Isabella of Angoulême

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Isabella
Queen consort of England
Tenure	24 August 1200 – 19 October 1216
Coronation	24 August 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 m. 1200; dec. 1216 Hugh X of Lusignan m. 1220; wid. 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	c. 1188
Died	31 May 1246 (aged c. 57–58) Fontevraud Abbey, France
Burial	Fontevraud Abbey

Isabella of Angoulême (French: Isabelle d'Angoulême; 1188^[1] – 31 May 1246) was Countess of Angoulême and queen consort of England.

[edit] Queen of England

She was the only daughter and heir of Aymer Taillefer, Count of Angoulême, by Alice de Courtenay. Her paternal grandparents were William IV of Angoulême, Count of Angouleme 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 in 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. Isabella was originally betrothed to Hugh le Brun, Count of Lusignan^[2], 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 and has sometimes been called the Helen of the Middle Ages by historians. However, her marriage to John cannot be said to have been successful, in part because she was much younger than her husband and had a fiery character to match his.

[edit] Second marriage

When John died in 1216, Isabella was still in her twenties. She returned to France and in 1220, proceeded to marry Hugh X of Lusignan Count of La Marche. It is unclear whether it had been Hugh X or his father to whom Isabella had been betrothed before her marriage to King John. 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 Angouleme in 1249.

[edit] Death and burial

Isabella was accused of plotting against King Louis IX of France in 1244; she fled to Fontevrault Abbey, where she died on 31 May 1246, and was buried there. At her own insistence, she was first buried in the churchyard, as an act of repentance for her many misdeeds. On a visit to Fontevrault, 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 children, having few prospects in France, set sail for England and the court of Henry, their half-brother.

[edit] 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
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.
3. Joan (22 July 1210 – 1238), the wife of King Alexander II of Scotland
4. Isabella (1214–1241), the wife of Emperor Frederick II
5. Eleanor (1215–1275), who would marry firstly William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, and secondly Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester.

• 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
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 and 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 and had issue
7. William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke (c. 1228 – 1296) Married Joan de Munchensi. Had issue
8. Marguerite de Lusignan (c. 1229 – 1288), married 1243 Raymond VII of Toulouse, married c. 1246 Aimery IX de Thouars, Viscount of Thouars
9. Isabelle de Lusignan (1234 – 14 January 1299), married Geoffrey de Rancon

[edit] Ancestry

[edit] Notes

1. ^ The Complete Peerage
2. ^ Hugues X of Lusignan

[edit] External links

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

[edit] 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
• Isabella: Queen Without a Conscience, by Rachel Bard (historical novel)

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