^ Everett Green 1850, p. 31.
- ^ a b Everett Green 1850, p. 39.
- ^ Everett Green 1850, p. 33.
- ^ Everett Green 1850, pp. 35–36.
- ^ a b Everett Green 1850, p. 37.
- ^ a b Everett Green 1850, p. 38.
- ^ Goldstone 2007, p. 43-44.
- ^ a b Panton 2011, p. 264.
- ^ a b c Norgate 1892, pp. 62–63.
- ^ Everett Green 1850, p. 40.
- ^ a b c d e f Norgate 1892, p. 63.
- ^ a b c d Everett Green 1850, p. 41.
- ^ a b Everett Green 1850, p. 42.
- ^ Everett Green 1850, p. 43.
- ^ Everett Green 1850, pp. 43–44.
- ^ Everett Green 1850, p. 34.
- ^ Everett Green 1850, p. 35, 39.
Bibliography
- Alio, Jacqueline (2018). Queens of Sicily 1061-1266. New York: Trinacria. ISBN 978-1943639144.
- Everett Green, Mary Anne (1850). Henry Colburn (ed.). Lives of the Princesses of England, from the Norman Conquest. Vol. 2. London. pp. 1–47.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Goldstone, Nancy (2007). Four Queens: The Provençal Sisters who ruled Europe. New York: Viking Penguin. ISBN 9780670038435.
- Norgate, Kate (1892). Leslie Stephen (ed.). Isabella (1214-1241) in: Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 29. Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 62–63.
- Panton, James (2011). Historical Dictionary of the British Monarchy. Scarecrow Press. pp. 263–264. ISBN 978-0810874978.
- ISBN 0-394-40026-7.
- ISBN 978-1446449110.